Video of Me Speaking All the Thai I Learned With Pimsleur Thai in 10 Days

[ryanwiley]

I studied Thai with the Pimsleur Thai program for 10 days (30 minutes a day). This is a video of me speaking all the Thai I learned during this time.

I give a write-up about my experience using the Pimsleur Thai program and how I think it can be improved. You can read it here...

http://www.speakoutlanguages.com/does-the-pimsleur-approach-work/

P.S. Before you start pointing out my vocabulary mistakes and my poor tones, Just remember....I'm not saying I'm a Thai teacher! This was a kind of self-administered test to see if I was making any progress. I have been studying Thai for all of 10 days!

[kriswillems]

I think you're pretty fast with it. When I first used pimsleur the results were less good.

Pimsleur is a nice tool, a good point to pick up a few sentences, used for basic conversations.

I can help you a lot when you first arrive in Thailand.

For more serious study you would probably need to combine several methods and also learn to read and write.

Edited November 22, 2013 by kriswillems

[ryanwiley]

Yeah, you're right. I just finished my first Thai lesson with a teacher. Learning the class and tone rules makes a huge difference in how you understand (and speak) the language. I like the Pimsleur method of just jumping in and going for it. ...but, with Thai, you really do need to do the reading and writing work--especially in regards to the long and short vowels.

[Skint]

...

Edited November 22, 2013 by Skint

[Mole]

That is impressive man! As a native Thai I can assure you that you would be understood in most places.

Actually reminds me of the Thai they spoke in "Anna and the King".

[GotR1GHT]

Yeah, you're right. I just finished my first Thai lesson with a teacher. Learning the class and tone rules makes a huge difference in how you understand (and speak) the language. I like the Pimsleur method of just jumping in and going for it. ...but, with Thai, you really do need to do the reading and writing work--especially in regards to the long and short vowels.

Excellent work for only 10 days.If you don't mind,i have some advices

-ขอโทษ - excuse me - it's pronounced "koo toot" (with a bit longer "toot"). When you said "tot";it means fart.So it's a toot not tot. Like พูด;speak ,it's a bit longer "puut" not "put".Also ข้าว; rice,it's also longer,"kaao" not "kao"(he,she). อยากกินข้าว Jaak gin "kaao", not jaak gin "kao"(unless you want to eat him,she:-))

Here are some video that are pretty decent and can help you with pronouncing the tones.Keep up the good work,and please keep posting your development.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7G6GNwbG88

Edited November 23, 2013 by GotR1GHT

[ryanwiley]

That is impressive man! As a native Thai I can assure you that you would be understood in most places.

Actually reminds me of the Thai they spoke in "Anna and the King".

Thanks Mole! I've been trying it out on some locals up here in Buriram. They understand what I'm saying, but they wonder why the hell I'm asking them if they know where Silom road is!

[ryanwiley]

Yeah, you're right. I just finished my first Thai lesson with a teacher. Learning the class and tone rules makes a huge difference in how you understand (and speak) the language. I like the Pimsleur method of just jumping in and going for it. ...but, with Thai, you really do need to do the reading and writing work--especially in regards to the long and short vowels.

Excellent work for only 10 days.If you don't mind,i have some advices

-ขอโทษ - excuse me - it's pronounced "koo toot" (with a bit longer "toot"). When you said "tot";it means fart.So it's a toot not tot. Like พูด;speak ,it's a bit longer "puut" not "put".Also ข้าว; rice,it's also longer,"kaao" not "kao"(he,she). อยากกินข้าว Jaak gin "kaao", not jaak gin "kao"(unless you want to eat him,she:-))

Here are some video that are pretty decent and can help you with pronouncing the tones.Keep up the good work,and please keep posting your development.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7G6GNwbG88

Thanks for the suggestions and videos. That lady in the first video teaches like she's teaching Chinese pinyin! For me, the tones aren't too bad to speak. The problem is knowing the rules about the different classes of consonants and how different tone markers affect the different classes differently. Thai is not really a language that you can just "get a feel for." You really have to sit down and learn the rules!

[OldChinaHam]

Nice Job!!!

I have recently had opportunity to see students in a classroom from day 1 studying Thai.

You are doing better by quite a large margin.

You must have listened to the tapes a heck of a lot.

Nice job.

[falkan]

great work.you be speaking fluent in 6-12 months for sure!

[Aforek]

great work.you be speaking fluent in 6-12 months for sure!

I prefer the second video; everybody speaks about the tones, but I have noticed, in speaking with thai people, that the vowels ( long and short ) are very important, too; short vowel used instead of a long one, they don't understand, for example, สระผม must be pronouced with a short " a ", not a long one.

for the rules, it's not so complicated, and to understand why a word is pronounced this way and not an other way, you must absolutely know the rules.

To speak fluently, you need some vocabulary; it's not only a question of pronounciation ( which is very important, of course, but if you know only 100 words, you can't go far )

[recycler]

Well done, now get a Thai wife and learn the rest!

[ryanwiley]

Nice Job!!!

I have recently had opportunity to see students in a classroom from day 1 studying Thai.

You are doing better by quite a large margin.

You must have listened to the tapes a heck of a lot.

Nice job.

No, just once...and then once more to write down what the narrator said (in English) that I should be learning. That's the paper that I showed at the end of the video.

It's getting much harder now, though, and I'm thinking about listening to each lesson twice...the "how to tell time" section I'm doing now is really confusing!

[hempa]

Nice one!

Me too was at the same level after 10 days. Now i'm trying to learn more words from other video and audio lessons.

Pimsleur is very easy to learn the _very_ basics in thai and everyone going to Thailand would benefit from it even if they go on vacation for 2 weeks.

Next step is to learn reading and writing cuz many say that it will speed up how to speak much faster.

And of course to just be in Thailand while learning helps a lot!

[quiuvo]

You don't work for them, right? Two if my friends tried it and in one month they still didn't have much at all.

It is better than some schools that tell you to just sit there and listen! No note taking at all. How are they to learn?

[OldChinaHam]

Nice Job!!!

I have recently had opportunity to see students in a classroom from day 1 studying Thai.

You are doing better by quite a large margin.

You must have listened to the tapes a heck of a lot.

Nice job.

No, just once...and then once more to write down what the narrator said (in English) that I should be learning. That's the paper that I showed at the end of the video.

It's getting much harder now, though, and I'm thinking about listening to each lesson twice...the "how to tell time" section I'm doing now is really confusing!

You mention TIME, and I really did believe I would ever learn it, but I did.

It is very important to have patience, otherwise you will give up and fail completely.

[ryanwiley]

Nice one!

Me too was at the same level after 10 days. Now i'm trying to learn more words from other video and audio lessons.

Pimsleur is very easy to learn the _very_ basics in thai and everyone going to Thailand would benefit from it even if they go on vacation for 2 weeks.

Next step is to learn reading and writing cuz many say that it will speed up how to speak much faster.

And of course to just be in Thailand while learning helps a lot!

Getting started with the reading and writing too....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/684278-cool-velcro-board-for-learning-the-thai-alphabet/

[ryanwiley]

You don't work for them, right? Two if my friends tried it and in one month they still didn't have much at all.

It is better than some schools that tell you to just sit there and listen! No note taking at all. How are they to learn?

Ha ha...no, I don't work for them. In fact, anyone can download their program for free on any torrent site (shhh...don't tell everyone)!

[KuhnPaen]

I concur. Pimsleur is a good starter course. I went through all 30 lessons in 6 months while commuting to work, on the treadmill, etc, I had it on my ipod instead of a CD. After I learned everything on those lessons, I took Skype lessons from Patong language school 2/wk for over a year. That, in addition to going to LOS 3 times a year and living here made me fairly good. I still cannot read Thai which is my next goal. I learned Isaan while living in Sisaket and the Thai I already knew was a good base for that to build from.

I cannot say enough good things about this course. A great investment if you really want to learn Thai. You can pay by the hour or get a package of lessons. This helped me the most--face to face Skype tutoring. http://study-thai-online.com/

Edited November 26, 2013 by KuhnPaen

[bifftastic]

Nice one!

Me too was at the same level after 10 days. Now i'm trying to learn more words from other video and audio lessons.

Pimsleur is very easy to learn the _very_ basics in thai and everyone going to Thailand would benefit from it even if they go on vacation for 2 weeks.

Next step is to learn reading and writing cuz many say that it will speed up how to speak much faster.

And of course to just be in Thailand while learning helps a lot!

Getting started with the reading and writing too....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/684278-cool-velcro-board-for-learning-the-thai-alphabet/

I think you're doing really well. Especially since you are now going for the reading/writing now as well.

I started with Pimsleur and then Thai for Beginners (Poomsan-Becker). I'm still studying now, but with a mixture of resources, and daily conversation practice.

Keep us posted as to your progress

[sirchai]

Try that: " A white man with his white knees is, driving in a white car up on a white mountain and having nine dishes of white rice.

." If you can say that properly,then you know much about the tonal language.-

Edited November 27, 2013 by sirchai

[Mole]

I find things like that kinda useless. Even if a native Thai said that to another native, he'd have a hard time understanding what the hell it's all about.

Even if you don't get the tones pitch perfect, most of the time you will be understood because of the context and the mere fact that a sentence contains other words as well.

[Aforek]

I find things like that kinda useless. Even if a native Thai said that to another native, he'd have a hard time understanding what the hell it's all about.

Why ? you mean that Thai people don't use the appropriate tones all the time ?

" Even if you don't get the tones pitch perfect, most of the time you will be understood because of the context and the mere fact that a sentence contains other words as well."

I can understand that for a farang ( me, for instance ) who don't pronounce perfectly the five tones, but does it concern Thai people, too ?

you mean that Thais and Farangs have the same level ( I am joking, of course )

[Mole]

What I meant is that you should not be too obsessed with getting exactly the correct tones and thinking that this is the most important to master. Especially when you're at a very beginning level of learning.

[kriswillems]

We have a shop.

We sell mats, tigers (statues), and cloths.

You would be surprised how often there are misunderstandings between the shopkeeper end the customer (both are Thai).

Without context and when quickly spoken, the tones are sometimes also misunderstood by Thai people.

Nevertheless, I think pronouncing the tones correctly is important, just like the difference between long and short vowels, the difference between aspirated and non-aspirated consonants, the difference between แ and เ and the difference between แ and ะ.

[ozyjon]

the first Thai phrase i learn't and still using it today abundantly "mai kao jai" do you get it, now leave me alone.

[ryanwiley]

Nice Job!!!

I have recently had opportunity to see students in a classroom from day 1 studying Thai.

You are doing better by quite a large margin.

You must have listened to the tapes a heck of a lot.

Nice job.

No, just once...and then once more to write down what the narrator said (in English) that I should be learning. That's the paper that I showed at the end of the video.

It's getting much harder now, though, and I'm thinking about listening to each lesson twice...the "how to tell time" section I'm doing now is really confusing!

You mention TIME, and I really did believe I would ever learn it, but I did.

It is very important to have patience, otherwise you will give up and fail completely.

Ha ha....I believe it! The lessons on time, I think, show a bit of a weakness that Pimsleur has, which is a lack of visual learning aids. I feel like if I had a picture of a clock I would learn the time much faster. I drew my own, but it's not complete yet....helping, though! Yeah, I agree....patience and also learning in small bits over time!

[ryanwiley]

Nice one!

Me too was at the same level after 10 days. Now i'm trying to learn more words from other video and audio lessons.

Pimsleur is very easy to learn the _very_ basics in thai and everyone going to Thailand would benefit from it even if they go on vacation for 2 weeks.

Next step is to learn reading and writing cuz many say that it will speed up how to speak much faster.

And of course to just be in Thailand while learning helps a lot!

Getting started with the reading and writing too....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/684278-cool-velcro-board-for-learning-the-thai-alphabet/

I think you're doing really well. Especially since you are now going for the reading/writing now as well.

I started with Pimsleur and then Thai for Beginners (Poomsan-Becker). I'm still studying now, but with a mixture of resources, and daily conversation practice.

Keep us posted as to your progress

Thanks...I'm doing days 11 to 20 now (on day 14) When I'm done, I'll post another video, see if I can improve my tones a bit!

[bifftastic]

Nice one!

Me too was at the same level after 10 days. Now i'm trying to learn more words from other video and audio lessons.

Pimsleur is very easy to learn the _very_ basics in thai and everyone going to Thailand would benefit from it even if they go on vacation for 2 weeks.

Next step is to learn reading and writing cuz many say that it will speed up how to speak much faster.

And of course to just be in Thailand while learning helps a lot!

Getting started with the reading and writing too....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/684278-cool-velcro-board-for-learning-the-thai-alphabet/

I think you're doing really well. Especially since you are now going for the reading/writing now as well.

I started with Pimsleur and then Thai for Beginners (Poomsan-Becker). I'm still studying now, but with a mixture of resources, and daily conversation practice.

Keep us posted as to your progress

Thanks...I'm doing days 11 to 20 now (on day 14) When I'm done, I'll post another video, see if I can improve my tones a bit!

This might help with tones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV1F8ZE_AyA

[GotR1GHT]

Nice one!

Me too was at the same level after 10 days. Now i'm trying to learn more words from other video and audio lessons.

Pimsleur is very easy to learn the _very_ basics in thai and everyone going to Thailand would benefit from it even if they go on vacation for 2 weeks.

Next step is to learn reading and writing cuz many say that it will speed up how to speak much faster.

And of course to just be in Thailand while learning helps a lot!

Getting started with the reading and writing too....

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/684278-cool-velcro-board-for-learning-the-thai-alphabet/

I think you're doing really well. Especially since you are now going for the reading/writing now as well.

I started with Pimsleur and then Thai for Beginners (Poomsan-Becker). I'm still studying now, but with a mixture of resources, and daily conversation practice.

Keep us posted as to your progress

Thanks...I'm doing days 11 to 20 now (on day 14) When I'm done, I'll post another video, see if I can improve my tones a bit!

This might help with tones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV1F8ZE_AyA

I don't believe he's pronouncing falling tone correctly in this video.Falling tone doesn't instanly drop from high to low but it's going from high to a bit more higher and than falls down a bit on the end