How You Learned or Didn't Learned Thai

[teasingonly555]

i have always wonder why between me and my hmong cousins and friends, why my sister and i ended up picking up thai when they didn't? my question is: what made it for you to come to understand thai? or what broke it for you that you didn't catch the language? i'm aware that many the hmong newcomers are pro at thai and that some hmong understand some thai, so you judge yourself. 
 
my story:
my mom is a lakorn addict and my dad likes those thai dub chinese fighting wuxia series. very typical story. back in the refugee camps, when i was still in my mom's womb until i was a baby, my mom took me to the "theaters" to watch lakorns. i came to the us as a baby. as long as i could remember, lakorns was predominantly all i watch. we used to bother my mom to translated for us, and gradually, you're a child and desperate, so you learned. what really pushed me was one of my old hmong classmate who lived in the neighborhood, she and her her sisters are so snobby about their knowing thai. so a discreet rivalry between her sisters versus me and my sisters knowing thai started. this endured for about 3 years during my late elementary to early middle school years. the fact that i was so obsessed with D2B really sealed the deal for me. it really has to be sixth grade that i realized i was good, and 8 years later today, i am "self-taught" and fluent. 
 
i recently got thinking about how there is the few percentages of hmong older youth (if that makes sense, i'm in my very early 20s) that understand thai. i don't know if 12 year old hmong kids today are that interested or are as exposed. many of my hmong cousins and friends watch lakorns, now wishing more than ever that they had learned thai. so, what made it or broke it for you? please share, i'm excited to know!

 

[mia07]

I'm not that advanced in knowing Thai but just enough to know what's happening. I wish I could have learned it while I was still young, but I guess it was the environment I grew up around. I grew up watching varieties of movies, but most of them were Hmong and Hmong dubbs. However, my older siblings learned Thai back in Vinai because my father had a TV and would record the shows as it aired. They started watching boran lakorns first and then got into regular lakorns. Borans were my first Thai movies as well and I would watch them with my Dad when I was 6 or 7. Later on I just stopped watching them. I got back into Thai movies about 4 years back and slowly picking up the language again. I can never self-teach myself, especially a language 'cause I suck. Lol. However, I am planning to take some foreign languages in the near future.

 

[Bieluvr]

This is a very interesting topic. I started learning thai by watching karaoke. Beore that i was watching lakorn' but in hmong dub and came upon Mos so seeing his karaoke VCD, I bought it. The romanization below the thai words were really helpful. Then I fell in love with Bie, he was the big difference that got me addicted to Thai Lakorn. I began to watch thai lakorn in their actual language and forced myself to learn the language so i know what they say without having to ask my parents. It took me three years to learn it and i still don't know all. I only know about 80% thai. But i'm glad i took the time to learn it too.

 

[teasingonly555]

I'm not that advanced in knowing Thai but just enough to know what's happening. I wish I could have learned it while I was still young, but I guess it was the environment I grew up around. I grew up watching varieties of movies, but most of them were Hmong and Hmong dubbs. However, my older siblings learned Thai back in Vinai because my father had a TV and would record the shows as it aired. They started watching boran lakorns first and then got into regular lakorns. Borans were my first Thai movies as well and I would watch them with my Dad when I was 6 or 7. Later on I just stopped watching them. I got back into Thai movies about 4 years back and slowly picking up the language again. I can never self-teach myself, especially a language 'cause I suck. Lol. However, I am planning to take some foreign languages in the near future.

me too, boran lakorns were the gateway drugs. they used to be the best too!
 

This is a very interesting topic. I started learning thai by watching karaoke. Beore that i was watching lakorn' but in hmong dub and came upon Mos so seeing his karaoke VCD, I bought it. The romanization below the thai words were really helpful. Then I fell in love with Bie, he was the big difference that got me addicted to Thai Lakorn. I began to watch thai lakorn in their actual language and forced myself to learn the language so i know what they say without having to ask my parents. It took me three years to learn it and i still don't know all. I only know about 80% thai. But i'm glad i took the time to learn it too.

hahaha, bie stucked you in! the crazy things we do for guys!!! 

 

[ceda_lee]

I picked up Thai from many years of Thai dramas & Thai music.  My sister, on the other hand, only understands I love you & I hate you.  I don't understand why she didn't pick up Thai either.  

 

[chongsong]

I don't speak Thai so I have to wait until there translated, if there translated at all. Been trying to learn how to speak it but it not easy. Trying to speak the Lao language to my boy toy was hard enough.

 

[cecilia]

I lived and grew up in Thailand (11 years). I can speak, understand, and read in karaoke.
 
My dad can read, write, speak, understand Thai and Laotian.  My brother knows how to read Thai and Laotian but he doesn't understand. I made him read for me sometimes lol

 

[yaksoh]

i have always wonder why between me and my hmong cousins and friends, why my sister and i ended up picking up thai when they didn't? my question is: what made it for you to come to understand thai? or what broke it for you that you didn't catch the language? i'm aware that many the hmong newcomers are pro at thai and that some hmong understand some thai, so you judge yourself. 
 
my story:
my mom is a lakorn addict and my dad likes those thai dub chinese fighting wuxia series. very typical story. back in the refugee camps, when i was still in my mom's womb until i was a baby, my mom took me to the "theaters" to watch lakorns. i came to the us as a baby. as long as i could remember, lakorns was predominantly all i watch. we used to bother my mom to translated for us, and gradually, you're a child and desperate, so you learned. what really pushed me was one of my old hmong classmate who lived in the neighborhood, she and her her sisters are so snobby about their knowing thai. so a discreet rivalry between her sisters versus me and my sisters knowing thai started. this endured for about 3 years during my late elementary to early middle school years. the fact that i was so obsessed with D2B really sealed the deal for me. it really has to be sixth grade that i realized i was good, and 8 years later today, i am "self-taught" and fluent. 
 
i recently got thinking about how there is the few percentages of hmong older youth (if that makes sense, i'm in my very early 20s) that understand thai. i don't know if 12 year old hmong kids today are that interested or are as exposed. many of my hmong cousins and friends watch lakorns, now wishing more than ever that they had learned thai. so, what made it or broke it for you? please share, i'm excited to know!

 
u n me r so similar except for the part of catching the thai language
to this day i still remember how i caught onto the language
i was literate and fluent in the language
basically, i could read, write, n speak the language fluently
also, I could understand all the thai north, east, south, west languages too - just not the writing part
but what made me slowly lost the language was because of continuous lies from my mother,
telling me that she'll send me to thailand if i continue the self-taught
it gave me so much hope n dream that i'll one day get to visit the land of the language i love
but as days, weeks, months, n years went by til i finish high skool
still no sign, i finally gave up the thai dream n went on to college
i totally stop learning n using the thai language for 5-6 yrs
now i have a thai accent n could barely read n write in the language
to this day i still kind of regret it but what can i do since i loss it all esp. from the false hope
i hit my 1st rock bottom, but i survive 
.....only
i was naive and hope too high
it turned my goal decisions from barely starting, not even at great yet to worst n downhill
i still cry from time to time about my 1st true dream,
giving up on it n believing my love ones wholeheartedly on their supports n promises
big disappointment
 
to future generations:
don't be stupid like me n give up on the dream u love the most
becuz u will regret it many years later
grasp it if u have the chance
make sure it's not a false hope n support from parents or anyone u know
best luck to u all

 

[lenlin]

I think it really depends on the person and when they're introduced to the language. Some people are just more naturally inclined toward language, making language easy for them to pick up no matter what age they are, but scientifically, the younger you are when you're introduced to the language, the easier it will be for you to pick it up because kids' brains are still developing so language is easier to learn when you're younger. The older you get, the harder it will be because your brain has already been formed by your dominant language.