I want to learn Thai language

[Gived1956]

I want to learn Thai better and learn more about culture and people should start from?

[FritsSikkink]

Tell us where you are.

[Kwasaki]

Can you sing in different tones and waves your arms about that how I see most frangies speaking Thai sort-of.

[HAKAPALITA]

I just cringe when some ferangs speak Thai. Polite that they do try, but remember to Thais, as You laughed at the Swedish Chef on the Muppet Show and Ello Ello, thats just how U sound to them. Some Brits seem to Copy well. Germans are a bloody disaster.

[GinBoy2]

It helps if you already speak a tonal language.

I speak mandarin after living in China for many years, so it was pretty easy for me to hear the tones, and my wife basically coached me through it.

Now, had I not been able to hear the tones, I'm pretty sure me and my wife and come to blows and one of us would be dead right now.

So, professional language school is the way to go...they, unlike a spouse or girlfriend will be gentle with you

[MASSMAN]

This depends on your present knowledge of the Thai language.  I learned the basics of the Thai language from the books for foreigners to learn Thai.  Then, I began reading the books which Thai children use to learn the Thai language in schools.  I started with grade one (which has pictures along with the words) and then went on to read at least one such book for each grader level until I reached the highest grade (six) of secondary school.  In addition to giving information about the Thai language, these books give much information about Thai culture.     

[HAKAPALITA]

I learned  years ago from memorising Carabow Songs, and any others i liked , just Parrot Like copying the sound. Seems Thais like my Thai, but i rarely bother anymore, you get too many questions if u do. 

[bergan]

On 10/25/2018 at 9:17 AM, HAKAPALITA said:

I just cringe when some ferangs speak Thai. Polite that they do try, but remember to Thais, as You laughed at the Swedish Chef on the Muppet Show and Ello Ello, thats just how U sound to them. Some Brits seem to Copy well. Germans are a bloody disaster.

I respectfully disagree. Thais will normally appreciate the effort, and especially if you make it clear to them that you are trying to learn it and want to practice. I learnt it like children do, listening and trying to speak every chance I got (although I did always carry around an Oxford Thai-English English-Thai dictionary that was gigantic). I never took a single lesson, and to this date I can't read a single word. But in my mind, speaking it is enough.

 

I had an acquaintance with your mindset, who basically told me that I should just stop making a fool of myself. I'm very happy I didn't listen to him. A lot of people actually do laugh when I start speaking, but out of surprise. I've had delivery guys calling me asking for directions to my house, who were stunned when what met them at the house was a white face.

 

I'm a Scandinavian, by the way, not a Brit.

 

 

[HAKAPALITA]

2 minutes ago, bergan said:

I respectfully disagree. Thais will normally appreciate the effort, and especially if you make it clear to them that you are trying to learn it and want to practice. I learnt it like children do, listening and trying to speak every chance I got (although I did always carry around an Oxford Thai-English English-Thai dictionary that was gigantic). I never took a single lesson, and to this date I can't read a single word. But in my mind, speaking it is enough.

 

I had an acquaintance with your mindset, who basically told me that I should just stop making a fool of myself. I'm very happy I didn't listen to him. A lot of people actually do laugh when I start speaking, but out of surprise. I've had delivery guys calling me asking for directions to my house, who were stunned when what met them at the house was a white face.

 

I'm a Scandinavian, by the way, not a Brit.

 

 

I dont have a mindset, just an observer, with a strange Norway sense of funny. Your command of English is also unusually good.

[bergan]

8 minutes ago, HAKAPALITA said:

I dont have a mindset, just an observer, with a strange Norway sense of funny. Your command of English is also unusually good.

Thank you for that! Norwegian here as well, by the way.

 

Just felt the need to comment and tell my story, so the OP isn't discouraged from giving it a try. It would be helpful to know more about the OPs situation, though, as it is a lot easier to learn the way I did if you live in a village where you are constantly surrounded by Thais and have very few foreigners to talk to. The best approach always depends on the circumstances and your situation, IMO. Apples and oranges, etc.

[Kerryd]

I know I speak poor Thai and too much "Thinglish" but one thing I've learned while travelling around the world over the past 4 decades is that the "locals" (in other countries) appreciate it when you at least try to speak their language.

 

Except in English speaking countries, where they usually make fun of any foreigners that try to speak English. The French can be kind of snooty about it as well, especially when talking to French speakers from other countries.

 

My main beef in Thailand is trying to get people to correct me when I say something wrong ! I will directly ask someone if I am saying something wrong and they will usually just nod. I think it's a cultural thing as they are scared to correct anyone.
 

I've also found that some of the books (and CDs/DVDs) give contradictory pronunciations of different words. I was at work (in Afghanistan) and spent time trying to learn some basic words, like the days of the week. Come back to Thailand try speaking those words and no one can understand me. One book says Monday is "Wun Jun" and one says it is "Wun Jan". Now I am still screwed up about the proper way to say it and every time I go to say a day of the week I hesitate and second guess myself about the right way to pronounce it.

I spent ages (literally years) saying "gin khao" in a flat (middle tone) and no one would correct me or tell me that I wasn't saying "eat rice" but was saying "eat knee" (they knew what I meant to say but would never correct me) !

 

I've had difficulties with other words/phrases as well, as some people say "nit noi" and others say "nid noi". Or some say "khop khun krap" but others say "khob khun kap".
And that's without even going into the "tonal" aspect of the language.

I would (personally) suggest that you enrol in a language school and, when you are sitting around idle at home (or wherever), have your TV tuned to a Thai station (or your radio) so that your mind is hearing the language being spoken by native speakers, even though you don't understand what they are saying. Try talking to the locals a little bit. Simple stuff. Hello. How are you ? How much ? Thank You.

 

After a few Thai lessons, you'll find that you start recognizing some words and phrases being spoken on the TV/radio. Not enough to understand what is being said, but a little bit here and there. Eventually you'll start recognizing enough words to get a rudimentary understanding of what is being discussed (for general, day-to-day conversations) but it will take a while before you can start stringing it all together.

(It's great fun to be sitting in a bar where a bunch of girls are all talking to each other and you hear one of them say "farang" and you snicker. Suddenly all conversation stops as they try and figure out if you can understand what they've been saying. Then you just smile and say "mai khow jai" and when they start to talk again turn your head so that it looks like you are trying to listen in on what they are saying.)

Every so often I try learning some more of the language. I often will sit down and practise pronouncing a word and writing it in Thai characters. For example, I would practise saying "neung" (one) and writing the Thai character for it (๑) as well as the full word (หนึ่ง). I'd write both of them out 50+ times. The next day I'd write them out maybe 20 times again and then move on to the number 2.

Same thing, pronounce it, write the number and the word 50+ times. Next day, pronounce and write the number one and the number two twenty times each and then move on to the number 3.

After I'd made it to 10, I started on the "20s/30s/etc" and then worked on the hundreds/thousands. (Not writing every single number - you learn that "pan" equals "thousand" and "roy" equals "hundred" and so on, so that "neung pan haa roy samsip jet" equals 1,537 and "hok pan song roy baadsip-et" equals 6,281.) Once you have the basics of the number system down, it's pretty easy after that.

 

Then move on to things like pronouncing/writing the days of the week. Start on a Monday writing and pronouncing "Monday" in Thai. Then on Tuesday do it again and then add in "Tuesday". Keep doing that until the following Monday. Then start by pronouncing/writing each day of the week followed by (for example) the word for "day", then add the word for "week" and the word for "month" and "year".

And/or move on to time. Practise pronouncing and writing "seconds/minutes/hours" and the different times of the day like "sam tum" and "tee haa".

 

I think that the writing of the word while practising how to pronounce it helps you to memorize it as well as familiarize you with the written language.

Basically, the more effort you put into the learning the language, the more you will learn. (Sounds logical doesn't it ?).

Remembering what you have learned also takes effort. I think the best way to remember it is to use it. Even if it's just a word or a phrase here and there, get used to saying it in Thai instead of your native language. "Sow wat dee khrap" instead of "hello". "Sabai dee mai khrap" instead of how are you. And so on and so on. 

As I mentioned before, from my experience most locals appreciate it when you make an effort to learn their language. 
 

[charliebadenhop]

In my mind, Lingopolo is excellent. AND free! check it out. 

[wombat]

a couple of places on Soi6/1 Pattaya run intensive tuition.

 

[Burma Bill]

If you live in or near Chiang Mai the Faculty of Language at the University of Chiang Mai offers a range of Thai language courses for beginners.

[connda]

Pick up Thai for Beginners which will provide you with basic vocabulary, sentence structure, and introduce you slowly to the Thai alphabet.  The quicker you can learn the basic alphabet and tone rules, the faster you'll learn.  Get the CDs too.
https://www.amazon.com/Thai-Beginners-Benjawan-Poomsan-Becker-dp-1887521003/dp/1887521003/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

Two resources that are good:
https://www.thai2english.com/
http://thai-language.com/

Thai-language.com has a forum where folks will answer questions.

That's a good start. 

Edited October 26, 2018 by connda

[Kurtf]

In the Chiang Mai areaI would reccommend AUA language school. The cost is approx 5000 Baht for a couple of hours of instruction every day for several weeks. Well worth it in my opinion.

[jaiyen]

First thing to do is buy The Lonely Planet Phrase Book. It has everything in there to keep you learning for a couple of years. Thats how I learnt to start with.  Now find a nice friendly girl who will help you with the pronunciation and tones.  A few lessons at a school may help but not hard to find an older school kid to help you learn.  Talking in the bar is a great way to practice.

[TSF]

6 hours ago, MASSMAN said:

This depends on your present knowledge of the Thai language.  I learned the basics of the Thai language from the books for foreigners to learn Thai.  Then, I began reading the books which Thai children use to learn the Thai language in schools.  I started with grade one (which has pictures along with the words) and then went on to read at least one such book for each grader level until I reached the highest grade (six) of secondary school.  In addition to giving information about the Thai language, these books give much information about Thai culture.     

+1 for the Thai children's books, that's how Thais learn their language. Also you learn to read Thai as you work your way through those kiddies books, it's not as difficult as it may appear, very easy actually to get a fast grasp of reading basic Thai.

[jgarbo]

8 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

It helps if you already speak a tonal language.

I speak mandarin after living in China for many years, so it was pretty easy for me to hear the tones, and my wife basically coached me through it.

Now, had I not been able to hear the tones, I'm pretty sure me and my wife and come to blows and one of us would be dead right now.

So, professional language school is the way to go...they, unlike a spouse or girlfriend will be gentle with you

If you speak English, you already have more tones than Thai. Six against five. Problem: English uses tones for feelings, Thai for meaning. That takes a lot practise and discipline to master. The biggest problem is vowel sounds - Thai ~125 against English ~21. They must be pure. Long and short vowels are tricky, and Thai has two Ds and two Bs. But speaking Thai fairly well opens up a new world for you, totally different from your mumbling tourists.  I studied at AUA, under Marvin Brown, a genius. Three months, 8 hrs/day, of hell. Taught myself the writing system, quite beautiful and regular (easier than English). AUA is now hopeless I've heard. Central School near Elephant Head bridge on Phyathai is now considered quite good and tough. Thai is harder than Chinese (which I speak) so you need a very good reason to suffer the learning. I did it for my wife's father. (Retired Chula teacher). HTH

[jgarbo]

55 minutes ago, jaiyen said:

First thing to do is buy The Lonely Planet Phrase Book. It has everything in there to keep you learning for a couple of years. Thats how I learnt to start with.  Now find a nice friendly girl who will help you with the pronunciation and tones.  A few lessons at a school may help but not hard to find an older school kid to help you learn.  Talking in the bar is a great way to practice.

Never learn from a woman. You'll learn "phasaa ying" instead of "phasaa chai," Girl talk instead of man talk. You'll sound gay. From a bar girl you'll "phasaa talat" market talk (low class). Learn from a professional. 

[jgarbo]

1 hour ago, connda said:

Pick up Thai for Beginners which will provide you with basic vocabulary, sentence structure, and introduce you slowly to the Thai alphabet.  The quicker you can learn the basic alphabet and tone rules, the faster you'll learn.  Get the CDs too.
https://www.amazon.com/Thai-Beginners-Benjawan-Poomsan-Becker-dp-1887521003/dp/1887521003/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=

Two resources that are good:
https://www.thai2english.com/
http://thai-language.com/

Thai-language.com has a forum where folks will answer questions.

That's a good start. 

You can't learn Thai from a book, or even CDs. You don't know how to listen. 

[LawrenceN]

If you do Facebook, join the group "Farang Can Learn Thai Language." It's full of good tips, for beginners through advanced. I'm not saying it should be your only course of study. I agree with those who say enroll in a professional course.

 

I having been learning Thai for 41 years. I recommend learning to read right from the start. Some say it's possible to learn Thai without reading, but I wouldn't have been able to do it. Reading is a big help with correct pronunciation, and you acquire vocabulary with the language all around you in public every day. Phonetics based on the European alphabet mislead you, because they're only a rough approximation of Thai sounds. Trying to fit the square peg of Western alphabet into the round hole of Thai language ends up being more work and less effective than learning Thai script from the get-go. It's just a bunch of symbols to represent sounds, consonants and vowels. You can learn this symbol set in a few weeks, if that's what you focus on. The Thai alphabet is a breeze, compared with retraining your brain to speak and hear and think tonally.

 

Load a Thai-English dictionary on your smart phone.

[GinBoy2]

39 minutes ago, jgarbo said:

If you speak English, you already have more tones than Thai. Six against five. Problem: English uses tones for feelings, Thai for meaning. That takes a lot practise and discipline to master. The biggest problem is vowel sounds - Thai ~125 against English ~21. They must be pure. Long and short vowels are tricky, and Thai has two Ds and two Bs. But speaking Thai fairly well opens up a new world for you, totally different from your mumbling tourists.  I studied at AUA, under Marvin Brown, a genius. Three months, 8 hrs/day, of hell. Taught myself the writing system, quite beautiful and regular (easier than English). AUA is now hopeless I've heard. Central School near Elephant Head bridge on Phyathai is now considered quite good and tough. Thai is harder than Chinese (which I speak) so you need a very good reason to suffer the learning. I did it for my wife's father. (Retired Chula teacher). HTH

I would totally agree with everything you said.

 

One major thing I agree with is that Thai was harder than mandarin. I picked that up, fairly easily.

Thai was harder, now that may have been a function of my aging monkey brain, but I certainly had a much more difficult time of it.

 

On the tonal thing your spot on, but it’s sometimes hard to separate using tones for language versus emphasis. That takes practice.

 

First I really understood that was listening to Chinese pop music. The fact that in music they use emphasis and language tones, takes some getting used to, and interpretation

 

On the written side however, Thai was a hell of a lot easier. It took me years to really memorize Chinese, and was in Shanghai, so it was simplified Mandarin, to really be able to read anything more substantial than a menu. 

Since Thai follows a more latin format, once you learn the script, i found I could write before I could speak fluently

 

Edited October 26, 2018 by GinBoy2

[HAKAPALITA]

Hope they understand you Drink Water not Kin it. Durm Nam please..

[namatjira]

Best advice....go to YouTube and type in learn Thai language...

hundreds of small 4 or 5 minute lessons...hear the correct sounds...

free.....free......and the best way to start

[PerkinsCuthbert]

2 hours ago, jgarbo said:

If you speak English, you already have more tones than Thai. Six against five. Problem: English uses tones for feelings, Thai for meaning. That takes a lot practise and discipline to master. The biggest problem is vowel sounds - Thai ~125 against English ~21. They must be pure. Long and short vowels are tricky, and Thai has two Ds and two Bs. But speaking Thai fairly well opens up a new world for you, totally different from your mumbling tourists.  I studied at AUA, under Marvin Brown, a genius. Three months, 8 hrs/day, of hell. Taught myself the writing system, quite beautiful and regular (easier than English). AUA is now hopeless I've heard. Central School near Elephant Head bridge on Phyathai is now considered quite good and tough. Thai is harder than Chinese (which I speak) so you need a very good reason to suffer the learning. I did it for my wife's father. (Retired Chula teacher). HTH

Ah yes, the marvellous Dr Brown, now deceased, and his 'natural method'. I spent five wonderful, full-time months, thirty-one years ago, at AUA Rajadamri, being bombarded by my teachers (including the delectable Oiy) with slowly more complex Thai. Golden days.

[molartom]

First you have to learn to read with learn rapid thai,,,.learnthaionline.com

Then learn how to speak with HighSpeedThai,,,,highspeedlanguage.com

[PerkinsCuthbert]

1 hour ago, HAKAPALITA said:

Hope they understand you Drink Water not Kin it. Durm Nam please..

Not really; in colloquial Thai, kin naam is common usage for 'drink water'. Nam duem is mostly used to describe drinking water.

[HAKAPALITA]

11 minutes ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

Not really; in colloquial Thai, kin naam is common usage for 'drink water'. Nam duem is mostly used to describe drinking water.

If You say so.Have you tried eating water. Lazy Thai V Hi So BKK.

[RickTik]

10 hours ago, MASSMAN said:

This depends on your present knowledge of the Thai language.  I learned the basics of the Thai language from the books for foreigners to learn Thai.  Then, I began reading the books which Thai children use to learn the Thai language in schools.  I started with grade one (which has pictures along with the words) and then went on to read at least one such book for each grader level until I reached the highest grade (six) of secondary school.  In addition to giving information about the Thai language, these books give much information about Thai culture.     

... great advice !! ...