best easiest way to learn thai.

[dirtycash]

kindle book or cd like rosetta stone . i want in future maybe to stay in thailand and teach, i did go to school in pattaya before for couple months but have found ive lost it after 5 years of not practising. when in thailand i pick it up and it stays with me but when i return home i do use it.

i hear there is school in pattaya ( north star library, naklua ) who offer free classes.

thanks

[somchy]

be born thai.

[BKKdreaming]

a live in educated Thai Girl

plus asking what everything around you is in Thai , writing that down and practice saying it later.....

and a big SMILE because you will screw up many many times !,

[surfinglife]

Benjawan Becker's 2 books (beginner and intermediate) plus many "sleeping dictionaries". When you are at a good intermediate level, top up with a "full immersion" month at one of some very good schools in BKK. Nothing decent in Pattaya (apart from the sleeping dictionaries;).....

[Rockhopper]

DO NOT buy rosetta stone, it is not a good choice (but marketed well).

[realenglish1]

I went to a Thai language school for a1 1/2 years and it really helped I am far from being perfect in Thai but I can get around without a problem

[ross10wilson]

I have over the years purchased many books to learn Thai language. However, no 2 books are the same. If you are looking to practice before you come then Benjawan Poomsan Becker books have been helpful to me. Learn the alphabet. Don't ignore it. If you can't read and write you will never be able to speak well. There are 44 consonants and 32 vowels. The English language, as you know, has only 26 letters. There are sounds in the Thai alphabet we do not use in the English language. You cannot produce these sounds purely by listening. ต ป ง อื for example. You really need to be taught by a Thai though. A Thai teacher who really knows how to teach the language (a lot of people on these forums criticise unqualified English teachers) if you are heading back to Pattaya the best school, out of the 5 I have been to, is the Prince of Wales school on Pattaya 3rd road.

[Mudcrab]

What will you teach in Thailand?

[maxtingtong]

Living where nobody speaks english is the key of my success

[asdecas]

Dr Brown's Thai language department at AUA, Rajadamri. It's not for everybody but I found their methods wonderful.

[JSixpack]

A school is really the best way to go.

If you must DIY, then books, recordings, and online resources (as above). Do a daily lesson, then go sit at a beer bar and practice it w/ the ladies, heh heh.

Thais are quite willing to help you learn--in contrast to, say, Japanese.

Edited July 31, 2014 by JSixpack

[AnotherOneAmerican]

A school is really the best way to go.

If you must DIY, then books, recordings, and online resources (as above). Do a daily lesson, then go sit at a beer bar and practice it w/ the ladies.

Thais are quite willing to help you learn--in contrast to, say, Japanese.

Learning Thai by speaking with prostitutes is not a good idea.

Every Thai person will spot you as a monger in 30s.

[VINCENT2012]

simple ...getting a real woman if you are a real man...not a girl who speak generally issan or what ever dialect..these never speak thai propely!

[maxtingtong]

I don't think wife or gf good or bad can be helpful cause in the end is common speak english in the couple. Schools neither in most of the cases because teach a language that nobody use in everyday life. I repeat myself, the best and also quickest way to learn thai is to get rid of any english speaker around you

Sent from my i-mobile IQ1.2 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[recycler]

A long haired dictionary, that's what my Thai colleagues told me and it worked perfectly for me, we are now happily married ;-)

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[TechnikaIII]

There is no easy way to learn any language.

The first prerequisite is the genuine desire to learn.

Then doing the work, which can never be complete without constant reading and writing.

Reading and writing at home, a minimum of an hour every day.

If you do this, also following the exercises as prescribed by the teacher, it will make your class time at the school far more profitable.

(Are you really a teacher? )

[lucifer666]

I live with a teacher ( who happens to be Thai) so i learn from her. Pimsleurs Thai can help in the early days though, You do know how to use Utorrent i assume, so i will say no more

Edited July 31, 2014 by lucifer666

[slipperylobster]

Actually, you tube is the best.

[thaigold]

Learning to read and write is an absolute necessity if you truly want to learn Thai. Until you can think in Thai, you'll never master it.

[96tehtarp]

There is no easy way to learn any language.

The first prerequisite is the genuine desire to learn.

Then doing the work, which can never be complete without constant reading and writing.

Reading and writing at home, a minimum of an hour every day.

If you do this, also following the exercises as prescribed by the teacher, it will make your class time at the school far more profitable.

(Are you really a teacher? )

"There is no easy way to learn any language."

That's very true.

To the OP don't do what I did, do what I say.

Visual learning is a teaching and learning style in which ideas, concepts, data and other information are associated with images and techniques. It is one of the three basic types of learning, including kinesthetic learning and auditory learning.

I tried to learn Thai by auditory learning. However I am to a large extent a kinesthetic learner. It was a huge mistake.

The Thai writing script is based on Sanskrit and is purely phonetic, there are very few exceptions as there are in English. It is perfect.

In short... learn the language visually.

I wasted years trying to "wing-it" learning aurally.

Use your favorite search engine for the terms:

Visual learning & kinesthetic learning.

Then try Manee Thai, and find a good school.

It's not easy though.

Edited July 31, 2014 by 96tehtarp

[HasipHasip5]

Grab a book. Learn the alphabet. Start practicing reading signs. It is much easier to learn to speak correctly if you can read. It helps immensely with pronunciation. Next, find an educated woman out in the country to practice with. If you see another farang, you're doing it wrong.

BTW@Vincent pull your head out of your a** and get out of the bar. Apparently, you're working with too few brain cells as is...before criticizing others of not speaking correctly, you should first learn how to do so yourself...could care less if english is your second language.

[jsflynn603]

Echoing what has been said earlier such as Thai has low, mid, high, rising and falling tones, plus a non-Latin based character set it’s a fairly difficult language to learn.

Firstly learn Bangkok Thai, for if you learn from someone from the provinces nobody except those in that area will understand you.

I found it useful to start with learning to associate words with sounds. Unlike most I also found it useful to be able to type in Thai. Doing so associated sounds with letters and I actually became fairly good at reading Thai and doing an ok job of actually being able to speak the word since every letter/combination tells you the tone and if the sound rises or falls.

You can download Download Thai Typing Tutor 1.04 (Freeware) search it using Bangkok library or my.bangkoklibrary.com. All computers can be switched to type Thai.

To learn the alphabet easily try this place: http://1steasythaialphabet.com/ This leads you to a link (if link is not allowed search: easythaialphabet or "60 Minutes to Learn the Thai Alphabet"

This is a small e-book created from a fellow and it’s one of the neatest things I’ve ever come across. Sixty minutes—nope. But it really is worth the $15 I paid for it. It’s $19.99 now but I suspect if you write and offer $15 or even $10 Damian (the creator) will probably take it. In not too many hours I could sound out the Thai alphabet and tonal notes. (Note: I have no connection to this ebook) I think it’s essential.

With the two above tools you can read Thai words correctly, although far too slowly but still, any Thai who makes an effort will understand what word it is that you are saying, though this is but a small part since there are grammatical and structural rules.

As someone mentioned J Marvin Brown wrote a series of books decades ago for AUA Language Center and AUA still exists and still teaches Thai but not always with Marvin’s books. In Thailand you can buy the books at AUA. In America try half.com

There are many Marvin books:

A.U.A Language Center, Thai Course Books 1,2 and 3

A.U.A Language Center, Thai Course Dialog Book A, Small talk

A.U.A Language Center, Thai Course, Reading and writing Text (mostly reading)

A.U.A Language Center, Thai Course, Reading and writing Text (mostly writing)

In addition, most importantly, there are cassette tapes that exist that accompany the first three books and in them Brown does a superb job of walking (talking) you through sound and most importantly he, unlike most of the monkey hear, monkey say “learn Thai” programs, he forces the learner to speak at the proper pace, which is to say, mighty fast. (English speakers also speak very fast but Thais speak even faster). These tapes are not easy to get but I did get a set through inter-library loan and bought a device that allows you to record them to .mp3 files. The most difficult part was finding a cassette tape player that worked well. With Marvin’s books it is possible to learn Thai passably outside Thailand and when I say learn it, learn it to understand it, not to utter mere phrases such as “where in the bathroom.”

Thai-language.com is a great resource and you can find just about everything that you need in the forum discussion areas under resources. It’s a great place to use when text chatting online. Thai ladies go gaga when you respond to their attempted English with words in Thai even if you make mistakes which you will.

If in Thailand consider an AUA course. If not available consider another Thai course. Consider finding a retired school teacher, who is Thai, it will not be prohibitively costly. One possibility is to find a tutor (after learning via Marvin’s books) who will teach you per hour over Skype).

It is possible, but it is difficult. Good luck.

[1FinickyOne]

Everyone learns differently - You have to know what is best for you - - if you are not shy and don't mind making mistakes, total immersion works pretty well. Part of your approach might depend on how proficient you want to be… If you have a good ear, then writing and reading is not necessary but will surely help if you just want to get functional. From what I have seen, minimal experience, I met one young fellow just coming out of AUA and he was sounding pretty good.

Long ago, I looked at the Becker Books and disregarded them quickly. There was a several page transliteration guide with upside down a's and double upside down e's and I figured it would take me a long time to remember these marking which had no practical value outside of the book. I preffered to tax my memory by learning words.

Good luck to you - I have found it a really interesting and fun language to learn - just try and remember that Thai is not a translation of English, it is its own unique language. Try not to get hung up on certain areas and if something is difficult, go back to it later - but keep moving forward.

[96tehtarp]

A.U.A's J. Marvin Brown got me off to a good start as well as many others here.

[jigagee]

Checkout :

http://jcademy.com look for his videos on Youtube , Stuart Jay Raj

[puukao]

I agree with NOT doing Rosetta Stone and starting with Youtube. After a week or so, order some highly-rated books for beginners on Amazon or something. Then you need to find someone who speaks thai. and make it clear, "It's OK to correct my bad Thai!!!" In my experience, it's hard for someone to correct your pronunciation, unless they are a teacher.

yes, if you learn the "bar Thai" you will sound much worse and get very little respect from anyone outside that circle. I've met a few from BKK who only knew the "bar thai" and it was painful. trash + trailer + uneducated.....

and remember to say kap, krap, kap about 100x. and smile.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

The cheapest and most effective way to learn Thai is in a Thai jail.

1 year and you will be fluent.

No distractions, plenty of friends to practise with.

[KhnomKhnom]

The ONLY way is total immersion. You never do anything in any language except Thai. You can play around trying to get some vocabulary which you then mis pronounce. Oh, the other is in directed study 8 hrs a day for 9 mos. the way the US State Dept does it.

[Jonners]

Click on the link to Highspeedthai.com that appears all over this forum. I did so in February and I can read, write and speak Thai passably now. You won't regret it.

[kennypowers]

There's some cool free stuff at http://www.thethailandlife.com/learn-thai

Also worth registering for the free resources at Thaipod101.com

Learning is pretty easy, the real challenge, and when you make the most progress, is when you get out there and start talking with native Thai speakers.