Thai Language And Culture

[battersea]

Having read this section , it certainly seems like a bit of a minefield when it comes to learning Thai in LOS. I have enquired about the Chiang Mai (1 year) University course and also the Mae Fah Luang Thai culture degree in Chiang Rai. Does anyone have experience of these places ? Or perhaps an up to date assessment of the Chulalongkorn University Thai language course or the Western University Thai Culture degree ?

I am interested in learning Thai to a high level ( i have conversational Thai but cannot read or write Thai) and it seems that studying at a University makes things easier with the ED visa.

Any help or advice would be appreciated......it doesn't matter in what city i study but i do prefer Bangkok or Chiang Mai.

[singa-traz]

How many hours per day are you prepare to dedicate for your study?

[battersea]

Thanks for you reply. I am prepared to spend a considerable amount of time.I can study from 8am to 3pm on Mondays to Fridays and all day Saturday and Sunday.

[singa-traz]

If you are serious and can commit your time in a full time program,for a few months, I would recommend Chula:

http://www.arts.chula.ac.th/~asc/Intensive_Thai.html

If you can reasonably speak, you can go directly to the Basic 2 Level.

PM me for more info.

[Tod Daniels]

Certainly to learn the thai language a person needn't enroll in a 'real university' by any stretch of the imagination.

There are more than enough private thai language schools scattered hither and yon across the country to meet your needs. One’s who are registered with the Ministry of Education and can; for a year’s tuition fee, provide you with the documentation you need to secure a Non-Immigrant Type-ED visa at a thai embassy or consulate.

My advice to you is; seeing as tourist visas are free at the moment, secure a double entry one from the thai embassy of your choice BEFORE you arrive. That would give you almost 6 months inside the country factoring in the 30 day extension(s), and the border run to activate the second entry.

Even though Chiang Mai's thai language course is reputed to be quite good, there are some conflicting reports about it. I'd caution you NOT to pay up front for something you haven't witnessed first hand to gauge what your 'bang-4-the-baht' will be.

Chula does have a VERY intensive, as well as a VERY EXPENSIVE thai course. One that if you're not 100% dedicated to doing, you'll wash out of early on. Plus I think they only run the course term by term, and have no year long program, (but I could be wrong) Ramkhamhaeng University also has quite an intensive and far cheaper cost-wise thai language program as well. I have met people who were attending Chula's course, but I didn't notice they were particularly any better or worse at thai than people I've met who went to any other school. Except for the fact the illustrious Chula students' could 'beat the drum' and say they were going to Chula .

I think in your situation touring a few private language schools or "real uni's" AFTER you arrive is the prudent way to go.

FWIW there're more than a few quality private schools in Chiang Mai, too, if that's where you're wantin' to live. Google it, email them, and then come scope ‘em out, take their free lesson, etc, before you part with your hard earned baht.

There is NO gun to your head to enroll before you show up, so take your time. Don’t forget the old adage; “Act in haste, repent at leisure” . The last thing you need is to have pre-paid for a year's schooling only to find out either the school's material or teaching methodology doesn’t ‘click’ with the way you learn (different people learn differently). With 'after sales customer service' on the low end of the priority scale here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais", once you pay you're in for the long haul, possibly being stuck for a year with something your unhappy with.

You might even put a post in the Chiang Mai Sub-Forum here on T/V and ask about private thai language schools just to see what responses you get.

Good Luck. ..

As an aside; I’d personally give a pass to any ‘culturally’ related thai language course, until you really have a good grasp of the thai language firmly and securely ‘under your belt’.

I’ve sat all too many ‘thai culture’ classes and found them to be myopic in their views, mundane in their material, and more a ‘brain-washing’ type of class than anything remotely like learning. Most are geared towards excusing some of the things I call ‘aberrant thai behavior’, by labeling it a ‘cultural norm’. I have found ZERO bang-4- the-baht, as far as any measurable value in terms of language acquisition in classes with this format.

Edited August 11, 2010 by tod-daniels

[singa-traz]

Chula does have a VERY intensive, as well as a VERY EXPENSIVE thai course. One that if you're not 100% dedicated to doing, you'll wash out of early on. Plus I think they only run the course term by term, and have no year long program, (but I could be wrong) Ramkhamhaeng University also has quite an intensive and far cheaper cost-wise thai language program as well. I have met people who were attending Chula's course, but I didn't notice they were particularly any better or worse at thai than people I've met who went to any other school. Except for the fact the illustrious Chula students' could 'beat the drum' and say they were going to Chula .

New courses start every 3 months.

On the cost side, while probably more expensive than other similar course, it should be cheaper than a private tutor (250 THB / hour).

The course is indeed intensive, and ensure that you will be in a small group of very motivated people.

As a student, you are obviously proud to be attending and surviving such demanding course.

No pain, no gain!

It would be interesting to compare the level of the different school/course, when a standard Thai language curriculum and test would be available.

On the cultural side, the text that you study are interesting but most important get you to acquire rapidly the vocab that you need.

[SoftWater]

If the aim is to "learn Thai language at a high level" in terms of reading and writing (i.e., academic level) then the Chula course is definitely one of the very best choices. A lot of the private language schools I've looked at will offer advanced language courses, but they do not take you to the same level of reading and writing. That's not to say they are 'not as good' - it depends on what you want to do with your Thai language skills. Chula arguably has the drawback that there is not enough focus on colloquial language structures and may not be as useful if your main focus is really to be able to speak and understand the way most Thai people talk.

However, the key to language learning is not so much what you do in the classroom, but what you do out of it. Study at Chula and speak Thai everyday, you'll be pretty good after 1-year (then you can come back here and answer all our questions :D ).

good luck

Sw

[Tod Daniels]

Hey, I didn’t mean to “piss on Chula’s parade” by any means. (GOOO Chula )

I just pointed out it's an intensive and an expensive course structure. In fact if we peruse the link you provided; we can clearly see these facts.

They appear to offer 9 levels of thai, (three each of the Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced categories).

It seems if someone wanted to attend school there for a year the next batch of courses will start October 4th 2010 and after attending all 9 levels would finish October 25th 2011. Now with each course costing 25,000 baht; to attend all 9 courses would be a whopping 225,000 baht!!

Also with each course being 100 hours; the person would hafta attend 900 hours worth of thai language classes in a year. To qualify for an Education Visa in thailand the Ministry of Education’s posted minimum level of attendance is about 4 hours a week (in reality it’s 16 hours a month).

Last time I checked, in the US; a year’s worth of full time 40 hour a week employment without overtime equals 2080 hours. Any way you slice it 900 hours is quite a piece of 2080 hours, and quite a large time investment right outta the proverbial gate to learn the thai language.

I’m not in any way saying that after 900 hours of in class time (plus the time it’d take to do homework, review etc out of class) that the student wouldn’t come away with a great grasp of thai. In fact if they did all the classes I’d hope to God they came away with far more than what passes for spoken thai by most foreigners here.

I was only pointing out there are FAR less costly, as well as less intensive methods, which may or may not yield similar results in the long go.

I’ve met all to many foreigners who enrolled in the ‘standard promotion’ being run by MANY private thai language schools where you go 20 days for 3 hours a day in what they call intensive classes. I’ve seen person after person wash out that type of class, because the pace at which the thai was taught far exceeded the rate the student could absorb and retain the language. They came away more discouraged than ever to undertake thai, and that is totally sad in my book.

I only think the O/P should spend some time looking around FIRST, rather than be all fired up on one school’s or one uni’s thai language program.

There certainly is no shortage of private or public thai language programs out there at a variety of price points.

[singa-traz]

Also with each course being 100 hours; the person would hafta attend 900 hours worth of thai language classes in a year. To qualify for an Education Visa in thailand the Ministry of Education’s posted minimum level of attendance is about 4 hours a week (in reality it’s 16 hours a month).

...

I was only pointing out there are FAR less costly, as well as less intensive methods, which may or may not yield similar results in the long go.

...

I only think the O/P should spend some time looking around FIRST, rather than be all fired up on one school’s or one uni’s thai language program.

More important, the OP has first to be clear about his priority, which one is more important:

- to learn Thai (reading/writing)

- or to find a way to stay in Thailand, by getting an ED Visa

There are certainly less expensive alternative to learn reading/writing Thai, but the less intensive is the course ... the longer it will take him to reach the same level, right?

I haven't had the chance to learn in other intensive programs, so can't really comment on the quality of their courses, teachers, facilities, students, etc.

The OP is there to learn reading and writing,the OP has the time and is ready to commit it to study, which I think the course in Chula does well.

The course is not cheap, but provide good value for money for those who are really committed.

Had the OP mentioned that he can't commit more than 3 hours per day of study, then the recommendation would have been different.

BTW, I don't were a pink shirt :-), it's just that their course delivered what I was looking for:

- reading / writing

- intensive study with a motivated group

- and be able to continue my learning by self-study

Cheers and Happy Learning!

[Tod Daniels]

I wish I had the finances to enroll in Chula's courses, although Ramkhamhaeng is a good value too!

When I went in person there (to Chula) and spoke 'engrish' only, I was less than impressed by my reception from the staff . At Ramkhamhaeng it was nearly 100% different, they spoke English, and didn't act like I was a bother to their gossiping or what ever they were doing before I walked in, but at Chula I was most definitely perceived as a hindrance to their daily routine.

And before you ask, NO; I don't "dress for success". I wear Levi jeans and a KISS t-shirt every frickin' day, (deal with it or die)! It is my feeling that if you can't see past my frickin' clothes to gauge the kind of person I 'might' be, &lt;deleted&gt; YOU! ! As well as the "whore you rode last nite" <sic> I meant the "horse you rode in on". Sorry, sometimes I get confused here.

Who knows; I may have MILLIONS of baht squirreled away, but wear what I am comfortable with. Like they say, "Never judge a book by its cover", I guess the thais at Chula haven't heard or learned that yet. ..

FWIW: I can read fairly well, I can type thai on a keyboard fast and clearly, but my writing looks like someone just learning to write, and sadly my spoken thai is: well pretty horrific unless you already know my accent.

I wish Chula would let people sit their programs for free, for a coupla hours, so people (read; foreigners) could see what quality of classes they teach. When I asked if I could sit in on a class; they told me NO!

Anyway you slice it; I came away with the feeling that 'Chula' was more a 'status' than anything like a school which offered any reasonable 'bang-4-the-baht'.

Not to mention outside of S/E Asia, going to Chulalongkorn University or in thai aจุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย (the ONLY uni IN thailand which reverses the frickin words) doesn't carry any weight AT ALL!!!!

BTW: I do agree 100%; that a motivated group of like-minded students will make learning the thai language far easier.

AND, one more BTW: I dont wear ANY color shirt except a black KISS tee-shirt!!

Edited August 11, 2010 by tod-daniels

[singa-traz]

I actually liked the fact that the admin staff was only talking in Thai. Kind of reminded me why I went there in the first place

As for not being able to sit in the class, I fully agree with that. As a student I would hate to have visitors in the course.

You can always ask to meet the teacher at the end of the course, and ask to have a look at their material.

Best is actually to talk to the students during the coffee break and lunch time.

The OP can then make his own opinion of the course.

So, how is it like in Ramkhamhaeng?

[battersea]

Thank you all for your advice and comments...they are very much appreciated.

I will be in LOS in October and will go to each school and investigate their methods, try and sit in on a class and/or speak to the students. My overall goal is to speak and write very good Thai because i will eventually relocate to LOS. I would like to spend some time as a novice monk and therefore i thought it best to be able to speak and read Thai to a high level so that i am not confined to a westernised Wat.

I like the idea of studying at either Chula or Ramkhamheng but i wonder if these courses (especially Chula) will involve me dedicating every spare moment to them .I mentioned that i can study from 8am to 3pm because i have an internet business that i manage from 4pm to 11pm (Monday to Friday) . Do you think i will be able to fit in a course as intensive as Chula or will it just be a little bit too much ? I am dedicated to learn but i want to be realistic.

I know the part time language schools are an alternative but i need to learn at a swift pace without having a nervous breakdown !

[singa-traz]

.I mentioned that i can study from 8am to 3pm because i have an internet business that i manage from 4pm to 11pm (Monday to Friday) . Do you think i will be able to fit in a course as intensive as Chula or will it just be a little bit too much ? I am dedicated to learn but i want to be realistic.

I know the part time language schools are an alternative but i need to learn at a swift pace without having a nervous breakdown !

The Chula course runs from 10h00-12h00, 13h00-15h00.

You need to allocate another from 1 to 2 extra hours of study every day (homework/review).

Nothing is impossible, but you will need a strong discipline to be able to survive this for a few months.

It depends also on how flexible is your workload for your internet business.

[dkaiark]

.I mentioned that i can study from 8am to 3pm because i have an internet business that i manage from 4pm to 11pm (Monday to Friday) . Do you think i will be able to fit in a course as intensive as Chula or will it just be a little bit too much ? I am dedicated to learn but i want to be realistic.

I know the part time language schools are an alternative but i need to learn at a swift pace without having a nervous breakdown !

The Chula course runs from 10h00-12h00, 13h00-15h00.

You need to allocate another from 1 to 2 extra hours of study every day (homework/review).

Nothing is impossible, but you will need a strong discipline to be able to survive this for a few months.

It depends also on how flexible is your workload for your internet business.

I just enrolled in Basic 1 for October (starts on the 4th) - if you are coming to LOS in October and are interested in Chula I recommend you enroll in that class because the next Basic 1 doesn't start until January. Interesting that I am pretty much in the same boat as you - I run my own Internet Buisness, though I don't have set hours like you, plus I am very interested in Buddhism, particularly the Thai Forest Tradition and want to learn to speak, read and write so I can spend time in non-Westernized monastries.