Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

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sidthesloth
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Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by sidthesloth »

Isn't it humiliating to be illiterate in your senior years?
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dtaai-maai
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by dtaai-maai »

It's not a question of not bothering in most cases. Most expats can't even speak more than a few words of basic Thai, so it's hardly likely they'll be able to read and write. Not everyone has the language ability you have presumably been gifted with.
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aragon
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by aragon »

What makes you think the OP relates to Thai?
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by JimmyGreaves »

Too bloody busy!!
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sidthesloth
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by sidthesloth »

dtaai-maai wrote:Not everyone has the language ability you have presumably been gifted with.
I sincerely don't believe there is such a thing as "language ability", there is only trying and giving up.
aragon wrote:What makes you think the OP relates to Thai?
he put two and two together and got four
JimmyGreaves wrote:Too bloody busy!!
Really? You're too busy to learn the language of the host country you've spent decades in?
Real question, what are you so busy doing? Have you actually considered how much time it would take?
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dtaai-maai
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by dtaai-maai »

sidthesloth wrote: I sincerely don't believe there is such a thing as "language ability", there is only trying and giving up.
I sincerely think you are quite wrong. You obviously still have to put in a lot of effort, but languages are like any other skill (music, sport, carpentry, etc.) - some people are born with them, and others can work as hard as they like, but they'll never master it.
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by VincentD »

Sts, I tend to agree with dm re many expats do try but the brain just can't process an alphabet where there are 44 consonants, which can be before , above, below or after, let alone the vowels that follow somewhat similar principles and can be compound combinations. Add to that tone marks and it can totally throw off most people who have only had to process a 26 letter alphabet that was basically a sequence.Granted, the tones depend on the word structure for English, so don't forget the difficulties the locals have with an 'imported' language.
Thai pronunciation is a whole different kettle of fish.
I had to learn to gargle when trying to pick up Dutch..
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by sidthesloth »

dtaai-maai wrote:languages are like any other skill (music, sport, carpentry, etc.) - some people are born with them, and others can work as hard as they like, but they'll never master it.
That's some self-defeating bullshit right there
VincentD wrote:the brain just can't process an alphabet where there are 44 consonants, which can be before , above, below or after, let alone the vowels that follow somewhat similar principles and can be compound combinations. Add to that tone marks and it can totally throw off most people who have only had to process a 26 letter alphabet that was basically a sequence.Granted, the tones depend on the word structure for English, so don't forget the difficulties the locals have with an 'imported' language.
Thai pronunciation is a whole different kettle of fish.
I had to learn to gargle when trying to pick up Dutch..
Of those 44 consonants there are several practically obsolete ones only ever used in ancient words and atleast 1 that is used in literally no words whatsoever. Of the vowels, most of them have two forms (long and short) so in reality there are really half as many symbols to remember. Compound vowels are far simpler than in English and actually make sense phonetically and tones can be safely pretty much ignored (you probably don't know what tone the word is when you're speaking it anyway, you just try to say it how you've heard it.). Is that really too many things to memorise?

Kids can learn it in kindergarten not because they're geniuses but because it's extremely simple. As I said before, there is no language ability - there is only try or give up
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by Homer »

Don't feed the troll.
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by HHTel »

Mountains of research has been done regarding a person's aptitude for learning other languages. It is widely accepted that not everyone has the same aptitude for learning a language. The same goes for music ability etc.

It's proven that some people have a god given aptitude for learning a skill whereas other people although having a 'level of aptitude' would struggle.

I would suggest the sloth does his research but that would take a long time as a sloth doesn't have the aptitude to do anything quickly!!
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by handdrummer »

regarding the 5 different tones in thai language: if you don't say them properly thais will not or pretend to not recognize the word. that and one word can have 5 completely different and unrelated meanings according to the tone. ditto Chinese.
re children learning a language: they've heard it at home and in their environment since birth and if not, in school, are completely immersed in it. there's lots more to say about it but that will suffice.
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by Deep Blue »

What for? As an American, I spent a lot of time learning English and went to England one time, visited Buckingham Palace and again asked, what for? Went back to California and decided I made a mistake and should have learned Spanish.
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by sidthesloth »

Deep Blue wrote:What for? As an American, I spent a lot of time learning English and went to England one time, visited Buckingham Palace and again asked, what for? Went back to California and decided I made a mistake and should have learned Spanish.
:roll: :rasta:
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by Takiap »

sidthesloth :tosser: :butt:
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Re: Why do many expats not bother to learn to read?

Post by sidthesloth »

clearly touching some raw nerves here
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