Best Place to learn Thai in Pattaya

[BKN3]

I'll be in Pattaya for most of 2018, my 4th year in Thailand and yet my thai language skill are pretty much non existent and mostly limited to random chit chats with the ladies.

I'd like to change that, and learn the language at least to a level where i'm able to keep basic conversation, understand subjects of what people are speaking, and so on.

I've been to thai school couple years ago but dropped after a bit cause the time they did the lessons wasn't compatible with me, and also, i found the way they were teaching not really helpful, because it was all "theory" and no practice, and been taught by a Thai with not so great English skill is not ideal in my opinion.

I was thinking that it could be better, at least in the beginning, to get lessons from a Farang who is very fluent in Thai, or at the very least, a Thai that is also very fluent in english (perhaps with experience abroad).

 

Can i find such service in Pattaya? Both public and private are fine, tho private would be better.

General advices on learning the language from guys who learned Thai are also appreciated.

[Treetopview]

For my part I will say this:  Don't waste a single minute learning Thai with Romanized writing.  For example, if you are looking at study materials and the word for "chicken" is written as "Gai"

 

instead of      ไก่

 

then you're setting yourself to waste a massive amount of time on something which before long will be a dead end.

 

Learn the alphabet.  Just like when you were learning English.  Once you can recognize all the consonants and vowels (yes there are a total of 76 to learn, but a lot of them are rarely if ever used) you'll be able to sound out any Thai writing you see.

[krusomkit]

I agree completely. And forget the IPA that most Thai teachers use. Waste of time. Like saying you have to learn Japanese before you can learn Chinese. Ridiculous. Just learn Thai. For speaking basic Thai and understanding it well enough to communicate, download Pimsleur's Thai from a torrent site. 30 lessons, no book, 30 minutes a day. You will absolutely be speaking Thai at a basic level quickly. Then shack up with your Thai lady and watch Thai dramas with her, have her explain what is going on. Remember...Thai people do not speak Thai....lol....they speak a very fast spoken language so learning from a book is not helpful. You need to just talk to them. Good luck.