Published on March 4, 2009

As someone interested in learning to speak Thai you've no doubt looked for Thai classes or courses in your area (I'm talking about learning Thai in Australia here). If you were lucky enough to find one then you probably found yourself asking how effective can a classroom setting be for learning Thai? In this article we consider the factors involved

A Typical Thai Class in Australia

Like most language classes many Thai courses are taught in a classroom environment. You've got your teacher up the front, doing their best to keep all of the student's interest levels up and interacting with each other while learning their new language.

Does this sound familiar:

The course length somewhere between 8 to 12 weeks.
Each Thai class length somewhere between 2 to 4 hours (4 hour classes usually held on Saturday mornings).
Anywhere between 4 to 20 students per class (depending on what the course cost you).
As the teacher introduces each new word or sound you take your turn as one of perhaps 20 students doing your very best to copy the teacher's perfect Thai pronunciation.
You'll also spend a lot of time writing Thai characters that the teacher is putting up on a whiteboard or projector screen. Scores of photocopies also being handed out (yes, you have homework).
Some students clearly have a better understanding of Thai than others, perhaps having studied the language before or have used materials such as Thai for Beginners. There is a broad range of pronunciation ability amongst the students.
By the 3rd or 4th week some of the students are no longer attending. Those who still make the effort, while still enthusiastic, are beginning to feel a little overwhelmed by the prospect of learning Thai.

Most of what is described here would apply to any language course, not just Thai courses.

Are Thai Courses Effective?

Is there anything wrong with the Thai class described above? Well, if this works for you, then no. You are one of the lucky ones who will respond positively to this style of learning.

Chances are though that you won't be able to keep your levels of interest up long enough to make it a truly effective way to learn Thai. This doesn't mean the instructor isn't good at their job or that Thai courses aren't worth attending. You've just got to make some concessions.

You've got to keep in mind that the course organisers really are trying to give you value for money and this tends to result in a fairly brisk pace and plenty of photocopies of Thai words, phrases and Thai characters.

What's the Alternative?

Ideally you'd be in a position to go to Thailand and learn the language on the ground. However this isn't an option for most. So if you want to learn to speak Thai in Australia and aren't sure if you'll go to a Thai class, studying at home is really your next option. It would be ideal if you could find a Thai speaker to practice with – there is nothing like the real thing.

With Thai, pronunciation is everything as it is a tonal language. Developing “an ear” for Thai is an important skill and the only way you can acquire it is to hear the language being spoken. Thus, you'll need some good quality Thai audio CDs along with a book or booklet to explain in greater detail what you are hearing. And you'll need to listen to the audio often.

Initially you should dedicate most of your study time listening to and repeating the material on your CDs as closely as possible. As you learn some phrases and words, your confidence will begin to grow. So will your enthusiasm with any luck!

Which Materials Does Farang Thai Recommend?

The products we'd recommend for complete beginners are:

If you are definitely in it for the long haul then you can save buy ordering our Learn Thai Big Bundle which includes:

And if you like to keep a dictionary nearby then the Three Way Thai-English Dictionary is an obvious choice.