hi, im looking for a language class on a monthly basis, but not an extensive course. i saw walens smallest package is 10k baht, 60 hour, but i would much rather concentrate on speaking not writing. afaik, at the university its only for a year or extensive for a month. i would like to be in a group, and im a total beginner. please let me know of any places/teachers. thank you!

Learning writing will ultimately make the speaking & understanding easier. Anyway you can also just learn by getting a book, and then bothering random people for practise. Cheapest, and remarkably effective.

Almost everyone does the same thing and ignores reading and writing - including me. It is actually one of my biggest regrets.

After 20 years I can get along OK, but I will never be fluent and I will never pronounce most words correctly. Include reading and writing in your course and don't make the same mistake that most of us have made. Once you learn it all wrong, it is pretty hard to go back and learn it all over again.

If you are going through all the effort to learn the language, why not do it right?

FMFK86, it would help if we knew your objectives and how much time you have available. Are you expecting a program to provide you with an educational visa? If so, plan to spend more than the non-visa programs. Both the AUA and YMCA are popular with people who don't need education visas and their sessions are about 5 - 6 weeks long, which would meet your interest in a monthly class (if I'm understanding what you mean by "monthly" correctly). You can learn enough Thai to order in restaurants, shop at the markets, get around the country with just a few months of lessons at either the Y or AUA without learning to read or write. But, you will not be fluent to the point where you can have a real Thai-language based friendship or understand TV broadcasts.

If your goal is fluency, then you really should learn to read and write and the sooner the better. I've been taking various classes at the Y for over 18 months and really regret that the Y won't let you take reading and writing until you've had about 5 months of conversational Thai. Once I learned to read and write, things that had seemed arbitrary about the language suddenly made sense. I'll never again participate in a Thai class that isn't taught using written Thai.

If its speaking only your after then you wont get much better tuition, than at CMU. They do 1 month intensive courses (beginners 1 & 2 speaking). The tone work they do there is excellent the courses are 45 hours mon-fri 3 hours a day so pretty intensive, but a lot of fun and the teacher in the first class is out of this world (Kruu Aom if i remember).

I took the reading and writing courses at the YMCA and they didnt ask me if i can speak Thai first, but they spoke mostly in Thai (very easy level) during level 3 reading and writing. Didnt like the YMCA but its probably because i loved CMU so much!

One problem you will encounter if you dont learn to read and write is the transliteration systems at different schools. I was used to the Benjawan Becker system, which CMU use so that was also why i liked studying there.

Have a ring over to Payap i hear they are pretty good too!

I took the reading and writing courses at the YMCA and they didnt ask me if i can speak Thai first, but they spoke mostly in Thai (very easy level) during level 3 reading and writing. Didnt like the YMCA but its probably because i loved CMU so much

cmu is huge-where do you go and when to get started?

Language institute opposite the stadium there. Intensive Thai Language Program - Learn How to Communicate in Thai at Language Institute, Chiang Mai University, Thailand

http://www.studythaicmu.com/contact-us.html#div_map on the right side u can click a map. what i dont find there is info about the monthly courses.

I strongly suggest, learning to read and write, as well as speaking. Imagine if someone told you they were learning english, but they weren't going to bother to learn how to read? How smart would you think they were?

I was thinking the same way about not learning to read until I hit upon that train of thought.

Also being able to read gives you a lot more opportunity to practice, even just riding down the street, im practicing by reading the signs/menus/numberplates/whatever and thinking about what tones they are and stuff. Don't even need a thai speaker to start your practice.

Good luck finding a group.

Thanks for that information.

One day i hope to do a course.

thanks for the info. 3 hours 5 days a week is too much for me though, so i wont do cmu. as for writing, i didnt mean i never want to learn it, but not at first

HI,

I had the same problem and decided to search for a private tutor. You can plan your own scheme and choose between just communicating in Thai or combine it with reading/writing. It will take 1,5 hour each lesson and will cost you about 250 baht a time. Do expect to do this for at least a year.....or two...

uptoumyfriend.

re ... cmu is huge-where do you go and when to get started?

the language institute.

go up suthep road past wat suan dork on the left .... carry on up over the big canal road junction

after about 500 yards turn right into this gate

the language intsitute is the last building on the left 25 yards BEFORE the end of this road

about 750 yards down from this gate

good luck ... dave2