Chula Intensive Thai

[eyz]

Thanks Kris!

Nice score you had there!

According to the grading, grade 5 is equivalent to upper secondary, probably mor 6.

I totally got what you mean, on a good proficiency in the language would not necessary translate to good grades in the test.

I had attempted the test back in 2011 and the reading part was quite tricky. It actually needs some critical thinking to ger the correct answer. I got only grade 2/3 in the 4 areas.

As I would be sponsored by my company, they would require me to obtain an advanced level in the language.

I just emailed to the Chula course administrator to find out what is their platinum certificate equivalent to, in terms of secondary education.

I got a 5 on several skills of the Thai Competency Test.

I think a Thai speaker in ม.3 would get about the same level in this test.

There is a huge difference between getting a good score on a specific test and being good at at the language.

Most language tests don't only test your language level, but only your level of intelligence, your level of understanding (in general), and even your memory.

A very skilled native Thai speaker with a bad memory and low intelligence, would probably also not get a very high score in the test, even though this person is much better in Thai than a farang which scores a 5 on several skills.

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[kriswillems]

Honestly I don't think a 5 is equivalent to ม.6. It's probably much closer to ม.2 or ม.3.

As a test I let a native Thai speaker (of around ม.6 level) do some of the preparation tests I got in school.

It's amazing to see that they, without any specific preparation, also make lot's of mistakes, although a bit less mistakes than I made.

The only skill the native speaker was clearly much better was "writing".

I personally feel I am still at only 10% (or maybe less) of the knowledge of a native speaker, so I don't think this kind of test really reflects how good you're actually are at the language, but it's a way to compare your level with other foreigners that are learning Thai.

In bookstores you can buy example test that Thai ม.6 students get (o-net or a-net tests or something like that). I think with the correct preparation, you can as a foreigner, pass these tests.

Edited February 27, 2014 by kriswillems

[Haverkamp1]

Are the weekends generally free? Or do the teachers sometimes load you up with extra homework during the weekends?

It depends on the teachers, some will give homework some won't give that much during the weekend, but it depends also in what level you are, but in level 2 you got the most homework to do.

BTW. they starting next week again as the area seems to be safer now (hopefully it will stay open this time)

[SlyAnimal]

Cool thanks

At this stage I'm probably thinking I'll enrol for the course which starts on July 1st, although I've still got quite a bit to do before I'm ready to move to Bangkok.

[eyz]

I would like to get hold of the course material for level 1 to 3. Does anyone of you happen to have it?

I am now in Thailand and will be here for another week. It would be appreciated if someone who has it and be kind enough to send me a set, be it original or photocopied. Would reimbursed on postage and cost.

Please PM me if you have it.

Thanks.

BTW, I took the placement test today. On the interview part, the interviewer assessed my command and knowledge of the language to be of level 4/5, pending the the written test result.

I did however, requested to purchase level 1 to 3 course material, but was rejected. I was hoping to do some revision on the beginner level, if I were to start the course at level 4.

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[JThai]

Damn. I really want to sign up for this school, but I still need to work 40 hours (online, can be done at any schedule/weekends). I'm near Asoke, so a little computer, walking everyday, etc. Sounds like there is just too much home work to do on this though. Damn I really want to learn from the best school. I'm pretty worried about learning to write Thai. I'm a computer guy, I can barley write english in a readable fashion haha. I hate writing.

Any updates to how the classes went for you guys?

[SlyAnimal]

I can only give you my 2c, and I posted a bit in the other thread, already, although I think I didn't say much about the teaching itself so, here goes:

I started at lvl 3, so they had already taught everyone to read/write, and the expectation was that we could do this proficiently. I never did any formal courses previously, and so learnt to read/write myself, although didn't do much reading outloud (only reading signs in my head etc) and didn't do much writing at all. I had been in Thailand for almost 4 years already, so could speak reasonably well (Thai people can usually understand me quite easily, although when I'm using new vocab I often have a few small problems). I only learnt the tone rules 1 week before I started class, as had previously neglected them (Although had previously learnt to say tones themselves, + the tones of some words, although I often didn't use them and so wasn't very good at them).

In general when I started the class, my reading/writing was quite far behind the others in my class, although I was a more confident speaker (Although not necessarily a better speaker lol, as the others are mostly better with the tones).

The first week I felt mentally exhausted every day, as I wasn't used to listening to 3h of just Thai, and of reading/writing so much Thai (We didn't have to write Thai, but I'd write it in my notes). As the teachers would generally only speak in Thai, although would throw in a few English words if they could see we didn't understand their explanation in Thai. Although all of the teachers speak excellent English, they just don't speak in class, sometimes when we don't get an explaination in class, and they instead in English, I'm surprised at both the vocabularly and the depth of understanding they have for some English words.

They started off with relatively easy topics, like Animals, Sports, Entertainment, Culture Travel and Love (A couple of others as well which I forget). Our week consisted of a set schedule, 1st day we'd read through a conversation between 2x people, with more casual language, and learn the vocab associated with it, second day we'd read a more formal piece of writing, and learn the vocab associated with that. Each time we learnt vocab, we'd usually also be taught how to use it in sentences (Unless it was obvious, e.g. a noun), and do some practice on these.

On the 3rd day, we'd have a listening comprehension test (Listen to a conversation in Thai, write down the answers, in Thai, to the questions), as well as a spelling test or dictation, where the teacher would read out words + sentences, and we would then need to write them down, around 70 words in total. Then we'd do days 1-3 again for the next topic, with a 4th topic at the end where we would give a 5-10 minute presentation in Thai (Powerpoint or pictures were also desired but not necessary), about one of the 2x topics we had previously studied.

I moved into lvl 4 at the start of this month, which is a lot more difficult. As on the 1st day we do a longer reading + learn vocab, the 2nd day we have a spelling test + comprehension test, and then the 3rd day we do presentations on the topic. So we basically have half the time to learn the vocab, which makes it significantly more difficult. However the more frequent presentations (every topic, instead of every 2nd topic), gives us a great opportunity to really learn the Thai properly. As it's one thing to listen to a word in class, and recognise it, but another to use it in a presentation (Although in saying that, I'd love to go back to the lvl 3 style, as presentations consume a lot of time outside of class). We also randomly have lessons on Thai Grammar in lvl 4, by the end of lvl 4 they'll likely expect us to know all/most classifiers + pronouns etc.

Outside of the regular study hours, Chula also organised 10h of special activities. They have a lunch in the first week for the students of different lvls to meet each other informally + give a guided tour around the campus (We can use the libraries / pool / gym etc). They also schedule a Thai movie for everyone to watch (with subtitles), and 2x "soda parties", where they provide afternoon tea + softdrinks & invite some of the Chula students to come and practice Thai with us for a few hours. I've had some great conversations with some of the students, and gives you a good gauge of how your spoken Thai is progressing. They also organise 1 other activity, last month they taught us Thai dancing, this month they're taking us to the Bank of Thailand. All of these extra activities for for people of all levels, so in the soda parties etc, some people are actually just happy to chill out and talk to some of the guys from their class or other classes.

Homework and study is reasonably full on if you want good marks. I was doing about 2h most days (+3h if I had a speech due) in lvl 3 and ended up with 79% overall. In lvl 4, I've fallen a bit further behind, as there's more work and I haven't been as focused this level (I do roughly 0h before the 1st day, 1-2h before the 2nd day tests and 3h+ before the 3rd day presentation). I think that if I was doing that same 2h per day (+3 per speech), I'd absorb the material easier, but would probably still need to increase my effort a bit. As based on my current tests, I'm probably only tracking at around 60% (60% is the passing grade). So hopefully I'll find that extra motivation before the final exam lol

Anyway hope this is of some help, and that some others can post what the other lvls are like

[JThai]

I can only give you my 2c, and I posted a bit in the other thread, already, although I think I didn't say much about the teaching itself so, here goes:

I started at lvl 3, so they had already taught everyone to read/write, and the expectation was that we could do this proficiently. I never did any formal courses previously, and so learnt to read/write myself, although didn't do much reading outloud (only reading signs in my head etc) and didn't do much writing at all. I had been in Thailand for almost 4 years already, so could speak reasonably well (Thai people can usually understand me quite easily, although when I'm using new vocab I often have a few small problems). I only learnt the tone rules 1 week before I started class, as had previously neglected them (Although had previously learnt to say tones themselves, + the tones of some words, although I often didn't use them and so wasn't very good at them).

In general when I started the class, my reading/writing was quite far behind the others in my class, although I was a more confident speaker (Although not necessarily a better speaker lol, as the others are mostly better with the tones).

The first week I felt mentally exhausted every day, as I wasn't used to listening to 3h of just Thai, and of reading/writing so much Thai (We didn't have to write Thai, but I'd write it in my notes). As the teachers would generally only speak in Thai, although would throw in a few English words if they could see we didn't understand their explanation in Thai. Although all of the teachers speak excellent English, they just don't speak in class, sometimes when we don't get an explaination in class, and they instead in English, I'm surprised at both the vocabularly and the depth of understanding they have for some English words.

They started off with relatively easy topics, like Animals, Sports, Entertainment, Culture Travel and Love (A couple of others as well which I forget). Our week consisted of a set schedule, 1st day we'd read through a conversation between 2x people, with more casual language, and learn the vocab associated with it, second day we'd read a more formal piece of writing, and learn the vocab associated with that. Each time we learnt vocab, we'd usually also be taught how to use it in sentences (Unless it was obvious, e.g. a noun), and do some practice on these.

On the 3rd day, we'd have a listening comprehension test (Listen to a conversation in Thai, write down the answers, in Thai, to the questions), as well as a spelling test or dictation, where the teacher would read out words + sentences, and we would then need to write them down, around 70 words in total. Then we'd do days 1-3 again for the next topic, with a 4th topic at the end where we would give a 5-10 minute presentation in Thai (Powerpoint or pictures were also desired but not necessary), about one of the 2x topics we had previously studied.

I moved into lvl 4 at the start of this month, which is a lot more difficult. As on the 1st day we do a longer reading + learn vocab, the 2nd day we have a spelling test + comprehension test, and then the 3rd day we do presentations on the topic. So we basically have half the time to learn the vocab, which makes it significantly more difficult. However the more frequent presentations (every topic, instead of every 2nd topic), gives us a great opportunity to really learn the Thai properly. As it's one thing to listen to a word in class, and recognise it, but another to use it in a presentation (Although in saying that, I'd love to go back to the lvl 3 style, as presentations consume a lot of time outside of class). We also randomly have lessons on Thai Grammar in lvl 4, by the end of lvl 4 they'll likely expect us to know all/most classifiers + pronouns etc.

Outside of the regular study hours, Chula also organised 10h of special activities. They have a lunch in the first week for the students of different lvls to meet each other informally + give a guided tour around the campus (We can use the libraries / pool / gym etc). They also schedule a Thai movie for everyone to watch (with subtitles), and 2x "soda parties", where they provide afternoon tea + softdrinks & invite some of the Chula students to come and practice Thai with us for a few hours. I've had some great conversations with some of the students, and gives you a good gauge of how your spoken Thai is progressing. They also organise 1 other activity, last month they taught us Thai dancing, this month they're taking us to the Bank of Thailand. All of these extra activities for for people of all levels, so in the soda parties etc, some people are actually just happy to chill out and talk to some of the guys from their class or other classes.

Homework and study is reasonably full on if you want good marks. I was doing about 2h most days (+3h if I had a speech due) in lvl 3 and ended up with 79% overall. In lvl 4, I've fallen a bit further behind, as there's more work and I haven't been as focused this level (I do roughly 0h before the 1st day, 1-2h before the 2nd day tests and 3h+ before the 3rd day presentation). I think that if I was doing that same 2h per day (+3 per speech), I'd absorb the material easier, but would probably still need to increase my effort a bit. As based on my current tests, I'm probably only tracking at around 60% (60% is the passing grade). So hopefully I'll find that extra motivation before the final exam lol

Anyway hope this is of some help, and that some others can post what the other lvls are like

Thanks. That is great insight and the extra activites sound cool. I wish I had the time to be a full time student and just enjoy all that. Why can't I be retired already? haha

Use of the gym is a good plus.

Edited September 22, 2014 by JThai

[fire69water]

So I gather that level 2 is where they start to teach the Thai writing system. Can I know how it would take for a student to grasp fully from scratch, the Thai writing system via this intensive program?

[fire69water]

Can I know how long...

[SlyAnimal]

So I gather that level 2 is where they start to teach the Thai writing system. Can I know how it would take for a student to grasp fully from scratch, the Thai writing system via this intensive program?

Most of the guys in the class, many of whom only came to Thailand just before they started studying at Chula, were as good or better at reading/writing than me. I don't think reading/writing is taught much during lvl 1, so I can assume that they learnt to read/write during the 6 weeks they studied at lvl 2.

[fire69water]

So I gather that level 2 is where they start to teach the Thai writing system. Can I know how it would take for a student to grasp fully from scratch, the Thai writing system via this intensive program?

Most of the guys in the class, many of whom only came to Thailand just before they started studying at Chula, were as good or better at reading/writing than me. I don't think reading/writing is taught much during lvl 1, so I can assume that they learnt to read/write during the 6 weeks they studied at lvl 2.

Seems like people who are in this program would have learn to read and write Thai script before they enroll. If so, this does not speak well of the program. Seems like the program merely solidify what they already know via intensity or heavy bombardment of Thai. That's the picture I'm getting.

[SlyAnimal]

Maybe I didn't phrase my example well.

Most of the guys in my class (Thai 3) had only just come to Thailand before they started Thai 1, and couldn't read/write before they started Thai 1.

However, by the time they got to Thai 3, they were as good/better at reading/writing than I was, even though I'd been living in Thailand for almost 4 years (I taught myself how to read/write as soon as I moved here, then essentially had 3 years of practice reading signs/menus etc, so was reasonably proficient at reading by the time I started at Chula. The other guys were all initially better at writing than me but I started catching up quickly once I started the course).

[fire69water]

I see. So was it the sheer intensity rather than the teaching methods of the program that was responsible for your and your classmates' reading and writing proficiency?

[SlyAnimal]

I didn't study in lvl 2, so don't know what the methods were like for learning to read/write (And I assume that lvl is different to the ones I studied).

However the teachers I had in Thai 3 & 4 were mostly really good though. That combined with a very intensive course full of motivated students is what makes the course.

The methods themselves seemed reasonably solid and it was pretty amazing how much vocab you could pickup in just 3h of class (Although to easily recall it required study outside of class).

However when I got to lvl 4 I felt the percentage of learning/study required outside of class reached a lvl which was too much for me. So I've stopped studying there for now (But may go back in the future).

[kriswillems]

I wish Chula would release a few pages out of each course book, so we could get a better idea what the levels mean.

[SlyAnimal]

The course books for lvls 3/4 are reasonably basic.

1-2 pages of vocab (In Thai 3 it had English translations aswell, in 4 just the Thai words), then 1-2 pages of an article (Thai 3 it was 2x 1pg articles or conversations which were sometimes informal, Thai 4 it was 1x 2pg article, similar to what you'd read in a newspaper or magazine).

E.g. One of the topics for Thai 4 was about how Fuji film entered the cosmetics industry. Another could have been taken straight out of the forbes rich list. There was also a book full of Thai grammar too (which teaches the classifiers and heaps of other stuff).

Comparatively Thai 3 mainly follows some friends who are going through life (playing sport, going out to bars, traveling and falling in love). With some more formal articles which aren't related to them (e.g. About the lunar calendar and a few other things).

I've got the text books for 1 & 2 as well but haven't really had much of a look thru them. They're quite different to 3/4 though.

[kriswillems]

How does the placement test look like? And when do they organize it?

Multiple choice questions?

Dictation exercise?

Interview?

[jdinasia]

How does the placement test look like? And when do they organize it?

Multiple choice questions?

Dictation exercise?

Interview?

Ages ago it was an interview with some reading and writing.

[SlyAnimal]

How does the placement test look like? And when do they organize it?

Multiple choice questions?

Dictation exercise?

Interview?

From memory there were 4 sections:

1/ A vocabularly section, where you fill in the missing words of sentences/paragraphs (a selection of words were given with it).

2/ A grammar section, where you are given words and need to make them into a coherent sentence.

3/ Reading comprehension activity, where you read a paragraph and then answer questions about it.

4/ Write a 1 page Essay

There's also an interview in Thai with one of the teachers.

I went into it thinking it was a pretty serious test (And I found the test extremely difficult & demoralising), but once I got to the interview it was all pretty relaxed.

They do the tests during the 2-3 week break between levels (It's usually quite early in the break period).