I'm thinking of enrolling on an evening class at the University of London SOAS. Has anybody taken one of their courses and comment on the effectiveness of the teaching?

I can speak, read and write basic Thai and would be keen not to go back to transliteration. Would I be able to enroll on a lower intermediate course or would I be missing something at the beginners level?

All comments welcome.

Ps. Has anybody achieved fluency by learning at the university?

I'm thinking of enrolling on an evening class at the University of London SOAS. Has anybody taken one of their courses and comment on the effectiveness of the teaching?

I can speak, read and write basic Thai and would be keen not to go back to transliteration. Would I be able to enroll on a lower intermediate course or would I be missing something at the beginners level?

All comments welcome.

Ps. Has anybody achieved fluency by learning at the university?

I can't offer any opinions on SOAS, although I was once accepted to a doctoral programme in Thai studies there (and decided to move back to Thailand instead). Prior to that I took two years of Thai language instruction at a university in the US -- eight courses in all, from high beginner to independent study & translation of classic literature -- and while I can't say it made me fluent I did learn more Thai during that two years than I did studying the language independently for two years in Thailand before that time.

For most adult English-language speakers (I was 23 when I started), relative fluency in Thai takes several years to develop, no matter how you go about it. Enrolling in a Thai university would probably accelerate the whole process somewhat as you'd be using what you learned outside of class.

There are a couple of long threads on Thai 'fluency' in this branch of the forum. It's a controversial topic to say the least.