two10eleven | Brook Sarver » Lopburi Learning Center

Still learning Thai???

Brook — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:45:41 +0000

So, we’ve been at this language learning thing for quite a while… About a year and a half to be exact. In that time I’ve managed to tell an office full of bankers that I am gay, learn to read and write in Thai, and have been able to build some decent relationships with Thai people. And it’s all been really encouraging and REALLY difficult (and even boring) at times. Spend just 2 hours in Thailand and you will begin to feel the struggle we’ve had to live with everyday. Speaking, reading and writing in Thai is pretty tough stuff. And after a year and a half we really feel blessed to have accomplished what we have in our Thai studies. But at the same time, we make mistakes everyday. A casual conversation goes South quickly as I fumble over trying to remember which of the 5 tones to use for a word I learned 8 months ago and haven’t used since… All ability to read Thai goes out of the window the moment I need it the most to read a letter that has come to our house from who knows who… And all the rules to write in Thai vanishes just when we need to hand-write directions to our new house for a delivery guy to bring our fridge…

It’s not always this way. But it happens surprisingly more often than we had anticipated experiencing a year and a half into. Sure, we can joke with our neighbors, translate parts of the sermon on Sunday and bargain for lower prices at the market, but every week we make some sort of a mistake that makes us feel just like this:

So many things can go wrong just when you need it the most! Yet we keep at it every week. Studying more. Practicing more. Communicating more.. Overall it’s been a frustrating sort of fun. As people come and visit us in Thailand we get a sense of just how far our Thai language ability has come along. We can translate for them. Help them in nearly any situation that arises. And yet I still struggle with the correct tone to use when saying “behind” or “downstairs” (they are literally only a voice inflection away from each other… Which doesn’t help when I try to tell people where they can find Sara!)

Another thing that we have encountered are Thai people who pretty much refuse to speak Thai to us. I’m sure they want to practice their English and in some instances it really does help, but other times I ask someone a question in Thai and they answer in such broken English that I have no idea what they are trying to say. Then, when I ask them again in Thai, they give me the same broken English answer! I CAN SPEAK THAI PEOPLE!!! (on some occasions better than others…)

And still in other instances all of us are speaking Thai, but none of us have any idea what each other are trying to say. All too many conversations wind up a lot like this:

In just a few days we will travel back to Lopburi for our periodic language tests. We’ve both been working this week to prepare for these tests. Please continue to pray for us. Pray for an increasing ability to remember things we’ve already learned and for stickiness of mind as we study new vocab and sentence structure. Pray also that this hard work in language study in the past year+ would translate into increased meaningful relationships in our new community and ability to be involved in ministries at the Thai church we are partnering with.

And, as always, Leave a Comment!

Bangkok | Diverse and Dedicated

Brook — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:42:42 +0000

Soon Sara and I will be spending some time in Bangkok as we look for some possible ministry locations after completing our time studying Thai here in Lopburi, Thailand. Once finished at the language school in Lopburi, we will move away and continue to learn Thai with a personal tutor while beginning work in ministry to the Thai people.

I happened across this short video clip produced by OMF (the organization we are partnering with here in Thailand) which helps paint a picture of life in Bangkok, the people living in this HUGE city and ministries that are taking place there. The video is a few years old now, directors mentioned here have changed positions, but life in the City of Angels is still much the same.

If you have a minute or two, this will be worth watching!

Zacchaeus the wee little Thai man

Brook — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:59:02 +0000

So, Sara and I have been learning to read and write in Thai as many of you already know. It’s been quite fun and quite exhausting at the same time. The Thai language continues to evade our grasp! Just when we think we have the hang of it, it jumps about 10 steps forward and we are left with headaches and discouragement!

Earlier this week we read the story of Zacchaeus as it would be told in a Children’s Bible. I’d thought I’d share that story with you!

Luke 19:1-10 - Thai Contemporary Bible

The Story of Zacchaeus Spoken in Thai
Click link to play Audio

This isn’t an exact translation of the passage above, but it should give you a good idea of what we have been doing and what we are continuing to work through. Who knew learning a new language could be so fun/difficult!

Have you ever learned another language fluently?