Tod Daniels

Surprisingly I won this program in a contest from the "Women Learning Thai (and some men too)" website a while back. Thanx for the heads up about the up graded version, I just downloaded it.

Believe me I do not give out praise lightly, but this is one slick program! The choices you have to display what ever way you can read phonetics is outstanding, as is the clarity in the audio for the words. I use both it and thai-language dot com many, many times a day

They really put some time into this and my hats off to Benjawan on this endeavor. Really top notch!

Oh, and to answer the poster known as klons, I just looked at Paiboon Publishings website and it would appear that it is NOT a mac dealy at this time. Then again not being the most computer literate person I could be wrong, so heres the link;

Paiboon Publishing

Go to Walen. SNIPPED

Sadly this sounds all too much like yet another "shill post" for a school which shall remain nameless .

Last time I checked (which I do periodically ), the TOPIC of this thread is about C/C payments not being accepted at private thai language schools.

How in the heck did it morph into another one of the (n)ever popular and "(un)insightful methods to teach thai" threads?

Even more mind wobbling, how did it become a discussion about any school which has a method that "magically" makes the student begin to THINK in thai from day one, be it AUA or who ever . As a new student, sitting classes at ANY school that speaks ONLY thai for hours and HOURS, yields far more frustration than fruition early on.

Thinking in thai, when you can't even ask, "Where is the bathroom?" It's sheer madness to even entertain fanciful thoughts of that nature and you my posting friend are smoking something stronger than กัญชา maybe ยาบ้า!!

BACK ON TOPIC:

I called 5 other private thai language schools at random, which I just pulled outta my thai language school favorites folder, and they all will accept credit cards; IF you pay the percentage (which varies from 2-5%).

Anecdotally AND TOTALLY OFF TOPIC:

Several years ago I purchased an airline ticket from Honey Sun Travel (coincidentally a forum sponsor and a business which is under the "Walen corporate umbrella"). I was told in no uncertain terms I'd hafta pay a percentage to use my C/C to pay, but either a bank transfer to their account or cash would waive said percentage.

So, because enquiring minds (like nosy people such as myself) wanna know;

If a potential student elects to pay for their yearly tuition via C/C at Walen, is there an added percentage by using that method of payment? OR WHAT?

MODZ: please know I am NOT downin’ Walen or his sponsorship, only asking a genuine and quite valid question. ..

(In other words: PLEASE don't ban me! I already know I am close to the line.)

According to the letter of the law, wiping your own arse is working, in fact thinking about wiping your own arse would also fit.

The last time I checked ‘arse wiping’ WAS a thai only trade and included in one of the 37 odd trades foreigners are prohibited from working in. (I think it's right after driving a tuk-tuk on the list )

I did some further checking though, and it would appear, in the field of "arse wiping" foreigners can work, but ONLY as ‘consultants’!!

Sorry couldn’t resist.

And now back on topic.

I guess the difference is that I can pronounce Micro SD card.

Probably they understood you because you pronounced those words with a thai accent "microo et-di gard"

I have heard ไม่ทราบว่า used quite a lot by native speakers. However I mostly hear it when the person asking doesn't know who someone is or where a particular place is located, not generally in regards to if a particular product is carried in a store.

For constructs like that I hear most often hear

มี-what ever you're asking for (possibly with the classifier)-มั้ย Which is just; "(Do you) have blah-blah?" I've had that work 10 outta 10 times with things I'm tryin' to find in shops.

Please understand I'm not doubtin' your wife’s native thai speaking ability or her assertion that it 'sounds more polite'. It's just not something I hear thais use when askin' about things. Like I said, it's mostly facts, who, locations and directions to some place. Nor am I saying it doesn't 'play'; just that it sound kinda artifically pretentious to me in the context you're using it in .

Then again I'm most definitely NOT a native speaker. But then again, neither are you, lol...

You'd be better off stickin' with

มีน้ำขวดมั้ย or ขายน้ำขวดมั้ย Have bottled water? Sell bottled water?

Strangely enough; I was at a Siam Commercial Bank branch the other day when an old thai lady came wobbling in with one of those medium sized green heavy paper Robinson's shopping bags. She placed it near an empty chair, walked over to get a transaction slip and queue number from the service person.

As I'm the nosy sort and it was my turn to be waited on, I walked past her still empty chair and glanced down into the bag. It was full to nearly the top with bundles of 1000baht bills!! I mean, there had to be hundreds of thousands of baht in that bag. It was just sitting there whilst the old thai lady tottered around to and fro inside the bank seemingly without a care in the world or even a second thought about leaving that kinda money sitting on the floor in the general seating area in a shopping bag. Even when my transaction was finished, the old lady hadn't made it back to her seat yet.

Sadly stupidity knows no borders, no nationalities, and is something you find everywhere in the world. Now is the 'thief' a bad guy, dunno. However if I saw a well stuffed envelope lying around with no one looking after it, I too might be tempted to pick it up (if only to see if I could return it to its rightful owner ).

I will concur “Opportunistic Person Pockets Envelope of Cash a Stupid Customer Left on the Counter", just doesn't have the same sensationalistic spin to it, nor does it do much to elicit sympathy for the moron who left it sitting there in the first place.

FWIW: I hope they never catch the opportunist .

I apologize in advance that this is a LONG post, but none the less, I think the O/P will find it of some marginal value

I cannot short sell how important it is to be able to read thai. It is NOTHING but word after word memorization. So much so, that when you see a thai word written in context you know what it means.

I already know we will have the thai language purists who will come out in droves, saying no, no, no! But recognizing a spelt word in thai is worth VOLUMES! I know some people who can pronounce a word perfectly in thai, tones and all, yet have abso-tively posi-lutely NO idea what it means. To me, that aint worth shit . If I can see a word and know its meaning, well, that means MORE. .. Even if my pronunciation of that word is total crap, I know what it means.

If you learn to recognize thai words as they are spelled in thai, when you see that word you know if it's; enter, he-she-they, white, rice, mountain (same as he-she), news, horn of an animal, a human knee, or a very bad smell, etc. Reading is KEY. But really, reading is mostly something you do in context of what's written. It's not that hard.

Yes I know thai has 44 consonants BUT they make only 21 sounds, so you cut it by more than half already. I know thai has 32 vowel sounds, but if you combine the engrish vowels we have nearly as many sound combinations. (In fact I think there are only three vowel sounds we dont have in engrish.)

Long ago, I stopped tryin' to do low-medium-high toned words because I listened to thais and when they spoke they just blurred 'em all together. Instead I concentrated on either falling or rising tones in high frequency words I would speak in a normal day like tiger, shirt, (although I rarely talk about tigers) But I remembered those words because shirts (at least for me) I pulled DOWN over my body เสื้อ (seuua^F) a FALLING tone, whilst tigers เสือ jump at you (seuua^R) a RISING tone.(and yes I know that mats lie on the ground, thanx). Those falling/rising toned words are the ones that will get you off script FAST!!

Once I concentrated on the rising or falling tones, the understandability of my spoken thai went up by volumes! I'd tell you FORGET the low, medium, high toned words and try to get the rising or falling tones on words you speak every day to match up with what thais say.

Yes, I know the normal word for 'dog' in thai is หมา (maa^R) rising tone, but if I use the "real" word for dog สุนัข (soo^L nak^H), no one confuses it with a horse ม้า (maa^H) high tone. Just like I know the word for "ride" is ขี่ but a LOW tone (khee^L) and the colloquial word for "shit" is ขี้ a FALLING tone (khee^F) and I remember that one only because shit falls out of your ass towards the ground! It's the same as I can remember the difference between white ขาว (khaao^R) and rice ข้าว (khaao^F) because white clouds are in the sky and rice grows outta the ground. (rising and falling)

You can learn this language, and EASILY be understood, IF you forget high, medium, low toned words and just concentrate on falling and rising tones.

As a thai gurl who sells "tickets' would say; COME ON MAN. Sorry that is my slang; ผู้หญิงขายตัว (phuu^F ying^R khaai^R dtuaa^M) = girl who sells her body, BUT ผู้หญิงขายตั๋ว (phuu^F ying^R khaai^R dtuaa^R) = girl who sell tickets, lol. Then again do you want 'one way', 'round trip' or 'express' service? See my slang might work, huh?

You can crack this nut! I am FAR from the sharpest tool in the proverbial shed, and I almost have this nut cracked!!

Then again, maybe not

Ahhh the perils and pitfalls of trying to write what we think we hear a thai say but using engrish. (I'm NOT knocking the O/P because I do karaoke engrish/thai all the time too )

Without more info from the O/P it's a total crap shoot if anyone has really gotten it or not.

Note to the O/P (and really to ANYONE who posts threads like this): the things that will help posters figure out what you're on about are;

CONTEXT; what was the topic of the conversation preceding and following the phrase you're asking about?

WHO was in the conversation? Was it people you know very well like family and/or close friends, were they relative strangers, was it in mixed company (men & women) or with just guys, etc?

WHERE did this conversation take place; a beer/go-go bar, at home watching t/v, in the bedroom, in a restaurant, out on the street, in casual conversation, in an office or more formal environment? Did you hear it in the city or were you up-country in Nakhon Nowhere?

WHAT dialect were they speaking? Were they speaking bangkokian (central) thai, issan thai, northern thai, southern thai? This often overlooked factor does come into play as well.

These small tidbits of valuable info can go a long way in deciphering what ever it is you thought you'd heard. Especially once you factor in there are way too many native engrish speaking accents which could yield different pronunciations. I don't know if I should I say it like a kiwi, an auzzie, a californian, a midwesterner, a new yorker, a floridian, or a hillbilly from Tennessee. Then again maybe it's more like a brit, scotch, or irish person would say it. They'd all sound different!

Still, I think the O/P has some definite possible answers to what they heard. Dunno until they weigh back in and let us know who's right.

As An Aside:

The first correct reply will then be presented (at their own expense ) with the highly sought after, yet rarely awarded; "I can decipher engrish spelled thai stuff" wall plaque . (Some restrictions apply, read the fine print. ..)

Good Luck

Given the thai penchant ESPECIALLY in print news and colloquial speech to use abbreviations known in thai as คำย่อ (kham^M yaaw^F); Benjawan Becker came out with this a while ago. It's got a lot of the most common ones you'll hear whilst out and about.

I actually think it's available as a c/d which is one of Benjawan's "Speak Like A Thai" series that she's got out.

Here's the video;

At about 1:53 or so in the vid, the term you're asking about comes up. Listen for it to get the pronunciation down clearly (even though it's sang in an awfully high falsetto voice! )

FWIW: thai abbreviations are something really worth learning!! You can hardly make heads or tails out of a thai language newspaper if you aren’t dialed into the incredible amount of abbreviated terms they use.

Why do all the hassle when they are giving out 2x Tourist VIsa from Cambodia so easy now ! .,

Poipet 2h from BKK then let the agent take the passport then w8 2 night at the casino Hotel then done ! . ,

How do you know who to trust your passport with in that town?

Im seriously interested but who do you trust?

Do they send the passport to pnomphen?

With more and more reports on the T/V forum about the thai embassy in Vientiane cracking down on issuing visas to ‘perpetual-tourists’; there are more than a few visa run services which do this type of ‘run’ to Cambodia now.

You take a mini-van (or bus depending on the number of foreigners) to Poipet, stay at the casino hotel two nights, your passports are couriered to Phnom Penh where they get the visa and are then brought back to you. Transportation, meal vouchers, rooms, Cambodian visa, etc, all included for a single price.

They seem to be doing it without a hitch, as I know a few people who’ve used them and it works.

It could be a good option. Dunno really.

Then again as this thread is titled "Vientiane Denying Tourist Visas Now?", my post is more than a little off topic. Still I hope you find it of interest.

Yes อ้อม is the key word. You can say may tong pay om, may tong pha om, may tong krap lot om na... (ไม่ต้องขับรถอ้อมนะ)

Indeed the critical word is อ้อม which means to approach by a round about way like a ทางอ้อม..

I wouldn't use ไม่ต้อง in this sentence construct as it implies more an "it's not necessary" quality. I'd also forgo the นะ at the end, as that just is a useless particle to slightly urge agreement or to make the sentence less a command and more a polite request.

Instead I'd try something stronger like อย่าไปทางอ้อมซิ (DON'T go the round about way!). At the end I'd throw in a ซิ (or perhaps a สิ as I get those two mixed up in speaking, lol) to indicate this is NOT a polite request, but an imperative. Then I'd probably say ไปทางตรงดีกว่า which is just 'go the direct way is better'. I have found by using อย่า (DON’T) you change what you're saying from an indirect type of polite request into something that carries a LOT more unspoken emotive qualities than by using ไม่ต้อง (Not necessary).

It is my experience that the stronger you voice an objection to something the better results you often get. Telling a taxi driver it's not necessary to go the long way doesn't compel him to go the direct way, nor does it convey your displeasure to the overly circuitous route he's now taking.

Then again, I speak super blunt direct and to the point thai, just like I speak english. Of course not being thai I’m neither obligated nor bound to following their indirect, overly polite sentence constructs either. I need to get results, I don’t mince words, and if they’re doing something incorrectly, I certainly want them to know about it. Quite surprisingly, I’ve never ever had thais comment on the bluntness of my speech and most of the time I achieve my goal(s) too. Go figure, who-da thunk it?

Now you mileage may indeed vary.

If I understand you correctly, your current multi-entry type ED visa has a ‘must be utilized before’ (or an expiration date) of the 14th of January. So about another 10 or so days.

Now, if you were to say ‘run for the border’ on the 13th of this month, you’d get another 90 day stamp when you re-enter thailand. (That's the way multi-entry non-immigrant visas work, each entry gets you a new 90 day permission to stay stamp, so if you time the runs right you get about 15 months out of the visa.) That’d give you until about the middle of April to sort this all out. It's a thought.

You need to get the paperwork and stuff hashed out from the school when you still have a month or so left on your last permission to stay until stamp.

And NO I’ve never ever seen in Bangkok for attending a private thai language school a student get anything more than a 90 day extension.

If you’re gonna leave the country after you got the extension of stay you’d need a re-entry permit. But as re-entry permits are only valid for the current extension of stay (so in the case of you receiving an in country permission of stay for 90 days, any re-entry permit you’d buy would only be good for the same amount of time.)

I usually advise people if they think they’re goin’ outta the country, just pick up a single entry re-entry permit for 1000baht when you get the in-country extension of stay at Thai Immigrations.

I hope this wasn’t too confusing. It’s certainly not as complicated as I make it out to be. Feel free to send me a P/M if you have any questions.

My "Utilize by" date on Visa is later in January

And there my thai visa posting pundits is the critical sentence in the above poster's post. As long as he exits the country BEFORE his "must be used by" date stamped ON the original visa at what ever thai embassy they got it at; the second entry will activate without a hitch.

It is the mixing up the two dates; One is how long the entire visa is valid for and is stamped ON the visa at the Embassy where you got it. The other is a permission to stay until stamp and is a seperate stamp you get inside the country at Thai Immigrations when you do a 30 day extension of stay. That stamp does NOT lengthen the original visa's validity by a single day!! It only lengthens the time allowed in country on that particular entry.

Given most double entry tourist visas that I have seen have a validty of 90 days, if people cut it to the last day of their first 60 days before they get their extensions, and then burn up all of those 30 days too before running for the border; sometimes the way the calander works out you come up a day late and a dollar short.

I hope this isn't too confusing. ..

That type of visa (a multi entry Type ED) is good for stays in country of up to 90 days at a time and usually has a validity of one year from date of issue.

AM I wrong to assume you've been runnin' for the border every 3 months to garner another 90 days stay in country? (Please, DO correct me if I'm wrong.)

With this type of visa IF you border run one last time before the "must be utilized by" date (NOT to be confused with the current “permission to stay until” stamp), you can get another 90 days and in total nearly 15 months out of this visa.

Have you done this already?

If you continue to study the thai language and your school is registered with the Ministry of Education, they can provide you with supporting documentation which would allow you to secure an 'extension of stay' at Thai Immigrations.

Now normally with private thai language schools in Bangkok the extensions given at Changwattana Immigrations are for 90 days at a time. So you'd need to do this every 90 days at the cost of 1900baht each extension. The school will usually give you your new paperwork a few weeks early, but it is your responsibility to know when your extension runs out not theirs.

Also remember once you get an extension of stay, the re-entry permit part of your old visa expires when it does, and if you leave the country without buying a new re-entry permit your extension of stay dies when you exit the country and you're back to less than square one.

One last thing in this too long already post, is. ... Once you get an extension of stay, you must report to Immigrations when you stay in country over 90 days.

This has NOTHING to do with your extension or visa and everything to do with the law that foreigners who reside in thailand longer than 90 days need to report their address. (90 day reporting is free though!)

Hands down, this is clearly the number ONE reason foreigners who have double entry tourist visas write on this forum and complain about losing their second entry.

In their endeavor to max out the days they can stay in the glorious Land O Thais, they neglect to pay attention to the Enter BEFORE date (sometimes it also says must be utilized by). They inevitably get a 30 day in-country extension on the first entry and then put off running for the border until the very last day of the extension. Then when they show up at the border, cross over and come back theyre told visa finish already. Usually depending on nationality, the best they can get is the 15 day visa exempt stamp for a land crossing.

I have had all to many tourist call me and ask if this "can be sorted out" at Changwattana. The answer is always NO, as their original visa expired already. It is just an end of story type of problem.

I think this is a good post and should be mandatory reading to anyone here on a tourist visa while also playing the in-country extension game to max out your stay here!

I just got an email response from PRO Language, and indeed they don’t accept credit card payments for tuition. They do however accept bank transfers .

I have in the past, went into a thai bank, used my credit card, and had money transferred into a company’s thai bank account. You might check with your c/c issuer and see if this is a possibility. It would be a shame to forego the quality of thai language education PRO Language offers.

Then again, I’d say call some of the schools I recommended in the other post and see what they offer in terms of payment plans or methods. I have seen the ‘pay as you go’ plan becoming a LOT more popular in the thai language schools I’ve visited and reviewed.

(Shameless plug )

Interested in my “take on a thai language school” here in Bangkok? Read the pinned thread at the top of this forum called appropriately enough; “Best Thai Language School”.

BTW: I’m NOT affiliated with ANY private thai language school, and only offer out the reviews for anyone who is sincerely interested in learning thai.

Good Luck

(Sorry this is long)

Sadly there is no P/6 exam given by the thai government anymore for foreigners . It's another type of proficiency testing, but. ..

Be that as it may; I know a LOT of private thai teachers who might meet your needs.

The question is; what (other than improving your 'effluency' <sic> sorry meant fluency in thai) do you want from the classes? If indeed your thai is at the level you self-assess it to be , you probably want a more custom tailored class than the bais stuff. Also there are more than enough P/1-P/6 practice test books out there at the government bookstores to self test and see what your strong areas are and what things you need to work on.

Never the less;

Here're a few questions which need to be gotten outta the way first. Questions which any potential thai teacher would need to know to 'custom fit' a class for you;

*Do you have your own study materials, or expect the teacher to provide them?

*How many hours a week and at what times are you intending to study?

*Where is a convenient location for you to meet and study?

*Do you want conversation based only, reading and then question/answer stuff to gauge your comprehension, writing exercises or a combination of all of it?

*Would you be interested in studying with a small group of foreigners with similar desires in language acquisition and a similar level of thai, (a LOT cheaper), or do you prefer one on one (more expensive)?

*After a sample lesson would you be willing to buy 'blocks' of time (say 10 hours at a whack at a discounted price) or do you prefer to pay hour by hour?

I couldn't even begin to recommend a teacher without getting those questions answered. Then again even perusing the T/V classified ads yields no shortage of alleged thai teachers, and Im sure a quick Google would turn up even more.

Strangely enough (or not ), rates vary widely. I've seen 'em as low as 150baht an hour up to a mind wobbling 750baht an hour! While in the US, a higher price point usually means a higher level of quality, I have not found this to be the case here by any wild stretch of the imagination.

In fact, some of the most expensive private thai teachers I've met here have abso-tively posi-lutely no business even attempting to teach thai to foreigners. (Theyre about as qualified as the plethora of foreigners here who have no business teaching engrish to the thais, yet do anyway). Seein as there is no vetting of ability or standardized teaching in the private thai language sector, (as most do it under the table as far as taxes, companies, etc) anyone, including their uncle Somchai and/or his pet soi dog, can simply teach thai to foreigners by handing out cards, or making flyers.

My research has shown that the privately taught thai language sector is by far the most sketchy area in the entire niche market of foreigners learning the thai language. Bang-4-the-baht varies wildly, quality of materials is haphazard at best, and there is even less recourse than offered at a welll known private thai language school (which is next to nonexistent) if things dont work out and you want customer satisfaction. Even hooking up with a known private thai language school is no guarantee that youll get quality results. It really is a crap shoot out there as far as finding a thai teacher whose ability, personality and teaching materials mesh with your goals.

The best private thai language teachers Ive met operate almost 100% by word of mouth, their current and former students refer others to them, and if they advertise at all its very little. The best ones also have prior experience in the teach thai to foreigners field, something I feel is a necessity if a thai persons gonna get into the business.

Good Luck. ..

In reading the other post by the O/P, it would appear those muggers could have stolen his rose colored glasses too!

Outside my office building I just saw two foreigners with a couple of Heinekens in hand. I walked towards them and thought do I hit them or ask them if they have another?

As an aside;

"bkkjames I may have just inadvertently walked past your office, but I don't drink beer. ..

You sure it wasn't a guy with a cane, in a KISS t-shirt carrying a bottle of SangSom?

Just checking. I always like to err on the side of caution, lol especially around the more illustrious posers <sic> err posters here on T/V.

A quick view of this video (dunno if it's the 'official MV') shows a clay-mation gurl getting fatter. Also the picture of the pug in the beginning of the video stretches fatter. Dunno, really. Just thought I'd share it.

Acappella 7 - ตุ่ม

David's translation is far better than I could offer out and I'd run with it. ..

FWIW; given the flowery prose, tons of current slang, the high usage of idiomatic expressions in songs of ANY nationality and the fact who ever writes a song is forced to stay within the rhythm of the song, I found early on thai songs are a tough row to hoe, in direct translating or anything other than an adjunct to learning.

One thing you hafta remember, as evidenced by your post; there is a very high usage of verbs in thai (ไป, มา, เข้า, ออก, ขึ้น, ลง) which are only used to show the main verbs directionality in regards to the speaker or subject. Things come towards, or away from whoever or whatever is the subject of the sentence.

I found when I'd skip the verbs used as directionality markers and use just the main verbs until I worked out the context I got the meanings faster. Then plug in the directional markers and see if it's an activity which is coming towards or going away from the subject in the verse.

The near total lack of, or the use of more intimate personal pronouns (เธอ, ฉัน even มัน) and a lot of 'felt' stuff or ความ'd things and it gets even harder still.

I've got several hundreds of thai songs on my p/c with the thai lyrics as well as what I've back translated myself and asked people to help with. So are spot on, some are a little further from being on the money. I found it's better NOT to go line by line but verse by verse as you'll often get something closer to what the writer meant as an overall idea. The chorus's aren't usually as bad.

I'm trying to back translate some simple engrish songs into thai that stay within the meter of the songs and it is a hair-pulling experience (thankfully I am nearly hair-less do to my advanced age, but I do a lot of teeth gnashing, lol)

That website ethaimusic dot com has a lot of songs, and a pretty active forum for translating songs. Their engrish translations aren't all that bad, but sometimes they're not all that good either.

Google translates is a tough one to use, as it keeps tying to match to groups of words already in the program, so a lot of what you get is hogwash or unreadable nonsense.

Either use thai-2-engrish, or thai-language's bulk look up feature (and if you do use thai-language's site make sure you go to the site settings tab on the main page and click the allow racy gay/lesbian content boxes; that's where the 'new' current slang is hidden.

Now I could be wrong on this (as I all too often am) but. ... It is my experience that a ตุ่ม is one of those fat squat clay water pots that they use up country to catch rain water off the house roof. I have heard it used as a idiom or descriptive term for a woman who is more than pleasingly plumb. (However I have heard it as a nick name for a very thin gurl too, so go figure ). A quick google showed me about as many hits for that clay pot as people with pimples, so I really couldn't hazard a guess, lol.

Good luck, while that song isn't my style keep at it.

It'd be a shame to lose out on the type of quality thai language program offered by Pro, just because they can't or won't accept credit cards.

FWIW: I went to their website and sent them a blind request saying I was interested in their year long course, and wanted to pay via a C/C. We'll see if I get an answer.

If they still won't do it, you could try Thai Language Station up on the 14th floor in the Time's Square building. It's a quality school as well very similar to Pro. There's also a pretty good one in the FICO Tower building on Asok called Thai Language Solutions. Language Express is another great choice. There certainly are no shortage of private thai language schools in the greater bangkok area, so call around, take their free class and see if they work for you.

You could also ask them if you could may payments every month or every three months on the program. I have noticed a LOT more schools have that type of system in place for tuition payments on yearly programs.

Good Luck, and before you switch schools, try to talk to the highest level person you can find in the office. Don't accept the answer from a desk cluck <sic> err, I meant desk clerk. Get to the office manager, or if possible the owner to really push the issue. You're out nothing by trying, and maybe won't hafta switch schools too. ..

I looked at their website, and it would appear they offer some good classes, although it took a while to find an active link for the evening classes offered at the price point you mention. It kept jumping to another link about their thai course but I finally found it here;

Srinakharinwirot Uni’s Evening Thai Classes

I called them last week, and was less than impressed with their ability to lemme know what was what in regards to their thai language curriculum . However, in all fairness, they are on a holiday term-break, so the people I really needed to talk to weren’t there .

As they aren't all that far from my apartment, I'll head over there next week once they open back up after the long holiday and scope it out. I'll post what I think about it once I do.

Thanx for the info.

I didn't even know they were there or offered courses like this.

FWIW: that uni is quite the mouthful to spit out .

In looking on their site and Glenn Slayden’s thai-language dot com, there are two different spellings.

Srinakharinwirot University

The uni’s site; มหาวิทยาลัย ศรีนครินทรวิโรฒ

(ma^H haa^R wit^H tha^H yaa^M lai^M - see^R na^H kha^H rin^M tha^H ra^H wi^H ro:ht^F)

Glenn's site; มหาวิทยาลัย ศรีนครินวิโรฒ

(ma^H haa^R wit^H tha^H yaa^M lai^M - see^R na^H kha^H rin^M wi^H ro:ht^F)

I dunno which one is really correct, lol.

Here is what tod-daniels said on 25-Dec-2010, a few days ago.

"I didn't know the company but a quick Google found it. <SNIPPED>

Actually that's exactly what I posted on the now closed other thread.

However I couldn't go back and edit my post as that thread was closed by a mod about a minute later.

So yes, I posted in error.

Thanx "Baht" for your meticulous policing of my posting penchants . I stand humbly 'erected'.

Now does anyone actually have any current info on what exactly happened, or how Claudio apparently ran amuck?

<SNIPPED>

The service has always seemed a step more shady than other similar ones, but...

Even though the illustrious poser <sic> poster known as TAWP has said the service in question is “shady”, in perusing their site they seem right in line service wise and price wise with the plethora of other wisa run services offered in Bangkok, Jack’s Golf, Quick Thai Visa Run, etc. (To name a few, errr really only two).

Could the poster in question elaborate on his definition of “shady”? I mean after all he’s posted over 7500 tines in 5 years!

Oh, that’s right a MOD already said stick to FACTUAL things.

Note to ‘TAWP’ I guess what I asked is a rhetorical question, (that means an answer is neither required nor wanted).

FWIW: I’ve sent MANY people to Claudio, just like I have sent MANY people to other visa run services and NEVER EVER had a complaint from any of them.

And now back to the pissing match already in progress. ..

NOTE 2 MODZ:

I wanted to post this in the "Best Thai Language School" pinned topic but f*cked it up.

If you can move it, move it to the appropriate thread and thanx. ..

If not, let it run here.

Really it IS a GOOD quality thai language school..

I know I reviewed this thai language school before in the Best Thai Language School pinned topic, but to be fair to them it was shortly after they opened.

I recently noticed on Language Express’s site that they offer a ‘premium thai language course’, and thought it’d be worth my time to go see what exactly their definition of premium was, lol. Here’s the link to their website which explains the differences in the standard and premium course with the pricing;

Language Express

(Sorry this is long, but my penchant for being overly wordy is all too well known!)

Their school is located on the ground floor of a building right next the BTS Station at Ploen Chit (take exit number 2). It is a real looker of a school, bright, airy, inviting, has a coffee shop inside, free wi-fi and computer terminals for students to use. The classrooms are well lit and big enough for a good sized group of foreign students to occupy without feeling cramped.

The following review is ONLY about their premium thai course, not their ‘standard’ one which uses Benjawan Becker’s thai books.

I honestly hafta say in all the thai language schools I’ve been to, without reservation, this was the most enjoyable 2 hours I’ve ever spent at a school, and I didn’t even observe a class!

The staff was friendly, had excellent engrish skills, and took more than enough time to show me their new “talking step level’ course books which are used in the premium level courses.

Last time I was there, they’d only just come out with a few of these books and were relying predominantly on Benjawan Becker’s books to teach thai. The new course books they have now are based on the teaching english talking step method and each level has two books, a workbook, a textbook (and a c/d too!).

In this course you start learning how to write and read thai characters right away. The books have phonemic transcription for the thai as well, so even though you’re learning to read actual thai, you can work out what’s what and get speaking quickly without having to front load learning to read thai before you can start speaking. They go hand in hand quite nicely.

These are some of the best textbooks I’ve ever seen for teaching thai to foreigners in ANY school I’ve been to. I looked at all the levels up to level 6 and they really contain some quality material. Obviously a LOT of hard effort and time went into putting this material together and it is more than evident in the way things are presented. Even though this method is based on the english talking step method they just didn’t translate engrish into thai and run with it. They basically rewrote them from the ground up taking into account dissimilarities in the languages, culture, levels of address, etc. Really quite amazing books if I do say so (which I just did!)

The level one lessons are straightforward starting with introductions, what is your name, where are you from, etc. Vocabulary is introduced and more importantly USED in the lesson again and again. Ample time is also devoted to role play and spoken interaction of the material covered. This is critical in retaining the stuff you learned. Anyone can sit in a class and ‘parrot’ out thai answers to questions from a teacher outta a textbook, but in reality how valuable is this in actual language acquisition if you don’t use it?

Before you even start a class, you take an in-house online level assessment test. I was apprehensive to take it, not knowing exactly what it’d be, but am glad I did. It’s a slick program, which consists of word matching (thai to engrish), multiple choice questions like identifying activities in photos, putting sentences into correct thai word order, etc. The words are written in thai and phonetics too, so you can work it out even if you can’t read thai. I got an 89% but that’s because I still don’t know all of the thai months, lol. I also got a couple word orders wrong in some of the longer sentences.

After the online level testing they have you sit one on one with a thai teacher who asks you a series of questions in thai that you must answer back with complete sentences. So when she asks your name, you can’t just say your name, but instead must say “My name is Todd.” The questions get progressively harder, you must identify items in pictures, tell where they are located, describe the activities in photos, give directions to places from a small map, etc. This question answer type thing goes on until you max out your thai language ability and can’t answer the questions anymore. Based on a combination of these two types of testing you’re assigned a level in which you’ll start learning. This places a student in the appropriate place, instead of being either over your head or bored stiff when you start class.

I’ve never ever seen this type of intensive level testing in any thai language school before. It is somewhat reminiscent of the way Wall Street assesses a prospective student’s english ability when enrolling in their school to learn engrish.

I couldn’t sit an actual class, as it’s the holiday break. Classes resume after the 10th of January and I made an appointment to come and sit one then. The classes are 2 hours long with the first hour being writing and reading in the workbook. The second hour being situational conversation based stuff from the textbook.

I talked with both owner; Simon and Michael for a while and they both are really dedicated to providing a high “bang-4-the-baht” in this premium program. In fact I’ve rarely met more sincere people who come across as really wanting to give something of quality for the tuition a student pays. It was refreshing to realize people like this actually exist in the private thai language sector.

I strongly urge ANYONE who is serious about learning the thai language to stop in at Language Express, take their level testing, look at their material, and decide for yourself. I am far from easily impressed by thai language schools. However, this material is some of the best stuff I’ve EVER come across in ALL the schools I’ve toured!

Remember these are MY observations ONLY. Your observations may, and in all likelihood will, differ from mine. As always I urge anyone to scope out as MANY different thai language schools as you possibly can BEFORE paying a single satang of money. The last thing anyone needs is a year’s worth of thai language lessons in a school whose methodology doesn’t click with the way you learn.

BTW: I am NOT affiliated with any thai language school