Highspeed Thai - Great Language Course Or What?

[BillMakatowicz]

After a few months of enjoying the Highspeed program I have to say that its value is absolutely redicolously high relative to what it costs. This is for the simple reason that the program offers support, is easy and well constructed. All the questions that I have been asked has been answered satisfactory. This actually saves you 100 of dollars as you would have to take private Skype lessons in order to straighten out your questions and concerns. I am really happy that I went with the high speed program and cannot imagine that I could have found a better alternative. The course is built up in a way that makes it very easy to learn. All you have to do is follow the instructions and you will be fine. They have really managed to make an extremely complex language surprisingly easy to learn. All it takes now is a little patient and determination. I'm pretty sure that I would have given up or gotten to a point of deep demotivation had it not been for this course. I know that this sounds to good to be true, but I encourage people to contact me if they don't believe it. The producers of this course deserves all the best.

[submarine123]

I bought the High Speed Thai course about 9 months ago, and have now finished it. There is one word which springs to mind " care". it has been carefully structured and thought out, all the words are carefully chosen, and if you need to contact Vincent, the owner, he is responsive, helpful and seems to care greatly that your query is dealt with. It is not one of those courses with chapters on going to a restaurant, buying a ticket at the train station, booking into a hotel etc. The aim of the course is to build a foundation to enable you to converse with Thais in a natural day to day manner. When i first came to Thaialnd i did not think I would ever be able to read it and speak it so quickly but thanks to vincent I am now able to do so. Excellent I simply cannot fault it, and great value for money.

[XOL123]

UPDATE: 1 year and 4 months after using HST

Well I finish the course in about 1 year, and I can say that the money spent on this course wasn't wasted,

I have learned a lot from this course, I can have a basic conversation with native Thais, plus if I have a problem speaking the correct tone of a word I can write it down,

this is a very well put together course, it isn't a course that was put together overnight,

Now I have started reviewing the course about a month ago, and there are few words that I have forgotten and with the review the words are coming right back to my brain and hopefully stay there.

and while doing the review I have open the media player and have increased the speed to 2, and I'm able to catch every word, this is a big difference from when I started, that I could only let the media player play and didn't even dare to speed up the m player,

Overall this is an excellent course that will give you a good foundation to learn Thai, after I finish reviewing, I believe I'll have a much better understanding on the Thai language structure,

Because I don't live in Thailand I'm not able to use my Thai on a daily basis, so after I finish reviewing HST, I'll try to find other courses to further my study of the Thai language.

Vincent if you are reading this, GREAT JOB! on creating this course.

[tjansen]

UPDATE: 1 year and 4 months after using HST

Well I finish the course in about 1 year, and I can say that the money spent on this course wasn't wasted,

I have learned a lot from this course, I can have a basic conversation with native Thais, plus if I have a problem speaking the correct tone of a word I can write it down,

this is a very well put together course, it isn't a course that was put together overnight,

Now I have started reviewing the course about a month ago, and there are few words that I have forgotten and with the review the words are coming right back to my brain and hopefully stay there.

and while doing the review I have open the media player and have increased the speed to 2, and I'm able to catch every word, this is a big difference from when I started, that I could only let the media player play and didn't even dare to speed up the m player,

Overall this is an excellent course that will give you a good foundation to learn Thai, after I finish reviewing, I believe I'll have a much better understanding on the Thai language structure,

Because I don't live in Thailand I'm not able to use my Thai on a daily basis, so after I finish reviewing HST, I'll try to find other courses to further my study of the Thai language.

Vincent if you are reading this, GREAT JOB! on creating this course.

Has anyone tried LTP, Learn-Thai-Podcast? Any comments on it?

Thanks,

Tom

[cyrilmadrid]

Actually, I bought both HST and Learn-Thai-Podcast (first HST, then LTP). I try to progress in both. Overall I would say I prefer LTP, I like the iTunes based video method, I like the How to Read and grammar videos. After doing a series of LTP videos, I go back to HST to read the equivalent lessons to consolidate. Customer Service at LTP is also quite good, although maybe not as responsive as Vincent. One issue with LTP is that the access to the website is limited to 1 year, but its not a big problem as you can from the very first day download all videos from beginner to advanced.

But as I advance more, I will need Skype based one to one lessons to correct pronunciation and develop conversation. Because the problem with both HSP and LTP is that no one will correct your pronunciation mistakes.

[neil67]

I've been in Thailand for nearly 4 years now and have tried other books but given up after a few weeks because I found them very unproductive and boring so I would say a novice with very basic skills, hello, how are you etc. So far I am finding the program very good, unfortunately I work in Oman for 2 months then 1 month off so I don't get as much access to trying the language when in Thailand as my girlfriend also speaks good English but after this trip is finished next month I will be making much more of an effort as I feel I have enough vocab now to try harder. The only good thing about my job is I have a lot of spare time for the program, the only thing I struggle with is remembering all the words but I guess this will come with time and practice. Thanks for the program anyway very enjoyable, keep up the good work

[vincentv]

I have been speaking to cyrilmadrid. He has made it to vocab lesson 1 and is about half way though it, there are 47 vocab lessons. Vocab lessons make up the bulk of the program. cyrilmadrid is on page 150 of 1110. In total their are about 1400 pages of content(in multiple pdf files). So his feedback is only referring to a fraction of the program.

He mentions that he uses the HST program to practice. I would say that is because the HST program offers a very efficient way to practice the alphabet. It is very important to practice to fluency at every step, I find that if you half-learn something and do not practice it extensively then go onto learn something else you tend to forget everything. Practicing to fluency really allows you to lock new info into your memory. So with language learning practicing to fluency is an essential step, without it your progress may be slow and frustrating.

cyrilmadrid states that he is happy with both systems and will use them both. He will continue on with he studies and hopefully come back and provide some detailed feedback on how he is going once he has completed more significant portions of the programs.

On these forums some people like to offer their opinion on things they have never used. There was another thread on HST and one guy who was selling a competing product shared his opinion about the HST program, even though he had never used it?? I am not going to make any comments on LearnThaiPodcast even though I reviewed it many years ago. I am also not in a position to effectively evaluate other systems as I am no long in the beginners shoes. The best reviews come from users who have spent tens or hundreds of hours using a program. You will find some reviews like this right here on ThaiVisa.

No two language programs are going to teach exactly the same thing. They will use different methods and teach different content. Every program will provide at least some value. The HighSpeedThai program aims to teach common, high value words which you will find in most day-to-day conversations. Obviously there are some fill-in words that are taught too in order to create realistic dialogs. Another program may aim to teach you more situational less frequently used vocab that is still very useful.