Thai & I- Why I speak ภาษาไทย fluently Friends and followers may have noticed Thai among the list of languages that I speak, so I wanted to explain for those who are interested in studying the language or are simply curious about why someone with absolutely 0% Thai heritage would be a fluent speaker. Seems a little strange, doesn't it? I won't lie, it kind of is. :) Knowing my experience with the language helps explain how I got to this point. I've lived in Thailand for a total of 3 years working in a few different capacities, most recently as a teacher in a public elementary school. When I first arrived in Bangkok in 2006, I couldn't speak a single word of Thai. Not even สวัสดี (Sawat dee) or anything simple. I had few materials besides a big, complicated dictionary and a handmade script card. As I bumbled and fumbled about in that massive city, I really felt like it was impossible for me to learn and speak Thai successfully. It was really stressful and a bit depressing. As time went on though, I began to realize a tactic that helped me a lot. I did everything I possibly could to make learning and speaking Thai fun. I learned some zany slang terms. I learned some classic Thai proverbs that caused virtually everyone I talked to to burst out laughing. I picked up some various dialects and other quirks of the language that really helped me communicate. And I took note of everything that I didn't understand (for future clarification) and tried to follow every piece of language advice I recieved from locals or other fluent Thai speakers. As this happened, learning the language changed from being a challenge to being something I truly enjoyed. It gave me incredible access to the amazing elements of Thai culture, something that has continued to benefit me even here in Europe. In the end, I continued my work in the Thai language, eventually taking the Annual Profeciency Exam given by the Thai Ministry of Education. It was extremely hard (a story for another time, maybe), but I achieved above average scores in all disciplines and the top score in the speaking assessment (native level fluency). I also took a Thai profeciency exam through New York University and recieved a perfect score. The goal of this story isn't to toot my own horn (I have a looooong way to go with multiple other languages) but to give some hope to everyone else studying Thai or other languages. Don't give up! Find resources to help you, and make it fun! It will be worth it in the long run. :)