| Learning South East Asian Languages | | | | learn and remember - is crucial for any measure of |
| Frustration with their inability to really employ the | | | | proficiency. |
| language even after years of learning is the number | | | | People from South East Asia spend years learning |
| one reason students of South East Asian languages | | | | their own language. Traditional Asian education |
| stop before they accomplish fluency. For the | | | | emphasizes the memorization of large numbers of |
| dedicated student of Thai or Vietnamese, a | | | | seemingly unrelated facts. Their languages are no |
| preponderance of sometimes overwhelming obstacles | | | | exception. |
| must be master before even a level of fluency can | | | | Learning Thai or Vietnamese takes a lot of time |
| be attained. | | | | After one year of study, an English speaking student |
| Thai and Vietnamese are difficult to learn | | | | of Spanish, Italian or French would be able to |
| For English speakers, Thai and Vietnamese are much | | | | converse minimally in the language and read and write |
| harder to learn than European languages. The English | | | | letters with the help of a dictionary. But even |
| language and civilization share common roots with the | | | | assuming diligence, a student of Thai or Vietnamese |
| European languages and cultures. Vietnamese and | | | | may not be equal to the task. An Asian language |
| Thai, however, have considerably different sentence | | | | student may not be able to recognize a appropriate |
| structures and are based on radically different | | | | number of characters and may not yet be capable of |
| conceptual models and cultural presumption. For | | | | using a dictionary. |
| example, a simple statement in English or Thai could | | | | However, learning South East Asian languages is |
| require a paragraph in the other language. | | | | worthwhile. Once the student has overcome the initial |
| Learning Thousands of Characters overshadows | | | | problems, he will be able to get insights into an |
| Listening and Speaking. | | | | otherwise strange culture. |
| As intimidating as the cultural and conceptual barriers | | | | Tony has been travelling and working in South East |
| are, the Thai and Vietnamese writing systems deliver | | | | Asia and the Indian Subcontinent for many years. He |
| utmost difficulty to erstwhile language students. The | | | | speaks Vietnamese, Hindi and Urdu and is currently |
| ability to distinguish, interpret and pronounce the | | | | trying to improve his Thai. |
| unfamiliar characters - each individually challenging to | | | | |