Best Thai Language School 2015 BKK only, no Chula, reading, writing, esp. ?

the pinned version, last post is 2011, a lot changes, etc.....

no Chula????

You haven't included Duke/AUA (The 2x language schools I've actually studied at, which I selected because they seemed the best for what I was after), and excluded Chula (The other institution I've studied at, which I would put as the best, albeit not everyone's cup o tea due to the massive amounts of work required, which is of course why I'm no longer studying there lol) (Also you spelt Walen incorrectly in the poll).

Thus I can't actually choose a school (I've taken a demo lesson at Walen & had a chat to the staff at Language Express, both seemed nice, but neither was really what I was after).

I think there are simply too many language schools (and not enough active forum members), to make this a comprehensive poll.

granted too many, just pulled some of the ones listed from 2011 pinned item on the forum, chula being a different thing, didn't think it compared well, anyone have any update on Ramkhamhaeng? last Feb, there were revising their books, and so closed, is what I was told.....

The list carefully excludes the two best Thai language schools in Bangkok. Typical Thai visa approach.

The list carefully excludes the two best Thai language schools in Bangkok. Typical Thai visa approach.

The poll isn't run by Thaivisa, it's being run on Thaivisa by a member (And already has comments from a moderator (me), that it doesn't seem like a very balanced poll for pretty much the same reasons you stated).

Just to point out the difference

When I disparage "Thai visa" I mean the community of posters at thaivisa.com, specifically including the current, uninformed OP.

so the 2 'best' are Chula and ____ ?

forgive my ignorance, that is kind of the point

Sumaa Institute. At least the best in the opinion of the current and former ambassadors who have studied there including: US, UK, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, among others. Foreign Services have a lot of experience in language training, particularly compared to the average Thai visa poster. Most or all of the schools on your list are not even competent, certainly not remotely comparable to the level of a university in Europe or the US.

Perhaps you should call your poll, "The Best of the Worst." Ridiculous.

looked into LExpress, unless you have 6 month solid and want to committ $1000 minimum, and /or wait 2 weeks to maybe even do that, then look somewhere else, see below:

___

The group class will start at 100 lessons ( around 6 months). I recommend you to study private class because you dont have enough time to join the group class. And you would like to focus on reading and writing. I think private class would be better for you. Here is the price for private class.

20 Lessons @ 26,000 THB

40 Lessons @ 50,000 THB

( 1 Lesson takes 50 minutes, study at least 2 lessons per day)

For private class, it could take 14 days for the class to start after full payment has been received.

____

sorry, captain, so your for chula, sumaa or nothing it seems.

i think my explanation on the poll, was reasonable, thanks for your input, albeit pejorative

Sumaa Institute. At least the best in the opinion of the current and former ambassadors who have studied there including: US, UK, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, among others. Foreign Services have a lot of experience in language training, particularly compared to the average Thai visa poster. Most or all of the schools on your list are not even competent, certainly not remotely comparable to the level of a university in Europe or the US.

Perhaps you should call your poll, "The Best of the Worst." Ridiculous.

what Were you "after" ?

You haven't included Duke/AUA (The 2x language schools I've actually studied at, which I selected because they seemed the best for what I was after), and excluded Chula (The other institution I've studied at, which I would put as the best, albeit not everyone's cup o tea due to the massive amounts of work required, which is of course why I'm no longer studying there lol) (Also you spelt Walen incorrectly in the poll).

Thus I can't actually choose a school (I've taken a demo lesson at Walen & had a chat to the staff at Language Express, both seemed nice, but neither was really what I was after).

I think there are simply too many language schools (and not enough active forum members), to make this a comprehensive poll.

I was looking for a language school which would help me with learning the type of Thai which you'd read in the newspaper or similar, and was relatively intensive. For which Chula was awesome, primarily because their teachers were amazing, although I also liked the atmosphere of being around serious students and of being associated with the university. But there were quite high expectations on you in regards to homework etc. I was fine with that at level 3, but I started to burn out when I moved to lvl 4 (I felt that the amount of work expected outside of class increased significantly at lvl 4, and simply became too much for me). So I decided to move to a language school which offered something similar to Chula, but less intensive.

AUA was very very relaxed, and a nice kinda chill out place for me, although it wasn't really what I was looking for study wise (Since it primarily just focuses on listening, and I felt that it's a slow way of learning, but it's a nice place to just go and chill out in the lessons. My original plan was to chill out there in after afternoons when I'd finished studying at Chula so that I could be more immersed in Thai (Although that plan didn't last long, as I needed to go and do my homework instead). However, I think the style would be absolutely fantastic for a lot of people, depending on what they're aiming at, as you just slowly absorb the language without any pressure etc, and to the best of my knowledge, no other language schools use the same method. Also it was quite cheap.

Duke was really good, the hours are frequent enough (3h per day, with the option of 6h) that you're getting good immersion, and the material covered was exactly what I was after, and the teacher I had was great. As we'd often be studying text from a magazine or similar, so the sorta formal Thai, but then the teacher would also elaborate and explain the differences between formal and informal Thai. Although the course I was doing didn't feel very structured, and that was the main failing here, although I think for the beginner levels they had text books, which would have provided a lot more structure (For intermediate/advanced they were still in development as Duke is quite new). Also it was the cheapest of the language schools I looked at, which wasn't too important to me, but was a nice bonus.

The other schools I checked out, just didn't really have what I was looking for. e.g. When I went to Walen, they only had alphabet classes or speaking classing, when I asked them about doing something similar to reading the newspaper, they suggested a private tutor. In general I felt like they primarily catered towards people who were just starting to learn Thai. When I then went to Language Express they had a great salesperson whom I had an interview with, and from what she was saying, it seemed like their content would be beneficial for me, but their courses were only a few hours each week, and it worked out to be quite expensive per hour (I think it was a similar amount to what I was paying my private tutor per hour). In general I felt like they were more aimed at part time students, as their classes were just 100h over 6 months (At both Chula & Duke I was doing 15h per week in class).

But yeah, which school is "best", is going to be different for each student. Some people just want visas, others want to study full time or part time, some just want somewhere that's cheap. There are a lot of different "market niches" for Thai language schools, and so a lot of schools aren't necessarily even competing with each other (e.g. Chula isn't really competing with Language Express, as there's no way you could compare courses which offer 100h in 6 months, to 100h in 6 weeks. I know which one I would consider the "best" out of those options, but different students would have different priorities).

Sumaa Institute. At least the best in the opinion of the current and former ambassadors who have studied there including: US, UK, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, among others. Foreign Services have a lot of experience in language training, particularly compared to the average Thai visa poster. Most or all of the schools on your list are not even competent, certainly not remotely comparable to the level of a university in Europe or the US.

Perhaps you should call your poll, "The Best of the Worst." Ridiculous.

And your list based on experience is? I must assume you attnded all of these to make such a comment. I would think cost, available time, and learning style would enter the picture somewhere as a pesonal opinion of "the best". Just a thought.

Sumaa Institute. At least the best in the opinion of the current and former ambassadors who have studied there including: US, UK, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, among others. Foreign Services have a lot of experience in language training, particularly compared to the average Thai visa poster. Most or all of the schools on your list are not even competent, certainly not remotely comparable to the level of a university in Europe or the US.

Perhaps you should call your poll, "The Best of the Worst." Ridiculous.

And your list based on experience is? I must assume you attnded all of these to make such a comment. I would think cost, available time, and learning style would enter the picture somewhere as a pesonal opinion of "the best". Just a thought.

I have studied at Chula, Sumaa, and briefly, and regrettably, at two of the junk schools on the list who teach that wretched syllabus approved by the Thai Board of Ed and widely used. The appropriate question is not which is the best on his list, but which, if any, offer an adequate level of instruction, which I put at the level of a Western university. I doubt if any of the "schools" on the list are adequate, but of course I haven't studied at all of them. At both Sumaa and Chula I have encountered other students who became very competent at Thai, i.e. speak, read, write, listen. At the junk schools I never met anyone competent above a very rudimentary level. Are there any? Do they have any students that pass the Po 6 test? Do students at those schools ever succeed? I have my doubts.

So, if the instruction is not adequate then convenience and low cost hardly matter since the student is just wasting his time and his money. "Learning style" is a concern mainly for losers who will never learn the language. Learning any language, but especially a difficult one like Thai, is a grind. Your "style" is either to do the work of memorizing and practicing all the skills or not. At Chula there were some very talented Asian students who made great strides during the course of study. I never heard any of them mention "learning style."

Sumaa Institute. At least the best in the opinion of the current and former ambassadors who have studied there including: US, UK, Australia, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, among others. Foreign Services have a lot of experience in language training, particularly compared to the average Thai visa poster. Most or all of the schools on your list are not even competent, certainly not remotely comparable to the level of a university in Europe or the US.

Perhaps you should call your poll, "The Best of the Worst." Ridiculous.

And your list based on experience is? I must assume you attnded all of these to make such a comment. I would think cost, available time, and learning style would enter the picture somewhere as a pesonal opinion of "the best". Just a thought.

I have studied at Chula, Sumaa, and briefly, and regrettably, at two of the junk schools on the list who teach that wretched syllabus approved by the Thai Board of Ed and widely used. The appropriate question is not which is the best on his list, but which, if any, offer an adequate level of instruction, which I put at the level of a Western university. I doubt if any of the "schools" on the list are adequate, but of course I haven't studied at all of them. At both Sumaa and Chula I have encountered other students who became very competent at Thai, i.e. speak, read, write, listen. At the junk schools I never met anyone competent above a very rudimentary level. Are there any? Do they have any students that pass the Po 6 test? Do students at those schools ever succeed? I have my doubts.

So, if the instruction is not adequate then convenience and low cost hardly matter since the student is just wasting his time and his money. "Learning style" is a concern mainly for losers who will never learn the language. Learning any language, but especially a difficult one like Thai, is a grind. Your "style" is either to do the work of memorizing and practicing all the skills or not. At Chula there were some very talented Asian students who made great strides during the course of study. I never heard any of them mention "learning style."

Silly me, I thought the objective was to be able to communicate with the locals, not learn to take tests. I concede Chul has a great program, but not all are looking for an intensive programs or high cost school like Sumaa. As for P6 testing prep, there several schools offereing this with successful students. Actually, understanding learn styles to develop teaching methods was one of basic course in my study program for teaching.

But I defer to you as the expert and end this discussion. Have a great day.

Add DukeLanguage School on your list. I've been studying for 3 months now and I can't complain anything. So far, my thai is going so well. I feel so good everytime I go out of the class and learned a lot of new thai words

I am also looking for the Best Thai Language school in Bangkok that will teach me conversational Thai. I will in in BKK for a month so I don't think I have enough time to learn how to read Thai. Additionally, does anyone have any suggestions for study materials such as books, flash cards, iphone apps, etc. Thanks in advance for suggestions!

i'm hoping walen stays at zero votes for the comedy value

i'm hoping walen stays at zero votes for the comedy value

Walen is one of the most popular schools. Great many happy students.

This poll should have had the option to vote UP a school, as well as vote DOWN a school. In the event you went to one of those schools and it was absolutely TERRIBLE, I'm sure people would want to hear about it. At least that would narrow the school options.

It's interesting that there are 10 votes for the schools that use the Union method, and 1 vote for all non-Union method schools. Whilst the Union method is dated and pretty boring, it still comes out on top. Nothing better around at the moment.

stujay sturaj is ok, though, his new monitizers geek guy, made it into subscription based, and the glossika stuff works poorly webbased imho

also they price of it is always fluid, like buying a used car, try beckers intro books, 1st two books i went through ; learn the script early

I am also looking for the Best Thai Language school in Bangkok that will teach me conversational Thai. I will in in BKK for a month so I don't think I have enough time to learn how to read Thai. Additionally, does anyone have any suggestions for study materials such as books, flash cards, iphone apps, etc. Thanks in advance for suggestions!

It's interesting that there are 10 votes for the schools that use the Union method, and 1 vote for all non-Union method schools. Whilst the Union method is dated and pretty boring, it still comes out on top. Nothing better around at the moment.

The reason for that has nothing to do with the quality of the Union method. In order to get "accreditation" from the Thai Department of Education, which among other benefits provides the school with a VAT tax exemption, the school must teach from an approved curriculum which is, apparently uniquely, the Union method. Chulalongkorn is an exception probably because it is a university. If a non-university school were to teach from the Chulalongkorn curriculum they would not be accredited.

It is not true that there is nothing better available at the moment as I have pointed out above.

looked into LExpress, unless you have 6 month solid and want to committ $1000 minimum, and /or wait 2 weeks to maybe even do that, then look somewhere else, see below:

___

The group class will start at 100 lessons ( around 6 months). I recommend you to study private class because you dont have enough time to join the group class. And you would like to focus on reading and writing. I think private class would be better for you. Here is the price for private class.

20 Lessons @ 26,000 THB

40 Lessons @ 50,000 THB

( 1 Lesson takes 50 minutes, study at least 2 lessons per day)

For private class, it could take 14 days for the class to start after full payment has been received.

____

Is it really the correct thing to compare private lesson pricing with group lessons by your inference. I paid much less for group lessons at LE and having attended numerous other schools I am a quit satisfied with the both the pricing and lessons. Students truly wanting to learn to communicate verbally and in print will find that LE offers a great opportunity to learn. Not so with others I have attended. That being said, there are many options in BKK and Value is a subjective issue.

40 lessons (thus 40 hours) for 50K baht? thats over 1K baht per (50 minute) session. %$#@ that. There are plenty of respectable thai schools that offer private lessons at half that price per hour or less. 50K baht for 40 lessons is ridiculous.

I recently went to Duke and it wasn't for me. Perhaps it was the fact that I'm a slow learner and it appeared everyone else was doing fine (so if you learn at a regular/fast pace, this advice may not be the same for you...), but I simply didn't do well with how the teacher was handling things. She often times used drills on vocabulary (such as vehicles) she just introduced in class and then sifted through pictured flashcards of these faster and faster to get us to remember the name. This simply didn't work with me--and she did it a lot. My brain doesn't learn with that method. She used many other ways to help, but perhaps it simply was not a school that suited me. Each day, we had a good 40 vocabulary terms in the text to learn. They said you didn't have to learn them all, but she would randomly use different ones each day and half the time I didn't know what she was saying, so I found myself overwhelmed trying to memorize as many words as I could just to keep up, which I could not. I think for some people this school would be fine. If you are a slow learner or need good organization, I would not recommend this school. It seemed like there was some disorganization in how the text progressed. But I don't know. Best thing to do is just visit the school for a day (can't hurt!) and see. I've been to a few schools and after visiting said to myself, 'glad I spent an hour rather than waste a months money in baht to get in a train wreck'. With that said, thumbs down to Duke.

40 lessons (thus 40 hours) for 50K baht? thats over 1K baht per (50 minute) session. %$#@ that. There are plenty of respectable thai schools that offer private lessons at half that price per hour or less. 50K baht for 40 lessons is ridiculous.

that is rather asinine. You could hire an educated private tutor for less than that.

i'm hoping walen stays at zero votes for the comedy value

Walen is one of the most popular schools. Great many happy students.

Great. But it would be more beneficial to the op if that view came from students instead of the subjective view of the owner.

Its like The head of the rtp saying they are the best police force in the world.

I would suggest for anyone wanting to find a school--before you commit to a large amount of money, regardless of the 'credibility' of the school--is to ask them for a free 1 hour visit. Most schools are willing to allow this. As for Union, they asked me to pay them to have a visit...so they won't be getting my business. Their loss.