Where Do I Learn Thai, Whilst My Gf Learns English?

[mallmagician]

Hi,

My gf wants to learn English more, and I want to learn Thai. I would like to find a language school that teaches English people Thai and Vice Versa. Preferably with lessons at the same time, so we can go together.

I know I could get a couple of private tutors, but want to explore my options.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Phil

[rrose070]

I hope I don't come off as a wiseass, although I'm sure I'll be blasted anyway. But my hubbie and I (actually him; I was at home in the US saving $ at the time) hired a fluent, bright, personable Thai girl (not a bargirl, although she works in that venue) and had her come live with us for a month, all expenses paid plus a decent wage. Our Thai has increasaed from nil to a nearly-kindergarten level of efficiency, plus she did all the cooking and cleaning. I won't share her name without her permission, but PM me if you're interested and I'll pass yours along. Best of luck with that.

Are you really a magician? He's looking for a few tricks (the hus, that is)

[rrose070]

Oops, I mean wisea**

[el jefe]

Oops, I mean wisea**

I don't understand how living with a bargirl will help the GF learn English, but I wish my wife would go along with that idea!

AUA, just inside Tha Phae Gate, offers both English and Thai classes although I have no idea if the schedules coincide.

[kash]

aua is a waste, never experienced such a rotten service anywhere...even McDs' has nicer employees.

[Foggy Bottom]

"Where Do I Learn Thai, Whilst My Gf Learns English?, I would like it in the same venue same time if poss"

Well, the most likely candidate that springs to mind is the hong-non

Re: AUA - if you can put up with the repetitive parrot-fashion learning system, you'll find you do pick up a lot of good grammar and structure knowledge for Thai if you do their 60-hour speaking course. Maybe won't build your vocabulary dramatically, but you'll be able to master basic daily use at the end of it.

The problem with trying to have the gf learn English is that all tuition in Thailand is too heavily focussed on grammar, and too little on practice - you'd be better getting WE-TV cable installed and having her watch the English learning programs every morning (a lot cheaper too) on Australia Channel.

Alternatively, invest in a full set of the BBC English For You (books, tapes, videos etc) - not cheap at around 10,000 Baht for the full set, but does have the advantage that she can use them over and over again (with or without your help) until she learns it all - then it can be resold (those sets tend to keep their price 2nd hand).

Don't make the mistake that many of us here have made and only learn spoken Thai - if you really want to learn the language, you need to learn to read and write it too. Wish I'd learned to years ago when I had the time to do it.

Gaz

[jackr]

Yep, learn to read. Learning Thai dot com is an excellent resource complete with audio pages

[uptheos]

There are two beginners courses in Thai at Chiangmai University

http://www.teflcmu.com/index.php?active_page_id=28

You could explore if they have similar options in English.

The post referring to the online 'Learning Thai the Easy Way' is definitely worth a look

[Ajarn]

aua is a waste, never experienced such a rotten service anywhere...even McDs' has nicer employees.

Got a feeling you are more of a waste than AUA. I studied there with Ajarn Oranute for 6 months. She was the best teacher I have ever had, and I learned an enormous amount of useful Thai ...

[Ulysses G.]

Ajarn is one of the best farang speakers of Thai in Chiang Mai although Sabai Jai is probably numero uno.

[meadish_sweetball]

Personally I drew enormous benefit from the 10 week booster course I took at AUA Chiang Mai in preparation of my third year studying Thai at university.

Our group was handled professionally from the initial e-mail asking about options until the final day of the course.

Then again, this was an extra-curricular course with only 5 participants, and not one of their regular modules.

[kash]

aua is a waste, never experienced such a rotten service anywhere...even McDs' has nicer employees.

Got a feeling you are more of a waste than AUA. I studied there with Ajarn Oranute for 6 months. She was the best teacher I have ever had, and I learned an enormous amount of useful Thai ...

so because you had a great experience that makes mine and my mates experience less a waste? nice deduction.

Ajarn is one of the best farang speakers of Thai in Chiang Mai although Sabai Jai is probably numero uno.

You've met them all? :-)

[Rasseru]

The YMCA offers courses in spoken and written Thai, the introductory levels of which I can recommend highly (I can't speak about higher levels, not having taken them) and preferred to Payap U's introductory course, which was so poorly organized that I dropped it after three days. I don't know if the YMCA also offers English courses, but I think it would be worth checking.

[Ulysses G.]

aua is a waste, never experienced such a rotten service anywhere...even McDs' has nicer employees.

Got a feeling you are more of a waste than AUA. I studied there with Ajarn Oranute for 6 months. She was the best teacher I have ever had, and I learned an enormous amount of useful Thai ...

so because you had a great experience that makes mine and my mates experience less a waste? nice deduction.

Ajarn is one of the best farang speakers of Thai in Chiang Mai although Sabai Jai is probably numero uno.

You've met them all? :-)

My staff have all worked in local English bookstores for many years and have met all the local intellectuals and they all say Sabai Jai is by far the best farang speaker of Thai in Chiang Mai and that he rates up there with Andrew Biggs who teaches English on Thai TV!

Edited December 10, 2007 by Ulysses G.

[kash]

My staff have all worked in local English bookstores for many years and they all say Sabai Jai is by far the best farang speaker of Thai in Chiang Mai and that he rates up there with Andrew Biggs who teaches English on Thai TV!

I am sure they are all great Thai speakers, but there are heaps of them - and why would you rate anyone on the basis of them visiting a English bookstore? The best Thai speakers are around and about, not reading English books I know this guy from Chile who speaks fluently Thai, and can fool even the best native speaker, however he doesn't speak a word English ... which would exclude him from your ratings as not being a customer?

[Ulysses G.]

My staff have all worked in local English bookstores for many years and they all say Sabai Jai is by far the best farang speaker of Thai in Chiang Mai and that he rates up there with Andrew Biggs who teaches English on Thai TV!

I am sure they are all great Thai speakers, but there are heaps of them

Do you truly believe that there are "tons" of Thai speakers like Andrew Biggs around?

Well sorry, but I 've never seen or heard any of them, other than my buddy Raymond, who Thais think is Thai on the telephone, and the girls say that Sabai Jai is better than him.

[Foggy Bottom]

Great innit?

OP comes on looking for some POSITIVE advice, then a disgruntled poster's comment all but takes over the thread in terms of replies. This is becoming too standard when people are posting valid help requests - is it a symptom of the wider farang community's condition, or a peculiarity of the online community?

For Mall Magician - having spoken to a few friends, they all recommend the place on Chotana Road that's a few hundred metres uphill from the elephant shrine and on the right as you leave the city. Apparently they do foundation reading and writing counrses for foreigners to learn Thai, and blend them with spoken Thai lessons. (They told me the name and I forgot it - it's almost dead level with where the road turns into dual carriageway with a central barrier up the middle of the road)

A few people who I know went there 3-4 years ago, now read the Thai language newspapers daily and tend to be way ahead on news of what's happening. Still rooting around to find the best options for your gf.

Gaz

[kash]

Do you truly believe that there are "tons" of Thai speakers like Andrew Biggs around?

Well sorry, but I 've never seen or heard any of them, other than my buddy Raymond, who Thais think is Thai on the telephone, and the girls say that Sabai Jai is better than him.

avoiding the subject huh? I don't care who is the best, I said AUA is waste, and that your rating is a bit funny ... and that you haven't heard or seen of any of others who speak great Thai, well ... there are some 6 billion people in this world, kind of odd if all of them would be your customers?

[Loaded]

I didn't like AUA. They use a 1960 textbook amd 19th century teaching methodology. For example, They teach you to say 'deum' for 'drink' but forget to tell you it's so formal you'll probably never hear it. I found some of the teachers rude and impatient - maybe I was unlucky.

[Ulysses G.]

Do you truly believe that there are "tons" of Thai speakers like Andrew Biggs around?

Well sorry, but I 've never seen or heard any of them, other than my buddy Raymond, who Thais think is Thai on the telephone, and the girls say that Sabai Jai is better than him.

avoiding the subject huh? I don't care who is the best, I said AUA is waste, and that your rating is a bit funny ... and that you haven't heard or seen of any of others who speak great Thai, well ... there are some 6 billion people in this world, kind of odd if all of them would be your customers?

We were not talking about the world, we were talking about Chiang Mai and you asked me a question and yes I've probably met most of the best farang Thai speakers in Chiang Mai over the years.

By the way, when I said the girls had been working in English bookstores it was a typo, they all worked in Suriwong Books - a mostly Thai bookstore - before they worked for me and some for a very long time. I would guess that they have met most of the farangs that have been here a long time because, at one time, there were very few other bookshops in town.

[Ulysses G.]

I had one terrible teacher at AUA, one mediocre one and a bunch of really good ones.

Over all, it worked for me.

[Tywais]

avoiding the subject huh? I don't care who is the best, I said AUA is waste, and that your rating is a bit funny ... and that you haven't heard or seen of any of others who speak great Thai, well ... there are some 6 billion people in this world, kind of odd if all of them would be your customers?

You made your point and 'your' experience no point in continuing the argument. Thanks.

[Ajarn]

aua is a waste, never experienced such a rotten service anywhere...even McDs' has nicer employees.

Got a feeling you are more of a waste than AUA. I studied there with Ajarn Oranute for 6 months. She was the best teacher I have ever had, and I learned an enormous amount of useful Thai ...

so because you had a great experience that makes mine and my mates experience less a waste? nice deduction.

That is your deduction, not mine

[Ajarn]

I didn't like AUA. They use a 1960 textbook amd 19th century teaching methodology. For example, They teach you to say 'deum' for 'drink' but forget to tell you it's so formal you'll probably never hear it. I found some of the teachers rude and impatient - maybe I was unlucky.

I hear 'duem' used a lot by native speakers. Might be 'formal', but it certainly is used a lot. Have there been many changes to Thai learning since the sixties? Doubt it.

[Loaded]

never hear deum. Always hear kin. Education hasn't sat still since 1960. You may not have noticed.

[jackr]

never hear deum. Always hear kin. Education hasn't sat still since 1960. You may not have noticed.

Hear it quite a bit in the restaurants - deum arai krap/ka?

[Loaded]

never hear deum. Always hear kin. Education hasn't sat still since 1960. You may not have noticed.

Hear it quite a bit in the restaurants - deum arai krap/ka?

That's a formal situation: customer/servant. As I've already said....

[mallmagician]

Hi,

Thanks to all for the advice, I will look into the places mentioned.

Also, I mentioned in my OP, that another option would be private tutors. I would also like to look into this too, so I can look at all my options.

If I went the route of Private Tutors, I would need them to travel to meet us. as it makes the logistics with my GF's baby easier. Any advice on good English, and good Thai tutors? Costs? I think we would be looking at about 3 hours a couple of times a week perhaps.

Thanks in advance for any advice once again.

Phil

[Tywais]

You might check with the YWCA just off Huay Kaew road. They have an English course and used to have Thai, but that was sometime ago. Might e-mail them.

[Ulysses G.]

never hear deum. Always hear kin. Education hasn't sat still since 1960. You may not have noticed.

Hear it quite a bit in the restaurants - deum arai krap/ka?

That's a formal situation: customer/servant. As I've already said....

Formal or informal, you hear it all the time and you still need to understand it.