My Learn Thai Fitness Challenge
Week 16 of my Six Month Attempt to Become Fluent in Thai
It is kind of incredible the way my perspective can change so dramatically over the course of a few days. This time last week, it felt like I’d stopped making progress in Thai, but this week I’m back firing on all cylinders again. I attribute much of my renewed enthusiasm to setting a clearer goal (make a video where I talk about my life), but I’ve also made some dramatic changes to my study routine.
My Thai Fitness Routine
I need a minimum of 60 minutes of moderately intense exercise most day, or I start to feel like crap. I work on a computer for about 10 hours per day, and if I don’t get enough exercise, I start to transform into this grotesque computer slug. My usual exercise routine is to go for a 90 minute walk and jog on the beach, but I’ve been skipping this so I can use that time for studying Thai. I’ve been still managing about 30 to 40 minutes of light exercise at home most days, but it just isn’t enough to maintain my fitness.
The obvious answer to getting back into shape would be to resume my daily visits to the beach – I can still listen to some Thai audio on my iPhone. The only problem with that it’s now the rainy season in Thailand, and it just isn’t possible most days. This is why I’ve decided to create a home exercise routine that is not only going to get me back up to a good level of fitness but also help me learn Thai.
My plan is to step, run, and skip my way through the Glossika Thai Fluency course. The GSR part of the program contains about 80 hours of audio, and my plan is to exercise my way through this at least once by the end of my challenge. I’ll be doing review lessons as well, so if I can manage 90 minutes of exercise per day – that will be 110 hours of Glossika. I’m also writing out all the 3,000 sentences on a spreadsheet, and I listen to the GSM A files in the car for about 50 minutes every day.
I’ve been doing my Thai exercise routine for a week, and so far it’s working really well. I just seem better able to absorb material when my heart is pumping – my focus is much better. Perhaps my enthusiasm will begin to wane, but I love these type of challenges.
Telling My Story in Thai
As I mentioned in my last post, my main goal for this challenge is for me to be able to make a video where I tell my story in Thai. I expect this to be about 15 to 20 minutes in length. I’m spending about an hour a day figuring out what I want to say and practicing how to say it. I will be doing a lot of rehearsal beforehand, but I want this video to sound as natural as possible – I won’t be reading the words. If I can make this video, and Thai people can understand what I’m saying, this six months of intense study will be well worth it for me. I plan to post audio of my progress in future posts, so I can get some feedback from you guys.
Other posts in this series on learning Thai
Week 0- My Quest to Speak Fluent Thai in Six Months
Week 1 -Creating the Right Mental Conditions for Learning Thai
Week 2- Maybe Just Getting Out There and Speaking Thai is Not Enough
Week 3 – 5 Improvements in My Approach to Learning Thai
Week 4 – Generating Enough Passion to Learn Thai
Week 5 – Undoing the Damage from Speaking Thai Badly for Thirteen Years
Week 6 – Early Impressions of Glossika Thai Fluency Course
Week 7 – Introverts Can Learn Thai Too
Week 8 – Winning Strategy for Achieving Fluency in Thai
Week 9 – Thai Fluency in 10,000 Sentences
Week 10 – Problems with Staying Focused Prevent Me from Learning Thai
Week 11 – Importance of Cracking Thai Fundamentals
Week 12 – Painful Lessons while Ordering Pizza in Thai
Week 13- If I Can Become Fluent in Thai, So Can Anyone
Week 14 – How I Make Time to Study Thai
Week 15 – Redefining Fluency After Losing My Way While Learning Thai
