Lessons In Bangkok

[robitusson]

Anyone have any comments on the schools or lessons they've attended in Bangkok? I've been to 5 now.

The first one was Thai Solutions beside Nana BTS station in the Nailert building. Not bad. Quite pricey for private tuition but the lessons were reasonably professional. They did cancell a couple of my lessons at very short notice and kept me waiting an hour for a class once.

The second one was at AUA where they tell you that you shouldn't speak for the first 100 hours of lessons because you might mispronounce the words and this isn't the best way to learn or something like that, but don't worry, you'll be speaking after 1000 hours of lessons! Very cheap it has to be said, but how you're supposed to learn anything sitting there silently watching 2 Thai teachers clown around for 50 minutes is beyond me.

Third one was definitely the weakest. Nature Method in Banglampoo. The teacher just sat there asking me "Do you know what this word is?" I'd tell her no so she'd tell me. Then again "Do you know what this word is?" No. So she'd tell me and so on for 2 hours.

Fourth was Thai Tuition near Sala Daeng. More or less the same format as Thai Solutions; rote learning and better than learning with a book but not much better.

Fifth was Nisa in Sathorn which was the best so far. Experienced teachers at decent prices if you attend in the morning at the group lessons. You do 9 til midday usually with 1 or 2 others and by sheer quantity of hours you do end up learning something. Typical unenlightened teaching approach though. I couldn't even give directions or tell the time properly and the teacher was asking me what my opinion on the E.U. constitution is.

Anyway, once again I'm looking for a new school I heard Baan Pasaa Thai and Union are good. Anyone been to them? Are there any decent schools in Bangkok?

[UncleDonald]

Most people with your experience end up seeking one-on-one lessons from a very experienced and disciplined Thai teacher which costs 400-600 baht per hour. It takes several months, 2-3 regularly scheduled lessons a week, and a willingness to practice a lot. I'm still not there, my vocabulary of about 800 words is enough to bluff with but I still can't follow the essential details of many conversations or understand most radio talk very well. Learning to read basic Thai and getting away from phonetic transliteration is desirable. It's a lot of work, makes you appreciate why the Thai have a hard time going the other way. Having a knack for mimicy helps, poor hearing hurts. But like any personal challenge, golf or tennis, progress has its satisfactions.

Interview a lot of prospective teachers based on personal referals, maybe paying for an evaluation consultation from the best candidates.

The available audio material is pretty thin compared with what is available for English learners. I'm trying to develop some narrative CD stuff for the PC to help with listening skills, I'll post a link when I have something (free) if anyone wants to test it out. It will be a while.