This article was originally posted on WomenLearnThai.com.
WLT’s Thai Language Giveaway…
Welcome to week FIVE of WLT’s seven weeks of Thai language giveaways by top movers and shakers in the learning Thai industry.
To find out about the $4,500+ in prizes being given away do read the intro post, Please Vote THAI and WIN! 2015: Top 100 Language Lovers Competition.
The previous FOUR giveaway posts by sponsor are: 1) Paiboon Publishing and Word in the Hand, and 2) DCO Books and Orchid Press, and 3) PickupThai Podcast, and 4) Learn Thai Podcast. Once again, congrats to the lucky winners! That list is getting long…
Learn Thai Style…
- Decide which course you want to take.
- Pay a one-off lifetime fee for the course.
- If necessary, choose your Thai teacher either by location or Skype.
- Start working through the lessons with either your trained Thai teacher or via self-study.
Maarten Tummers: As far as I am concerned, Learn Thai Style is one of the more comprehensive sites for learning Thai. Their main focus is one-on-one tutoring, but they have lessons via Skype as well. And their website is gigantic – they have so much stuff going on! I can only imagine the work Jiab and Tom put into the site and study materials. I’d render the winner of your contest a lucky fellow (or gal).
I really love how this works. You pay your Thai teacher direct, at local prices. For instance, Learn Thai Style teachers in Thailand get 300 baht per hour (about what Thai teachers in Chiang mai charge for one-on-one). While in the US it’s $18 and in the UK it’s £12. Payment for travel to and from the class is whatever the two of you decide. Skype is charged local prices (wherever the teacher is) but there are no travel charges (obviously).
What I really found fantastic is that first the Thai teachers are trained for free (no charge) on the proper usage of Learn Thai Styles’ well-developed materials. Then they use these same materials (audio, video, pdfs) to teach their students.
Yet with all of that, the teachers do not have to pay fees for the materials or the students they receive through Learn Thai Style. Instead, the one-off fee you pay LTS covers the course materials, website, marketing, etc, and the teachers keep what they make.
What this means is that the teachers can then avoid having the additional overhead of their own websites, teaching materials, and marketing costs. Face it, not everyone is cut out to run their own business; it takes time, money, and lots of trial and error to get it right.
Another plus to this method is that with all teachers being trained with the same materials, if you move around you can still continue to study. It’s perfect for world travelers who bounce around, and if your teacher moves away (it happens) you won’t lose momentum locating a new teacher.
And here’s a detail that really pushes the envelope in the learning Thai industry. If you have a willing Thai partner or Thai friend who’s interested in taking the time to teach you but doesn’t know how to go about it, they too can train with Learn Thai Style (at no cost to themselves).
Speak Thai & Read and Write Thai…
On WLT’s FIFTH giveaway, FOUR winners get to choose either the Speak Thai Course or the Read and Write Course. Both are valued at 3,900 baht each.
Important to note: The prize for the Speak Thai Course does not include Thai tutors (lesson fees are paid direct to the teacher of your choice) while the Read and Write Course can be self-study (no Thai teachers needed but recommended).
The winners will receive:
- Lifetime access to the course.
- Over 40 hours of audio and video materials.
- Self-study materials to download (over 300 worksheets and audio files).
- Online quizzes to put your skills to the test.
- Access to over 700 teachers trained to use the materials.
Read and Write Thai: Learn the Thai alphabet, reading and writing system, grammar, sentences and general conversation.
Speak Thai: Learn about the background of the Thai language, simple grammar, and dialog and vocabulary used in everyday Thai.
These are real courses, just like in a proper language classroom. They are not a data-dump. Using text, audio, and video, the subject matter for each lesson is explained, and then they want you to DO things. That’s right. To quiz you on what you studied, they give you plenty of question/answer sections and practicals. Putting all of your language learning senses to work, both courses incorporate listening, reading, writing and speaking (but up to you if you want to write during the speaking course).
There are seven stages to the Read and Write Thai Course and three for the Speak Thai Course. To keep students from being overwhelmed by the serious amount of study materials available, you can only access a new stage after you’ve finish the one you are working on. To help improve each course, before moving on to following stages you are asked to share your experiences.
The stages include introductions, working chapters, and revisions to end. The pdfs are not protected so you can easily extract Thai to create flashcards using Anki, BYKI, or other flashcard programs you happen to fancy. I’m all for it because I’m always wanting to fiddle.
When you complete the Speak Thai Course you’ll have a good handle on basic Thai conversations. When you complete the Read and Write Thai Course the world of written Thai will be at your fingertips! I’d list all of the subjects in each one but there’s just to much to share for a post of this type, so do stay tuned for more in-depth reviews.
And here’s a bit about the sponsors…
It wasn’t until 2007 that Tom eventually moved to Thailand. They married in 2008 and moved to the UK where Jiab taught Thai and started developing the groundwork for the courses you see now on Learn Thai Style.
In a joint light bulb moment they realised the opportunity to develop a complete solution for teaching Thai; from using Jiab’s materials as a base, to providing trained Thai teachers for both one-on-one and Skype.
Tom and Jiab’s skills clearly compliment each other in the running of Learn Thai Style. Jiab is an accomplished Thai teacher, translator and interpreter with high standards. While Tom handles the website (I just love their design), deals with the fiddly bits of the business, and manages staff and clients. And they both spend hours brainstorming new projects to make Learn Thai Style the best it can be.
Rules for WLTs Thai Language Giveaway…
If you’ve forgotten, the rules are simple:
- To be included in the draw, leave comments below.
- Comment(s) need to add to the conversation (it really does matter).
- Each relevant comment gets counted, so please do leave as many as you like!
- If you don’t collect your prize within a week of the announcement, it will be given away to the next person in line.
There is no limit to how many prizes you can win.
The draw will run from this moment until the 1st of July, 6am Thai time. At that time I’ll announce the winners in the comments below as well as create a dedicated post.
Again, my thanks goes to Jiab and Tom for gifting this fabulous course! I’m looking forward to doing the coming review justice (I just love stuff and this course is swimming in it 🙂
WLTs 2015 Thai Language Giveaway…
Here are the posts so far in WLT’s Thai Language Giveaway.
- Please Vote THAI and WIN! 2015: Top 100 Language Lovers Competition
- WLTs Thai Language Giveaway: Paiboon Publishing & Word in the Hand
- WINNERS: Talking Thai-Eng-Thai Dictionary, Thai-Eng-Thai Phrasebook, and Thai for Beginners
- WLT’s Thai Language Giveaway: Smyth’s Thai: An Essential Grammar, Higbies’ Thai Reference Grammar and Essential Thai
- WLT’s Thai Language Giveaway: PickupThai Podcast
- WINNERS: PickupThai Podcast’s Sweet Green and Spicy Red
- WLT’s Thai Language Giveaway: Learn Thai Podcast
- WINNERS: Learn Thai Podcast
And remember, after this there’s still TWO more weeks of prizes to be given out to celebrate WLT turning seven. Good luck everyone!
Stevie, what’s handy about Learn Thai Style is you can take lessons with teachers via Skype or in person using their materials and/or their teachers. There’s a fair bit on offer.
Catherine this course looks very promising. I was after reading one of your other posts which featured Kruu Jiab for LTS, I was hoping you had review of the site and this helped a lot.
I just finished reading all the comments from those hoping to win the contest as well as the reviews on the “Learn Thai Style” website.
The site also provided a lot of free example material which I downloaded to go over.
I didn’t check out the winners since this occurred a few years back, but congrats to all!
S-
Heads up all: Duke Language School and Bingo-Lingo’s giveaway is on now 🙂
Alex, ” I wish that they could provide some language level tests to determine which level of class I should register ” when you sign up, they will talk to you to determine the level you are at. But I agree, it’d be great to have tests! Online Thai tests online are rare …
The winners have been announced! Thank you everyone, for leaving such excellent comments 🙂
WINNERS: Learn Thai Style
Mary has a very intimate story. It’s easy to see all of the commitment she and her teacher put in to each other and how much it has positively effected all involved.
Thanks Mary for your input! I’m glad you studied at the place you did. Looked like you had a wonderful experience and made lots of friends! I cannot agree more that learning accounts for not only effort from student but also quality and effort of the teacher. I bet that one month you spent at that school really made a difference to your learning of Thai. I can already see Khru Jiab as my teacher already. I can already tell how hardworking and dedicated she is to her students. I am looking forward to getting started with Learn Thai Style. Thanks again, Mary for your reply and a big ขอบคุณมาก to Khru Tom and Khru Jiab for giving all of us a chance to get to know you, sharing your love for Thai language and creating a difference in our lives.
Wow, this is excellent news! Although I have been studying Thai through internet for four years now, I had not heard of “Learn Thai Style” before. Reading about it from your blog post, it seems like a good fit for me. I find it a bit hard to practice Thai with Thai people at food court or restaurants here in Australia as everyone here understands English and will switch to English quickly if they find me เข้าใจไม่ทัน.
I have a quick look at the “Learn Thai Style” website, and I wish that they could provide some language level tests to determine which level of class I should register though. I have no problem reading some short or simple Thai sentences in Thai script but I find it hard to understand when it gets long… So I don’t want to register to a low level where I learn the alphabet again. But then my listening and speaking is not that good. So 1-1 tutoring seems very attractive, though the description of the course does not make it clear what level of fluency they expect the students to be at when starting the course…
In Chiang Mai there are not a lot of great language schools. I looked around and found one on the third floor of Pantip Plaza. (Bangkok has so much more to offer). I was fortunate in that the teacher was VERY good and dedicated and made us work. That is what I wanted. It was not immersion but the friendships one can make at school are great and provide an opportunity to study outside of class. I think 90% of learning is a good teacher though so feel fortunate for the month that I spent at school. That is also why I admire Khru Jiab. She’s a good teacher and has high standards.
Mary’s post really inspired me. May I ask, were you studying in Thailand on a study abroad program or just going to a language school? I was seriously considering going up there and signing up for an immersion course. For a start, I was looking online on http://www.learningcentre.co.th (introduced by Catherine) to get familiar with vowels and such. Oh, how difficult looking at Thai symbols looked at first. At first I thought memorizing the alphabet would do it—but after talking with my boyfriend, even for him, he doesn’t have all the Thai alphabets memorized! So it got me confused to where and how I should start learning to read and write properly. I’m glad there is another person here that would take advantage of the reading and writing option. I can totally relate that being able to read things we come across in everyday life sends so much excitement and pride. And that’s what it takes to for learners to grow more fluent in the language. Just that little push to help you achieve only triggers you to want more and more— which drives the will to study, despite time, length and place. You don’t have to be present in the country to study the language. The proper exposure, along with utilizing the excellent materials like Learn Thai Style, and not to mention, willpower is what’s needed to attain that success.
Thai Style really is a cut above the rest. When I first started exploring the materials that were available online, I was really taken back by the amount of free information that is offered to everyone. The course is extremely complete and you can see all the thought and time that was put into the preparation of the lessons. Tom’s design of the website is beautiful and professional and not cluttered. I especially like Khru Jiab’s excellent pronunciation and the way she explains in detail! So I would first like to thank you for all that you offer for free.
I was living in Thailand until three months ago and had just started to learn to read and write. I had put this off for too long as I thought I might be too old to learn a new alphabet. I went to school in Chiang Mai for a month and then suddenly needed to fly back to America to care for my 93 year old mother so my studies stopped abruptly. I would LOVE to win the Reading and Writing course so I can keep my momentum going until I can return to Thailand. Right now I do not have anything that is structured and progressive so feel a little lost as to where to go. Just in the short time I did study reading and writing, I found it did open up an entire new world to me. Being able to try to read labels, a menu, and signs was so exciting and certainly was helping me with my pronunciation. I am so motivated and no, I am not too old! Thai is such a fascinating language and I can see that it is a lifetime endeavor.
I just love reading all of these wonderful comments coming through! Good luck all – tomorrow (Thai time) is the last full day before the winners are announced.
Thanks to the above posters about their input on Learning Thai Style. I went through the site and was so impressed from the layout to how in depth the lessons are. If I granted the opportunity, I’d most likely go with the writing and reading. I already have a Skype partner to talk Thai with but reading and writing is still a struggle for me. But learning with Learn Thai Style, I can already see myself succeeding in this skill fairly quickly. I am just so impressed with how organized LTS is, and am blown away that it is not just geared toward a self-study learning, but the collaboration with Thai teachers makes lessons transforms it to a real-time classroom so each learner can have authentic exposure to Thai that is suitable for him/her with help of a professional teacher. What win-win situation this provides! I look forward to using this tool not only to increase knowledge of Thai but also gain lifelong friendships along the way!
A while back, I started to narrow down which professional teachers I wanted to study under when it came time for me to learn from a professional teacher. Kruu Jiab is one of the two I have narrowed that down to. I have found her free material to be very comprehensive. She is a very competent teacher.It is easy to see how much work both she and her husband have put in to everything. I think I may want to start with the speaking Thai. I’m strong with listening and reading and writing; so I think I may put those down and work on speaking. Also, a few things may need to be tweaked or a few minor accommodations might be needed because I’m a learner who is blind, but I think things will work out for all of us. Since I’m taking a break from my undergraduate studies this summer, this would be a good time to start.
I started taking Learn Thai Style approximately 11 months ago. I first started out with just the Reading Thai course. Prior to starting I sampled other companies introductory course. What drew me to using Learn Thai Style was several things however, the main reason I went with them is because they asked” What do you want to get out of learning Thai” they were interested in me as a person.
1. Student Guide- There has been a lot of work put into the student guide. It is very organized and well planned. Each Chapter has a focus and are subdivided into sections. Each section has homework that always covers reviewing vocabulary, tones, grammar, and translation of Thai into English.
2. Website- Very well organized and professional. I had mentioned the homework. Well you will be able to find videos, audio from the sections, and homework audio clips.
3. Teachers- Maybe I lucked out but. Kruu Bim. Thank you so much. From day one I could tell that she was trained well. My drive to learning more is a direct result from her teaching abilities. She also sends me videos from YouTube that we will talk about when it relates to what we are studying. Additionally, it is the insight into the Thai culture that I love the most that she provides. Food, religion, and culture all of these things we talk about in class.
To future students of Learning Thai Style. You get back what you put in. Learning a language is not easy. IT TAKES TIME AND PATIENCE, but with diligence and motivation you can learn. It has been only a year of learning but I always look forward to learning twice a week on Skype.
Best regards,
Alex
Hi, I would LOVE to win a course that involved skyping because I have no one to talk to here in the United States. I am learning Thai through my translating for my website Carabao in English and by reading posts by Thai friends on facebook (and sometimes responding in Thai). I really would benefit from a structured program because there are huge, and I’m sure very odd, holes in my language ability resulting from the fact that I translate songs but never actually get to converse in Thai face to face. I’m also interested in any course that involves structured lessons and quizzes so I can be more disciplined in my language study. I promise to use any language abilities acquired for the good of humanity (ie, for translating Thai songs into English, including rhyming English). 😉 One day, I would also like to translate Thai Wikipedia pages into English and do other types of volunteer translating. I’m already an editor, and to some extent a writer. My comparative advantage in the area of translating is/will be getting the Thai into very natural-sounding English.
This is a really exciting time for Thai learners as there is just so much available to help you through your journey. We are thrilled to be apart of this journey for so many learners and teachers.
Thank you all so much for your posts! Also a huge thanks to you Catherine for everything! Your site, your comments and your time checking out our services 🙂
Good luck to all those who enter!
Well I have been looking at your site for a long time Jiab and Tom, and I think it’s among the best. What really impressed me was the time and effort you took to produce the videos describing the alphabet phonetics of Thai. I’m a stickler about correct pronunciation and It’s obvious your familiar with guiding foreigners to hear and replicate these unique qualities of the language.
I have been studying for many years, even if marked by when I started to study reading and writing it’s still many years. Partly because I am slow to learn, the language requires lots of listening but also I’m obviously unfocused in my study time. I need to get someone else involved in my study. Facebook has helped but I direction given for my personal studies. If i don’t win you likely will see me soon anyways. Keep up the great work your doing in creating learning opportunities.
Rick
Good morning everyone – thank you for your comments and good luck in the competition! I’m sure you all would benefit from the courses at Learn Thai Style.
Michel, discovering how the payments were set up was an “ah ha” moment for me as well.
Poking through the site, I had many such moments.
Jiab and Tom have put a lot of thought into this product. It’s massive. There’s so much to explore and write about, I’m going to revisit the site at a later time.
More people need to know about Learn Thai Style and I plan on doing my best to get the word out.
I’ll try to learn Thai now about a year, but I’m still on beginners level. The read and write course seems interesting for me to get new motivation. Especially because the course is designed by English and Thai native speaking people together ,so I think both language parts will be correct.
I volunteer in Thailand as an English conversation tutor. I’m hoping this service can boost my ability to reach my audience by enhancing my understanding of the Thai language. Thanks!
I am trying to learn to read and write Thai for years now. Winning might be the perfect motivation to finally get into it 😉
Wow, strong recommendation Cat. You seem to be very impressed with these products. Being very weak in that area I can always use additional reading & writing material and lessons so unlike last week where I commented but already had the wonderful LTP course I will comment this week for the chance to win this course. ^_^. Good luck to all.
Sounds like a great course to keep the discipline of learning Thai and provide resources and feedback. I have been studying Thai for about five months now and I definitely could use the push for further involvement. Think I will check out this course even if I don’t win haha!
Well, I like the idea to have a unified and detailled learning support and the possibility to learn via skype. Now that I know that the teachers do no have to pay anything I understand the quiet steep entry fee compared to just buying a course book in Bangkok. Would like to give it a try!
I have only started learning Thai just five months ago and already I am kinda hard on myself when I mispronounce a word or type the wrong Thai characters. But The beauty of learning a language to me is that some mistakes are worth making… For example, a bunch of Thai friends of mine were posting comments on Facebook, joking about dating and such. One guy friend taught me a phrase and I was going to thank him in Thai (ขอบคุณค่ะ) but instead I ended up posting ชอบคุณค่ะ… Which meant, I like you (right time, wrong word) Haha…We got teased for days and his girlfriend wasn’t too happy about that! But in the end no harm done 😛
I get so confused with typing in Thai because the characters are so similar! But then again, funny experiences like this only motivates me more to study Thai.
I’ve been learning Thai for approximately a year and a half. Up until now I’ve made good progress. I used and still go back to, Learn Thai Style’s YouTube videos to study pronunciation of consonants and vowels. I also used Paiboon’s “Thai for Beginners” and the following books to learn vocabulary and grammar. I was lucky when I started out my journey to be teaching in rural Northern Thailand, where although Thai being perhaps the locals second language to Kam Muang, I needed to communicate with my colleagues and students on a daily basis. Using all of the above I was able to throw myself into the language. In addition to this, I follow this site along with the “Farang can learn Thai language” facebook page. My strongest skill is perhaps listening, but I really want to practise and perfect my pronunciation throughout the remainder of this year and beyond to reach a high level. I hope to be able to win a prize, as I would certainly put it to good use.
I’ve been trying to learn Thai for almost a year, can read (slowly), but I still can’t manage speech that is understandable by Thais. If I could improve my understanding and pronunciation I would be very happy.