Learn Thai Language, which is better? In Bangkok or Chiang Mai

[MrAscii]

Hopefully covid19 issue will be no longer a big deal in the near furure.

I love Thailand and its culture. Hopefully one day I can retire in Thailand.

Let me test the water. I want to learn Thai language as well as visit as many as landmark in Thailand.

I need your suggestion, get ED visa and learn Thai language in Bangkok or Chiang Mai?

 

Should I get ED visa in Thai embassy in my country or should I go to Thailand and get appointment with visa agent and let them do the entire process to get my ED visa?

Does 1 year time frame to learn Thai language on daily basis is enough? Since I heard learn Thai Language is quite difficult.

 

Thank you very much for your suggestion.

[Kwasaki]

Thai language difficult that's an understatement even some of my Thai family cannot speak it in depth.

Also can you sing. ????

 

[The Oracle]

Hello.
Your expectations of what you want to get out of learning Thai will put you on different paths.
I used Google Translate for nouns to begin with.  I had the hello, thank you, numbers, days of the week, some basic foods and so on learned before I moved here.
I live (alone) in a village where the only English spoken is "Hello" when they answer the phone.  My nearest English-speaking friend is a five-hour drive away. 
So, needless to say, when I arrived here in April 2016, I had a very sharp learning curve.  Added to that the fact that I'm "hearing impaired" (bit PC, I'm deaf as a post in my left ear and my right ear is pretty much stuffed as well so I lip-read a lot).  I can't read Thai.  The last two years with mask-wearing has slowed my learning as well.
And I live in a fairly low-educated area as well.  Up until about ten years ago, it was rare anyone did past year nine high school.  The primary school up the road has only been there for fifty years.  My landlady's three eldest siblings (59,57,56) never went to school but learned to read and write from their father - their mother couldn't read or write.

The main issue with learning from a language school is they will teach you how to read and write as well.  Something that, seriously, will eat into the verbal learning which is far more important.  If something is written in Thai, I can ask someone what is says.  I know my car's and motorcycle's number/registration plates, though.

Now, Chiang Mai or Bangkok?

First, be clear:  you want to learn Central Thai - the language taught at Thai schools, the "national language", okay?
A person speaking the local dialect in Chiang Rai won't be understood by a person in Phang Nga.  Similarly, Lao is spoken quite widely, especially across the north and the NE (Isaan/Esan) down as far as Nakon Ratchasima (Korat).

You want a Central Thai language school.  Everybody speaks that.  It's also what the vast, vast majority of Thai Language Schools teach but you must be sure.  Additionally, although Thai is a purely tonal language, regional accents do exist so getting a teacher from the provinces around Bangkok might be better - or one with extensive experience if they're from elsewhere - especially if you can get a teacher with business experience.

Don't learn from a foreigner;  their native accent will skew their tones and you end up learning their bad accent as your own.

Now, back to the reason why you want to learn Thai.
If it's because you want to retire here in the future, you'll lose your knowledge as time goes on when you go back to your home country after your year here.  You need to speak it daily.

Do you really want to spend a fortune going to school every day for a year to learn a language pretty much no-one outside Thailand uses?  You'd be better off with a phrase book and bussing around the country learning as you go with Google Translate.

YouTube has a few channels but unless English is your first language - the teachers mostly teach/translate in/from English - then it's going to be hard because their accents can be quite strong.

Again, don't learn from a foreigner.

Anyway, Chiang Mai is cheaper and prettier than Bangkok even if over the (Western) New Year, the air quality is often the worst on the planet.

Dabble a bit with Google Translate.  Look at a few YouTube channels.  Get a feel for it.  You'd be better off coming over here on a 60-day tourist visa and see how well you've done with those methods first before getting an Education Visa and forking out thousands of dollars/pounds/Euros/whatever to a school where you'll be cooped up inside learning how to read and write and missing out on what the county offers.

Learn on the go.  Learn the popular food names.  Numbers.  Colours.  Basic phrases.  Names of fruit and vegetables. 

Because, seriously?  Local markets don't have any signage anyway; street names are written in English as well; and if all else fails find someone under twenty - twenty five years old; they'll probably remember enough English from school to help you with the basics.

You can always learn to read (and maybe even write) later after you know what all the sounds are.

Best of luck. 

[Kwasaki]

4 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Thai language difficult that's an understatement even some of my Thai family cannot speak it in depth.

Also can you sing. ????

 

Just to add I have Thai-Eng translate app on my phone when in difficulty when asking for something I use that, also a lot of Thais use it on their phones as well to try and understand what you want. 

 

I have only learnt to speak enough Thai be polite and I don't find it a problem.

[Callmeishmael]

Let me add a contrary comment...

Learning to read Thai was difficult, but it has really helped me to understand Thai better.  Reading menus, street signs, signs on the storefronts, etc., really helps in everyday life.  Also, Thais are really impressed by foreigners who can read a bit of Thai. 

Thai is a mostly regular language, and being able to read words helps with pronunciation.

 

As for Bangkok or Chiang Mai, if you are planning to retire to a small village in the north where everyone speaks Parsa Nua in their daily lives, learning the northern dialect would probably be more useful.  I doubt if the teachers at a Chiang Mai language school would teach you the local dialect, but you would hear it in shops, restaurants, etc.

 

The opposite is true in Bangkok.  While many people in Bangkok are from different parts of the country, they all speak central Thai to each other unless they are talking to someone from their hometown or province.

[JimmyJ]

On 3/17/2022 at 5:05 PM, Kwasaki said:

Just to add I have Thai-Eng translate app on my phone when in difficulty when asking for something I use that, also a lot of Thais use it on their phones as well to try and understand what you want. 

 

I have only learnt to speak enough Thai be polite and I don't find it a problem.

Which app?

[Kwasaki]

30 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

Which app?

I think they are all google based. 

The one i use i got from internet search it has a green square background with a circle in the Thai flag colours and a circle below at an angle with the UK flag.

TH <> EN. Trans. 

 

[Mike Teavee]

19 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

Which app?

I use Google Translate which is great at translating Thai Text on images e.g. Menus etc... 

 

Apple App Store:  https://apps.apple.com/th/app/google-translate/id414706506

 

Google Play Store:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.translate&hl=en&gl=US

 

[Flaxx]

Regarding dialects. I wouldn't be concerned about the difference between the central dialect and the northern. I haven't had any problems being understood speaking Thai, in basically any context and situation for the last 20 years. I live in Chiang Mai and I speak central Thai. I don't use specific words in the northern dialect, but when I go to other places in Thailand some people there, sometimes points out that I sound "northern" even though I can't hear it myself.

 

Thai people up here easily switch between northern specific vocabulary and central Thai vocabulary. In Chiang Mai, if you live among Thai people you will inevitable be exposed to both. As you know, there are a lot of foreigners who never learn Thai because everyone speaks English with them. The same rule applies if you speak central Thai up here in the north. After 20 years of speaking Thai everyday,  I still can't understand more than very parts of the northern dialect. If someone tries to speak real hardcore northern dialect with me... I am totally lost. 

 

I would definitely prefer to learn Thai in Chiang Mai compared to Bangkok. I think the culture in Chiang Mai being easier to integrate with. But, I am just guessing since I have never lived anywhere else. A definite recommendation from me is to stay away from places where you are likely to be considered a tourist among Thai people. Here in Chiang Mai, if I go into a 7/11 or go to a restaurant it is much more likely that they initiate a talk using Thai than English. I don't think that is the case in many other places, instead they simply either avoid you or try to address you speaking English.