When I moved to Thailand, I made a horrible mistake, and I’m admitting it in hopes you don’t make the same.
What was my mistake, you ask? I sadly only learned two phrases in Thai.
- sà-wàt-dii = Hello
khàawp-khun = Thank you
It’s important to understand that in Thai culture, you add krap (male) or ka (female) to the ending.
- sà-wàt-dii krap (Male) or sà-wàt-dii ka (female)
khàawp-khun krap (male) or khàawp-khun ka (female)
Here’s the thing about the Thai language, it’s damn hard to learn coming from America. Thai is a tonal language that isn’t used in English, and then you factor in my age, mid-50s, and that just kicked it up to a whole different level, at least for me.
If I had a time machine, what would I do differently?
I would have started learning Thai by watching YouTube. I know there are 1000’s of apps on the app stores that will teach you Thai and many websites that will happily take your hard-earned $ $’s with a “Promise” you will learn Thai in 30 or 60 days. How do I know this? I was an idiot who bought one or two of these programs after I moved to Thailand. Guess what? I don’t speak fluent Thai, and it’s been well over 30 or 60 days.
But people speak English in Thailand, so why do I need to learn Thai?
In the tourist areas, most people speak English, but it’s very limited. When you travel outside the tourist areas, or you live in Thailand and visit local places like HomePro or even the grocery stores, English is not spoken as much, and trust me, it becomes very frustrating. While you can use a translator app, those don’t always translate correctly, and the conversation is uncomfortable for lack of better terms. All of our lives in our home country, we’ve driven down the road recognizing every establishment sign along the way; now imagine not understanding any signs. So what you thought was a restaurant turns out to be a small hardware store. Yes, this has happened to me! If Thailand is going to be your new permanent home, not only is it respectful to understand basic language, it will help you navigate so much better.
Here’s why I believe YouTube is your best option: it’s free, and you can find 1000’s of videos.
The most important aspect, at least for me, was understanding how the Thai language is structured and then stopping to compare it to the English structure. I know this sounds crazy, and I still have difficulty doing that, but as you learn, you will quickly understand it’s completely different and won’t change it.
An excellent example of what I mean is:
In English, I would say “Steve’s House,” but in Thai, the noun comes first so it would translate into “House of Steve.” As you can see, your mind will go wild, telling yourself that you and the rest of the world would never say it like this. So again, my advice is to let it go and accept it for what it is.
What also helped me was finding specific phases to learn that are relatable and that I would use in everyday life. A woman I went out with here told me that no matter how long I study, I will likely never have full-blown fluent conversations in Thai. I guess if I was an overachiever, I might be able to after 5+ years, but that puts me in my mid 60’s, and I’ve got too much other shit to do in life.
So, start with YouTube, learn the basics, and then go for one of the free apps. This is not an endorsement, but I use Ling and get what I need without costing myself a penny.
I’m sure you are saying, “Can’t I just sign up for a class once I move to Thailand?” You can 100% do it. It’s very cheap to do, and as a matter of fact, I did it, so let me tell you about my personal experience.
First, I need you to understand that Thailand has stringent laws on Slander, both criminally and civilly, so I won’t name any schools in this blog, the comments, or by email. I love living in Thailand, and if you do your research, you will see enough idiots who have posted negative reviews and aren’t worried about lawsuits. As I permanently relocated to Thailand to live out the rest of my life, I’d like to stay.
There are almost as many Thai Language schools here as they are 7/11’s, and that’s a shit ton! If you’ve never been here and are from America, substitute 7/11 with McDonald’s, and you will get my drift.
But finding a good school isn’t cut and dry, so you must do some research. See, here’s the issue: you have schools that want to teach you the language, other schools that want the students for the ED visas, and then you have schools that are a mix and want to teach you the language.
So how do you know what type of school it is before you pick one? That’s where you will need to do a little research on the web and perhaps Reddit. What you want to avoid is schools primarily catering to visas and having a generous absentee policy saying it’s okay if you miss a lot of classes.
In my case, I picked a mixed school of both expats like me and ED visa students in my class. While they seemed like a great school, the one thing I didn’t know about most shopping center language schools from my experience and others I’ve spoken to is that it’s genuinely about money. I mean that when you sign up for the month, in my case, it was 2900b or $80 at today’s exchange rate, you are paying for 24 hours and that level. There is no pass/fail; if you miss a day, it’s okay, but you missed that chapter, and you had better watch the recording to catch up on your own. I know you might be saying, but that’s normal. Here’s the thing: in my entire life, I’ve always had teachers seem to care, and I found that these programs are set up to get through a level per month, and that’s it. You can always retake the level for another 2900b, but I just thought they would care about things, and if they saw people struggling, they would help. Nope, they just continued to the next page.
So, this goes back to my mistake; if I had a do-over, I know what I would do. Start learning from YouTube a good 12 months before moving, understand the structure and stop trying to make sense of it, supplement this with an app or two focusing on words and phrases that are used in everyday life, and finally, take classes like I did but with the knowledge I just explained. Another great option here, which isn’t that, is expense if private instruction is offered at a school. While I haven’t done it, it seems like a popular choice. Yes, you miss meeting other students, but the one thing about group class that drove me insane was the multiple different accents trying to say the Thai words we were learning that day. It honestly confused the shit out of me, which is why my next phase is going to be private classes.
