I've gotten to the next step--the point where I am trying to learn how Thai people use their own language, not how foreigners can "get by" with their knowledge of it.
Err...forgive me for saying so, but there may be other learners who have reached the ''next step'' as you put it - and still realise there is a world of difference between speaking the language and studying it.
Only a fool under-estimates people, Juay - and you're no fool.
But to each his own.
Forgive me for speaking frankly, but I doubt you have reached the point where you can communicate all your needs and thoughts in whatever situation you find yourself. Some language is specialised, depending on the context. Context-specific language can also be used in particular ways.
As such, I suspect you are still at the stage of trying to communicate, just like anyone else.
The clip-on stuff you are adding, while interesting, is years down the track for most students. But as I say Juay...if it rocks your boat.
Words are so important. The lack of a certain word, or throwing in one extra unecessary word could affect the profoundness of the statement
This really says it all. Sorry if I sound snappy, but the ''profoundness of the statement''? Just what are you trying to make this language do?
People study a language for different reasons, of course. If you are working in a Thai environment or living here, you may need to learn the language simply to communicate. I know that was my initial aim, though I also wanted to learn a second language.
Over time, as I started talking to people, I came to see the language not just as a tool but also as a way to share: to help the person you are talking to get across his ideas, and perhaps to pass on ideas about your own language (lots of Thais want to learn English).
Sounding authentically Thai, while desirable, is something that comes later on, I suspect, after years and years of speaking a language and hearing it.
The slang, the vernacular, the bells and whistles...I am sure it's all important stuff (though I don't know how it would sound in the mouth of a westerner unless he's been speaking a long time).
Most learners get surprisingly few opportunities to speak, because we spend most of our days using our own language. And yet unless we are speaking the words we are not making them our own. That's why for many, learning a language is mainly about communication rather than doing anything fancy, as unromantic as that sounds.
Let me give an example. I work for an English-language newspaper in Bangkok. Our reporters are Thai. Some file their reports in English, others in Thai and the Thai is then translated in English. Some of the English is good, but most needs work to make it readable. That's where I come in, as a sub-editor. As the guy who tries to improve copy on behalf of readers, my main interest is that it makes sense. It doesn't have to read like beautiful English, because I know most of our writers aren't up to that standard.
Many writers tackle stuff that's way too advanced and end up in trouble. Some spend most the night between the covers of a dictionary, looking for long and obscure words, when a few simple words - probably those they already have - would do the job. They take stuff out of one context and stick it in another - folsky, down-home language can turn up in a serious story. It jars. Again, no one blames them for this because their language is not advanced.
Can you see parallels here between what our reporters go through learning English and our experience learning and speaking Thai? I can. Basic stuff first, fancy stuff once you know what you're doing.
In most cases we are forced to take things a step at a time, whether we want to or not. You can craft as many ''profound'' statements as you like, but if you can't understand what the guy next to you is saying they may fall a bit flat.
