For me - native language (American) English.

I suggest Learn Thai with Mod, they speak excellent English and can point out the common mistakes that most farang made.

 

They do private lessons online.

 

https://learnthaiwithmod.com/skype-training/

 

Unluckily, most of the Thai teachers who teach in classrooms in Chiang Mai can't teach nor explain properly from my experience.

 

 

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

I suggest Learn Thai with Mod, they speak excellent English and can point out the common mistakes that most farang made.

 

They do private lessons online.

 

https://learnthaiwithmod.com/skype-training/

 

Unluckily, most of the Thai teachers who teach in classrooms in Chiang Mai can't teach nor explain properly from my experience.

 

 

I follow "Learn Thai with Mod" on Facebook. I learn a lot from her just on her short vdo clips. Definately recommended.

Just a suggestion. I started by learning the Thai alphabet, writing it out. For me the main reason being I found it easier to learn words that, to me, sounded similar yet we're not.

 

My daughters Thai teacher showed me this. It helped understand how to pronounce the words by reading them.

 

Example in English are words like wood & would. Sound exactly the same but by learning how they are spelt helps understand how to use them.

 

Like the sound "mai" in Thai. Looking at how the word is spelt and the letters used helped me understand when to use high/low tone and long/short sound. 

 

I am not fluent by any means in speaking. I do however assist my daughter with writing and reading, and she is fluent in both English and Thai speech. 

 

I spend about an hour a day writing. Mostly the vowels as they are the tricky ones, for me anyways.

 

I use online translate apps like Google for the sounds. It is not great for lengthy translations, but type in a Thai letter and it works just fine.

 

Good luck....

This course will help as it teaches the alphabet, tone rules etc before moving onto the lessons. 

 

https://www.highspeedthai.com/

Before doing anything else, I learned to read and write the Thai alphabet and vowels. This was back in 1990, before internet. I was very fortunate to find a Thai language book in the Virginia Beach Public Library and I took that book with me everywhere for about a month. Opened it and studied whenever I could. By learning to read and write first, it helped me immeasurably with my further studies. I think that this is a crucial first step.  And the good thing about it? You can do it in a vacuum. No outside help or resources needed. Just you and a book, and a pad and pen. 

Learn to read and write first. When you do that the whole country is your classroom. You learn from reading menus and street signs etc.  This is the fastest way.

 

After that I far prefer SpeakThaiEasy with Kru Nun to LearnThaiWithKruMod. 

Nun does white board online group classes and for me I much prefer that visual aid. And she writes Thai script, phonetic Thai and English so again you are building your reading l skills. You can see her here 

Also if you follow her she goes live on YouTube often and you can join the class free to see her style.  She also does live vlogging so when she goes on a trip she takes you with her teaching along the way.  

 

I learned with Tip at MagicThai & I'm pretty good now. Intuitive learning tailored to your needs, no textbooks. Conversation, Thai songs & soaps, reading, keyboarding (who writes anymore?). Great stuff. PM me for a phone number & LINE. Only online these days.

Thank you for all suggestions.

 

Got sidetracked, getting back to this now.

 

 

I like the idea several of you suggested to learn to read and write the language first. 

Some of you mentioned what learning aides you used and some didn't.

Would be interested, if you didn't mention how previously, to read about what tools you used.

 

I've only contacted 1 teacher/course so far - "Learn Thai with Mod".

Getting sticker shock from the price quote - 11  one hour solo lessons for 8,500 BHT. (773 THB/lesson).

 

In Vietnam I spoke to 3 or 4 teachers - 2 or 3 were 200,000 VND per 1 hr. solo lesson and 1 was 150,000 VND. (299/224 THB).

I selected one of those and found an excellent teacher.

And it was a la carte - didn't have to commit to a package of lessons, but paid one by one.

 

I looked at the trial video lesson for "Learn to read Thai" at highspeedthai.com and I liked it.

However, not prepared to invest $239.95 for the material (Do it yourself" course).

 

They do have a 30 day money back guarantee, so may give this a try, but want to look closer at the other teachers recommended here first.

 

 

A native  speaker is not necessarily  better than a native  speaker.  Teaching  techniques,  skills and methodology are important. A non native speaker recognises the hurdles and difficulties a foreigner might encounter  learning Thai. Here's a hint: if your teacher refers to you  or other people as 'farangs" they are  no good.

11 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

Thank you for all suggestions.

 

Got sidetracked, getting back to this now.

 

 

I like the idea several of you suggested to learn to read and write the language first. 

Some of you mentioned what learning aides you used and some didn't.

Would be interested, if you didn't mention how previously, to read about what tools you used.

 

I've only contacted 1 teacher/course so far - "Learn Thai with Mod".

Getting sticker shock from the price quote - 11  one hour solo lessons for 8,500 BHT. (773/lesson).

 

In Vietnam I spoke to 3 or 4 teachers - 2 or 3 were 2,000 VND per 1 hr. solo lesson and 1 was 1,500 VND. (2.99/2.24THB).

I selected one of those and found an excellent teacher.

And it was a la carte - didn't have to commit to a package of lessons, but paid one by one.

 

I looked at the trial video lesson for "Learn to read Thai" at highspeedthai.com and I liked it.

However, not prepared to invest $239.95 for the material (Do it yourself" course).

 

They do have a 30 day money back guarantee, so may give this a try, but want to look closer at the other teachers recommended here first.

 

 

Do you have facebook or tiktok ? Seen some good ones from around 450bt an hour or courses  for a few thousand.

2 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

A native  speaker is not necessarily  better than a native  speaker.  

Oh yes they are!

2 hours ago, Bill97 said:

Oh yes they are!

Its a common misconception but a native  speaker is not necessarily  better than a non native  speaker for the following reasons:  Teaching  techniques,  skills and methodology are important. There is no tradition  in Thailand  for TTFL TTSOL unlike in in the UK, Australia,  USA etc. TEFL TESOL

A non native speaker recognises the hurdles and difficulties a foreigner might encounter  learning Thai.

Just because someone  speaks a language very well DOES NOT MAKE THEM A GOOD TEACHER

A native Thai speaker will have little knowledge of teaching or learning  Thai. No native  speakers of any llanguages never  do because they learn naturally.

 

get the kids school books for reading...start at Bor 1....as almost all Thais learn this way finding a teacher is easy. You can learn with kids and adults. You can learn to write as well. 

at first you will sound like a kid and Thais will declare nah ruk jung poot muen dek leuw.....totally loveable you speak like a kid

I learned to read, write and speak functional Thai in about 6 weeks. I finished Bor 6 in after 2 months. 

I met many girls while studying on buses, trains and beaches. They helped keep my enthusiasm level high. After Bor 6 I studied less as I spent too much time looking up words in the dict or dictionary.

On 5/8/2022 at 9:26 PM, CharlieH said:

Do you have facebook or tiktok ? Seen some good ones from around 450bt an hour or courses  for a few thousand.

I've never had Tiktok.

 

Facebook has blocked my account because I haven't accepted the Spyware they are insisting users must now have.

 

Perhaps can look on those sites using a friend's phone.

Does anyone else have a teacher to recommend?