bkkgeorge Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Hi, Today I read in the "BKK Post" an announcement about free Thai lessons at a Thai language school called "Jentana & Associates" on Sukhumvit 31 (soi 31?). They offer 20 lessons (90 minutes each) for free, but with newly recruited (probably inexperienced) teachers. I am not interested in this offer, but does anybody know about this school and what are their serious offers (one-to-one)? I can't remember having anything read here about them. Cheers, bkkgeorge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 The offer is a very attractive one George, but boils down to the question of how much your time is worth. If you are the kind of student who can help the inexperienced teacher out and keep the lesson interesting for YOU - then it's worth a try. For most students, I would say that 15 minutes in the company of an inexperienced (probably very inexperienced) teacher will have you clawing at the walls. At the end of the day you get what you pay for. [ June 08, 2001: Message edited by: Bangkok Phil ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkkgeorge Posted June 8, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 I agree with you Phil, an inexperienced Thai teacher is the last I want even if it's for free. I prefer good quality and I am willing to pay a reasonable price for it. Concerning Thai schools, that's difficult enough to find in Bangkok. At the moment I learn at Baan Phasaa Thai, but I am not fully convinced with what I get there. I think about to change. Cheers, bkkgeorge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 George, as you know I'm working hard to put together Bangkok's best Thai study courses. I am very interested in why you are not happy with where you are currently studying. If you would rather not post your comments here, could you e-mail me directly? (but I think many board members would be interested in comments on Baan Phasaa Thai) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkkgeorge Posted June 8, 2001 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 OK Phil, here are some personal impressions about "Baan Phasaa Thai": I am learning there in one-to-one (90 minutes) lessons once or twice a week in the evenings. Price is 400 THB a lesson (of which 120 THB go to the teacher). So far I had some 30+ lessons, always changing between a speaking and a reading/writing lesson. I started as beginner (still I am), but wanted to learn reading/writing from day 1 (day 2 to be precise). The most annoying thing for me is - and I really don't know whether there is any way around it- to use this bloody phonetic transcript in the speaking lessons. To have to write a full page of something in an auxiliary transscript for the purpose of learning how to speak is in my opinion not very efficient. That's one of the reasons why I want to learn the real Thai script as fast as possible. But I think there is still a long way to go until speaking and reading/writing lessons merge somehow for me. But I'd thought that shouldn't be the case, if for example the material (speaking book, reading/writing book) would be more adjusted to each other. Any word I have once seen/learned in Thai script, of course I don't want to find in the speaking book as transcript anymore. Maybe I am wrong, but I would have expected a bit more of an "integrated" approach to learn to speak, read and write (considering that I am the only one in class!). But they stick to their material which is obviously designed for pure speaking and pure reading/writing lessons. I should add that since I am not an English native speaker I have some experience with an English language school in Ireland. About seven years ago I studied from an absolute beginners level to what I am now. There I had also one-to-one classes combined with small group classes (<5 students) and all together about 300 lessons. The teaching was excellent and I couldn't think of any more efficient way to learn a language. But for me as an outsider there wasn't any magic behind it. It was just student oriented teaching done by really professional and nice teachers. The focus wasn't much on the material. If I compare it now with the way I struggle through my Thai lessons, there are worlds apart. I don't have any comparisons to other Thai language schools in Bangkok, but may try something else soon. Cheers, bkkgeorge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2001 Report Share Posted June 8, 2001 Thanks a lot for that George. The phonetic script is a real pain in the ass I know and this is why I'm training teachers to write down as little as possible and concentrate on speaking and pronunciation. (this is for students who have no interest in reading and writing - which is many) If you want to learn reading and writing - you shouldn't have your head filled with the phonetic script but it is neccesary for the teacher to write down the 'odd word' to indicate the tone (if students are struggling) One question - why are you having to write pages of phonetic script? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 Phil- Since we are on the subject, I would like to offer my impressions of my former Thai language school. I went to Nisa on Soi Yenakart. I only lasted a couple weeks because their teaching methods sucked. I probably learned more when they were testing my level of Thai than when I was actually in class. Anyway, they used a workbook using phonetic Thai. Beside that point, I changed classes often because the teachers were terrible. In one class, all the teacher did was talk in Thai and flirt with one of the farang. The rest of the class-- me, a Japanese guy, and an Australian girl-- never got a word in. This was the tenth week class. Not to brag or anything, but my Thai was much better than anybody in the class. The teacher sometimes had to ask me to explain things to the other students. I really felt sorry for the Japanese guy and the Australian girl because their Thai was not that good and they were learning Thai intensively-- four hours a day of conversation, reading and writing. I complained to my writing teacher and I was moved the following week. I could sense that I created some bad feelings because I did this. You know how Thais like to gossip. Anyway, I moved to a new class that was also a tenth week class. I was with an English guy and a Japanese guy. Their Thai was abysmal as well. This new teacher worked directly out of the phonetics book. She would read the Thai and have us repeat it. After one excercise, we would move on. I spent most of my time looking out the window because everytime I asked a question or tried to liven things up the teacher would give me a dirty look. I tried helping the English guy a bit, but he didn't appreciate my help. A friend of mine-- who is on this board and is also a Nisa student--told me that I had a reputation for being difficult. That was the last straw. I didn't go back again. The reason I wanted to learn Thai was so I could learn to speak it properly. By the way, are you offering a course for intermediate speakers who want to read and write? If not, have you found a decent school that you wish to study at? Late, Raddemo quote: I am very interested in why you are not happy with where you are currently studying. If you would rather not post your comments here, could you e-mail me directly? (but I think many board members would be interested in comments on Baan Phasaa Thai)[/QB] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 Great post Raddemo - thoroughly enjoyed reading that. I hated virtually everything about NISA language school in the 30 minutes I was in there. I thought the staff were snobby and aloof (you only have to look at the picture of Nisa herself in the Bangkok Post ads to get a mental picture of the kind of person she likes to have working for her), they didn't have a clue where to put me because I speak fairly well but can't read or write. Let me say at this point that they were also one of the most expensive schools I had seen. Their classrooms or 'small areas divided by partitions' looked cheap and horrible and I knew instantly by just watching the teachers in action that NISA employs 'lecturers'. An utterly forgettable experience. You did very well to last as long as you did, and doesn't it make you angry when you are classed as a troublemaker just because you know what you should be getting for your money and are prepared to make a stand. I am planning to do intermediate classes of course but these are going to be another month in the making. I need to concentrate on the basic stuff first because that's where the demand is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 George, I couldn't find that ad in the Bangkok Post for free Thai lessons. Do you have the phone number? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 9, 2001 Report Share Posted June 9, 2001 Phil- Khun Jentana 258-4686 Late, Raddemo quote: Originally posted by Bangkok Phil: George, I couldn't find that ad in the Bangkok Post for free Thai lessons. Do you have the phone number? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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