Higher intermediate Thai

[EricTh]

I find that most Thai schools in Chiang Mai teaches just novice low to novice high for foreigners.

Some schools teach until Low Intermediate for foreigners. Note the word 'foreigner'.

 

I can't find any schools that teach higher than Lower Intermediate in which the teacher can translate the Thai sentences in English. The Thai teacher level of English is only as good as Lower Intermediate. 

 

This is the nine levels of language proficiency.

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by EricTh

[Oxx]

8 hours ago, EricTh said:

This is the nine levels of language proficiency.

 

Maybe you could study mathematics instead? That's 10 levels (or possibly 11).

 

8 hours ago, EricTh said:

the teacher can translate the Thai sentences in English

 

Why would this be a requirement? It's simply not necessary.  The better schools in Bangkok (i.e. those using the Union method) teach solely in Thai.  I studied effectively full time (4 hours/day + homework) for 18 months at one such school, and I don't know whether any of the teachers could speak English or not.

 

[DavidHouston]

Friends, at some point in one's language-learning journey should one begin to learn by oneself using Thai books and listening to Thai broadcasts? At some point or at some level of proficiency is continued classroom learning necessary?

[kokesaat]

3 hours ago, DavidHouston said:

Friends, at some point in one's language-learning journey should one begin to learn by oneself using Thai books and listening to Thai broadcasts? At some point or at some level of proficiency is continued classroom learning necessary?

David, I broke the barriers on learning to read, write, and pronounce (mostly) only with the dedicated help of a neighborhood personal teacher over the course of a few years.  Then she moved.  Since then, I've read a wide variety of story books (นิทานพื้นบ้าน) in book, not comic book, format, along with a few novels.  I can carry on a conversation when I'm in control or initiate the conversation but get lost when I'm not.  I miss having my personal teacher who I could depend on to correct my mistakes in pronunciation or sentence structure.  That said, I'm happy to be able to read signs, stumble through headlines, or write notes to people.  One of the last things my teacher helped me with was write a 3 page eulogy to our gardener who passed away.  All in all, I'm very happy with my level of Thai, but would opt for another few years of torture working with a table-pounding personal teacher.  I'm 70, with hearing aids......so I like to tell people that age and hearing (tones) isn't an excuse.

 

[jackdd]

On 4/15/2020 at 9:50 PM, EricTh said:

I can't find any schools that teach higher than Lower Intermediate in which the teacher can translate the Thai sentences in English. The Thai teacher level of English is only as good as Lower Intermediate. 

If you are intermediate it should be possible to understand nearly everything using only Thai. If it's a really difficult word a dictionary should get the job done.

 

12 hours ago, DavidHouston said:

Friends, at some point in one's language-learning journey should one begin to learn by oneself using Thai books and listening to Thai broadcasts? At some point or at some level of proficiency is continued classroom learning necessary?

I learned Thai by talking with people, and looking up (or asking people for) words for topics in which i'm interested. Thus my vocabulary is based on words which people use in every day conversations. This means i have a lot of practice doing this, so what the previous poster wrote "I can carry on a conversation when I'm in control or initiate the conversation but get lost when I'm not." doesn't apply to me. If anybody chats me up for whatever (in Thai, not some dialect), i can usually have some discussion with him.

When talking about topics in which i'm interested i can also talk about most details. Motorbikes are one of these topics, so i know how to say stuff like "15 teeth front sprocket" in Thai.

 

I only know words which i regularly use, so there are some basics which i regularly forget because i don't have to use them. The name of the months being such a thing. Referring to months as "month 1,2,3..." just works, so i'm nearly always using this way and when i'm in a situation where i want to use the name of the month i forgot it already.

When learning at a school you will most likely also learn words related to political topics, buddhism or monarchy, especially formal words related to this. I'm not interested in these topics, and people usually don't use formal words in every day life, so i just don't know such words.

 

To get the best results you should probably combine all possible sources, no matter what your current level is:

- Talk with as many different people as possible

- Learn at a school

- Watch news, movies, and just random Youtube videos

- Read as much as you can, across all topics

Edited April 20, 2020 by jackdd

[Exploring Thailand]

On 4/16/2020 at 5:56 AM, Oxx said:

Why would this be a requirement? It's simply not necessary.  The better schools in Bangkok (i.e. those using the Union method) teach solely in Thai.  I studied effectively full time (4 hours/day + homework) for 18 months at one such school, and I don't know whether any of the teachers could speak English or not.

Do you mind sharing which one it was?  I guess considering you stayed with them for that length of time, you were happy with them.

[Oxx]

It was https://www.utl-school.com/

 

UTL uses the Union method, so in many respects is similar to Union, Piamitr, and a couple of others.  On the plus side, it has relatively few god-bothering missionaries.  Also on the plus side, pretty much all the farang drop out after level 3, leaving mainly Japanese and Korean students, along with the very occasional Chinese, Italian and Russian; there's no resorting to English in the classroom, or during the break.  On the negative side, the material and learning method is very old fashioned and can be boring.  However, outside Chulalongkorn University, I know of no other method that is as thorough and which goes to such a high level.  (If in doubt, ask whether a school teaches for the Ministry of Education's P.6 exam.  Very few schools do.) 

 

There is an old topic about schools using the Union method with a few more of my comments about UTL.

 

  

[Exploring Thailand]

50 minutes ago, Oxx said:

It was https://www.utl-school.com/  

Thanks for the info, reading through the website and the thread you linked, it looks like there is a heavy emphasis on reading and writing. Would you agree? I can read and write, and I tend to feel that they are skills that can be practiced just as well outside of the classroom environment. I was also looking at AUA, which as far as I can tell uses a methodology at the other extreme, with much emphasis on being exposed to "real" spoken Thai. I guess I should check them both out. 

[Oxx]

14 minutes ago, Exploring Thailand said:

I can read and write, and I tend to feel that they are skills that can be practiced just as well outside of the classroom environment.

 

Ask yourself whether you can really read and write.  Can you read a Thai daily newspaper? Could you write a shortish essay? If not, you can't really read and write, but are simply decoding, and probably slowly.  And if you can comfortably do both, than UTL is not for you.  Similarly, if you don't want to be that highly literate in Thai, again, UTL is not for you.

[Exploring Thailand]

5 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

Ask yourself whether you can really read and write.  Can you read a Thai daily newspaper? Could you write a shortish essay? If not, you can't really read and write, but are simply decoding, and probably slowly.  And if you can comfortably do both, than UTL is not for you.  Similarly, if you don't want to be that highly literate in Thai, again, UTL is not for you.

Good questions. I'll go along and let them asses my ability. That will put me in a better position to know whether they are right for me.

[Gene1960]

On 4/26/2020 at 11:00 AM, Oxx said:

It was https://www.utl-school.com/

 

UTL uses the Union method, so in many respects is similar to Union, Piamitr, and a couple of others.  On the plus side, it has relatively few god-bothering missionaries.  Also on the plus side, pretty much all the farang drop out after level 3, leaving mainly Japanese and Korean students, along with the very occasional Chinese, Italian and Russian; there's no resorting to English in the classroom, or during the break.  On the negative side, the material and learning method is very old fashioned and can be boring.  However, outside Chulalongkorn University, I know of no other method that is as thorough and which goes to such a high level.  (If in doubt, ask whether a school teaches for the Ministry of Education's P.6 exam.  Very few schools do.) 

 

There is an old topic about schools using the Union method with a few more of my comments about UTL.

 

  

How many older farangs study at the school? i am approaching my retirement and interested to get a structured course. Unfortunately, there are  no good school in Phuket and I am seriously thinking about moving to Bangkok for a year to study, obviously after the virus is put under control. 

Another question, I understand that the first levels are based on karaoke approach. I can read better than I can talk, I have a basic vocabulary on the level of Thai For Beginners. Is it possible to slip the first levels and how difficult is the level 3 of the program. 
 

thanks.
Gene 

Edited April 30, 2020 by Gene1960

[Damrongsak]

On 4/15/2020 at 6:56 PM, Oxx said:

 

Maybe you could study mathematics instead? That's 10 levels (or possibly 11).

 

 

Why would this be a requirement? It's simply not necessary.  The better schools in Bangkok (i.e. those using the Union method) teach solely in Thai.  I studied effectively full time (4 hours/day + homework) for 18 months at one such school, and I don't know whether any of the teachers could speak English or not.

 

I had about 6 weeks full-time language training in the U.S. Peace Corps 40+ years ago.  We didn't speak in English in the classroom.  The teacher barely spoke at all, a word here or there.  Then he would demonstrate the concept until we got it.  They called it the "Silent Way".  We learned words, put them into phrases and could express ourselves.  My Thai sucks compared to many, but I can get around.  But I did start thinking and talking to myself in Thai.   I have a hard time sometimes translating Thai stuff I understand back into English.  My reading is not so good, forget writing.

 

I did marry in Thailand and my wife did not speak English, though she later learned.  She has a knack of only using simple Thai with me which works fine.