What really helped me is watching Thai people talk. They use their mouth more to achieve the tone. English speakers use their mouth less when speaking. The tone comes with exaggeration of the mouth.
I love all your video. Very informative and factual. I am Thai living in USA. If you speak some Thai sentences already then you have an upper hand learning to read because you can relate the words to sounds. I did not learn to read Thai words before I learn to speak first. The books that you shows about Thai alphabets are really helpful. Start with basic strong foundation and make a progress little by little. May lord help you living life in Thailand.
I speak 5 languages fluently and I found that if you try to speak another Language and translate it first in your mind it is much harder Like for instance. Greek! You want to say HI so you think HI and then translate it into Greek Yasu. This makes it so much harder so you have to learn The easy words first so when you want to say HI you just Say YASU instead of translating it first in your mind.
Keep doing what you're doing...its all positive and we will all learn through different ways. And hey! are you in front of my house? Those windows look suspiciously familiar for some reason! lol
Thank you for sharing this video!!! I've been planning on learning Thai language and oh yes this seems like an easy way to learn thai. Thank you thank you again!
Hi JC, I'm going to try the Free trial version and if it works I will purchase the program. I'm hoping this will teach this old dog a new trick not the Thai language is a trick but it would be a miracle if I learn to speak Thai language. 🙏
Even though I can speak Thai fairly well, the most frustrating part I've experienced has been, Thais tend to revert the language back to local dialogue, to keep their conversations hidden from Westerners who has taken the time to try and learn the basic Thai language. Upon knowing this little piece of imagination, I like to keep them guessing on how much Thai I actually know, I've try to learn basic Thai words in Lanna, Issan and Thai, which keeps them honest with me
I am telling you guys JC is the man! Those of you who have not joined JC's website is missing out on a wealth of knowledge in my honest opinion........
Seems like it might be a way I could learn Thai, unfortunately the audio quality drops so dramatically at 12:24 that I have trouble understanding the English, let alone the Thai.
The university of Hawaii has a programmed workbook to learn to read Thai script. I gave it to my wife who knew no Thai. In one week she was able to phonetically read a Thai while not understanding a word she read. I used this workbook at Yale language institute in 1971 with similar result.
Hi JC. Just to let you know that I have been using this system for a couple of days now and I have to say it's a bit like suddenly finding the key to a locked door, it really seems to work, its relatively easy to follow, and if you get stuck then there's all the help you need...........thanks
hi, sorry for not being patient enough to view the whole vlog...but this what i want to say: if one is REALLY interested in learning thai, start by the alphabet. i did, and from that , because the consonants are divided into 3 groups, low, mid, high, i started undestanding why for instance « news and white” which are basically written with the same letters have different tones. i’ve never have a thai teacher, yet i can read, write and speak...it took me 4 years. of course, i won’t never be able to speak like locals, but that is not the point...there are excellent thai courses online - free och charges - , i’ll provide the links to anyone who is interested...
Can I ask how old you are? My demographics and my membership average age is between 50 and 70 years of age. For the most part they're not going to undertake the path you chose and I'm shooting them the easiest and fastest way to get an outcome. The outcome isn't to be able to speak, read and write fluently but to understand basics. BTW congrats on your accomplishments.
sorry for the delay and thanks for the congrats! i got problems with my computer. for some bizarre reasons my keyboard is out of fonction...for the time being, i'm using the mouse by writing a letter one by one. this takes time! as for your question, i'm a RETIREE, well above 70 yo. now i respect your opinion, but at the end of the day, just understanding the basics may not be a good solution if you REALLY want to mingle with thai people or are married with a thai. i'm talking from experiences as some friends of mine are married with thai ladies. anyway, by definition, a retiree has plenty of time...and to put it simply, there is no incompabilty between your method and what i wrote previously. tell you what, there are pratically no books for learning thai in my main language. so i had to use english books, and you might have noticed, i'm not fluent in english. i mean, if a retiree is really interested, he can make it either way. that said, i'm one of your numerous subscribers and i always view your videos with great interest...
Bravo JC !!!! Another good thing (if a Thai friend is willing to help) is to translate popular Thai songs - this helps to teach us GREAT common idioms that are clever and used in everyday Thai language - including romance! One song alone can be like 10 Thai language lessons- what you are suggesting is the BEST - alphabet and try to master the tones (which many people never do!) great advice for your listeners, JC!
The word for horse does not have the "puppy vowel" over it. That is the "surfer" tone mark and the question mark placed high on the word means high tone, uncertain tone, not a question tone.
This is inspiring me to try to associate Laos symbols with characters to remember the sounds. This is great idea. Thank you for sharing this information JC!
JC, I've been living in Hua-Hin for 5 years now and the biggest problem us farrangs have is to actually HEAR what the thais are saying. They speak so much faster than us and the use of all the tones doesn't make things easier. Westerners use one or two tones in their languages and thais have five. So far I have only found one program that addresses this problem and does it in a way that really teaches you to pronounce correctly. It also helps tune your ears into the Thai language. It's called HighSpeedThai. If you haven't befriended a (male) local who is willing to teach you one on one you're basically screwed and your only option is HST. Going to language school isn't helping because they teach you as if you are a five year old thai child and we definitely don't learn languages in the same way as the local kids do. I strongly recommend you and everyone else to check out HST. I'm sure you'll be glad you did. I'm not affiliated in any way with HST. I'm just a customer happy to spread the word. Cheers!
The best way to describe my experience of the language barrier in Thailand, is comparable to sitting in a room full of people who only communicate with sign language, and I'm the only one who can't "sign"...5555
How long ago did you learn Thai? You often hear people being worried that they can't learn another language anymore when they're not very young anymore. They even might be completely discouraged to learn the language in the end. You must be brave, learning another language and actually moving to and living in a different, strange and unknown place during your stage in life. Well done on you!
Clark Orion Thanks Clark. The program I recommend appeals to all learning styles and it is fun so it takes some of the curve out of learning Thai as a second language.
Seems good. I tried to learn Thai using karaoke type and phonetic. Don't bother. Phonetic is like learning yet another language. Karaoke style is like you said, you simply CAN NOT re-create Thai sounds with English letters. You HAVE to learn the Thai alphabet (with help from a local speaker preferably) if you want to speak Thai. I'm still a beginner but it's coming along, now that I'm in a school and requested to use Thai alphabet.
I’ve learned one language a year for a few years now (japanese, tagalog, thai, etc) and I’m not really sure where you’re getting stopped up. I agree about the reading thing but ONLY reading, not writing. Writing is actually a waste of time in this age, will slow your learning at the start, and you’ll end up being able to write eventually naturally anyway. Reading is something you should learn immediately. The reason is because thai is phonetic - japanese too - so you can isolate and understand sounds properly. I actually think those books you’re reading do more damage than good. Force yourself to use thai every day, speak to locals, and gamify your learning. Ignore lessons and formal training, it’s garbage. Also, that’s not nam pow you’re drinking, it’s cha nom yen. :P
My Thai niece stays with us for months, but I find it hard to speak much Thai as my girlfriends English is so good. I made the choice to speak more English to her as it is a great benefit to a Thai to speak English as even if you win a scholarship as a young Thai person , one of the requirements is to speak English to enable you to travel abroad.
Yes Chris I went down this route in the past as well. The easiest way is always the preferred method. But it won't help you personally when it comes to integrating into Thai society. So I would suggest at least spending a couple days a week only speaking the Thai language. If not you could be caught out in the future not being able to communicate and not having people around you to help you.
I learned the alphabet before I ever tried to learn the language. It’s actually one of the easiest of it’s kind, much easier than Lao, khmer, or Burmese. I’m only trying to learn khmer now, but even those have similarities!
Hi JC, I signed up for his free class and if it helps me as much as I see it has helped you I'll try his other online course. Thanks for the language tip.
I agree with the sentiments of the video JC, learning to read even at a very basic level with only a few months of study is the fastest route to speaking. As far as your translation goes I think if you heard it phonetically you would recognize the phrase. As you know uncle is a reverent respect for you as his elder either by age or social status. The first phrase was เยี่ยม which in effect in English "Kudos sir", complimenting your thoughts in the video or your efforts in his language).
You're welcome... Thanks for all the great videos.. With all my trips to Chiang Mai I now have a ton o newf things and places to check out in August that I have never seen or done before.. Thanks to your videos.. The only problem with your videos is now I'm hooked.. I'm watching all I can before I head your way and putting them in my phone so I will have my JC list of new places and things to do.. :-)) Keep up the good work...
The workbook needed a teacher to perfect(?) the sounds. I very much agree that learn Thai script speeds up learning vocabulary and pronunciation. If one uses the Roman alphabet transcript methods you find the there about 5 different systems.
Very cool you're doing these videos! Most people eventually learn to understand a fair bit of Thai when they're around it all the time, but for someone wanting to speak Thai clearly (พูดชัด) learning to read and write are critical. Without knowing tones, vowel lengths, consonant classes, etc. you hit a brick wall fast. BTW, I'd avoid methods like this one that use mnemonic devices. They may jump start learning to read, but you get into some really bad habits that will screw you up later .
I cannot speak to learning Thai methods, but I've found mnemonic devices are very effective way to learn anything. Eventually with use the mnemonic falls away and you just know it.
When I learned to read and write, I made the mistake of associating some Thai consonants and vowels with what they looked like in English to help remember them. For example, ท looked like an English "N". For a few years, I would routinely slip up when reading and pronounce it as an "N" when in fact that consonant is pronounced as a "T" sound. Again, if you're just looking to speak "tourist" Thai, then no problem with any method you use because limitations really don't matter.
I personally haven't tried it. But here is a consumer comment I pulled from Amazon about the program: " I am finishing Unit I of the Rosetta Stone V2: Thai Level One language course, and I find it very helpful to me--but with one very serious consideration: the program's use of the Thai alphabet throughout with no explanation of how to read it would be highly frustrating to someone who can't read Thai. "
This seems very intuitive. Somehow it strikes me as easy to retain over time as well. Do you find yourself a few years later still using this as you read signs in Thai?? or perhaps you have progressed to newspapers, books & magazines??
ceemichael1 Good question. You get out of it what you put into it. Having a pretty wide vocabulary I can pretty much look at choices and know which is which but haven't put the time into reading more than just single sentences probably because I wouldn't be interested enough in what I was reading to put in the time. But certainly you could if you made the effort.
You say, "done it." But, what I think you means is, "bought it." If you were willing and motivated to read/write then it's a very quick process. In a matter of hours anyone can read and write Thai. After that it's just a matter of learning the very, relatively, low amount of grammar rules and then you're done! It's just a case of learnign every character and then practice by reading stuff you see every day. I wish my speaking was nearly as good as my r&w. Maybe one day.
I tried several of these methods and all it did was frustrate me... It wasn't till I went to formal Thai language classes at AUA in Chiang Mai that I was able to understand the spoken language and converse in Thai with the locals...
Yes, I found it and signed up for free trial. Thank you very much! Is there a city close to Chiang Mai that is not on your No Fly Zone? Love your videos! Are handguns allowed by ex pats in Thailand? Van Cave
+Van Cave Chiang Mai is quickly moving up my list as a one of my "no-fly zones" but not quite yet. The gun issue has been addressed in my member site forum. But if I were you I'd think what you'd attract and what possibilities could arise from just having one in your possession in a foreign country. I would avoid even touching one here at all costs.
In North and east (near Cambodja and Laos) village are there ok with english and can i live on English and get freinds and go to Buddha tempel and with the local? (member in som Thai groupes but they are from turist citys and they are good in English, but what about the village)? Mc donalds, Burger King, Pizza hut, kfc, seven eleven is in every village (even if there are around 5 - 15.000 people live there)?
Haha okay the description doesn't automatically open on my iPad. Again great video, no you don't have a Thai accent, your speech is great and helpful. Some of the comments are way off topic. Cheers!
This seems like a really cool idea, and I was learning just from these short lessons. Although, when I click on the link, my anti-virus software won't open the page. It says, the website can transmit malicious software, or has been involved in online scams or fraud!
+ retirecheapjc : Thank you for sharing this. Very interesting video. You surely are aware that all humans have different strengths and weaknesses, so no need to be too concerned if you do not feel linguistically-inclined. Some guys pick up trigonometry fast, while others never can. Same thought! Sorry if I didn't Let's catch up soon who created the method (still watching it while posting this), but is this method similar to the product offered by a polyglot Aussie named Stuart Jay Raj?
Hi JC, I am looking to move to Chiang Mai to teach English. I am not a paying subscriber but do not see the link to the website you speak of for the language website? Van 4/4/16
Hi JC Thank you for your responses. Just a question I had about gun. I haven't seen any of blogs about gun issue? I am 56 y/o, is age a big issue in finding employment in Thailand as a teacher of English? I am concerned about finding a way to support myself there?
I am struggling. I will try to learn the language. I just can not tell if the girl is saying she loves me or just being friendly and telling me it is not real love. Please she just sent me this other reply and the google translate is confusing me and giving me doubts. The message was : ฉนรักคุณมากคุณคนเดียวที่เป็นแฟนฉน
Petra Nemcova Thai bookstores. But the books and flashcards won't make the distinctions regarding the nuances of speaking the sounds of the Thai characters. The online program actually has instructions on how to mouth the sounds.
When you said the first line I sent you meant she loved me the most or favourite it sounds like there are others and not real love but just friendly affection.
got to say jc that i hope that this will help some people but i was totally confused by it all...i think im just going to have to stick to my english as thai is a lost cause for me....good job my g/f can speak english and thai
Thanks for the reply. I guess she is only being polite then. I thought she really wanted me as much as I wanted to be with her. But that's life for you. How about this one then please which i cannot work out. Be very appreciated if you can help again. Web translators still confuse me: ฉนต้องคุณที่รัก
You must have missed what I said. What did you think I meant? Anyways remember, don't try to take every translation at it's literal meaning or you will end up misunderstanding many comments. Example: Thais will say something like you have girlfriends or money "too much". But what they mean is "a lot OR many".
+Daniel Tynan : Not to trivialise the challenges of learning Hanzi (as I have studied Japanese 18+ years), I still would guess that Thai script may be worse. It is phonetic, but due to history, the spelling in Thai is worse than in English. There is a video on YT somewhere explaining why. The nice thing of Hanzi is, to more or less extent, it is quite regulated by strict rules and/or pictogram concept -- although I suppose the characters representing just names (phonetically) may be tough.
Thai has 44 consonants and 32 vowels. On top of that they have 4 tone marks potentially giving a word 5 different meanings. Context will also change the meaning of a word. So far the most translations for a single word in English I've found in Google translate is 17. (Sorry don't remember the word now. ) Learning Thai is fun. If nothing else it's a challenge. :) Cheers!
I am sure all that is true but I am not really into the details. I am into functionality. So as long as I can communicate and be understood I am happy and will pick up the nuances through day to day living and listening.
จ้าฉนรักคุณที่สุด anyone tell me what this means? It is in reply to me telling a girl she has all my heart. Is she saying she loves me as much or they the love is one sided from me only and not her?!
maybe sahidra...i never said it wasnt a good way of learning...i just said that it wasnt for me....when u get older sometimes its harder to enthuse to learn new things....each to their own and good luck to those who can.
