Although David and I will be
enrolled in a Thai language school when we get to Pattaya, we really wanted to
get a head start. We quickly learned Thai is much harder than we originally
thought. Thai is a tonal language and it is nearly impossible to try and teach
yourself. We couldn’t even find a Rosetta Stone or similar computer program
that would teach it. Thankfully, TMM missionaries in Thailand sent us materials
to help us get started, but we wouldn’t have been able to use it without the
help of our friends, JJ and Suwit.
A few months ago, we didn’t
have any Thai friends here in Alabama. I called around at our local Thai
restaurants to see if anyone would be willing to help us learn the language.
The owner of Phuket restaurant called me back and we set up a meeting. I
told him about our ministry and upcoming move to Thailand and he was so kind
and volunteered to teach us for free until he could find someone to teach us
weekly. Suwit had already taught his sons Thai and taught us out of Thai book
for preschoolers. He was so nice and patient with us; Thai language has not
been easy for us to learn.
Suwit introduced us to JJ
after a few weeks. JJ is a physical therapist from Thailand who is in the
process of switching over her licensure to the United States. She teaches us
Thai for an hour each week and then we help her study for her TOEFL and GRE
exams for an hour. Suwit has allowed for us to keep meeting at his restaurant
each week for lessons and of course we always order delicious Thai food.
We just completed the
alphabet and have a very, very long way to go but we are really enjoying
learning the language even though it has been a very humbling experience. We
honestly look forward to it every week now and love spending time with JJ.
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| JJ teaching David |
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| Practicing Thai Handwriting |
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| The preschool book we used to learn letters and numbers |
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| Thai Alphabet |
