I am currently reading "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" by David Sedaris. This particular quote made me laugh out loud because it puts to words exactly how I sometimes feel about learning Thai. He is talking about his experience living in France and learning French.
"...I'd lament the sorry state of my French. Oh, my comprehension had improved - I could understand just about everything that was said to me - but when it came to speaking I tended (and still do) to freeze up. It wouldn't hurt me to be more social, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. The phone rings and I avoid it. Neighbors knock and I duck into the bedroom or crouch behind the daybed until they've left. How different things might be I think if I had no more hiding places. Though harsh in other respects, prison would be an excellent place to learn a foreign language - total immersion, and you'd have the new slang before it even hit the streets... Still, though, you'd have your little conversations. In the cafeteria, in the recreation room or crafts center, if they have them in French prison, and I imagine they do..." (Pages 185-186)
Perhaps I should spend some time in a Thai prison to improve my Thai language abilities...
That's how I feel learning Czech, too. I hide when people knock on the door (in my defense, it's often the Jehova's Witnesses), and I avoid the shops where I have to ask for the things I want. I know it's ridiculous -- I can carry on a conversation if I want or need to -- but I do it anyway.
ReplyDeleteI hear Thai prisons are exceedingly bad places, though, so you might learn, but at what cost? :-p