Anyone does the thai pimsluer course?

[noiceonemate]

I'm surprised that there's no search hits for pimsleur Thai

 

I wanted to learn thai beginners so I can get a bit of a head start when I move there. I used pimsluer course to learn spanish, although it had up to 3 levels. Thai only has foundation level. I found it to be quite effective for spanish and was surprised at how much I could express myself.

 

Anyone have any experience with Thai pumsluer? Any other methods you have found useful for introducing to the lannguage, rosetta stone gets banded around a lot.

[SEtonal]

I have never studied Thai so can't help you with Pimsleur, but I am familiar with language learning programs.  Rosetta Stone is horrible for any language and Thai is no longer offered.  From what I have heard, the old RS Thai is no longer compatible with today's computers.

 

Two good free beginner Thai courses are 50Languages (100 lessons) and Thai Notes.  I personally would skip the Thai Notes drills and exercises and just study the dialogues, but feel free to do as you like.

 

https://www.goethe-verlag.com/book2/EM

http://thai-notes.com/FSITLC/index.shtml#!Index
 

Edited June 11, 2020 by SEtonal

[torturedsole]

3 hours ago, noiceonemate said:

I'm surprised that there's no search hits for pimsleur Thai

There is, just don't use the TV search function.  Google 'pimsleur thaivisa' for best results.

[Issanman]

Of all the Thai language learning methods that I have tried, I find the Pimsleur method the easiest and most convenient for me. You do not need a book for Pimsleur. It's all done by listening. When babies learn how to speak, they don't use books. It's all done by listening. I find it to be very effective.

 

The full Pimsleur Thai course contains 30 lessons. About 25 to 30 minutes each. 

[noiceonemate]

I'll give it a go, it's quite expensive to buy, luckily you can borrow it in my local library  - perfect for a product that you only use once.

[cmarshall]

No one ever succeeds at learning a language through those software packages.  It's too hard to do entirely on your own.  There is no outside source of motivation and you need a teacher since you can't correct yourself.  That is, unless you are in the top 1% of language learners and who already speaks several second languages.  The polyglots, who represent the aristocracy of language learners, never use those software packages which are marketed strictly to the gullible.  If, as I suspect, you are a monolingual adult, attempting to teach yourself Thai through one of those apps, you are guaranteed to fail.

 

If you want to get a head start before arriving in Thailand to undertake serious study, you could get the first volume of the Cornell Thai Course:

 

https://seap.einaudi.cornell.edu/language-resource-publications?title=Thai+Course&field_author_value=

 

And also the reading text.  On your own you can teach yourself to read and write Thai which is extremely valuable in the long run, because the spelling of each Thai syllable indicates the tone of the vowel.  If you get the free flash card program Anki you can memorize both the meaning and spelling of some number of Thai words even without the assistance of a teacher or native speaker.  

 

That worked for me.  In the year before I moved to Thailand I acquired a baby Thai vocabulary of about 500 words, but I could read and write the language.  That helped a lot when I began study here in Thailand with competent teachers.

 

Edited June 13, 2020 by cmarshall

[Mike Teavee]

I bought the Thaipod101 Premium course and am trying to start by learning to read & write (also bought a couple of Kids alphabet books to practice the writing part). 

 

TBH, the Jury is still out on how good it is for me as it doesn't seem to be "Sticking", but I agree with the posts above that it's difficult to keep motivated when you're trying to do it on your own.  I do try to practise with my THai GF but she's from Satun so her dialect is different than Central Thai (Bangkok) so I don't know if I'm picking up "Bad Habbits" from her .

 

Can download quite a few free lessons from www.Thaipod101.com & YouTube has a number of videos to help practise 

 

[cmarshall]

1 hour ago, Mike Teavee said:

TBH, the Jury is still out on how good it is for me as it doesn't seem to be "Sticking", but I agree with the posts above that it's difficult to keep motivated when you're trying to do it on your own.  I do try to practise with my THai GF but she's from Satun so her dialect is different than Central Thai (Bangkok) so I don't know if I'm picking up "Bad Habbits" from her .

 

I encourage you to stick to it.  My experience is that, although initially it seems that Thai vocabulary doesn't stick in our memory the way that words from European languages do, with practice you will get better at it.  I think it helps to employ as many of our senses in learning vocabulary.  When reviewing Thai vocabulary your retention will be improved if you say it out loud, type it in Thai if you can, use it in a sentence, and especially relate it to similar Thai words.  Sometimes it is easier to remember a cluster of words related either by sharing a common base or by topic.

 

Learning a language is like exercising.  If you take up running after years on the couch, you'll be lucky to run a block.  But if you keep it at it, your endurance will improve dramatically.  It's a little less dramatic with retention of Thai vocabulary, but the improvement will nevertheless be noticeable ove time.

 

I found that by working with Anki flash card decks, I have been able to improve retention.  Also, as you encounter unfamiliar words, look them up, and add them to your deck you will be collecting quantifiable data showing improvement.  Most other important areas of learning, such as expression and comprehension of spoken Thai, don't offer much opportunity for quantification, so Anki can fill at least some of the need for encouragement.

 

In my opinion you do need a teacher to correct you.  In the beginning the tones and long vowels pose a serious obstacle and having a teacher correct you is the most efficient way to get past that obstacle.  If your girlfriend is not suitable, you should find or hire someone else, but it has to be someone competent, of whom there are few.

 

Good luck.

[stouricks]

Pimsleur or Pumsluer? Cant be arsed learning a new lannguage at my age! 

[Oxx]

22 hours ago, stouricks said:

Pimsleur or Pumsluer? Cant be arsed learning a new lannguage at my age! 

 

And appear to be struggling with the one your already know!

[stouricks]

1 hour ago, Oxx said:

 

And appear to be struggling with the one your already know!

I know, I forgot the apostrophe in CAN'T. And you? Which one do YOUR already know?

[Oxx]

27 minutes ago, stouricks said:

I know, I forgot the apostrophe in CAN'T. And you? Which one do YOUR already know?

 

Touché.  Though you did apparently struggle with "lannguage" too.

[stouricks]

2 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

Touché.  Though you did apparently struggle with "lannguage" too.

I was merely quoting the OP's incorrect spelling, rather sarcastically, sorry. 

[Orton Rd]

Done that and linguaphone and that Becker woman's books and tapes, 26 years on still can't speak the damn language ????

[Orton Rd]

On 6/13/2020 at 12:23 PM, cmarshall said:

 

In my opinion you do need a teacher to correct you.  In the beginning the tones and long vowels pose a serious obstacle and having a teacher correct you is the most efficient way to get past that obstacle.  If your girlfriend is not suitable, you should find or hire someone else, but it has to be someone competent, of whom there are few.

 

Good luck.

Na, the Mrs is a teacher of Thai language been correcting me for years, still can't differentiate tones. She has had brilliant students who in a couple of years learned how to speak, read and write, I was not one of them.

[cmarshall]

56 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Na, the Mrs is a teacher of Thai language been correcting me for years, still can't differentiate tones. She has had brilliant students who in a couple of years learned how to speak, read and write, I was not one of them.

My contention is that having a teacher to correct you is a necessary condition for learning Thai, not a sufficient one.

 

In my experience the limiting factor in learning languages is motivation.  It's a lot of work.  If it's not worth it to you, you will fail.  Brilliance is not strictly a requirement.

 

Andrew Briggs, for example, has a very pedestrian mind, but he put in the work and succeeded at learning Thai.

[Oxx]

1 hour ago, cmarshall said:

Andrew Briggs, for example, has a very pedestrian mind

 

I'm guessing you meant "Biggs", not "Briggs".  Must say I enjoyed his columns in the Bangkok Post over the years.  

 

In fact, despite his being Australian and having a "very pedestrian mind", he seems to have done quite well for himself.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Biggs

[cmarshall]

15 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

I'm guessing you meant "Biggs", not "Briggs".  Must say I enjoyed his columns in the Bangkok Post over the years.  

 

In fact, despite his being Australian and having a "very pedestrian mind", he seems to have done quite well for himself.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Biggs

Each to his own.  I read a couple of his columns in the BP and found them excruciatingly obvious.  He's no Chris Baker, let's say.

 

Nevertheless, Biggs worked very hard at learning Thai, took an unusual path by enrolling in Ramkhamhaeng, and deserves every bit of his considerable success.  

[Mover1]

I bought the first Pimsleur Thai course in April, and did the 30 minute lessons every day without fail. There's 30 lessons. It's pretty good i thought, but sometimes the male voice speaks really fast, it can be really difficult to keep up and speak at the same pace. I needed a notepad to take notes from every lesson so i could pause it, write stuff out phonetically to help, and then repeat it. The notebook really helped.

 

It can get a bit boring, but i think its a good start. It's purely listen and repeat, and spaced repetition. No reading or writing.

 

Now i've found a local Thai teacher for 150 baht an hour, which is a bargain. She's really enthusiastic, and she's showed me where some of the stuff i learned with Pimsleur is very formal, as in no one really speaks like that. So far i've had 20 lessons, but i'm still nowhere near having a proper fluent conversation with a thai local. I can pick up things and convey some things, but most still look at me as if i'm speaking gibberish.

 

But, when i say some little extra things and people understand i'm trying to make an effort, its really worth it when they get excited or give me a smile, haha. 

 

This is the first 'other' language i've tried to learn, and it's fxxxing difficult. It's actually my 5th go at it in 4 years, and i'm determined to keep going for at least 2-3 years now. Other ways i've tried are:

 

Local Language School - When i first got here 4 years ago I signed up with a local school and paid for 20 or 30 lessons in advance. This was a disaster. The Thai (Male) teacher's attitude completely changed once i paid the money. The first lesson he taught a bit on a white board. The second lesson i turned up as arranged, he was sitting in an empty office with feet up on the table. Didnt move when i said we've got a lesson, and just said he was busy with a <deleted>ty look on his face. We eventually did the lesson at the front desk, and i was fuming with the <deleted>. I didn't go back after that. I've since heard from another Farang who's had exactly the same experience from another local school in my area. I'm convinced they do it on purpose to keep money for doing nothing. Lesson learned!!

 

Learn Thai From a White Guy - Signed up and paid for the first course, but couldn't get on with it very well and gave up.

 

Rapid Thai - I did the course in Chiang Mai for 5 days, cost me 40,000 baht! It's a course similar to Learn Thai From a White Guy but more in depth and intense. Some of the Thai letters are still engrained in my memory, so it does work. But, the thing i dont like is that it sort of teaches you how to read the thai script - but you don't know what you're reading! It's also a LOT to take in in 5 days, there's no way anyone could remember it all. At the end he recommends getting a Thai teacher but get them to continue using his Rapid Thai method, and i couldnt find anyone to do that, and again gave up.

 

4th go - Signed up with Thaipod101, but find their website and courses extremely confusing to follow. Everything doesnt seem to be in a simple order to follow, its just like worksheets you pick and choose from. My emails and messages went unanswered, so gave up on that as well. 

 

So this is my 5th serious attempt. I am still very determined and consider myself lucky i found a good local teacher, who's a friend of a friend of my ex girlfriend. I'm trying to consistently do 1-3 hours every day at the moment, might be more difficult once the bars are open again though.

 

Anyway sorry for the rambling post, couldnt stop writing once i started. By the way i also watch youtube channels like learn with Shelby, Learn with Mod, thai talk with paddy, and also joined some facebook groups recently called farang can learn thai and some others i forget. Seems to be more and more stuff popping up every week lately, must be a result of schools being closed i guess.

 

Good luck with it