Thai language school-is Walen any good?

[bigwhitewarrior]

Konying,

Which school did you study at because Walen in Koh Samui definitely starts with an Alphabet class.

And so does Bangkok also start with the Alphabet class.

It is impossible to master any language unless you know the alphabet first .

Edited March 11, 2015 by bigwhitewarrior

[dragonfly94]

Rubbish

[bigwhitewarrior]

Rubbish

Put your money where your mouth is matey .. 1 million baht says I'm right and you're a troll !

[Smokin Joe]

Konying,

Which school did you study at because Walen in Koh Samui definitely starts with an Alphabet class.

Same in Pattaya, although when I first took classes at Walen in Pattaya about two years ago it did not exist at that time.

[futsukayoi]

Konying,

Which school did you study at because Walen in Koh Samui definitely starts with an Alphabet class.

And so does Bangkok also start with the Alphabet class.

It is impossible to master any language unless you know the alphabet first .

If you want to read and write then obviously the alphabet is critical. For second language learners who want mainly to speak picking up the alphabet may also help.

However most of the worlds 6000+ languages are only verbal and do not have an alphabet but native speakers seem to master them OK. Even with languages which are written children usually get a good grasp well before they become literate.

[konying]

Konying,

Which school did you study at because Walen in Koh Samui definitely starts with an Alphabet class.

Pattaya and it did not have Alphabet classes.

Everyone started on book one,

No teaching how to write, though for some crazy reason some teachers expected you to be able to write.

[konying]

Rubbish

Put your money where your mouth is matey .. 1 million baht says I'm right and you're a troll !

You are the only troll around here

1 million? i doubt you have 100 000 let alone 1 million, but then again you speak fluent Thai after 4 months

May be a name change is in order, bigwhiteinternettrollwarrior

[konying]

Konying,

Which school did you study at because Walen in Koh Samui definitely starts with an Alphabet class.

Same in Pattaya, although when I first took classes at Walen in Pattaya about two years ago it did not exist at that time.

I wasted time at Walen about 5 years ago and no alphabet classes, changed over to Pro, learned more in 1 month than i did at Walen in 6

[SlyAnimal]

Konying, you seem pretty convinced that what you say is true, and it probably was 5 years ago when you studied at Walen in Phuket, however I can confirm, that as of November last year, at least in their Sukumvit school, they definitely have an alphabet class which students are meant to pass before they move onto the conversation classes.

I only went for a single observation lesson, as I primarily wanted to find out more about Walen, since this thread is often full of very opinionated posters, but I sat in on an alphabet class.

In regards to teachers correcting tones etc, I'm not sure about Walen, but most other schools and even private tutors, vary in how pedantic they are at correcting tones. Generally most teachers I've had/seen won't correct someone unless what they say is very difficult to understand, and in larger classes they don't have the time to correct everyone. But even then, they also don't want to knock someone's confidence too much by pushing them to run, when they're still just learning to walk.

At Chula, Duke & even with my private tutor, I was rarely corrected on my tones, but I know that I'm definitely not perfect at them (Most words, I don't even know what the tone is for them when I speak, so no doubt I get the tones wrong lol).

With this in mind, I wouldn't be too harsh on Walen, or any school/teacher, who isn't correcting tones often.

[konying]

Konying, you seem pretty convinced that what you say is true, and it probably was 5 years ago when you studied at Walen in Phuket, however I can confirm, that as of November last year, at least in their Sukumvit school, they definitely have an alphabet class which students are meant to pass before they move onto the conversation classes.

I only went for a single observation lesson, as I primarily wanted to find out more about Walen, since this thread is often full of very opinionated posters, but I sat in on an alphabet class.

In regards to teachers correcting tones etc, I'm not sure about Walen, but most other schools and even private tutors, vary in how pedantic they are at correcting tones. Generally most teachers I've had/seen won't correct someone unless what they say is very difficult to understand, and in larger classes they don't have the time to correct everyone. But even then, they also don't want to knock someone's confidence too much by pushing them to run, when they're still just learning to walk.

At Chula, Duke & even with my private tutor, I was rarely corrected on my tones, but I know that I'm definitely not perfect at them (Most words, I don't even know what the tone is for them when I speak, so no doubt I get the tones wrong lol).

With this in mind, I wouldn't be too harsh on Walen, or any school/teacher, who isn't correcting tones often.

I never studied at Phuket, i only studied Walen at Pattaya, naturally i would be convinced, i bought 240 lessons and attended every single one of them.

I did not go to Walen for visa, but to actually study, i did not need a visa.

I found teaching to be terrible and did bring it up with management and The witty boss himself, only to be laughed at.

You can take from it what you will.

Yes i could assume and even believe Bangkok or another province are better, but that does not change my experience nor does it give me back the money or time wasted.

As i mentioned before, correcting tones and not correcting when student speaks profanity without even knowing are very different matters.

I did attend Pro in Bangkok and Pattaya, and as i said, learned more in 1 month there than i did at Walen.

You say i should not be too harsh on Walen or teachers who do not correct the tones, why not?

IF i pay money to study the language, i pay the money to learn, surely different matter if i only attend to get the visa.

May be Walen can introduce new classes, some for those needing visa and another for those wanting to actually study.

Perhaps sitting in to see how classes are being taught is also not a bad idea, even more so when students complain. and no, no one sat in any of my classes for 6 months i was there.

[MacWalen]

Konying, it could not have been that bad. Also remember that we have many branches and you always comment only on the Pattaya branch. Even 5 years ago there were great many satisfied students in Pattaya. How about joining again? I can assure you that we start teaching with the alphabet. I will offer you 30 group lessons in the alphabet class free of charge, how about that?

[futsukayoi]

I never studied at Phuket, i only studied Walen at Pattaya, naturally i would be convinced, i bought 240 lessons and attended every single one of them.

Sorry but after this comment I have very little sympathy. You attended 240 classes despite the fact that you felt you were wasting your time and not learning anything !!! Different schools have different goals / approaches and will suit different students. Students need to take responsibity to do their own research and find out if a school will suit them. If not sure attend some classes and then see. I just cannot believe that it took 240 classes for you to realize that you had made minimal progress and did not like the school. I have seen other students at Walen drop out because they prefer a more interactive speech focussed approach or other reasons but I don't know any who have taken more than about 10 lessons to make their mind up one way or another.

I did 120 lessons at Walen after gaining a pretty good grounding in conversational Thai from another school and using books/tapes. There were definitely aspects of Walen approach I did not like but I got fair value for the classes I attended and achieved what I expected based on my research and trial classes. If not like any sensible person I would have stopped paying and attending pretty quickly. My reading speed improved and I pushed my vocabulary from around 2500 words to well over 3000. I also picked up some new grammatical structures and got some others that I had previously learned to the point where I can use them naturally instead of having to sit and think about it.

I did a few classes on Book 2 then moved quickly to Book 3 and can assure you that the people who have stuck it out that far are very committed and not just looking for a visa. All students in my class work hard and put in time outside of class to get on.

As with the other Thai schools I have attended I think Walen could do things better but I figure it will be more helpful to them and me if I make some constructive suggestions rather than just saying they are no good.

[konying]

I never studied at Phuket, i only studied Walen at Pattaya, naturally i would be convinced, i bought 240 lessons and attended every single one of them.

Sorry but after this comment I have very little sympathy. You attended 240 classes despite the fact that you felt you were wasting your time and not learning anything !!! Different schools have different goals / approaches and will suit different students. Students need to take responsibity to do their own research and find out if a school will suit them. If not sure attend some classes and then see. I just cannot believe that it took 240 classes for you to realize that you had made minimal progress and did not like the school. I have seen other students at Walen drop out because they prefer a more interactive speech focussed approach or other reasons but I don't know any who have taken more than about 10 lessons to make their mind up one way or another.

I did 120 lessons at Walen after gaining a pretty good grounding in conversational Thai from another school and using books/tapes. There were definitely aspects of Walen approach I did not like but I got fair value for the classes I attended and achieved what I expected based on my research and trial classes. If not like any sensible person I would have stopped paying and attending pretty quickly. My reading speed improved and I pushed my vocabulary from around 2500 words to well over 3000. I also picked up some new grammatical structures and got some others that I had previously learned to the point where I can use them naturally instead of having to sit and think about it.

I did a few classes on Book 2 then moved quickly to Book 3 and can assure you that the people who have stuck it out that far are very committed and not just looking for a visa. All students in my class work hard and put in time outside of class to get on.

As with the other Thai schools I have attended I think Walen could do things better but I figure it will be more helpful to them and me if I make some constructive suggestions rather than just saying they are no good.

Did you attend Pattaya?, if you did not, your experience in other branches has no relevance to mine at all.

I did not ask for any sympathy, OP raised the question is Walen any good.

This was my experience how good it was. Seems few others also had the same great experience in Pattaya

Looking through Thai visa threads or just google search you will find very few had "good" experiences at any branches

As long as you self asses yourself to be great, that is all that matters

PS, in case you missed it, my constructive suggestion and complaint was laughed at by the witty boss and nonsense continued.

The funniest part of the gimmick is 100% satisfaction guaranteed. Well?????? I was not satisfied, made my feelings known and?????

Still want to carry on defending?

Edited March 14, 2015 by konying

[rijb]

Konying, you have become a troll, we already know what you thought about your experience at Walen Pattaya 5 years ago. I would appreciate if you did not participate in this thread anymore. You do not bring any more value to it. You have made your point many times already. It is very boring to read your posts with the same stuff over and over again. Show some common sense. Thank you.

This thread hasn't been closed. Many are still reading it, if someone was posting and singing praises you would want them to remain. If you want to be in the kitchen.............

The repetition (of good or bad posts) is monotonous and non-value add.

I see value in his posts.

Ten posts with ten points is more helpful than ten posts with one point.

[Scott]

Off-topic, inflammatory posts and replies have been removed. Continued posting in this manner will result in suspensions.

You have been warned.

[jwongbkk]

a worrying trend at walen times square;

the number of students is dwindling

i wonder what could be the cause?

and seriously, mr walen boss, your teachers must be quite poorly paid as most of them are disinterested in teaching

one can tell from their attitude towards the students.

[Scott]

Do you keep track of enrollment at the school?

Do you know most of the teachers and that they are disinterested?

[MacWalen]

Price is a little higher so there are fewer students but not too bad. Actually getting busier again as many students like a school that follows government regulations as it makes them feel safe. Visa mills have terrible problems in recent times, many students get only 7 days and have to leave, or only one month extensions etc. Walen is providing the best quality service and once people think a little about it, they see that it makes sense to pay more and get reliable service from a renown school. Some students wanted to "save" some money going to a visa mill school and are now regretting it very much. It was a very bad move for them. You get what you pay for. You pay visa mill rate you get visa mill quality of service and 7 days to leave the country. There is just one immigration, those students get a record with the immigration. Please think carefully about choosing your school, don't go just for the cheapest price.

Walen School - most reliable service, great quality of teaching.

Edited March 23, 2015 by MacWalen

[dragonfly94]

But the teachers are not academically qualified teachers are they?

[fresh]

I really wonder about all that bad experience, because my experience is great

I study the first book now long time allready. So today I closed the book and tried to answer the questions in my own words (instead of reading the answers). The teachers corrected my mistakes with great patience. So I recommend everyone who likes the Walen system (starting with the alphabet) to try one lesson and make his own experience.

[rijb]

But the teachers are not academically qualified teachers are they?

'academically qualified teachers' is a meaningless phrase, in a trolling sentence.

Even the most qualified teachers are not effective without a good curriculum, lesson plans, learning environment, etc..

The instructors at Walen don't need to do instructional design. They follow an established curriculum and course syllabus.

Walen provides an input-based learning approach, by reading, listening and repeating lots of Thai words and sentences.

This is faster than an output-based learning approach, which requires multiple feedback loops and a highly competent feedback-giver.

Language learners need to take charge of their own language learning. Relying on any school, teacher or training course to do it all for you is 'academically' impossible.

[dragonfly94]

Troll sentence, well that's a new one No they do not have qualifications as teachers and do not have degrees in education, if they had they would not be working there. If some are happy with that then why not go to an unqualified Doctor or get an amateur to service you car? Yes you are right learners need to take charge of their own learning and that can negate the use of parroting 'teachers' you might as well follow an online course or a cd if all the 'input based learning' merely involves listening and repeating. An academically trained teacher, or rather somebody who knows what they are doing will always be far more effective than sitting in a room with several others parroting your way through the text with an teacher, who is actually not one.

Edited March 24, 2015 by dragonfly94

[MacWalen]

Walen teachers are very good. For example there is no way this guy would ever get a job teaching English at Walen. It's a classic. At Walen we stick to our teaching system and it works very well.

[SlyAnimal]

A post has been removed which linked to content which contained extremely defamatory/libel/slanderous comments.

If you are unaware of the forum rules, please refer to:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?app=forums&module=extras&section=boardrules

6) You will not post comments that could be reasonably construed as defamation or libel.

Defamation is the issuance of a statement about another person or business which causes that person to suffer harm. It does not have to be false to be defamatory. Libel is when the defamatory statement is published either in a drawing, painting, cinematography, film, picture or letters made visible by any means, or any other recording instruments, recording picture or letters, or by broadcasting or spreading picture, or by propagation by any other means. Defamation is both a civil and criminal charge in Thailand.

[bigwhitewarrior]

a worrying trend at walen times square;

the number of students is dwindling

i wonder what could be the cause?

and seriously, mr walen boss, your teachers must be quite poorly paid as most of them are disinterested in teaching

one can tell from their attitude towards the students.

Absolute nonsense .. we have between 11 and 12 students (the max per class) in our classroom . The teachers are friendly , enthusiastic and most of all correct your mistakes. We learn to read and to form propper sentences using the correct tones.

Now everyone has different ways of taking in information, especially for such a complex language as thai. So maybe that's why you feel that way.

Edited March 27, 2015 by bigwhitewarrior

[konying]

a worrying trend at walen times square;

the number of students is dwindling

i wonder what could be the cause?

and seriously, mr walen boss, your teachers must be quite poorly paid as most of them are disinterested in teaching

one can tell from their attitude towards the students.

Absolute nonsense .. we have between 11 and 12 students (the max per class) in our classroom . The teachers are friendly , enthusiastic and most of all correct your mistakes. We learn to read and to form propper sentences using the correct tones.

Now everyone has different ways of taking in information, especially for such a complex language as thai. So maybe that's why you feel that way.

Correct me if i am wrong but is it not Walen method to read from the book?

Since when did the method change to form proper sentences?

[bigwhitewarrior]

a worrying trend at walen times square;

the number of students is dwindling

i wonder what could be the cause?

and seriously, mr walen boss, your teachers must be quite poorly paid as most of them are disinterested in teaching

one can tell from their attitude towards the students.

Absolute nonsense .. we have between 11 and 12 students (the max per class) in our classroom . The teachers are friendly , enthusiastic and most of all correct your mistakes. We learn to read and to form propper sentences using the correct tones.

Now everyone has different ways of taking in information, especially for such a complex language as thai. So maybe that's why you feel that way.

Correct me if i am wrong but is it not Walen method to read from the book?

Since when did the method change to form proper sentences?

Well you forgot to mention in your orriginal comment that you studied 5 years ago. So this is where the misunderstanding came from. Since then seemingly things have changed a lot. Now you don't get to read until you pass the alphabet class . There is a test where you have to identify the consonants and vowels and special symbols. Then you have to be able to pronounce these with the correct tone. Only if you pass this test which takes about 1 hour are you permitted to move to the book 1 class. This is where you learn to form sentences learn to read and converse in thai. You are helped by the teachers every step of the way and it makes learning this complex language a lot easier. I happen to speak already 3 other languages but thai is by far one of the hardest languages to master.

[konying]

a worrying trend at walen times square;

the number of students is dwindling

i wonder what could be the cause?

and seriously, mr walen boss, your teachers must be quite poorly paid as most of them are disinterested in teaching

one can tell from their attitude towards the students.

Absolute nonsense .. we have between 11 and 12 students (the max per class) in our classroom . The teachers are friendly , enthusiastic and most of all correct your mistakes. We learn to read and to form propper sentences using the correct tones.

Now everyone has different ways of taking in information, especially for such a complex language as thai. So maybe that's why you feel that way.

Correct me if i am wrong but is it not Walen method to read from the book?

Since when did the method change to form proper sentences?

Well you forgot to mention in your orriginal comment that you studied 5 years ago. So this is where the misunderstanding came from. Since then seemingly things have changed a lot. Now you don't get to read until you pass the alphabet class . There is a test where you have to identify the consonants and vowels and special symbols. Then you have to be able to pronounce these with the correct tone. Only if you pass this test which takes about 1 hour are you permitted to move to the book 1 class. This is where you learn to form sentences learn to read and converse in thai. You are helped by the teachers every step of the way and it makes learning this complex language a lot easier. I happen to speak already 3 other languages but thai is by far one of the hardest languages to master.

So you do not read from the book anymore? now you are free conversing?

Wow, a huge method change

[bigwhitewarrior]

a worrying trend at walen times square;
the number of students is dwindling
i wonder what could be the cause?

and seriously, mr walen boss, your teachers must be quite poorly paid as most of them are disinterested in teaching
one can tell from their attitude towards the students.

Absolute nonsense .. we have between 11 and 12 students (the max per class) in our classroom . The teachers are friendly , enthusiastic and most of all correct your mistakes. We learn to read and to form propper sentences using the correct tones.
Now everyone has different ways of taking in information, especially for such a complex language as thai. So maybe that's why you feel that way.

Correct me if i am wrong but is it not Walen method to read from the book?

Since when did the method change to form proper sentences?

Well you forgot to mention in your orriginal comment that you studied 5 years ago. So this is where the misunderstanding came from. Since then seemingly things have changed a lot. Now you don't get to read until you pass the alphabet class . There is a test where you have to identify the consonants and vowels and special symbols. Then you have to be able to pronounce these with the correct tone. Only if you pass this test which takes about 1 hour are you permitted to move to the book 1 class. This is where you learn to form sentences learn to read and converse in thai. You are helped by the teachers every step of the way and it makes learning this complex language a lot easier. I happen to speak already 3 other languages but thai is by far one of the hardest languages to master.

So you do not read from the book anymore? now you are free conversing?

Wow, a huge method change

Yes we do read of course ..from book one onwards..but it is a wonderfull combination and makes the learning process much easier. One of the male teachers in particular is in my view one of the best teachers I have ever encountered. He hardly ever uses english and his lessons are structured in a way with animation and humour too.

[Scott]

Off-topic post removed.