Chula Intensive Course? Any Information?

[welovesundaysatspace]

Many people told me that the best Thai language course is an intensive course offered by Chulalungkorn University, though a bit expensive (THB 30,000 afaik) and time-consuming (6 days a week, several hours per day, afaik). I would like to ask you guys for your opinion as well as for further information regarding that course (eg. official website, contact person, etc.). In general I would like to ask for recommendations regarding an intensive course for advanced speakers to proceed to the fluent level.

Reason is that I feel a bit like not developing nowhere. I already completed a "normal" language course (4 months, 2 days a week, 2 hours per day) before I started to live in Thailand, and my Thai improved a lot during the 2 years I studied and worked in Bangkok. Many Thai friends tell me I speak a good Thai, in particular for 2 years learning. However, even though I acknowledge the good progress I made since then, I feel I reached a point from where I do not make a significant progress anymore. From time to time I learn a new word/phrase/grammatical structure from my friends, but that's it actually. Also, I am not sure whether self-learning makes sense at this level.

So what's your opinion regarding the Chula intensive course? Do you have any information on that course? Do they have a website/contact? Would you recommend any other intensive/advanced course?

Edited April 19, 2011 by welovesundaysatspace

[CaptHaddock]

I haven't take the Chula intensive course yet.  So, I can't answer your question as to how effectively it will advance you from your current level, but I can provide this link:

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

The course costs 25,000 baht per each five-week session.  It meets 10:00 to 3:00 Mon through Fri.<br /><br />I plan to start the course in October.  It is clearly the best intensive Thai course available.  I suggest you drop by and ask to speak to one of the teachers.  I did that and was favorably impressed.

Edited April 19, 2011 by CaptHaddock

[welovesundaysatspace]

Thank you for your help. Meanwhile, I also found two other threads here covering the same topic, which gave me a good overview. After reading what other TV members wrote about the curriculum and learning curve, I consider myself a Basic 2 candidate. This would fit with my flight - I am currently in my home country and will be back by beginning of June, thus I would not be able to take the Basic 1 course if I should qualify for that. I now asked them for doing the qualifying test via email or phone - I think members in the other thread wrote about that. Do you have any experience regarding the telephone interview, i.e. whether and under what circumstances it is possible and what the conditions are (paying the 500 THB fee, for example)?

[CaptHaddock]

Thank you for your help. Meanwhile, I also found two other threads here covering the same topic, which gave me a good overview. After reading what other TV members wrote about the curriculum and learning curve, I consider myself a Basic 2 candidate. This would fit with my flight - I am currently in my home country and will be back by beginning of June, thus I would not be able to take the Basic 1 course if I should qualify for that. I now asked them for doing the qualifying test via email or phone - I think members in the other thread wrote about that. Do you have any experience regarding the telephone interview, i.e. whether and under what circumstances it is possible and what the conditions are (paying the 500 THB fee, for example)?

I don't have experience with the entrance test since I plan to start with Basic 1. I think Basic 2 is where they introduce the Thai writing system. Can you read and write Thai already?

You should call them and ask about payment arrangements.

[Tod Daniels]

I called Chula just now and the next 'level placement test' is given the 18th of next month (if I remember correctly).

They said you can show up and check out there material when ever you want. The map on their site would seem to indicate you can get to their building the easiest from Henri Dunant Road.

NOT TO BE A NAYSAYER but; I’ll just add my own two satang's worth too.

I think there’re a LOT of other options you could explore rather than paying what I think is crazy tuition for the Chula intensive course. I don't think it's more "intensive" than the ones offered at any other college for a fraction of Chula's tuition like say at Ramkhamhaeng or Srinakharinwirot .

In fact, given the high degree of "status" or “face” put on ANYTHING to do with the name "Chulalongkorn" in this country; I think, (but don't know) that you could be paying for more for the name rather than a super high quality Thai language program. Believe me I’m NOT downin’ their program in any way shape or form, just playing devil’s advocate in regards to “bang-4-the-baht” learning Thai.

I'll certainly find out first hand, as I'm off to Chula right now to scope out their material. I have gotten reports which indicate their material hasn't undergone a re-write in quite a long time, so it could be quite out-dated.

Like I said, I'm walkin out the door minutes from now, to go see their stuff.

Just as an aside; to increase your passive listening skills (understanding Thai spoken by native speakers at a normal cadence) AUA's Thai program is hard to beat.

It's cheap as chips to go, they're open almost all the time, and they also offer a separate reading/writing course too.

Sincerely, good luck, where ever you decide to go in furthering your Thai language ability.

[Tod Daniels]

I just got back from scoping out Chulalongkorn University’s "Intensive" Thai language program (and two other private Thai language schools I passed on the way back home too, lol)...

Thought I’d give my ‘take’ on Chula. . .

Let's just say I was extremely "under-whelmed". For the kinda money they're asking I expected a LOT more as far as quality of the material, their methodology, and really the overall 'experience' with them being Chula and all.

Granted dressed in Levi's and a Kiss t-shirt I didn't fit the 'norm' of your average Chula student. However it's how I dress everyday and what I wear when I go to ANY Thai language school to do 're-con'. If they'll treat me politely, chances are anyone better dressed would be treated in kind.

When I walk in to re-con a school; I go in as a 'newbie' (fresh off the boat) compel them to speak English, ask about their program, peruse their books, check the pricing, etc. They kinda put me off some, as they seemed stand-offish, actually somewhat haughty or in a way condescending towards my interest in learning Thai.

If they said the word Chula once they said it 10 times, as if that name alone carries some weight (sadly NOT in my book it don’t, ). Don’t get me wrong I know several Chula grads who have degrees in various subjects and who're sharp as tacks, then again I’ve also met some who were "dumb as a box ‘o rocks" too. I think that’s not just a Chula specific thing but is seen in any higher learning institution the world over. You’ve got outstanding students, and then you’ve got students who are “out standing in left field”..

I also erroneously thought with Chula being the "International" university like it's marketed on their website; their staff would be pretty darned proficient in English. In the end I finally gave up and switched to speaking Thai because I did have some trouble making out what they were explaining to me. The books aren’t anything special, as in totally unremarkable. Other than to add them to my collection of Thai Language books (which seem to litter my apartment) I wouldn’t have bought ‘em as a learning resource if they were for sale.

It wasn’t a totally wasted trip, because I did wanna see what they offered, but it was certainly an under-whelming’ adventure..

Now they may or may not have a fairly good program, especially at their higher levels as those books didn’t look all too bad from what I saw.

I think in reality you could go to almost ANY private Thai language school, pay for private lessons and get a better material, more logical methodology and better "bang-4-the-baht" in terms of learning Thai..

Sorry to be such a ‘buzz-kill’. Realize this is just my take on things, yours may differ and that’s okay by me. .. No harm, no foul. …

[CaptHaddock]

Tod-daniels,

I found the program at Srinakharinwirot here: http://www.swu.ac.th...hailanguage.asp But the details are scant. They offer two courses, Level I which is 200 hours and Level II which is 100 hours. They don't indicate the number of hours of classroom time per week. The cost is half of Chula's program, per classroom hour: Chula's fee is 25,000 baht per five week session with 20 hours of class time per week. Srinakharinwirot's fee is 25,000 for the the 200 hours of Level I and 12,500 for the 100 hours of level II.

I was unable to find the Ramkhamhaeng intensive Thai program online. Do you have a link for it or would you post the details?

I assume the level of instruction at Srinakharinwirot is comparable to Chula. The main advantage of the Chula program is its scope: it comprises nine sessions, each five weeks (100 hours) in length. So, the Chula program is 900 hours compared to 300 for the Srinakharinwirot. There is no shortage of introductory Thai courses around. It's the higher level courses that are scarce. My own goal is to achieve the highest level of proficiency in the shortest time possible.

As for the private language schools teaching Thai using their own home-grown, breakthrough (and amateurish) teaching methods, I have no interest. The principles of second language acquisition are well-understood and university programs can be expected to incorporate them. There is no royal road to fluency.

When I visited Chula I spoke with one of the teachers of the intensive Thai program who spoke completely fluent English. (It is unclear from your description who it was that you spoke with, but the English proficiency of the support staff is of zero interest to me in evaluating the program.) From my discussions with this teacher and also from a posting on Thaivisa from an American (sent by the US govt) who completed the whole nine sessions, I understand that many of the students are young Japanese managers sent by their companies to become fluent for their management roles in Thailand. This is an endorsement by the US govt and Japanese companies, for whom the proficiency of their employees matters a lot. The teacher pointed out that the Japanese managers expect to get 100 on every exam. So, these are the kind of highly motivated students with high standards whom I want in the classes with me.

The cost of the Chula program at about USD 7500 for the one year is within the range of those in an American university. It is clearly the surest way to achieve a high degree of proficiency in a year. It might be possible to achieve a comparable result at a lower cost with other means, but I don't see any actual examples of this. If I could not afford the Chula program I would take the Srinakharinwirot program and look around for a way to continue study after that. For me, the Chula cost seems small as a preparation for essential competence in the next phase of my life, retirement in Thailand.

Edited April 20, 2011 by CaptHaddock

[Tod Daniels]

Not to hi-jack this thread from the O/P, but it is about Chula so perhaps relevant. It is in response to a post "CaptHaddock" made;

You brought up some very valid points, which are clearly in your 'must-have' list as far as achieving proficiency in Thai.

Unfortunately, the fact that my government (the US) endorses or even uses Chula doesn't carry much weight in my book.

As far as the Japanese business sector using them, I have no doubt that they do to some extent. However, I happened to sit in on a class at a private Thai language school just the other day (to observe one) which taught Thai to Japanese totally IN Japanese. It used Japanese text in the books as the transcription (karaoke) to get the pronunciation down and for ALL the explanations of the "whyz-in-thai", although it did have the sentence constructs written in Thai. It was jam packed with what appeared to be your typical Japanese businessman learning Thai, I mean 15-20 'students' easily!

FWIW: there hasn't been ANYTHING "new" or "revolutionary" to come down the "teach Thai to foreigners" pike in a LONG TIME. Most every school I've observed (aside from two) uses some variation of phonemic transcription (karaoke) as their methodology. Each school ‘tweaks’ it slightly on how they choose to represent the Thai consonants / tones / vowel sounds and durations, but they're all pretty darned close. They get you speaking, understanding spoken Thai first, then teach you to read & write it.

The principles of second language acquisition are well-understood and university programs can be expected to incorporate them. There is no royal road to fluency.

That is totally true! I'd imagine second language acquisition has been goin' on, well probably since there were more than two spoken languages . The dynamics as far as how it should be done in today’s world are well understood; whether they are used or not is horse of a different color.

I do disagree that a 'real' uni is any more qualified to teach Thai language proficiency than a private school. In fact Chula's stuff was pretty much in the middle as far as the material I've seen in many private schools out there (I’m usually “under whelmed” a lot when I tour schools). It certainly wasn't a 'cut above average' (like I expected, given the deference Thais give that uni solely by name) nor was it at the bottom of the proverbial barrel either.

IF you factor in that private schools do periodically go thru their text-books to revise, edit and re-fresh their material as they do another print run to weed out mistakes; (compared to what I saw today at Chula), sometimes they (private schools) have the 'freshest' material out there. If I had to pick a method which I think Chula's material is based on or off of; I'd guess it's the old "Union method", like Unity Thai and other ‘clones’ of that method use.

I will agree that the sheer scope of Chula’s intensive program is impressive, IF it provides what it is sold as. I wish they had a ‘sample’ class or let prospective students observe a class in progress. Actually they might as I never did bother to ask ‘em . Going thru all of their levels and doing the requisite homework which I'm sure accompanies a program like theirs; I'd expect a VERY BIG "bang-4-the-baht" or return on investment, as that's a LOT of class time! If I did that, I bet I'd be pretty darned good at Thai too! Even a blind squirrel (like me) finds a nut once in a while, lol.

I also agree 100% with the last part of your quote. There is NO pill, NO magic potion, NO best method and NO super secret decoder-ring to learning Thai. It is an investment of TIME (a lot of it). It requires review, practice, motivation and patience. All the class time in the world won't drag you to proficiency in this language if you don't put in the time to grow your ability from the foundation provided by where ever you go to learn.

Face it, I'm a nobody poster on an internet forum . I started re-conning Thai language schools as a hobby for my enjoyment when I began learning Thai. I started writing about them because I wanted people to know what's out there. Mostly because I saw all too many foreigners come here and sign up for the first school they happened to walk past, then complain because it didn't work for them.

Oh BTW, I don't think Ramkhamhaeng offers an "intensive" program but more of a semester by semester type of thing for the year maybe. It’s where the most easily identified foreign speaker of Thai (or at least the most recognized foreign Thai speaker by Thai nationals ); Andrew Biggs went. I did mention to Srinakharinwirot that their website was lacking when I was out there a coupla months ago. I think you'd hafta go there to really get an idea of what they offer versus Chula.

You certainly have very clear goals in mind insofar as what your objectives are. I dunno that you'll ever be fluent (I settled for just being 'effluent' in Thai a while ago ). Given your circumstances, perhaps Chula's Intensive Program IS the best ‘fit’ for you to go about achieving your goals.

If you do enroll, post back and let us know how it's going. I wish you all the luck in the world in your endeavor. In reality however, luck will have little or nothing to do with it.

Sorry, like always for the long post and an apology to the O/P if this thread got hi-jacked in any way. ..

Edited April 20, 2011 by tod-daniels

[jackdawson]

The cost of the Chula program at about USD 7500 for the one year is within the range of those in an American university. It is clearly the surest way to achieve a high degree of proficiency in a year.

This is UNBELIEVABLY expensive.

Thai students pay tuition of about $1,000 a semester to attend Chula. Ram U. is, what, $30 a course for Thais?

The SUREST way to learn Thai is immersion, surround yourself w/ a Thai, or more than one, listen and produce.

[Groongthep]

The SUREST way to learn Thai is immersion, surround yourself w/ a Thai, or more than one, listen and produce.

While I agree that immersion can be a very successful way of learning any foreign language, I highly doubt that it is totally correct to say that it alone is the surest way to fluency. The thousands of foreigners who are married to Thais and living in the smaller towns and the countryside and who cannot speak Thai beyond the simplest of conversations are a testament to that.

Immersion along with a structured program of study be it at a university, private school or self-study would surely be a more effective method, would it not?

Edited April 21, 2011 by Groongthep

[PattayaParent]

I looked into this some 15 years ago when I first came to Thailand and I remember Mahidol University also had a Thai language course for foreigners but I think it was bundled up with culture classes also.

[Tod Daniels]

While I agree that immersion can be a very successful way of learning any foreign language, I highly doubt that it is totally correct to say that it alone is the surest way to fluency. The thousands of foreigners who are married to Thais and living in the smaller towns and the countryside and who cannot speak Thai beyond the simplest of conversations are a testament to that.

I gotta agree with "Groongthep" on this. I've found as a general rule; "immersion" in anything ONLY works if you periodically 'come up for air'.

Some of those foreigners I've met up-country in those 'one buffalo' villages don't appear to have done that in quite a LONG WHILE.

Sorry, I edited out the off-topic aside I'd posted and moved it to the "Best Thai Language School" pinned thread.

Edited April 21, 2011 by tod-daniels

[singa-traz]

I can't say the Chula Intensive Program is the Best ... as I have only have attended one.

But this is an effective program, for those who can invest the time and effort in learning Thai.

The material is not sexy, but you actually learn from the teachers.

Warning: This program is only for very motivated people.

I have attended 3 modules (Basic 2, Basic 3 and Intermediate 1), and regret I did not do it years ago.

PM me if you want to know more.

[kunjet]

Check these two threads if you haven't already:

[kunjet]

Tod-daniels,

I found the program at Srinakharinwirot here: http://www.swu.ac.th...hailanguage.asp But the details are scant. They offer two courses, Level I which is 200 hours and Level II which is 100 hours. They don't indicate the number of hours of classroom time per week. The cost is half of Chula's program, per classroom hour: Chula's fee is 25,000 baht per five week session with 20 hours of class time per week. Srinakharinwirot's fee is 25,000 for the the 200 hours of Level I and 12,500 for the 100 hours of level II.

I was unable to find the Ramkhamhaeng intensive Thai program online. Do you have a link for it or would you post the details?

I assume the level of instruction at Srinakharinwirot is comparable to Chula. The main advantage of the Chula program is its scope: it comprises nine sessions, each five weeks (100 hours) in length. So, the Chula program is 900 hours compared to 300 for the Srinakharinwirot. There is no shortage of introductory Thai courses around. It's the higher level courses that are scarce. My own goal is to achieve the highest level of proficiency in the shortest time possible.

As for the private language schools teaching Thai using their own home-grown, breakthrough (and amateurish) teaching methods, I have no interest. The principles of second language acquisition are well-understood and university programs can be expected to incorporate them. There is no royal road to fluency.

When I visited Chula I spoke with one of the teachers of the intensive Thai program who spoke completely fluent English. (It is unclear from your description who it was that you spoke with, but the English proficiency of the support staff is of zero interest to me in evaluating the program.) From my discussions with this teacher and also from a posting on Thaivisa from an American (sent by the US govt) who completed the whole nine sessions, I understand that many of the students are young Japanese managers sent by their companies to become fluent for their management roles in Thailand. This is an endorsement by the US govt and Japanese companies, for whom the proficiency of their employees matters a lot. The teacher pointed out that the Japanese managers expect to get 100 on every exam. So, these are the kind of highly motivated students with high standards whom I want in the classes with me.

The cost of the Chula program at about USD 7500 for the one year is within the range of those in an American university. It is clearly the surest way to achieve a high degree of proficiency in a year. It might be possible to achieve a comparable result at a lower cost with other means, but I don't see any actual examples of this. If I could not afford the Chula program I would take the Srinakharinwirot program and look around for a way to continue study after that. For me, the Chula cost seems small as a preparation for essential competence in the next phase of my life, retirement in Thailand.

CaptHaddock, sorry for not replying to your question in the previous thread, but I don't go on the forum often. I will answer your Qs here since it is probably more relevant on this thread now.

[kunjet]

RE: I am interested in the Chula program as well. How are you doing with the 800 new words per 5 week course? Can you really master 30 new words per day? I have experienced an intensive language course, but we didn't approach that rate of acquiring vocabulary.

I only acquired the vocabulary that I incorporated into my life. I just ignored royal words and most vocabulary that dealt with abstract concepts in religion. The students who spent 4 hours a day doing homework would remember most of them but I was not one of these students. One of the students in my class went to tutoring at SUMAA after class (see below), where they would make flash cards for the vocabulary and go over the readings.

Once you get to Basic 3 class is basically a spelling quiz first thing, then, going over readings that are handed out the previous evening with a vocab list. In Basic 3 the readings are often modified from the stories that the teachers themselves learned with in school (a bit outdated, they are no longer in the Thai curriculum but older Thai folks seem to be very nostalgic about them-e.g. when the canals were clear, when cigarettes and coffee were strange new items in the market). After that the readings are basically xeroxes of modified newspaper articles on a wide variety of topics (e.g. animals, the economy, new inventions) and Thai beliefs (i.e. religion, royalty).

The student who was perhaps best at spelling and vocabulary would re-write the entire readings the night before we did the readings in class. The vocabulary list comes with no definitions, so you have to figure out the definition from context, which is a good practice, but at the same time I think they should give an official definition as well since sometimes we will use the word when another one with a different connotation would be more appropriate. After the basic level classes, such distinctions were up to you to figure out.

I also don't watch Thai TV news or read Thai newspapers, which would have been helpful to retain this vocabulary, but I don't watch TV in general nor read newspapers in general so it doesn't fit with my lifestyle. Also, sometimes when you try out this vocabulary, people give you that "huh" expression, most often because the word is too formal for the situation.

RE: I am especially interested in reading and writing because I think, in the long run, the student learns such things as sentence structure more thoroughly that way and I like to read. However, I am disappointed that their focus on reading & writing comes at the expense of speaking and listening practice. Do you speak Thai in your daily life? Since my wife is Thai, I am wondering if daily conversation with her and her circle would fill in this gap? What is your experience? Also, since I expect to remain in Thailand after the course, I would expect to develop those skills in the long run anyway.

All "formal" teaching, where they give you a book or hand-outs of grammatical structure, ends with Intensive 1. I was told by one of the instructors that there would be more in Intensive 2 but there was not. I had to actually stop after Int 1 because I would miss too many classes in Int 2, so I just bought the materials for that class and asked my friends what was going on. I was planning to take the exam and continue with my cohort but in the end did not feel prepared to take the exam.

Most of the grammar teaching comes as asides when reading material. An instructor will point out a sentence and say: note that…. There is one grammar booklet (which reviews several issues like classifiers that have already been encountered in the readings) they give you in Int 1 and hand-outs, but most of the grammar, like everything else in the program, is taught with bare bones materials. That is, the grammar hand out will not explain anything but rather give some examples, then in class the instructor will explain the form. This was particularly frustrating for me in Basic 2, when all the rules of reading/writing Thai are explained, because when I missed class, there was nothing I could refer to. You either have to ask a classmate or figure it out later in class when it comes up again or buy a real textbook. You cannot learn from the materials they provide without a teacher / classmate explaining it to you. But you get used to Thai grammar from repeatedly encountering it. It is a waste of money if you know you have to miss regularly, which is why I stopped. There are a couple good grammar books you can get at Kinokuniya at Paragon.

After I knew I would not be able to attend Int 2, I started going to SUMAA (www.sumaa.net), which uses a modified and shorter version of the Chula curriculum. It's in Sathorn Soi 1/Soi Goethe, right across from Goethe Insitute. The course cost is the same per hour as Chula, but the individual tutoring is more. Many post-Chula students go there. The curriculum is more up to date, but you won't have a class cohort. I have sent many people there since I think the teachers are strong (I suggest you ask for rotation to get different accents and styles) but the curriculum is flexible. In fact, if you follow their full-time program, you may be the only student, which some people like. I first started by following the Int 2 Chula curriculum but then switched to articles that were of interest to me. This was much better, I thought, for learning since the material was of interest to me and I might actually have a discussion with someone about it. I did this for another 120 hours, but then felt that this method (reading articles and translating them) is really limiting for me. So I stopped. I can read and look up words on my own, though it is always more motivating for me to have a scheduled meeting with someone sitting across the table from you.

For me, using Thai in daily life supplemented with formal instruction and self-study is the best way to learn. From my original Chula cohort of around 45 students, around 6 graduated, a couple other people came in at different times and also graduated. One worked as a translator after. A couple had to graduate because their work for Japanese/Korean companies required it. Two were pursuing graduate studies in anthropology (as I am doing). By the time they graduated, their reading was really good and they could write a short paper in Thai. By contrast, the longest document I've written in Thai is one page and my reading vocabulary is quite limited. But my speaking was much better than most of them because I use Thai in daily life. It seemed especially difficult for the students who came with their partners/families from abroad to incorporate Thai into daily life. I also had to use Thai for some of my educational/research activities. I have given lectures for phd classes at Mahidol on topics like globalization and cultural phenomenology and delivered a conference paper in Thai. On the other hand, my best friend from the cohort who graduated and now works for a Thai company doesn't even speak to me in Thai anymore because she doesn’t use it.

I would suggest you try to speak Thai to your wife as much as possible in everyday life. If this is difficult, maybe you can try an hour without English first. Once you have some basic vocabulary you can always ask in Thai: What is this called? What does this mean? Can you explain the meaning of that word/sentence to me? I think one reason why I do ok is that I’m not afraid of making mistakes. Just try saying something and put it out. If it’s wrong, someone will hopefully correct you or suggest a better way to say it. And, in my experience, no-one ever gets mad at me, even if I saw things that could come off as offensive, since they know I am a foreigner and are happy that I am trying to learn Thai. They always say it is ม่ารักand laugh. I’m Korean (เกาหลี gao lii) and no one has ever gotten upset about things like when I mistakenly called myself a chair (เก้าอี้ gao ii) or an itchy pussy (เกาหี gao hii). With your wife’s friends you can just try to follow their conversations and later get in on them. You can also introduce topics, so you can focus on something, like a holiday, news item, or film. I’ve met many foreigners who have been married in Thailand over 20 years and still cannot string two sentences together. Don’t think you Thai will just improve from immersion, you probably need to supplement it with other kinds of learning. Although most of my friends are foreigners, I try to be in Thai-speaking situations as much as possible. The other day I was in a taxi with two foreigner friends and a Thai. One of my friends suggested we go to a specific bar, and he said: they speak English well there. My response was that I didn’t need to leave America to speak English with Thai people, better to go somewhere else. I also have Thai friends who want to practice English, so I'll do things like: I will speak to you in Thai only and you will speak to me in English only. You could also ask you wife to only respond to requests made in Thai ;p

RE: May I ask why you chose the Chula program? Do you expect to be in Thai academia? As far as I can it, Chula's seems to be the only intensive program in BKK. Is that correct?

I am from the US and received a government grant to study Thai. The Chula program is basically the only one that you can apply for in Thailand. Otherwise, you can take classes at several US universities, the Defense Language Institute, or at the summer FLAS program (a program for lesser taught foreign languages in the US). Chula is the only Thai program in Thailand that many US universities will accept credit for and the one of the few that is recommended by university level Thai teachers and scholars on Thailand (the runner-up is AUA). There are currently two university-level Thai textbooks from the US with Thai Language and Culture for Beginners (Yuphaphann Hoonchamlong 2007 U of Hawaii Press) being the more advanced one.

I don't know about the other 2 program mentioned in the posts above. As far as I know, Chula is the only intensive program in BKK, although one could conceivably create one at many of the other schools. Mahidol requires Thai for their undergraduate inter students and have published a very basic book that is now available in bookstores. Thammasat also has a program but I have not heard anything about it, just seen the banner when I’ve been on campus. I've never been, but the few people I know who have gone, generally did not like the method at Walen, which also offers advanced classes. One of my friends also complained that the students were unmotivated, in that they were just there for ED visas and bar girl talk. In sum, I think that the Chula program has the best reputation and goes to the most advanced level, but it is limited and expensive compared to other programs. Different people also have different learning styles, so creating a balanced plan for learning and finding a good school/personality match I think is the most important.

[CaptHaddock]

Khunjet,

Thanks for the excellent, detailed info on the Chula program. I am a little disappointed that they do not teach more grammar, but your experience confirms my overall expectations of the program. I am particularly interested to hear that one graduate was able to become a translator afterward. Doing translation informally would appeal to me as an avocation.

Best of luck to you in your studies.

[Tod Daniels]

That was a GREAT review "kunjet"!

I think it outlines the plusses and minuses of Chula's program quite well. It also provided insight as how it worked out for you given the goals you set for yourself learning the Thai language. Really good stuff man! :jap:

Sadly, I feel all too few, if any, retired foreigners here would invest either the time or the money to learn Thai to that degree. For the VERY few who do; sincerely, I'll doff my cap and tug my forelock as you pass by. (Well, I'd tug my forelock if I wasn't bald already , but I will doff my cap!)

I recently found out that DPU; "Dhurakij Pundit University" (มหาวิทยาลัยธุรกิจบัณฑิตย์) offers a Thai program for foreigners as well. Unfortunately I didn't make it out to Srinakharinwirot to revisit them yet, but hopefully be able to go there and to Ramkhamhaeng later this week too.

Again, thanx for the info "kunjet".

[kunjet]

@CaptHaddock: if you want to get in touch with the graduate who did translation (he has since moved back to the states), private message your email to me and I can forward it to him.

Glad my post was helpful and good luck to everyone on learning Thai! Even learning a little bit changes your life in Thailand drastically.

[kunjet]

@CaptHaddock: if you want to get in touch with the graduate who did translation (he has since moved back to the states), private message your email to me and I can forward it to him.

Glad my post was helpful and good luck to everyone on learning Thai! Even learning a little bit changes your life in Thailand drastically.

[kunjet]

@CaptHaddock: if you want to get in touch with the graduate who did translation (he has since moved back to the states), private message your email to me and I can forward it to him.

Glad my post was helpful and good luck to everyone on learning Thai! Even learning a little bit changes your life in Thailand drastically.

[kunjet]

@CaptHaddock: if you want to get in touch with the graduate who did translation (he has since moved back to the states), private message your email to me and I can forward it to him.

Glad my post was helpful and good luck to everyone on learning Thai! Even learning a little bit changes your life in Thailand drastically.

[kunjet]

sorry, the site kept coming up error but ended up posting