Walen School Of Thai In Chiang Mai

[MacWalen]

Thanks Phil, working on it, thanks for pointing it out. Should be fixed soon.

[KevinHunt]

I just completed the beginners course at CMU. I would be interested in continuing at Walen when it opens but the prices are about twice as much as CMU and AUA etc. Why?

Well perhaps they want a quick return on capital invested or maybe it's just simple greed.

How much thought did you give for that reply? It wasn't very polite or considerate was it?

(I blame the parents).

[Mapguy]

The most expensive group lesson is 165 Baht. one course is 60 lessons for 9,900 Baht. It is not the cheapest price in town but you should look at the value. We believe that you will get good results sooner if you use the Walen Method.

So again, we do not focus on the cheapest price but on the best value. Everyone is welcome to come to our school for a free demonstration and see for themselves.

Also some of the other factors for those who are looking for a very inexpensive schools and are wondering why Walen is more expensive are:

We pay our teachers well

We pay our staff well

Staff also receives bonus for good service

Our schools are in good locations

We spend a lot of money to build them (visit CM school and see for yourself)

We charge the same prices as in other locations.

If someone is very price sensitive I really encourage to look at a bigger picture. How much the knowledge of Thai is worth to you?

I am sure there are cases when you have bought something very cheaply and were not happy with your purchase afterward and wished you spend a little more but got the other better quality thing.

Being greedy, someone mentioned that. If we were greedy we would do everything on the cheap, pay our teachers nothing, our staff bare minimum. Do we want to get our investment back? Sure we do, also we want to make profit afterwards. Unless someone still believes in the principles of communism, which did not seem to work very well, it would be silly to expect all businesses to operate as charities. It would take the motivation out and you would be left with a badly run and slow business.

Do you also believe that you get what you pay for? I do.

Thank you guys for all the comments, both good and bad as it gives us something to think and improve.

Regards

Walen School - Judge after not before

www.thaiwalen.com

I have no intention of asking for specifics to the generalities given above by Walen justifying higher prices. Useful information would not be provided in any case, nor would information on other factors of the business. But I think Walen has a good business model, and I think he sells it well.

I still believe that there are no "magic formulae" for learning a language, especially for people of somewhat advanced (read "retired") age. And I think Walen is playing visa games, not that most people in the biz aren't!

Edited September 10, 2009 by Mapguy

[MacWalen]

Just to update you on what is going on at Walen.

We are already running a class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 am till 12.50. It is totally free for a week if you decide not to enroll! So it is 100% risk free, all you have to do is buy a book for 390 Baht. During one week you will have plenty of time to take good look at the school and teachers.

We do not have many students in Chiang Mai yet. Our first class started with one student taking a free one week class.

So again, please visit us and take free lessons.

Regards

Walen School - One week for free!

www.thaiwalen.com

Edited September 14, 2009 by macwalen

[Loaded]

Sounds good

[niebla]

The Thai-language school with the most punters is AUA along Ratchdamneon Road. I suggest take one of the townhouse type buildings nearer to Tha Pae Gate end of that road - loads of walk bys from AUA. Whatever you do, don't employ any of the old battle axes from AUA who teach Thai especially if their name begins with Malee. (Ajarn will be here to post how much he loves the battle axes within the next 2 minutes).

Some current feedback on Malee's class:

No handouts - makes it difficult to learn when having to write pages of information that could be distributed in advance

Very rigid - sticks to the words in the book, but jumps around the book quite a bit.

She is very knowledgeable and can hear if the dialogue is being spoken correctly by each student.

Not aware of current teaching strategies to facilitate learning.

[MacWalen]

Update on Walen

We are starting a new class this coming Monday, students requested a class 3 times a week 2 lessons a day. Total of 6 lessons a week.

The class will be running on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 am till 10.50 am.

For those who did not hear about it yet, we offer free lessons for a week! No money risk, you need just to buy a book for 390 Baht. If you decide not to enroll you will not pay anything and if you decide to enroll you will pay for the lessons taken.

Walen School - New class in Chiang Mai

www.thaiwalen.com

[MacWalen]

We are already running a morning group Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 am for 2 lessons a day and as of this week we have book 1 class also on Tuesday and Thursday from 10 till 12.50. Two choices for those interested in learning at Walen. We hope to have more options available as the school gets busier.

Walen School - Getting busier in CM

www.thaiwalen.com

[el jefe]

We are already running a morning group Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9 am for 2 lessons a day and as of this week we have book 1 class also on Tuesday and Thursday from 10 till 12.50. Two choices for those interested in learning at Walen. We hope to have more options available as the school gets busier.

Walen School - Getting busier in CM

www.thaiwalen.com

Do you have any plans to offer afternoon classes in the future?

[Ulysses G.]

Whatever you do, don't employ any of the old battle axes from AUA who teach Thai especially if their name begins with Malee.

Some current feedback on Malee's class:

Many years ago - when I attended AUA - it seemed that she would purposely try to force the worst students in each class to drop out to make it easier to teach the remaining ones.

Is she still doing this type of thing in 2009?

[pjclark1]

Many years ago - when I attended AUA - it seemed that she would purposely try to force the worst students in each class to drop out to make it easier to teach the remaining ones.

Is she still doing this type of thing in 2009?

AUA (4200bht for 60hrs, 5 days a week, 2hrs a day))

She is not only still doing this, but it seems to happen with anyone she just doesn't like.

I went to the director of AUA and said I wouldn't be taking any more courses with them unless they could assure me she wouldn't be teaching them. Their reply was go elsewhere then.

As far as I am concerned AUA is a dead loss as a language school, their deliberate policy is to not inform students of their class teacher until the day before the course starts (so you can't back out if you are given one of the nasty ones).

I also found that the courses are too intense at 5 days a week with homework, If you could choose your teacher AUA would be much better.

I have also attended the free week at Walen and courses at the YMCA

Walen (10,000bht for 60hrs 3 days a week, 3hrs a day)

This school has some very good points, they improved my spelling and pronunciation very well in the week BUT as some have previously pointed out, the textbook is full of sentences nobody would ever speak in Thailand. The course book appears to have been written by an English speaking person with little or no input from a Thai person (other schools have done this the other way round. The book needs to be comprehensively rewritten, Thai teacher + English teacher in partnership.

The teachers at the ChiangMai branch clearly have no teaching experience at all (apart from one). They appear to have been recruited straight out of college, their college courses were not relevant to teaching. They were all well educated, spoke good English (and were quite pretty). I begin to wonder why none of the language schools appear to hire trained teachers (or male teachers). I didn't want to pay a premium fee to help them become teachers (best to wait 6 months and allow someone else to do it). I did like the fact there was no transliteration.

Students should make the effort to learn the names of the Thai alphabet before they start, else they are wasting their and everyone else's money and time.

YMCA (1800bht for 30hrs 3 days a week, 2hrs a day)

Stocked with pretty girls in party frocks. Makes you wonder if they are there to teach or find boyfriends (they do give out their phone numbers is you smile nicely). Again these ladies are not trained teachers, but most of them have been doing it for a few years. The conversational Thai courses appear to have little value, but at least they are cheap and get you started if you are a complete beginner. Thai script courses appear to have the most educational content (and don't have transliteration). If only the YMCA would allow language students to use the swimming pool. This school has a lot of Japanese students, if you get stuck on a course where everyone else is Asian, you might feel a little left out, check out the names of the other students on the course before you hand over any cash. At least if you get bored you can just ogle the eye candy in front of you.

So I'm still looking for a language course in ChiangMai that teaches using Thai script with experienced teachers that are polite. Is this impossible?

Edited October 1, 2009 by pjclark1

[Ulysses G.]

I got stuck with her in book two, but the best student in the class called her out one day and told her in front of the whole class that she should be ashamed of how she treated the less gifted students. She ran out of the room crying, but it looks like she never learned a lesson and that was almost 20 years ago.

All my other teachers were quite nice though.

Edited October 1, 2009 by Ulysses G.

[MacWalen]

Hi, just an update on what is going on at the Walen school in Chiangmai.

We have 2 regular book 1 classes going on Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 9.00 till 11.00, 2 hours a day and Tuesday, Thursday 10.00 till 13.00, 3 hours a day. They are taught by 4 very talented female teachers in their mid 20's. We will be opening book 2 class soon.

We are still offering one week free classes, if you decide to enroll you pay for them, if not the lessons are free. You need to buy only a book for 390 Baht.

We have finished our multimedia room sitting 50 students. We hope to offer Thai lessons based on watching TV programs and Thai movies in addition to the Walen Method. It is a great way to improve your Thai. We are also considering teaching Thai with Thai songs karaoke style with subtitles. It should be fun and to try it out we will offer lessons for promotional price of 66.5 Baht per lesson! Discount from 99 Baht which would be the regular price. He have not decided yet how long the course would be but assume it would be a 60 hour course then the price would be 3,990 Baht. There were a lot of comments that Walen is expensive for Chiangmai market, I hope this price is really attractive. We need 30 students to open a multimedia class. Students are welcome to come and see our facilities. No expense was spared.

Regarding Walen prices, they are the same in all schools, Bangkok, Pattaya Chiangmai. This is the policy of a lot of companies, today I went to Chester grill and the price was the same as in Bangkok, they did not charge me less because it was Chiangmai. This is just a side note but important for those who talk about prices. Hope there is more to choosing a school than just the price.

We hope to receive full registration with the Ministry of Education next week so it should be good news for all those who also require ED visa for the period of their studies.

Joining Walen School is a great way of not only learning the language but also making new friends.

Walen School - Growing in Chaingmai

www.thaiwalen.com

Edited November 13, 2009 by macwalen

[pjclark1]

We are also considering teaching Thai with Thai songs karaoke style with subtitles. It should be fun and to try it out we will offer lessons for promotional price of 66.5 Baht per lesson! Discount from 99 Baht which would be the regular price. He have not decided yet how long the course would be but assume it would be a 60 hour course then the price would be 3,990 Baht.

I would certainly be interested in this and can even suggest the songs

Long Rak Kon Mee Fan

Wasanaa Maa Wat

Gliat Kon Suay

Rao Rak Gan Mai Dai

Hua Jai Mai Chi

[harrry]

I hope you are going to get a music performance licence for this....even though I do not consider kareoke music.

The music police could cause you a problem.

[MacWalen]

We will check with the Ministry of Education, we can insert 'for teaching purposes only', I don't think that would be a problem but it is a good idea to make sure first.

Walen

[Mapguy]

My compliments, once again, to macwalen, for superb marketing. The latest karaoke gimmick is truly inspired!

How superb his instructors or his program might be is quite a different matter. He only presents the broadest generalities while charging a premium (Haven't seen higher) cost. Okay, macwalen, please tell us (no names needed) exactly what the qualifications of your teachers actually are without any blah blah blah. That would include, obviously, educational background (in Thailand and abroad) as well as number of years of experience teaching language and where that experience was. Now, that's straightforward boilerplate information. Nothing privileged or exceptional is asked.

About your method of instruction not employing phonetics, I agree wholeheartedly that this is the best method once people get over the hump of learning Thai consonants and vowels, which is initially largely rote learning. I agree with what one poster said above. Perhaps you should give an admissions test! Or just give folks a free initial series of guidelines and a couple of quick lessons for free, a CD for checking pronunciation and turn them loose to return later. At your prices, they can definitely best do this on their ow, but they'll love you for it and come back. By the way, lots of this is available for free on the internet.

The comments on young women as instructors are interesting. The best teacher at YMCA used to be a katoi, actually! The ones who are there now are generally young and pretty but also experienced. They get paid a pittance, but do teaching and tutoring elsewhere. Otherwise, I am glad that I have never run into the dragon at AUA!

A five-day-a week-program, to me, is punishing. It is doable if someone is focused. Otherwise, the three-day-a-week approach seems more sensible.

Oh yes, one other statistic, please. You must certainly know. What is the percentage of those starting your course who actually finish your course in each of your branches?

Finally, a great number of language schools (and students) are playing a game with Thai visa rules, and perhaps this might become more interesting to the government in the future. Perhaps both schools and their students will be seriously affected.

Edited November 14, 2009 by Mapguy

[el jefe]

Regarding Walen prices, they are the same in all schools, Bangkok, Pattaya Chiangmai. This is the policy of a lot of companies, today I went to Chester grill and the price was the same as in Bangkok, they did not charge me less because it was Chiangmai. This is just a side note but important for those who talk about prices. Hope there is more to choosing a school than just the price.

That's a convenient policy for companies expanding from Bangkok/Pattaya to CM. I've yet to hear of anyone ever charging the same prices when expanding/moving from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.

I can't comment on the quality of whalen's language courses but based on most of the previous comments I still haven't seen a valid explanation of why it costs more than double what AUA charges.

[Loaded]

My compliments, once again, to macwalen, for superb marketing. The latest karaoke gimmick is truly inspired!

How superb his instructors or his program might be is quite a different matter. He only presents the broadest generalities while charging a premium (Haven't seen higher) cost. Okay, macwalen, please tell us (no names needed) exactly what the qualifications of your teachers actually are without any blah blah blah. That would include, obviously, educational background (in Thailand and abroad) as well as number of years of experience teaching language and where that experience was. Now, that's straightforward boilerplate information. Nothing privileged or exceptional is asked.

About your method of instruction not employing phonetics, I agree wholeheartedly that this is the best method once people get over the hump of learning Thai consonants and vowels, which is initially largely rote learning. I agree with what one poster said above. Perhaps you should give an admissions test! Or just give folks a free initial series of guidelines and a couple of quick lessons for free, a CD for checking pronunciation and turn them loose to return later. At your prices, they can definitely best do this on their ow, but they'll love you for it and come back. By the way, lots of this is available for free on the internet.

The comments on young women as instructors are interesting. The best teacher at YMCA used to be a katoi, actually! The ones who are there now are generally young and pretty but also experienced. They get paid a pittance, but do teaching and tutoring elsewhere. Otherwise, I am glad that I have never run into the dragon at AUA!

A five-day-a week-program, to me, is punishing. It is doable if someone is focused. Otherwise, the three-day-a-week approach seems more sensible.

Oh yes, one other statistic, please. You must certainly know. What is the percentage of those starting your course who actually finish your course in each of your branches?

Finally, a great number of language schools (and students) are playing a game with Thai visa rules, and perhaps this might become more interesting to the government in the future. Perhaps both schools and their students will be seriously affected.

Why don't you visit the school and find out for yourself rather than try and score points with your supercilious attacks?

I'm sure you have no intention of signing up for a course anyway.

[amexpat]

I was in a CMU 2nd level course when the teacher tried a karaoke session. It was entertainment only - not educational because nobody could read the the subtitles fast enough nor understand the slang/familiar terms used.

I don't think they ever tried it again. CMU was not advertising hot chicks and visas either. They now offer a one year course with visa eligibility for 30,000 - but no mention of babalicious teachers.

[NancyL]

One of my Thai language teachers at the YMCA tried to teach us a popular song, too. The class was pretty quick, did their homework, asked good questions, etc so we blew thru the material in the book a little too quickly and she needed to fill up some instructional time. The teacher obviously worked very hard on the project, probably spending her own money to give us copies of the lyrics in English and phoentic Thai. Despite listening to the song over and over for a couple of hours, we never really did "get it".

As mentioned, there is much slang and cultural references in popular songs, no matter what the language. The only thing I retained from the exercise is to realize that when Thais exclaim "oy, oy", they're not channeling their inner NY Jew! It's the way Thais say "ouch, ouch" for a cry a pain.

Some of her other "filler" exercises were much better. A favorite was asking us to write an essay to answer an assigned question. An essay of at least six complete sentences and incorporating as many of the current lesson's vocabulary words as possible. We'd read them aloud and she'd correct our grammar and make sure every student understood what the speaker was saying. The topics were kind of interesting like "describe what life is like in Chiang Mai now and what you think it will be like in 10 years" Topics that got some dialog going.

[keo]

Regarding Walen prices, they are the same in all schools, Bangkok, Pattaya Chiangmai. This is the policy of a lot of companies, today I went to Chester grill and the price was the same as in Bangkok, they did not charge me less because it was Chiangmai. This is just a side note but important for those who talk about prices. Hope there is more to choosing a school than just the price.

I work for a well known English language school in CM, which has branches in Bangkok too. It is significantly more expensive (double, I think) to study at the Bangkok branches. As a result the teachers in Bangkok are paid more than we are, which is fair enough. Let's face it, there is a lot more money in BKK than there is in CM.

How do the AUA and YMCA Thai course prices in BKK compare to CM? I would be surprised if they were the same.

If I go to the pool hall in CM, I pay 150 Baht/hour. If I go to a similar pool hall in BKK or Pattaya, I pay nearer 300 Baht/hour.

If I buy a beer while I'm playing pool, in CM I'll pay 75 Baht for a large beer. In BKK or Pattaya I'll pay 100 Baht for a small beer.

And there are many many more examples of this - Chiang Mai IS cheaper than BKK and Pattaya.

Unless you study Thai at Walen or eat at Chesters grill of course

[MacWalen]

Thank you for the feedback.

Our prices actually have been reduced to 24,960 Baht for our regular 180 lesson Walen course from 27,900 Baht previously. Students can receive visa assistance with it.

We have two classes running and hope to have some more in the future as our school becomes more popular and more people know about us in Chiangmai.

People have a choice and if they decide to study at other schools because of cheaper price we understand that. The question is do they get the same value as at our school.

Regarding prices overall Chiangmai is cheaper no doubt.

[pjclark1]

CM uni charge 30kbht for the same as Walen.

The CM course is a total sham according to one person I know who has signed up (and regretted it).

Apparently, so many westerners just signed up for the Ed Visa that the teachers have stopped trying to teach.

I find it distasteful that so many on this forum are just bashing Whalen for the sake of it, if you can't be constructive or have no knowledge of Walen, why not view another thread.

Just my opinion.

Edited November 21, 2009 by pjclark1

[Drew Aitch]

Our prices actually have been reduced to 24,960 Baht for our regular 180 lesson Walen course from 27,900 Baht previously.

Correct me if i'm wrong someone, but 24,960 Baht for a 1 year course (assuming that's what it is or could be), is incredibly good value for money if the method actually works. Lets not also forget that just because a person goes to learn Thai and comes away with little more than a สวัสดีครับ s-wat-dee-khrap, doesn't always mean that the school or personal teacher failed him or her. It takes time, effort, and commitment from the student too, and until the Ministry of World Education brings out a course of language pills, it will always be that way. The old saying; A poor workman always blames his tools springs to mind! And no one should ever knock anything until they themselves have tried it - I assume that's a fair comment. Isn't it?

Aitch

[amexpat]

"A Man is not OLD until hos dreams become his regrets!"

Which HOs you dreamin about, bro?

[Drew Aitch]

"A Man is not OLD until hos dreams become his regrets!"

Which HOs you dreamin about, bro?

Ha ha LOL it's unusual for me to miss a typo

Tks amexpat, i'm on to it.

Aitch

[Mapguy]

Our prices actually have been reduced to 24,960 Baht for our regular 180 lesson Walen course from 27,900 Baht previously.

Correct me if i'm wrong someone, but 24,960 Baht for a 1 year course (assuming that's what it is or could be), is incredibly good value for money if the method actually works. Lets not also forget that just because a person goes to learn Thai and comes away with little more than a สวัสดีครับ s-wat-dee-khrap, doesn't always mean that the school or personal teacher failed him or her. It takes time, effort, and commitment from the student too, and until the Ministry of World Education brings out a course of language pills, it will always be that way. The old saying; A poor workman always blames his tools springs to mind! And no one should ever knock anything until they themselves have tried it - I assume that's a fair comment. Isn't it?

Aitch

I think the point about student commitment makes a lot of sense. Some people learn more or less slowly under any system, of course, but there is another consideration.

The educational visa scam in Thailand probably does not lead altogether to good learners or learning. I suggest that such gaming of immigration rules doesn't attract serious students regardless of whatever school (e.g., Chiang Mai University) or business (e.g., MacW) hopes to build enrollment by it. Pretty obvious, isn't it?

It seems a whole business model has been largely built around giving farang without other "long stay" visa opportunities, a way to hang around at minimal cost and commitment. There's a comment somewhere above about the Chiang Mai University instructors giving up on doing the job right because of such slackers crowding their classrooms.

I don't recommend any particular school here. indeed, I am not bashing MacW at all; I agree with the "non-phonetic" approach he speaks about. However, I still have not seen anything substantive posted (although he is a frequent visitor to this thread) to straightforward questions about the qualifications of his staff. He has provided only the most general information that is really not at all informative. What's wrong with specifying what the specific background, qualifications and experience of his instructors are when he claims he has "well-paid, qualified instructors?" Good schools would do that. Thus far, as I recall, we only know that his instructors might be attractive recent female graduates of indeterminate academic background or experience in teaching. Goodness knows there are lots of those in Chiang Mai and certainly cheaper to hit on (as reflected by some posts above) than through a language course anywhere in town!

So, "Where's the beef ??!!!" This question was famously made by one presidential candidate in America a few years ago about superficial promises made by his opponent! It was based on the humor of a contemporary TV ad series between rival hamburger chains.

[in the sky]

Our prices actually have been reduced to 24,960 Baht for our regular 180 lesson Walen course from 27,900 Baht previously.

Correct me if i'm wrong someone, but 24,960 Baht for a 1 year course (assuming that's what it is or could be), is incredibly good value for money if the method actually works. Lets not also forget that just because a person goes to learn Thai and comes away with little more than a สวัสดีครับ s-wat-dee-khrap, doesn't always mean that the school or personal teacher failed him or her. It takes time, effort, and commitment from the student too, and until the Ministry of World Education brings out a course of language pills, it will always be that way. The old saying; A poor workman always blames his tools springs to mind! And no one should ever knock anything until they themselves have tried it - I assume that's a fair comment. Isn't it?

Aitch

After 6 hours in class (and many hours of committed study outside the classroom) I am reading! I am one of those old students with poor memory and had a few dozen words that I use daily. I may never be good at understanding (everyone talks too fast for old brain processing) but at least I will be able to read - even if I don't know what it means.

It seems expensive because the commitment is at least 60 hours - seems like a lot to shell out at one time! I feel I am getting more quality than anywhere else or than any other method I have tried.

[Drew Aitch]

Our prices actually have been reduced to 24,960 Baht for our regular 180 lesson Walen course from 27,900 Baht previously.

Please don't laugh if my maths is wrong here, cus i do have a genuine learning disability But doesn't 180 classes at 24,960 equate to just 139 Baht a lesson (give or take a few satang)? If so, then surely that can't be bad? Air conditioned classrooms, modern facilities, prime location, and young enthusiastic teachers (maybe). Oh, and for those who want/need one, there's also the potential to acquire ad ED Visa as well.

Now if that little lot ain't value for money, then pray tell what is? Bear in mind that i sat across the road in Starbucks Coffee shop the other week and had 2 medium lattes and a slice of chocolate cake for the grand total of 305 Baht. Quite enjoyed it too, but I can't help thinking the 45 minutes spent flopped into one of the comfy armchairs chatting with a fellow expat in English, was perhaps not the best investment of time and money considering I'm wanting to integrate better into the local Thai community.

Aitch