🇬🇧🇹🇭 REACTION: Mark Abbott "How I Learned to Speak Thai Fluently"

UK Born Mark Abbott (‪@markabbottofficial‬ ) learnt Thai as an adult to the point that he is now a sports commentator and host on Thai television, and has a near-native fluency in Thai. In this reaction, I break down Mark’s recent video, "How I Learned to Speak Thai Fluently", where he shares his no-nonsense approach to mastering the Thai language. Mark moved to Thailand in his 20s and developed an extraordinary command of Thai as an adult. I’ll analyse his key strategies, highlight what works, and compare them to common language learning methods. If you're serious about learning Thai, this is a must-watch.
#thailanguage #ภาษาไทย #thai #learnthai #markabbott #speakthai #thaispeaking #fluency #languagelearning #thaicommentator #foreignspeakers #thaifluency #expatlife #languagegenius #polyglot #linguistics #stuartjayraj #thaivideo #thailessons #foreignlanguage
Check out Mark's Original Clip Here - "How I Learned to Speak Thai Fluently"
• How I learned to speak...
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[@markabbottofficial]

Wow, I just saw this. Thank you for this video. Your website seems like a great resource to learn Thai!

[@StuartJayRaj]

hey Mark..thanks. I try and build tools that help extract language learning from the environment. trying to make this way of learning go more mainstream rather than just gamifying meaningless exercises like in apps like duo lingo. what you said is spot on

[@TechAI_with_JR]

Mark's approach to learning a new language is amazing. He has a strong mindset and his perseverance should be admired. Everyone who is interested in learning a new language can definitely learn something from his experience. Your comment about the Thais learning English just to pass exams is spot on. It seems like most Thais aren't great at using English for communication, despite the fact that they spend 10-12 years studying English in school, because they don't get to put English into practice in real-world situations, like what Mark talked about with his mechanic shop example.

[@kriswillems5661]

I think he's very talented when it comes to clear pronunciation, not only when he speaks Thai, but also when he speaks English. I am not a native English speaker - but he's very easy to understand because of his perfect pronunciation. I think this is what made him this strong in languages in general.

[@markabbottofficial]

Thank you. I host Muay Thai and other live events so speaking clearly is part of the job description and something I've worked on, in both languages!

[@blacksympozium]

I'm so happy you did a comment video on Mark Abbott's one! I'm one of your followers, I stumbled upon his video too last week and it was really good.. I'm a foreigner living in Thailand for over a year now and I'm following pretty much the same learning process in terms of immersing myself in the real world and making mistakes like that to learn new expressions, I never took a Thai language class and Mark's video spoke to me in that regard

[@klausg]

Immersion is the accelerator in language learning. Great video highlighting nuances.

[@bengmelea8646]

I'm a farang and went up to a Thai security guard to ask him, in Thai, directions. His response: "I don't speak English". After 32 years in Thailand I can speak Thai fluently but I come across this issue occasionally whereby a Thai will listen with "their eyes" instead of "their ears". Another issue I've noticed is that you need to pronounce Thai within a very narrow range of how a Thai would pronounce it as it is not like English where one has typically been conditioned to understand many accents from around the world pronouncing the same word slightly differently. Only the regional accents within Thailand are typically understood by Thais unless you meet a Thai who hangs around farangs a lot.

[@rambodiehardwarrior749]

Yeah...I did watch and listen to Mark's talk in his VDO a few days ago. As a Thai myself, I really admire you two and totally accept that both of you are really 'genius' who can master our Thai language which is consifered by many to be one of the most difficult languages in the world. Especially you yourself, Ajahn Stuart, you have really truely profound knowledge of Thai language. I've to admit that I'm really ignorant about those 'High, Mid, and Low'.

[@revenuerecipes]

Stu thanks for a killer video and great analysis! Couple of things that stuck with me in particular: 6:01 - Variations in spelling in books was something I've talked about in my learning video with @ThaiTalkPaddy. Most Asian languages I've invested the time to learn the script given that the english romanisation never lines up. Thai is probably THE most relevant. Learning Japanese I'd actually say the effectiveness of Romaji is most comparable to the romanisation of the Maori language. It works 90% of the time but not good enough to stick with long term. I'd rate the efficacy in Thai somewhere near 30 percent 15:42 - Fonts still drive me crazy given I didn't put enough time into learning over there. I'd struggling with the "marketing" font on signs and magazines. Thank you for a great tool Dai

[@thomasmckenney3518]

I have that book he mentioned. And a few others she wrote. Also her apps. When I was living in Thailand full time I found it easier to learn Thai/Isaan than now because I’m working in Poland so I only use it when talking to my wife which is limited.

[@marhar39]

Thanks, Stuart ... didn't know that you had those wonderful tools. I don't remember them from when I was a subscriber to Jacademy a couple of years ago - just coming back to learning Thai and they look really helpful. A part two of this video would be great! Thanks for your dedication to helping learners of Thai and other languages.

[@LanguageCrab]

I'd love a second part of this please! I teach in a rural classroom in Japan which is, to put it kindly, not providing the English students with all the info that's available to them... But when I tell the students about advice like this from people who have done it, the ones who are interested in English really take it on board. More pls.

[@scott1572]

Im learning thai and maybe at around the start of intermediate, i think i speak better then what i think because thais will speak fluent thai to me. Which i dont understand completely 😅

[@davidslchan]

I live in Chiang Mai. I had two hacks when I came here two years ago after covid. I am fluent in Cantonese Chinese which has even one more tone than Thai, and the same broken grammar as spoken Thai. So I spoke Cantonese in my head and blurted out the equivalent Thai phrases in the correct tones, and I was 80% understood. From having learnt Buddhist prayers, I can read classical Sanskrit, so the vowels surrounding the consonants did not trip me. But what I did to get to speaking Thai for an hour was to go to the suburbs when I'd like a beer, where nobody speaks any English, and have a few words with anybody curious about my Chinese face speaking Northern Thai. The common phrases and grammar are spoken to me so often that the usage and phrasing automatically registered in a few months.

[@StuartJayRaj]

For Chinese speakers - especially Cantonese speakers ...and also Vietnamese speakers, it's so much easier learning Thai through those languages rather than English. Many of the grammar principles, tone principles and even sounds (unaspirated vs. aspirated etc) are much more a part of those languages and some things that end up having quite convoluted explanations to get English speakers to understand a new concept, may be just something that's already baked into the language(s) that you already know.

[@Mickenos85]

At 86 i dont have too long left to learn thai. My wife says dont bother, youre too old etc. years ago , i thought reading thai should be where to start. But i lesrnt the allhabet and couldnt find the vowels. Plus , the only company i had and have in thai, is my wife, who speaks good english, so I was also unable to find anyone to let me practise on them. She has lots of 'friends' whose company I get once or twice a year. I feel since ive been here so long they look down on me for being unable to speak some thai. And would still like to learn to speak at least some cinversational thai. But I still have no one to bounce my practice off. So Im still looking for a majic bullet. Sadly its been so long Ive forgotten at lesst half the alphabet now too. So where donI find a method to fill in what .id like and may have time to learn and use ? Can you or anyone offer some ideas please.

[@jjjjjjjjooolllllllllll8395]

You can start with KZbin. Plenty of material here to go over the alphabet and useful phrases.

[@manalopalongo]

Good luck man! I'm very impressed with your ambition at 86. Go get it.

[@anthonyh4467]

GO FOR IT!! It's YOUR life, do what brings you joy!!

[@sazji]

I love your take on tones. Learning Vietnamese, and although all the teachers are showing them only in terms of pitch, now I think of them more in terms of their placement and how they “feel” in the mouth and throat. It’s almost like another consonant or vowel quality. Then again, I think that’s vital to really sound anywhere close to native in any language. After living in Greece for several years and trying to learn Turkish from a book, I finally went to Istanbul and the first thing I noticed was how different the basic vocal placement was. I just kept listening and trying to find that with my own vocal equipment, and of course that made it easier to notice other differences (aspirated vs in aspirated stops, actual vowel placement etc.) The “foreigner” version is funny; it happens in Turkey a lot too. Turkish is an insanely inflected+agglutinated language but if they think you’re new, they’ll speak in “Tarzanca” (“Tarzan-ese”) thinking it will help. (It doesn’t.)

[@AssistoBL]

Exactly, there is no magic formula to speak thai fluent in a month. I am Brazilian so my native language is Portuguese. I started to study thai in august of 2020 with 41 years old. And until today, I did not travel to Thailand yet. I do not study by textbooks. That year, I did not found speakers of thai and portuguese to pay for online lessons. So, I thought if I could understand the english that thai teachers speaks at You Tube. And, that is the way I studied thai since 2020. There is no good app to teach thai to portuguese. Really, it does not have portuguese texbook to study thai. I prefer to study from native thai because they speaks a different thai from de textbooks, more slangs. I knew since the start of my journey studying that Thai is a tonal language and at the begnning, I had the problem with the sound R (ร) that they change for L, but after saw the hints of the native teachers then I understood. To learn all the alphabet (consonants and vowels) take a long time so I changed to the method to learn some phrases, the numbers and after the pronouns, some verbs. And, of course that I watch thai series! Well, until today I still need my notes to write thai. I can listen the basic but could not write from memory.

[@mrmichael972]

Yes. More please. Thank you.

[@GenkiStarLeaf]

Stu, I would love for you make some content on how you can build an environment for learning Thai. Especially for us not living in the kingdom. This is something I’m personally really struggling with. This is great and insightful content from you as usual!

[@onponnoy5403]

Go to Thai temple. You'll meet Thai people to talk to.

[@andrewdunbar828]

Duolingo actually usually is done by people that speak the language. The problem is that they either don't know English as well, or they don't know how to teach their language, or both. They were using volunteers for years but that stopped a couple of years ago.

[@andrewdunbar828]

Every journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Guidebooks used to be that first step. Apps are probably that first step these days.

[@glenloader639]

I would like to see your second video on Mark Abbott.

[@brandonpartee8277]

I completely agree. It literally takes practice, practice, and more practice. I speak Thai every single day and i have dedicated practice with different apps, watching movies, ChatGPT for up to 3 to 4 hours per day on average but honestly, I use it almost as a secondary language since I made many acquaintances and friends. It took me about 3 to 4 months to go from 2 phrases to having basic conversations with native Thais while in Bangkok. Currently, I’m learning the Thai “alphabet.” Have fun with it and just know you’re going to make mistakes and mess up and you would definitely confuse the native Thai people, but they have been so helpful in correcting me and using ways to get my point across.

[@davidwilliams7552]

I have the same book..... a thai friend gave it to me...... he was the university teacher of the author.

[@RekimNZ]

Old school learning, yes 100% - I tried the apps, somewhat OK for me, but distracting. And once I was in Thailand, that's where my learning/speaking took off ! And yes please 2nd clip :)

[@angiealves]

I wish I could achieve a level like that. As a Brazilian Portuguese speaker, learning Thai is something really hard.

[@alex82776]

To be in the middle of the sea its the most important

[@lecannet]

This guy fascinates me so much n he b so fit too😂❤

[@NickLearnsThai]

You noted that Mark started learning as an adult but do you think age within adulthood makes a difference? There was a discussion about it on fb the other day with some people saying it does and some saying it doesn't. I've always thought that most of the English native speakers who I've seen speaking very good Thai who started learning as adults started learning in their early 20s and I assumed that there's a physiological difference in the brains of people at that age that helps them. However, another element that I only started thinking about more recently is that typically people in their early 20s have fewer commitments in life so its easier for them to get themselves in an immersion situation so that aspect can't be ignored either.

[@markabbottofficial]

I'll try to give my opinion on this. Age is certainly a factor and I find it strange when people try to deny that. I didn't have a lot of free time but I'm the kind of person who can't sit back and relax, I always need to be doing something or learning something. As far as age is concerned with regards to neuroplasticity and our ability to learn, yes, it's a factor and it will affect us all differently. The way I look at it is this: we can't change our age, so it's not something we should pay too much attention to, it just means we may need to exercise a little more patience. Lastly, as we get older, we often get "stuck in our ways" and this can be an obstacle to learning. I'm 40 years old now and I constantly have to remind myself to not be rigid in my thinking when tackling new topics.

[@NickLearnsThai]

@@markabbottofficial Hey Mark, thanks for your input!

[@BillWalters-kx8sw]

If you close your eyes you can tell he is not a native speaker, you can still hear his accent

[@limonade2684]

How can you whisper in a tonal language?

[@gasun1274]

you can still whisper tones

[@RudraNamulNasca2]

🥰🥰🥰

[@Prapatpong-f9k]

มันไม่ใช่พูดไทยชุดอย่างเดียวน่ะสิ บางคำ แอบเหน่อด้วย เหน่อแบบไทยแท้ ๆ เลยครับ คุณมาร์คเนี่ย

[@sociallypatterneddefect9580]

I learned Thai from bar girls

[@gilmai]

Great stuff as always. However, a couple of times now I've heard you comment on "OK" being tinglish that Thais don't really use amongst themselves. I respectfully disagree. I not only hear it all the time between Thai friends, I also hear it on TV. I think at this point it is just a full blown loan word like so many others. Though I am sure this is generational to some degree. Anyway, keep up the good work.

[@StuartJayRaj]

it's the type of ok. if you hear ok ok... said jumping the gun as a response (like I did in the clip), that is a tell. in Thai we use ok or เค regularly...but the delivery is different

[@gilmai]

@@StuartJayRaj Got it. Thanks for clarifying.

[@zenssdv493]

อาจารย์อดัม

[@friendlyfriendly2040]

คุณ มาร์ค แอบบอทค่ะ ไม่ใช่ อาจารย์อดัมส์

[@nevesbird7880]

react to the rest 😀

[@StuartJayRaj]

the rest? ... like who?

[@robertjames538]

I could not disagree more ! for someone who has really struggled with Thai for many many years the apps to me are a god send.I was probably one of Stuarts first customers to buy Cracking Thai fundamentals which sadly WAS sat on the shelf gathering dust for far too many years.But Stu's Cracking language site With the Consonant and vowels compass's (and SOUND)has been a complete game changer for me.The book is now dusted off and I,m looking forward to 2025 with a new passion..สวัสดีปีใหม่แด่ทุกคน

[@louis-raphael165]

I watched Mark's video before hand and, although inspiring, to me it's not really helpful. When I watch this type of videos I expect to learn new things I might not be aware of that would help me in my own language learning journey. Unfortunately, Mark just stayed on the surface with generalizations and doesn't provide any specific guidance. Yes, what he said is true but with a title like "How I learned to speak Thai fluently" I was expecting more like steps, resources, tips and tricks, recommendations, etc., rather than something like I opened a book and 5 months later I knew how to read and could speak some sentences. I mean it's nice to see how he improved over time from zero and how fast he's going but as a learner I don't personally feel I'm getting anything out of it, which is a bummer because he speaks at such a high level that I'm sure he has a lot of in-depth knowledge he could be sharing that would be more beneficial for any Thai learner out there.

[@markabbottofficial]

I had a lot of people asking me on my Instagram to do a video telling the story of how I did it. So the video was an unscripted conceptual story more than anything. It wasn't intended to be a tutorial so I'm sorry to have disappointed haha. The only resource I used was that book so I'm not able to give any more. I think Stu's resources look amazing.

[@trainingday6858]

I won't be listening to this guy. Took him 20 years to speak Thai fluently

[@mixalis6168]

How long has it take you, since you wont listen to Mark !!!!

[@StuartJayRaj]

that is curious logic. He didn't mention how long it took him.

[@ady38]

​@@StuartJayRajI think he said it took about 2 years..which is very impressive! I've been at it 1.5 years and still struggling...living offshore doesn't help though.

[@JS-ir7wh]

You need to work on your listening comprehension. That is not what he said at all.

[@trainingday6858]

Settle down. Its a joke