Beginner Through To Advanced Thai Degree Course

[slippery when wet]

Hello all.

I hope that you can help me.

At present I can speak only a few choice phrases of Thai and would love in thime to be able to speak, read and possibly write Thai.

I am looking for perhaps a uni or similar that could offer me a full time programe from absolute beginner through to advanced stage.

I would be hoping that the said establishment would be able to support me thus providing me with the necessary documents to obtain a students visa whilst on the programe.

If anyone could recommend anywhere I would be most grateful.

Thanks ....slippery

[tingtong]

if I would have money and time, i would love to try Chulalongkorn's full time program. Visa shouldnt be a problem to get.

http://www.arts.chula.ac.th/%7Easc/intensi...nsive_index.htm

must be very intensive study, but i would think their name should be some sort of guarantee.

[chulakid]

if I would have money and time, i would love to try Chulalongkorn's full time program. Visa shouldnt be a problem to get.

http://www.arts.chula.ac.th/%7Easc/intensi...nsive_index.htm

must be very intensive study, but i would think their name should be some sort of guarantee.

It is very intensive (on top of the four hours of classtime, expect to spend 2-3 hours on homework/individual study a night), and goes from beginner to advanced over the course of a bit over a year. At the end of it, you can expect to be able to study a university course in Thai. They can sponsor you for an ED visa, however you'll most likely have to get it extended for 1900 baht every 90 days at immigration. I don't think it would suit the OP well though, "read and possibly write" is pretty much all you do after the "basic" course is over. In Intermediate (Advanced is similar if not worse, from what the people in the group ahead of me say) you can count yourself lucky if you get 1 hour of speaking a week out of 20. The other 19 are spent reading articles in Thai with the professor providing grammar/vocabulary explanations entirely in Thai, a dictation exercise of the previous lessons' vocabulary (there are many, many irregular spellings in Thai) and a few rather frenetic listening activities. Classes are capped at 10 students. If you want to learn to actually speak Thai, you should probably look someplace else. For learning written/academic/formal Thai, it's probably the best choice.

Thammasat offers a less intensive Thai program for foreigners, but I'm not sure what it's like.

[Maestro]

...Chulalongkorn's full time program...They can sponsor you for an ED visa, however you'll most likely have to get it extended for 1900 baht every 90 days at immigration...

I read somewhere – in a post by Macwalen, I believe – that when you study at a government school or university you can get annual extensions. I am not sure if it applies to all courses or only to degree courses.

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Maestro

[Maestro]

...I am looking for perhaps a uni or similar that could offer me a full time programe from absolute beginner through to advanced stage.

Look around and choose what you like best. I took Thai language classes for beginners at a private school for a month, intensive program, four hours of classes in the morning, plus homework every day.

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Maestro

[chulakid]

...Chulalongkorn's full time program...They can sponsor you for an ED visa, however you'll most likely have to get it extended for 1900 baht every 90 days at immigration...

I read somewhere – in a post by Macwalen, I believe – that when you study at a government school or university you can get annual extensions. I am not sure if it applies to all courses or only to degree courses.

--

Maestro

I think I remember reading similar for degree courses, but this is a non-degree course. All of my classmates have to get their visa extended every 90 days, I got some kind of unprecidented exception made because I'm still a full-time degree-seeking student in the United States. The department tried writing me a different style sponsorship letter explaining this and to their surprise, I was granted an extension through next June. They want me to go back to immigration and check to make sure it wasn't a mistake. I suppose it sort of makes sense to only give 90 day extensions from an immigration standpoint... you pay the tuition at the beginning of each course, so if they were giving out year visas someone could just take Basic 1, and then drop out and still have a visa for the next year. Makes even more sense considering the attrition rate of the course.

[JaiRawnNitNoi]

I am not sure why (or if) the OP is only considering University level Thai language courses. It seems that many of the traditional modular Thai courses (Unity, Union, Piammitr) would readily move him from Beginner to Advanced in 6-8 months. As for ED visa, I can assure you all that any of those schools can provide a one year ED visa. The requirement is for 90 day reporting, not an extension of visa. No cost for that. Alternatively, you can simply exit the country on holiday for a few days.

I am currently on my second one-year mulitple entry ED visa. When the first expired, my school simply requested a new visa for me. I did not even have to go to Immigration to finalize the visa.

[Crow Boy]

The OP may want to contact Payap University in Chiang Mai and check if they are still running their FLAT course. I did it and thought it was very good. Classes are divided into different levels according to ability and there are separate Reading/Writing and Listening/Speaking. The course was part of the post graduate studies course for people doing a MBA or similar. I did the 2 year having done the part time classes for beginner to advanced before. The third year is very full on and if you pass you will be fluent in both written and aural/oral.

I didn't do the third because I left to go to work but my second year was a huge boost to my ability. Doing the course allows you to get a Non Im (E) visa and you only need to visit the CM immigration office to report in every three months.

If you are interested send me a PM and I will put you in touch with the course coordinator.

CB