Learn Thai Blog Posts, Articles and Free Lessons

Learn to Read Thai in 2 Weeks

August 10, 2012 by 3 Comments

Want to learn to read Thai in about 2 weeks?*

Here’s what you will be able to do after mastering the script:

  • You will be able to read nearly any word you come across in Thai
  • You will be able to figure out what tone the word is supposed to be.
  • You will know the correct pronunciation of all of the vowels/consonants and suddenly realize that everything you and your friends have been saying all along was wrong and you will begin to understand why.
  • You will be able to tell all your friends that they are actually saying the Thai word for coffee wrong.  (then we can laugh at them together)
  • You will be able to cook Thai food (it may not taste very good).
Here is what you will not be able to do after completing the course:
  • You will not be able to read Harry Potter in Thai and understand much if anything (although if you already speak Thai you’ll catch on much faster than someone who is fob)
  • You probably will not be able to pronounce the vowels/consonants and tones perfectly just yet (but you’ll know how they are supposed to sound and just like when you exercise the bigger muscles in your body the little ones in your mouth will get better with practice)
  • You will not yet be able to understand much more than you did beforehand.  Listening is its own skill and takes time.  (this happens super fast once you get used to the sounds)
  • Your skin will not change color and you won’t look any more or less Asian than you did before you started studying with me.  (maybe after a solid year of practice you may have a shot at someone asking you if you are a ลูกครึ่ง – even if you are as non-asian-looking as I am.)
  • You will still suck at Muay Thai.

Sign up for the free lesson now and start reading right away and you’ll be reading the Thai alphabet in no time!

  • Don’t wanna study online?
  • Can’t afford private lessons?
  • Are sick of schools not teaching you how to read?

 

Check out my step by step course to learning how to read Thai in 2 weeks*.

Click here to learn more.

*Individual results may vary, but if you spend about 30 minutes a day on the lessons, you shouldn’t have any problem completing the course in about 2 weeks.

 

Hear me talking in fluent English on Bangkok Podcast if you still aren’t convinced.
Filed Under: De-Farang-ify, Reading

White Guy in the USA

July 1, 2012 by 1 Comment

I’m going to be in the US from mid-July until early August.  I’ll have plenty of free time while there and I’m planning on passing through a few major cities.   If anyone stateside would be interested in learning the alphabet in person while I’m around I’d like to hear from you.   Shoot me an email if interested: learnthaifromawhiteguy AT gmail OR ltfawg AT gmail.

Definite Stops:

LA, Philly, NYC, Princeton

Maybe Stops:

SF, Boston, Rochester, Toronto

Filed Under: Non-language Stuff

Learn To Speak Thai: Tone Drills by Class

June 14, 2012 by 2 Comments

Back in the day when I was learning the tone rules, I spent about 5-10 min nearly every day for 2 months going over the  tone exercises found in the The Fundamentals of The Thai Language.  I used it for years with my students and gradually over the past few months I’ve put together a better version that reflects words that you are actually going to be using.   The purpose being that you are practicing working out the tone rules for words that you will eventually know and should be able to say correctly.   Having the English would be distracting so there won’t be any of that.  I’m off to Japan this weekend am I’m feeling particularly generous so here is the link to the drills I use with my students.

If you can go through the entire page and can work out each tone in under 5 minutes you are doing something right.  If you aren’t there yet, remember to divide and conquer one class at a time.

Tone Drills by Class

Filed Under: Learn Thai

The Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project – Cambodian Phase

June 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment

My  friend สนิด Phil from over at the SE Asia Movie Theater Project is trying to get setup to rummage through Cambodia to get some good shots and do a bit of investigating on the history of the many stand-alone movie theaters around the country before they get รื้อ’d by เดอะแมน.  His photos have been displayed a few times in CM of course, but he was also invited to the Busan Film Festival last year in Korea which was pretty awesome.   His shots were also displayed in Manila and he’ll probably end up in Indonesia later this year for another showing.

I tagged along with him on one adventure a few months back to อุทุมพรพิสัย and that’s the first 5-syllable city I’ve been to in a while.  We watched a movie there for a whopping 20 baht (no air con) and interviewed the lady and the projectionist about how they manage to keep it running.  It was pretty awesome.  We stayed at this แมลง infested “hotel” ตรงข้าวจาก the train station and I got violently ill and that was a little bit less awesome.

He’s using Kickstarter to raise a few bucks to help make it happen.  Check out his promotional vid below.  If you don’t know about Kickstarter, it’s basically a crowd-sourcing type model applied to fund-raising.  Anybody can post a vid and set a financial goal and try to get backers.  Backers put up money, but only if the goal is reached in the time allotted (by the poster) do the backers get charged.  It’s an all or nothing setup and it is pretty good stuff.

It’d be great if you could check out his blog (on my side bar) and vid  and maybe even throw a few bucks towards the project. If it happens, I plan to tag along for at least some of the ผจญภัย and learn some Khmer.  I’m a bit overdue in getting to Cambodia.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1181823957/the-southeast-asia-movie-theater-project-cambodian?ref=home_location

 

Filed Under: Non-language Stuff

Lactasoy 5 Baht

March 3, 2012 by 1 Comment

I can’t get this song out of my head.  Now it’s your turn.

Lactasoy 5 Baht Ver. 2

 

Lactasoy 5 บาท

125 มิลลิลิตร

ปริมาณ คับกล่อง

เต็มที ดื่มได้ ดื่มดี

เด็กๆ ก็ชอบ

ใครๆ ก็ชอบ

ดื่ม Lactasoy 5 บาท

 

ปริมาณ – amount; quantity (similar to จำนวน but is often used like “volume”)

คับกล่อง –  (this works a lot like “filled to the brim” or “bursting”)

  • คับ tight; compressed (used with “my pants are too คับ”)
  • กล่อง box

เต็มที – (do something) all out; to the max

เด็กๆ ก็ชอบ – kids dig it

ใครๆ ก็ชอบ – everybody digs it

Filed Under: Exposure, Media, Video
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