[TLR]

Sorry for not replying before Colin. GOt lost in life for a while (unfortunately!!). I went to Mexico 8 years ago and could only ask "Donde estan los banos?" if I needed to pee and not much else! You don't really need it to get a teaching job as many schools have the old-fashioned idea that it should be English only in the classroom. Also good schools will give you free Spanish classes. Obviously it's a good idea to know some of the language for everyday living, but that'll come with time. It's part of the fun learning the language through experience any way, isn't it? Have you picked up much Thai? I assume that'd be much harder to learn than Spanish which is pretty easy as it's very phonetic.

[Colin]

Thanks for the reply TLR, all info is welcome.

The most difficult part of learning Thai for me is that it's tonal and spoken slightly slower, but it's easy enough to pick up. I'm used to speaking in kind of monotonal voice so this is a nice change.

I agree with you on the learning by experience. When you have to know it to get by you start learning quickly, plus it's more fun too because most people are slightly surprised when a foreigner can just hello.