Thai Teachers

[Ajay75]

I am looking for a Thai teacher who isnt taking the mick with hourly rates for telephone lessons once or twice a week for an hour. I am really just looking for someone to chat with for me to practice more as I dont get the chance to converse as much as I'd like. I'd really like to improve my listening ability and this is the only way I can achieve this whilst not actually in Thailand.

 

I've looked in my local area on ThailandSussex and Thailand UK sites and have asked around but to no avail. There are some teachers in London but they seem a bit expensive or they want you to sign up for a course for a set number of lessons.

 

I am not looking for beginner lessons but more on an intermediate conversational level on a pay as you go basis.

 

Anybody know of any decent teachers? I would be willing to pay £10-15 per hour.

 

Cheers

[herds]

Can't help directly with your question.

 

It's something I've been thinking about since I started studying thai, than when I come home I'll just forget or not progress so I thought of this...

 

Befriend someone on hi-5 or another one of those sites and setup some kind of lesson that way, over skype. I'm sure there would be lots of students happy to do something like: 30 minutes you teaching English then 30 minutes them teaching thai.

 

Just an idea and would save you a both a packet.

Edited October 13, 2008 by herds

[Ajay75]

Good idea but the time difference is a killer, plus I'd like someone who is a qualified teacher as some people wont have an idea of how to approach it in a structured way.

 

I'm the opposite as I keep on learning everyday but its difficult to keep refreshing all the stuff you have learnt so you dont forget and practicing the new stuff. The lessons I get through premium course of learn thai podcast are really good but I just need to interact with someone on a regular basis speaking.

[iballooka]

I am looking for a Thai teacher who isnt taking the mick with hourly rates for telephone lessons once or twice a week for an hour. I am really just looking for someone to chat with for me to practice more as I dont get the chance to converse as much as I'd like. I'd really like to improve my listening ability and this is the only way I can achieve this whilst not actually in Thailand.

 

I've looked in my local area on ThailandSussex and Thailand UK sites and have asked around but to no avail. There are some teachers in London but they seem a bit expensive or they want you to sign up for a course for a set number of lessons.

 

I am not looking for beginner lessons but more on an intermediate conversational level on a pay as you go basis.

 

Anybody know of any decent teachers? I would be willing to pay £10-15 per hour.

 

Cheers

 

Don't know your area but if you have a China Town with a Shopping Area go to one of the bigger shops a good guide is if they sell sacks of rice your in the right one...

 

Most have notice boards make a decent flyer saying you me teach Thai I will teach you English expenses paid, it worked for me but we have a big China Town in Manchester...

 

If there are any Thai Restaurants again have a word with the owner/manager but be careful they may have employees off the "books"...

 

If you have a University nearby speak to the Student Union tell them what looking for and leave a contact number, most Uni Students looking for extra income...

 

Always best when asking say ideally your seeking a male, they will usually say no Thai men will do this...

 

Hope this helps find you someone

[LaaMok]

find your nearest Thai temple, i had to drive 30 minutes each way when i was learning. It was worth it, i paid 30 pounds for 2 hours one to one.

[luv.you.long.time]

I go to my local temple and they charge 5 GBP for 2 hours !! (Obviously I give them a lot more than that).

 

Very structured, but the monks will only teach formal Thai which is COMPLETELY different to conversational Thai.

 

If you are interested, I have CD discs of Pimslar Thai language course. They are really good. PM me if you are interested.

[Ajay75]

I go to my local temple and they charge 5 GBP for 2 hours !! (Obviously I give them a lot more than that).

 

Very structured, but the monks will only teach formal Thai which is COMPLETELY different to conversational Thai.

 

If you are interested, I have CD discs of Pimslar Thai language course. They are really good. PM me if you are interested.

 

Thanks mate but I've already got them (30 lessons) and completed it some time ago. Very useful for learning the basics. I've moved into interediate learning now with tenses/present perfect tenses/classifiers/etc.

[Ajay75]

Don't know your area but if you have a China Town with a Shopping Area go to one of the bigger shops a good guide is if they sell sacks of rice your in the right one...

 

Most have notice boards make a decent flyer saying you me teach Thai I will teach you English expenses paid, it worked for me but we have a big China Town in Manchester...

 

If there are any Thai Restaurants again have a word with the owner/manager but be careful they may have employees off the "books"...

 

If you have a University nearby speak to the Student Union tell them what looking for and leave a contact number, most Uni Students looking for extra income...

 

Always best when asking say ideally your seeking a male, they will usually say no Thai men will do this...

 

Hope this helps find you someone

 

 

Thanks for this. The nearest major China Town is in leicester sq london which isnt too far for me. Sounds like a good idea with the flyer option.

 

The temple idea is out of the question I'm afraid as the nearest to me is in Walthemstow and would take a while to get there. Plus the cost of me getting there and back + the lesson (even if cheap) would be around £40 a time.

 

Thanks for all your input though and have got some good ideas. Will chase it up after I come back from Patts in Nov

[Breeze]

Keep an eye out on gumtree Tuition section. Private tutors advertise on there from time to time

 

http://www.gumtree.com

[Dr.Winston]

One approach that I found useful when I was studying Thai was to do the lessons from a book/tape course and the hire a Thai (In my case a friend's wife) to come over and go through that weeks work with me. She would give me the feedback that is missing from this type of course. I didn't work out expensive and it helped me no end.

[herds]

dr w - how come you don't teach thai?

[Dr.Winston]

dr w - how come you don't teach thai?

 

I have done before, for local people that wanted to learn. The local council also approached me in regards to doing evening classes once a week in my area but I couldn't commit myself because I had a planned 2 month trip to LOS coming up. I've taught English before in both Thailand and Taiwan and to be honest I didn't particularly enjoy it. i don't think that I'm patient enough.

[herds]

Ah I see.

 

I currently have a Thai teacher here, she is at Uni doing an english degree. I teach an hour English and she teaches an hour Thai, works out well for both of us.

 

Her english is quite a bit better than my thai so I end up just correcting her for an hour at a time Most of her teaching is based on phrases and day to day conversation which has helped me quite a bit, I do the reading and writing in my own time.

 

I think having a teacher is really useful but I think you can't just rely on that to progress.

[Dr.Winston]

Ah I see.

 

I currently have a Thai teacher here, she is at Uni doing an english degree. I teach an hour English and she teaches an hour Thai, works out well for both of us.

 

Her english is quite a bit better than my thai so I end up just correcting her for an hour at a time Most of her teaching is based on phrases and day to day conversation which has helped me quite a bit, I do the reading and writing in my own time.

 

I think having a teacher is really useful but I think you can't just rely on that to progress.

 

Well, if you're living in Bangkok then you have no shortage of opportunities to practice. I learned most of my Thai in England. Looking back, I actually liked it that way. It forced me to learn to walk before I tried to run so by the time I went to live there I already had the basics of the grammar down. I'm a great believer in doing courses or having lessons as opposed to just trying to pick it up. I've many friends who've lived there for years who can speak Thai but never studied it properly. To somebody who doesn't speak Thai Their Thai would sound impressive but to a native speaker much less so. I tell one of my friends that he speaks fluent pidgin Thai lol.

[herds]

Amazes me some of the people that i've met that have lived here, mostly retired guys that have been here like 5+ years or have a thai wife and their thai is terrible and they seem to have no interest in learning, it seems strange to me not to bother if you're going to live here.

 

Thai's are too complementary as well, i find after 2 sentances they'll say 'you speak thai very good', perhaps that's one of the few phrases they often know? haha.

[Ajay75]

Amazes me some of the people that i've met that have lived here, mostly retired guys that have been here like 5+ years or have a thai wife and their thai is terrible and they seem to have no interest in learning, it seems strange to me not to bother if you're going to live here.

 

Thai's are too complementary as well, i find after 2 sentances they'll say 'you speak thai very good', perhaps that's one of the few phrases they often know? haha.

 

 

Yep there are more than a few that just know the odd one word answers and cant string a sentence together. The old "speak Thai good" is mostly just a phrase they bang about alot so its to be taken with a pinch of salt.

 

I've found a decent teacher now and she gives me a 2 hour lesson each week over the phone as saves time on travel etc. After learning for 10 months now I feel its essential for me to step it up a gear now as I know a bit and can express myself with most things but its the understanding when someone speaks back which I really need to concentrate on.

 

I dont think its possible to learn Thai without having the regular interaction as just repeating, learning and creating your own sentences doesnt really prepare you for real life conversation which I think is the key. My teacher always throws in off the cuff stuff to try and Catch Me out when covering subject matter which keeps me on my toes.

 

I'm already seeing the benefits so am hoping within the next 6 months I'll really step it up a notch.