Negativity is highly important in language learning, I wield it as a weapon, I was highly negative about the way most people seemed to be learning to read and write Chinese which allowed me to think up something that worked better for me. I guess you had a bit of a downer on the traditional approach to learning Thai. Really we just have to be careful about what it is we are being negative and positive about.

You should however encourage and relish negative comments about your approach because each one gives you a chance to reflect and hopefully confirm what you already believe but there maybe the precious few that allow to adjust your view. It is important to note that there is research to suggest that telling yourself positive messages it very ineffective, receiving them from others is effective if they are targeted so that we can a least believe they have merit.

You are in a kind of virtuous cycle at the moment where you will get a lot of positive feedback for being “Benny the Irish Polgot” that will boost your confidence and make you more effective going forward for sure (how can it not, especially if it helps you to earn a living) and there is nothing wrong in that, it does have to be taken into consideration though.

I am not learning Thai but if I would start your post would encourage me to believe that the reading aspect of Thai is not a big deal (in the course of things) I suspect I would have been pretty negative about more traditional approaches though anyway.

Is there a browser plug-in for Thai, running a mouse over Thai text and getting immediate feedback on the breakdown of the words etc. is something I would do right from the beginning, based on similar experience with Chinese you may find that some of the simplified rules about how it works just sink in quite quickly and don't even need to be defined consciously. I would certainly look at that anyway but only by applying a little negativity to the assumption that you have found the best solution…………..

On a side note, check out David Smith's Thai – Essential Grammar. Some pages are showcased on Google Books:

http://books.google.com/books?id=BviXf002XyQC&d...

Fantastic grammar in a nutshell compilation for advanced readers and novices alike. Keep up the good work!

Given that Hindi uses a different alphabet and characters, would you recommend I try and learn the script or just focus on speaking & listening?
Thanks,

I gotta admit I was one of those sceptics when I saw your first post saying that you could “read the language” while all you did was “knowing the alphabet” (not the same thing at all obviously) but now, you are damn right, you summarize in a few lines what entire books barely cover, and explain it in layman's terms. Chapeau.

Chiang Mai is a cool party city and very lively, but it can get overwhelming especially if you live near the city center and/or are not a sex tourist. I'd recommend the area between the city itself and Doi Suthep, where CM University is located and the only whities are nice retired couples and guys training muay thai at the local gym. And if you decide to swing by Chiang Rai, hit me up on CS.org (I am the only host)

Re your comment on the room key controlling the AC (can't remember if that was in this post or another), I have seen the same thing in Penang and Manila.