Thai School In Chiang Mai

[NaiGreg]

Learn to read Thai! Even if you never speak well, reading signs, menus will open up a wonderfully enriching and entertaining world to you.

One example ...

During the holidays the police place a staged, bloody accident scene at a nearby major intersection to remind drivers about safety. The sign they post reads [transliteration] ...

"fun® thii(f) bpen jing" ... meaning "Dreams come true!" (Dreams that are real) I never would have guessed that if I had not been able to read it.

Learning to read Thai will also help you with pronouciation and vocabulary building. It is well worth the considerable effort.

[Wizzard of Oz]

Is there a Union course in Chiang Mai? I couldn't see any from googling.

This link as well as the comment below about 4hrs a day (and cheaper) sounds very appealing to me.

Cheers,

WoZ

I had been thinking of going to Union in Bangkok in the mornings, then AUA in the afternoons, but maybe I don't want to be in Bangkok right now. Hmm, I can go to school in the magical city of Chiang Mai!

So, where do I go? I know they have an AUA here, but I'm also looking for some more concrete learning programs. The Union program in Bangkok looked good: 4 hours a day, 8am-12pm, 5 days a week. Yes, it require commitment, but I'll at least get a head start things.

I DO like Union style program. I've also heard the YMCA Chiang Mai has a good Thai program. How about the universities here? Can you advise on their reputations? I heard Payap is mostly for Rich Thais (good for us, since it's only about 100,000 baht PER YEAR) and they probably speak a great deal of english. Do they have courses in english?

On the list of my studies: outdoor nature studies. Eventually, I might attach myself to a foundation or non-profit organization and live and work out here.

Of course I have to study Thai first. At this point, I really do not mind a little commitment to learning Thai.

I would start off on the union program. When I first arrived in Thailand for my semester abroad we had 4hrs a day 5 days a week for 2 weeks and then 2hrs a day for the next 3 months. The onslaught of four hours really helped make a great starting point.

[camerata]

Maybe I know him by sight, but I've never heard the name before.

Some people called him "the bug man." He's a lepidopterist and expert in all kinds of bugs. When I knew him in Bangkok his company was trading in dead butterflies and bugs. After he moved to Chiangmai he started a butterfly farm but some years later he told me he'd switched to growing orchids.

He once wrote a letter purportedly from his pet python to the Bangkok Post. It was printed in the Ayu Mongkol column.

[Ulysses G.]

I'm pretty sure that I met him many years aho through a friend who was interested in orchids.

My Thai was so terrible at the time, that I wouldn't have realized how good his was.

[Rasseru]

Learning to read Thai will also help you with pronouciation and vocabulary building. It is well worth the considerable effort.

I am having trouble imagining that it would take a considerable effort. Are there not fewer than a hundred symbols to learn? And are they not used phonetically?

If the answers to those questions are yes, then compared with English or Japanese, the two languages I know already, it sounds rather simple.

[mongoose]

Learning to read Thai will also help you with pronouciation and vocabulary building. It is well worth the considerable effort.

I am having trouble imagining that it would take a considerable effort. Are there not fewer than a hundred symbols to learn? And are they not used phonetically?

If the answers to those questions are yes, then compared with English or Japanese, the two languages I know already, it sounds rather simple.

At first there is a critical lump of learning to get through, then it becomes much easier. Many of the "exceptions" are not widely used. Some of the symbols are rarely used. I think that you are correct in suggesting that it is easier than English or Japanese.

[meadish_sweetball]

Learning to read Thai will also help you with pronouciation and vocabulary building. It is well worth the considerable effort.

I am having trouble imagining that it would take a considerable effort. Are there not fewer than a hundred symbols to learn? And are they not used phonetically?

If the answers to those questions are yes, then compared with English or Japanese, the two languages I know already, it sounds rather simple.

It's tricky to compare languages difficulty level because it really all depends on your starting point. Since you seem to already know the principles for four different systems (katakana, hiragana, kanji and roman letters) you will not find Thai a big challenge.

For somebody who only has experience of one alphabet used according to the rules of one single language though, learning Thai can take some serious effort.

There are some peculiarities when it comes to tone formation, like I explained above - you have to weigh in several factors and this takes some practice. I think most people who put in enough time to learn the alphabet and to read out Thai text and know which tone each syllable takes, will be able to achieve this goal in about 3 - 12 months.

[bungalowbill]

Perhaps bungalowbill will be along soon to tell us about his attendance at the YMCA. I'm thinking of enrolling, but want to go to Angkor Wat first. About 1,600 baht for 16 hours of instruction, Monday and Wednesday, for four weeks. Sounds good.

There must be an existing thread in the Chiang Mai Forum. CityLife magazine had a feature on this topic about 2.5 years ago.

Sorry I'm late with this input. Over the past three years I've Taken Thai courses at AUA, Payap, and YMCA. Which is Best? Well, AUA was Five days a week, Payap was Four and the YMCA was three, I preffered taking it at the Y three days a week which allowed for self study on the off days. I really don't think either was better than the other, it really depends on which instructor you get and what you put into it, it's a difficult language to learn and you really have to put in time outside the classroom practicing the tones and memorizing the vocabulary and structure.

YMCA has uses a text book, class size was 15 and no air con. also is the cheapest at 1600 baht per course

AUA was 4,000 baht. No text book but a good instuctor who used handouts he made himself. Class size was between 6 and 8. and they do have aircon classrooms.

I think Payap was the most expensive but I don't remember the price off hand. Class size was 6-8. They had the nices classrooms in the international college, the instuctor had great visual aides but was her first time teaching the course and was a bit slow. The course included a trip to warawot market which was OK if your new here. We also went on a trip to Wat Umong which was nice but I didn't see the relevence to the course, it was supposed to be cultural learning but we just fed the fish and were not given any facts about that particular wat or Buddhism or Thai Culture.

Due to my experinces in the last course I took I want to put my two cents in about cell phones ....if you need to be contacted during class time please be considerate of your classmates and turn ringer sound off. If your phone vibrates, quietly get up and go down the hall far away from the class and do your business. I'm amazed that this has to be said but in todays world it seems that people just don't understand how to be considerate of others anymore. That's todays lesson in good manners....Peace....BB OUT

[Rasseru]

It's tricky to compare languages difficulty level because it really all depends on your starting point. Since you seem to already know the principles for four different systems (katakana, hiragana, kanji and roman letters) you will not find Thai a big challenge.

For somebody who only has experience of one alphabet used according to the rules of one single language though, learning Thai can take some serious effort.

There are some peculiarities when it comes to tone formation, like I explained above - you have to weigh in several factors and this takes some practice. I think most people who put in enough time to learn the alphabet and to read out Thai text and know which tone each syllable takes, will be able to achieve this goal in about 3 - 12 months.

To make sure I am not misunderstood, I was not trying to suggest anything about how difficult the Thai language is or how difficult it is to learn. I know very little of the language as yet, but have already grasped, for example, how challenging the tones are, at least for me.

I was trying only to say that from what I understand (and it may be a misunderstanding, which is why I asked the questions I did earlier), the writing system seems substantially easier to learn than that of English, where the letters are fewer, but the use of them in representing words bears only a distant relationship to phonetics, or of Japanese, for a number of reasons that are probably not worth mentioning here.

I may soon have to eat my words, since I will be starting a class to learn to read and write Thai next Monday!

[meadish_sweetball]

I was trying only to say that from what I understand (and it may be a misunderstanding, which is why I asked the questions I did earlier), the writing system seems substantially easier to learn than that of English, where the letters are fewer, but the use of them in representing words bears only a distant relationship to phonetics, or of Japanese, for a number of reasons that are probably not worth mentioning here.

You're right that the spelling-sound correspondence is usually better in Thai than in English, but the more advanced vocabulary in Thai is unfortunately not that straight-forward. It is probably comparatively easier to learn to read out Thai than English once you have mastered the basic rules and common exceptions. To spell, however, is not straightforward for words based on Pali/Sanskrit. Why?

Based on just hearing somebody pronounce a word of Khmer, Sanskrit/Pali or English origin, you will have several options to choose from when it comes to spelling. A 'd' sound in syllable final position can mean any of these letters: ด ธ จ ต ถ ท ส ซ ษ ฎ ฏ ช ฑ ฒ ... I've probably even forgotten one or two in that list. The more you learn about spelling, the more likely you are to guess correctly which one it should be, but as you can see by their sheer number it is not so easy.

[Johpa]

First, I am glad to here that Adam is still around although I have not bumped into him in many, many years. I suspect by now he is one of the true old hands now that many of the old breakfast club at the Stube have passed away.

Second, using a decent transliteration system in the beginning is a good methodolgy for us left-brain dominant types who benefit from reading and text books. I learned via the old AUA system of Marvin Brown for the first year at college, which used a modified IPA system, although by the end of the year we had already begun to transition to nearly 100% written Thai.

[Priceless]

A bit of an update on the Payap University Intensive Thai Language Program:

Their website says: "Beginning Thai focuses on the survival language skills necessary for daily life. Students begin their learning with the Thai alphabet and useful vocabulary..." and their introductory document (which I received when registering for the program) says: "The focus of the beginning class is on survival Thai language skill such as: ordering food in the restaurant, counting, [...] and talking about family. Students will also learn elementary reading skill."

Don't you believe it! I chose this program because of the very fact that they supposedly introduce Thai script from the very beginning. Since I want to learn written Thai, as well as spoken, it seemed to be a good idea to skip the additional obstacle of learning some kind of phonetic transliteration. When the beginners' program started (this morning) the teacher told us that we would do NO reading or writing for the first two stages (Beginning and Intermediate, i.e. 120 hours of lessons at a cost of 7,000 baht per stage). By "NO reading or writing" she meant none, zip, nil! This of course meant that my reason for joining Payap disappeared. What was worse was that I realised that I'm not alone in needing to take notes during study. Since no writing would be introduced, Thai or phonetic, all the six students in class duly started inventing their own transliteration systems! From what I understand there were six students in the room, all taking notes according to six different systems! (A few of us used different dictionaries to help along the way, which of course further detracted from our attention to the teacher.)

When I showed the above-mentioned written document to the teacher, she said "That must be a very old paper." I still have a lot to learn about "Jai yen", so I simply pointed out that the header said "2007 Intensive Thai Language Program" adding that I had received it ten days earlier, collected my things and went down to the registration office to get my course fee back. To their credit, I got my 7,000 baht without any hassle. What still bugs me is that, instead of waiting for the Payap course to begin, I could have started on another program or with a one-on-one teacher. Oh well, I'll just have to put it on the experience account...

[Rasseru]

I was trying only to say that from what I understand (and it may be a misunderstanding, which is why I asked the questions I did earlier), the writing system seems substantially easier to learn than that of English, where the letters are fewer, but the use of them in representing words bears only a distant relationship to phonetics, or of Japanese, for a number of reasons that are probably not worth mentioning here.

I may soon have to eat my words, since I will be starting a class to learn to read and write Thai next Monday!

I think I'm starting to feel a little peckish . . . may I please eat my words now?

[meadish_sweetball]

Rasseru, if you have the time, please let us know more about what stage you are at and what difficulties you are struggling with... I am sure many members would be interested, and it might be a good way for yourself to summarize and structure what you have learned so far, define your goals, realize what gaps you need to fill to get further yadayadayada - and who knows, maybe somebody will be around to answer your questions and help you along the way...?

[Rasseru]

Rasseru, if you have the time, please let us know more about what stage you are at and what difficulties you are struggling with...

I am struggling with, let's see . . . memorization and keeping up! I just finished the first four days of the first level YMCA course, in which we have covered all the consonants and all of the long vowels, and am working hard to try to remember even that. Not to worry, I am doing fine in emotional terms -- learning to live with a newly discovered lack of ability is hard, but I am confident I can do it! -- and am actually having fun with it, so in that sense I can highly recommend it to others even at this early stage.

In my last post I was just trying to eat some humble pie, following my earlier outburst of arrogance.

[Paragon]

It has been confirmed above by 2 people that Payap does not teach with Thai characters.

So what school in ChiangMai does teach Thai language from the beginning using Thai charcters rather than transliteration?

Thanks.