Private Tutor In Pattaya

[anothertorres]

studied 140+ hours, one-on-one, already. now looking for a private tutor. anyone have experience with a private tutor in the Pattaya area and would care to refer me to them? thanks in advance!

[Ericx25]

Last April I was given a teacher's phone number by another farang that I didn't know.

I think that it is a female teacher who belongs to a school somewhere in nakhlua not far from the dolphins roundabout and also gives private lessons (black work ?)

I am not even sure the number is valid since I haven't phoned yet.

You may give it a try : 0818658208

Eric

www.dramaix.com

Edited November 23, 2009 by Ericx25

[HappyInCM]

I tried Pattaya Language and Computer center lightly east of carefour on Pattaya Klang.

I bought 10 lessons but only went to 3. That should tell you enough. My last lesson, the teacher was just about falling asleep while I was reading; she was supposed to be correcting my pronunciation - I found out too late her English wasn't good enough to really do anything other than work on my pronunciation.

Maybe if you're an absolute beginner, but otherwise, I wouldn't waste your money as I did.

[kikenyoy]

I tried Pattaya Language and Computer center lightly east of carefour on Pattaya Klang.

I bought 10 lessons but only went to 3. That should tell you enough. My last lesson, the teacher was just about falling asleep while I was reading; she was supposed to be correcting my pronunciation - I found out too late her English wasn't good enough to really do anything other than work on my pronunciation.

Maybe if you're an absolute beginner, but otherwise, I wouldn't waste your money as I did.

Sadly, this has been my experience as well. I have had four teachers...two were terrible (no English, can't teach anything other than what's in the books) and two were good. One of the good ones is now teaching at a University and the other one has about 3 jobs and a kid and was always late or re-scheduling/canceling.

I just found a tiny school in Jomthien on the main road near Tepprasit. I haven't talked to her yet, but the farang next door said he can't vouch for her teaching ability, but her English is very good. If I decide to go then I'll give you a review.

[SoftWater]

Hi, I'm wondering why you need a Thai teacher that speaks English?

I had two different and very good teachers at AAA in Bangkok; neither of them spoke English, and I would have been irritated if they did.

So what about all those questions you just want answered quickly in terms you can understand? I know you can look up an unknown word in a dictionary in three seconds and move on with the lesson, but my teachers would never let me use a dictionary. Instead, we had to digress from the lesson for ten minutes or more till I 'got it' (and sometimes I didn't get it, or was not sure if I'd got it until I got out of the class and checked the dictionary.) However, none of that is the point - it's in those communicative exchanges where you really need to understand that the real work of 'learning' takes place. Don't sell yourself short and revert to English to answer a question quickly - like they say in mathematics class, its not the answer that's important but the working out.

If you want to learn Thai, my advice is forget your English.

Best

Sw

[kikenyoy]

Hi, I'm wondering why you need a Thai teacher that speaks English?

I had two different and very good teachers at AAA in Bangkok; neither of them spoke English, and I would have been irritated if they did.

So what about all those questions you just want answered quickly in terms you can understand? I know you can look up an unknown word in a dictionary in three seconds and move on with the lesson, but my teachers would never let me use a dictionary. Instead, we had to digress from the lesson for ten minutes or more till I 'got it' (and sometimes I didn't get it, or was not sure if I'd got it until I got out of the class and checked the dictionary.) However, none of that is the point - it's in those communicative exchanges where you really need to understand that the real work of 'learning' takes place. Don't sell yourself short and revert to English to answer a question quickly - like they say in mathematics class, its not the answer that's important but the working out.

If you want to learn Thai, my advice is forget your English.

Best

Sw

I think the key phrase is "very good teachers". My last teacher worked in a hotel for a number of years and when she moved to Pattaya she decided to be a teacher. She only received about 3 months of training. She had no idea of how to teach someone with previous knowledge and was disinterested at times.

I think your method can work with very good teachers, but it is perhaps more appropriate for more advanced students. If the student doesn't understand something and doesn't have the vocabulary to understand the explanation then it would seem to be needlessly frustrating for the student just for the sake of following the rule of only speaking Thai. Although if that's the case then one could argue that the material is probably too difficult for the student.

The method that I prefer is to conduct the lesson in Thai. If I don't understand something then ask the question in Thai (if I can) and have the reply be in Thai. If I still don't understand then explain it in English. I don't like the ambiguity of partially understanding the reply then trying to confirm it later with a dictionary or another source.

As a example, in a book I just received , there are a couple phrases that appear to be quite similar in meaning at first glance. If the difference is subtle, then I might not be able to understand the difference in Thai, but I would easily if a fluent English speaker explained it. Since they are "fixed constructions" the option of confirming the meaning in a dictionary isn't always possible.

I don't have a background in education and in the little that I've read about second language acquisition it seems people disagree about the best methods. For me, I just think of it in terms of:

1) I have a question

2) Try to ask/reply in Thai

3) Confirm with English if necessary

4) My Thai improves

But maybe that's too results oriented.

[SoftWater]

1) I have a question

2) Try to ask/reply in Thai

3) Confirm with English if necessary

4) My Thai improves

Yep, I believed in this method to, but after a while I started to doubt whether 4) was really happening.

It's true you will end up with good knowledge of Thai that way, but you may not be able to use it that well.

The lesson I learned was this: spend the time in the classroom using the Thai you know to learn (or not) the Thai you don't, and you'll end up a much better speaker and listener. You can do all the looking-up of words in your own time. The other point is that regardless of whether you know the correct English translation, if you discuss it in Thai with the teacher you'll end up knowing the correct Thai usage.

Edited March 5, 2010 by SoftWater

[HappyInCM]

I tried Pattaya Language and Computer center lightly east of carefour on Pattaya Klang.

I bought 10 lessons but only went to 3. That should tell you enough. My last lesson, the teacher was just about falling asleep while I was reading; she was supposed to be correcting my pronunciation - I found out too late her English wasn't good enough to really do anything other than work on my pronunciation.

Maybe if you're an absolute beginner, but otherwise, I wouldn't waste your money as I did.

Hi, I'm wondering why you need a Thai teacher that speaks English?

I had two different and very good teachers at AAA in Bangkok; neither of them spoke English, and I would have been irritated if they did.

So what about all those questions you just want answered quickly in terms you can understand? I know you can look up an unknown word in a dictionary in three seconds and move on with the lesson, but my teachers would never let me use a dictionary. Instead, we had to digress from the lesson for ten minutes or more till I 'got it' (and sometimes I didn't get it, or was not sure if I'd got it until I got out of the class and checked the dictionary.) However, none of that is the point - it's in those communicative exchanges where you really need to understand that the real work of 'learning' takes place. Don't sell yourself short and revert to English to answer a question quickly - like they say in mathematics class, its not the answer that's important but the working out.

If you want to learn Thai, my advice is forget your English.

Best

Sw

I agree, however, her explanations were over my head and she did sometimes just respond in English. BUT the main thing is when I decided lets work on pronunciation, she's falling asleep on me. I'm serious about learning thai but found the hour is better spent watching tintin videos with subscripts or reading on my own - or an hour at walen shared class even.

Maybe I should start a thread on how one goes about interviewing a tutor?