Learning Thai In Chaingmai?

[mistavengeance]

Does anyone know a place where I can get affordable, introductory-level Thai language lessons, preferably form an English-speaking instructor?

[tracyann]

Does anyone know a place where I can get affordable, introductory-level Thai language lessons, preferably form an English-speaking instructor?

My Thai daughter teaches Thai

//edit - e-mail address removed as per forum rules. Contact by PM.//

[mistavengeance]

Thanks - if you could PM me or e-mail me through my profile it would be very helpful.

[Mapguy]

YMCA or AUA

[john b good]

Does anyone know a place where I can get affordable, introductory-level Thai language lessons, preferably form an English-speaking instructor?

If you want to learn Thai get a native Thai (teacher) to teach you. "obviously they need to be able to speak English"

If you want to learn English get a native English speaking teacher to teach you.

Edited October 3, 2008 by john b good

[Loaded]

not another where do I learn Thai thread!

Look mate you'll have to go with AUA because if anyone suggests another location, they'll be hung, drawn and quartered. Personally, I studied at AUA and thought it was crap. My teacher lectured for 2 hours - that's not the way to teach language normally, but it is the way languages are taught by Thai teachers in general. Buy a do-it-yourself kit and go at your own pace.

[mistavengeance]

More hostility than anticipated...

[Lobin]

More hostility than anticipated...

hmmm... no not really, i think you got off rather light, this forum is full o' <deleted> who are just waiting, fingers poised at the ready to cut you down.. especially with an inane thread topic as yours, not to say that to you it is inane, but to most of the others that read this site with a DAILY vigilance, and in a sense of the meaning of absolute boredom of life but anything other than T V and of course that <deleted> of a place T u Skers... I mean what else to life is there?

it is true though. this forum is full of where can i learn thai/buy a decent burger/buy pad thai threads it gives most a headache.. personally i think this T slash V forum is well over rated and am waiting for the next big thing to go use and abuse...

but then look at me, i am here i am reading this crap as much as the next tosser so who am i to argue, i guess i just peruse this occasionally as i do like to know where the BEST burger of the night is found, where i can learn to pood the pasaa thai gadai and where are the local ExPat knob 'eads and which bar they drink in so i know where i have to avoid.

chok <deleted> dee LoL

[Ajarn]

not another where do I learn Thai thread!

Look mate you'll have to go with AUA because if anyone suggests another location, they'll be hung, drawn and quartered. Personally, I studied at AUA and thought it was crap. My teacher lectured for 2 hours - that's not the way to teach language normally, but it is the way languages are taught by Thai teachers in general. Buy a do-it-yourself kit and go at your own pace.

I have had differing experiences there over the last twenty years. For sure it depends on your teacher. My suggestion is Ajarn Oranute, the best teacher I had there.. Definately for me not a waste of time

[ataloss]

[quote

Look mate you'll have to go with AUA because if anyone suggests another location, they'll be hung, drawn and quartered. Personally, I studied at AUA and thought it was crap. My teacher lectured for 2 hours - that's not the way to teach language normally, but it is the way languages are taught by Thai teachers in general. Buy a do-it-yourself kit and go at your own pace.

I have had differing experiences there over the last twenty years. For sure it depends on your teacher. My suggestion is Ajarn Oranute, the best teacher I had there.. Definately for me not a waste of time

[/qu

I'll side with Loaded: In my experience Ms O is a lecturer, not a tutor; and, that was duly passed on to the upper echelons at AUA over a decade ago. Nothing has changed. Are Thai tutors at AUA or anywhere for that matter required to have the equivalent of, say, a CELTA? Mind you, I'll concede Ajarn does seem to have a firm grasp of Thai.... whereas I am still learning.

[tjthai]

Hi I have moved from Chiang Mai now but when I was there I used to have lessons with a teacher called Ting who was very good and good fun to learn with. I didn't want to learn by going to school as I left that behind many years ago but I was serious to learn. Ting can be found if you search for "easy study thai". He cost 180 THB per hour and came to my apartment but they have classroom lessons too. I really would recommend a chat with them. Chok Dee!

[richard10365]

Here is some info on the academic Thai course at Payap University in Chiang Mai.

http://ic.payap.ac.th/certificate/thai/about.php

I hope it helps.

[Ajarn]

I have had differing experiences there over the last twenty years. For sure it depends on your teacher. My suggestion is Ajarn Oranute, the best teacher I had there.. Definately for me not a waste of time

I'll side with Loaded: In my experience Ms O is a lecturer, not a tutor; and, that was duly passed on to the upper echelons at AUA over a decade ago. Nothing has changed. Are Thai tutors at AUA or anywhere for that matter required to have the equivalent of, say, a CELTA? Mind you, I'll concede Ajarn does seem to have a firm grasp of Thai.... whereas I am still learning.

My experience with Ajarn Oranute was more than 20 years ago, but I doubt her style has changed much. But AUA gave me an excellent foundation to learn Thai. It worked fo me very well, but it may not work well for you. During that time, the only mistakeI made was quitting my reading and writing because I couldn't see a need for it. I do communicate in Thai at a high level now, but I would have had good pronunciation from the beginning had I not quit reading and writing.

[Ulysses G.]

The last time that I heard Ajarn speak Thai - which was quite a while ago - he was better than 99% of the rest of us.

Joe Cummings and Raymond the German are the best that I have heard personally, but Ajarn is way up there!

[Axeman]

Like tjthai I learned with Ting for a while, good fun so a good way to start. His girlfriend, Yai, also teaches and is good fun. They have a web site www.easystudythai.com which has phone numbers.

Yai also teaches at the YMCA. I've ploughed through all the levels at the Y. The early levels are tedious and mainly rote learning, and sometimes the classes are big, but it is all very easy going. All the teachers I've had there have taken the attitude that people should be laughing whilst they are learning. The reason I chose the Y was that it was only 2 hours, three mornings a week. The alternatives at AUA and Payap were 5 days a week which was too heavy for me. If you can face it it is probably a better grounding.

Some of the book and CD sets are good also e.g the Benjam Poosman Becker series, and there is a stack of stuff on line at www.learningthai.com/ for free.

Best way is to find a Thai partner who can't speak English. You'll get better very quickly.

[keo]

I studied at Payap for a month recently. My first time studying Thai, but I've been here for over a year, and know a little. I started at Thai 1 and it was too easy, and really badly taught IMHO. Far too much talking from the teacher (mainly in English), nowhere near enough student talk time, not enough pair work, no mingling with classmates, no written phonetics from the teacher whatsoever, the handouts only had pictures on them and it was up to you to write it however you wanted.

I moved to Thai 3 and it was much better. I knew all the consonants already and most of the vowels, and I picked up the reading a writing quite quickly. well I was forced to because the pace of the class was fast. the teacher was better, spoke mainly in Thai, but I still felt there was too much teacher talk time, and not enough chances for the students to speak to each other and practice their speaking. Maybe this is just a general Thai teaching style, I don't know.

It was hard going studying every weekday for 3 hours while workin 2 weekday evenings and the weekends. I missed a few classes, mainly when I'd been out the night before!

It was pretty pricey at 8,000 baht, which included a 500 baht "administration fee"

A bit too pricey for me, hence why I didn't continue to Thai 4. would like to continue studying somewhere else though.

[harrry]

http://teflcmu.com/courses.php?course=ThaiLanguage

cmu have them too.

[SoloFlyer]

Keo,

What were the class sizes?

[keo]

Keo,

What were the class sizes?

10-12

[whiterussian]

My neighbour a retired teacher, and lawyer is an awesome teacher (thai). He is very cheap, and will cycle into town to meet you at a wat (he enjoys this!) where you can study, or if you live nearby the airport visit his house/yours. His rates are about 70-100 baht an hour i think.

He is very funny and often pops round with phrases he has picked up from american students:

what does "He thinks his shit doesnt stink" mean? shame on you yanks!

will grab his phone number and post it here when i next see him, or sooner if you are interested.

Edited October 22, 2008 by UKWEBPRO

[Drew Aitch]

Thai Walen are coming to town soon by the looks of things. I have no experience with them, but thought it might be worth mentioning.

http://www.thaiwalen.com/

Cheers

Aitch

[whiterussian]

The number for the private teacher is

089 - 265 - 6773 ( song boon)

nicest Thai you will ever meet. utterly trustworthy.

He will try and teach you the alphabet early on, took me a week to memorise it - great fun when you start to be able to unscramble the Thai words. but if you just want the very basics he can accomodate.

the best thing he asked me to explain was " he thinks the sun shines out of his ass" - shame on you yanks!

Edited October 22, 2008 by UKWEBPRO

[Ritti]

I would not go back to Thaiwalen, i was studying there in Bangkok............... I wont say too much for fear of getting deleted.

Private lessons are often cheap and a great way to learn

[Drew Aitch]

I would not go back to Thaiwalen, i was studying there in Bangkok............... I wont say too much for fear of getting deleted.

Private lessons are often cheap and a great way to learn

Pray tell your experience Ritti. I was considering looking them up myself when they come into town, so any positive or negative experiences help folks to make better informed decisions with these things. Obviously the more feedback the better, but it all starts with the first one

Might also look up UKWEBPRO's neighbour in the interim.

Aitch

[BlackArtemis]

I studied with my Thai cousin, I prefer one on one to whole class studies.

The biggest thing is to stop hanging around farang, make Thai friends and go to places that Thai's socialize. There is nothing wrong with having farang friends mind you, but you will probably speak English.

My spoken Thai is most likely going to under those who have been here 20 years and really care about learning, but I can last on my own anywhere. I have just been lazy with my reading and writing

Gah before I forget, yes the script is hard, yes you can get by without reading, however, learning the script with all those squiggles really helps your pronunciation, especially with tones.

Don't give up, and be happy. Thai people are some of the most encouraging people when you begin to learn and are quick with compliments.

[Ritti]

Walen. When I was there most of the students were studying only because of the Visa. Classes were a huge mix of people that could already read and write Thai to complet beginners in the class. Half the class did not want to be there and only came half the time. The teacher, although a very lovely lady, could not explain much as english was limited. The workbook they give you was mistake rideen to say the least.

But they did serve a good purpose for people wanting a no hassle visa.

[amexpat]

Gah before I forget, yes the script is hard, yes you can get by without reading, however, learning the script with all those squiggles really helps your pronunciation, especially with tones.

Agree, completely. And sometimes you can even read signs enough to get the idea. "Danger" for example.

We often hear the advice to get a thai partner who speaks no english. For me that is very, very, slow and limited. You can practice with your partner and improve on what you already learned by a more formal approach, but don't expect results like you can get with qualified instruction.

Walenthai's advertising suggests you can go there to meet some pretty staff members and get a one-year visa. I assume they also teach some thai language.

CMU is excellent if it fits your skill level and budget. Only two courses, AFAIK.

[Drew Aitch]

Walen. Classes were a huge mix of people that could already read and write Thai to complet beginners in the class. Half the class did not want to be there and only came half the time. The teacher, although a very lovely lady, could not explain much as english was limited. The workbook they give you was mistake rideen to say the least. But they did serve a good purpose for people wanting a no hassle visa.

Thanks for that Ritti.

A company, any company, that does well and prospers in the long term does so by listening and learning from its customer feedback. Hopefully, someone from Thai Walen might see this forum, especially as they are setting up shop in Chiang Mai soon, and perhaps they could take heed of your comments. Heck, they might even respond if we’re lucky

Aitch

[SoloFlyer]

The CMU courses are only beginners intensive and TESL aren't they? Am looking for a good intermediate/advanced course if one exists in CM.

[BlackArtemis]

Gah before I forget, yes the script is hard, yes you can get by without reading, however, learning the script with all those squiggles really helps your pronunciation, especially with tones.

Agree, completely. And sometimes you can even read signs enough to get the idea. "Danger" for example.

We often hear the advice to get a thai partner who speaks no english. For me that is very, very, slow and limited. You can practice with your partner and improve on what you already learned by a more formal approach, but don't expect results like you can get with qualified instruction.

Walenthai's advertising suggests you can go there to meet some pretty staff members and get a one-year visa. I assume they also teach some thai language.

CMU is excellent if it fits your skill level and budget. Only two courses, AFAIK.

I lucked out, my wife had been studying English for 20+ years and all her family speaks it as well. For me it is a blessing, because I can ask her how to say complex phrases or how to translate an idiom. But for some it could be too easy to speak only English, but anyone can learn as long as they want to put out the effort.

For those beginning. I like to think Thai is like a snow ball on a hill. Learn a few words and it strats rlling faster. The simplistic grammar really helps with this. You might be discouraged now, but keep on pushing and it will just start clicking faster and faster.