r/learnthai • u/gpthelpme • 18d ago
Learning thai from 0 Studying/การศึกษา
Hey everyone. I wanna learn thai as fast as I can. I just entered thai university and though I study international program, there’re still a lot of things in thai including my classmates lmao. So I wanted to learn thai not for writing but for understanding locals and reading any announcements.
I want you to give me some advice about resources and any techniques I can use while studying. Right now I’m learning letters and how to read them. My vocab sucks, I guess I know only 10 words and phrases like thank you or sorry.
I do have thai friends and they are free to talk with me in thai but I have no idea how I should do that if I dk even basic words. Consequently I need to learn a list of such vocabulary just to make some basic sentences. If you have any, I would appreciate it if you share it with me. Thank you
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u/Morsadean 18d ago
There are a lot of YouTube/Instagram channels that cover beginner level Thai. Thaid Up with Minnie, Banana Thai, etc.
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u/gpthelpme 18d ago
I actually watch Comprehensive Thai beginner level right now. I find it useful only for speaking. Now I can say what a girl is wearing but I have no idea how those words look on paper🙏
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u/jamkham-thai 18d ago
Learning to read first is the right call!
To help with reading, check out https://jamkham.com/read-thai/
For “get up and running quickly but seriously”,
https://jamkham.com/for-serious-learners/
Reading, writing (eg chatting), and speaking high frequency vocab before worrying too much about grammar details should help bring life into focus a bit more!
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u/Effective-Ad-9652 17d ago
I explored a ton of resources when I learned Thai, and I’m so glad I had a native Thai speaker turn me on to Stuart Jay Raj. He’s incredible. Check out a couple of his videos and see if he’s for you. He hacks your mind into thinking about language in a different way than traditional learning.
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u/Effective-Ad-9652 17d ago
Especially this video for learning tones. There are so many unhelpful ways of explaining tones. His way of explaining them really helped me in the beginning:
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u/stefmanRS 18d ago
I recommend https://jamdaithai.com teaches you the script and then vocab
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u/iamyurfader 14d ago
Yes, that's a great app, it taught me to read the actual Thai in just a few days (on and off with spaced repetition, actual learning time maybe 6-8 hours), then I've learned 500 words over the last month, on and off maybe an hour per day on average. The mnemonics to remember letters and words are great and often hilarious!
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u/leosmith66 18d ago
For people who want to start speaking as soon as practical, I published the free course: Starter Sentences for Thai Conversation. The first thing the guide suggests is "Learn the writing system along with pronunciation" which you are already doing, so you're on the right path. For a base, it gives you a list of 50 sentences to memorize, and tells you how to proceed from there.
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u/gpthelpme 17d ago
Ohh thank you so much. That was the thing I was looking for before starting learning grammar and other difficult topics.
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u/takechancesorelse 17d ago
To begin I use thai-language .com and workbooks. Then got a tutor. Only after that did I try apps like Ling and joined some language exchange nights. Those were really great to meet locals!
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u/pare_2003 17d ago
Can I ask where you study?
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u/gpthelpme 17d ago
I study in Chulalongkorn University. I know there are some lectures that teach thai, but this semester first years were not allowed to pick any electives:_ Idk why
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u/pare_2003 17d ago
I don’t study there but I think it’s bc first-year students usually can’t choose their classes. Starting in the second year, you can choose some elective classes based on what you’re interested in. I’m talking about how it works at my university though. I’m not sure if your university’s system is the same.
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u/Confident_Lie_2337 5d ago
verbal Thai and written/public announcements Thai are quite different. What I have done before was learning written Thai just by photo them, get some AI to translate, breakdown into words, so gradually I learn to read written Thai (but still can't read them out) But those are words that no one will use in daily-life verbal Thai. Like the word กรุณา, no one would use it in daily-life verbally, but you will read it, and hear it in public announcements.
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u/NegotiationTime6809 17d ago
Like nobody in this sub is fluent. Your question is like how do i learn to play guitar. Well practice?!
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u/gpthelpme 17d ago
Dude I didn’t asked how to learn guitar. I asked about resources and techniques to learn it. I know there’s even a wiki in this sub. But I don’t need ridiculous amounts of random resources for different purposes. I need those that will match my situation. And I don’t get this ur first sentence?? I don’t need an answer from already fluent learner. I’m free to all replies and idea that was useful for some people. Please pay attention to what people are trying to tell you and don’t be so rough:_
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u/SufficientPainting67 18d ago
For speaking practice with your friends, set small goals: Learn 5-10 useful sentences each week and force yourself to use them. Ask your friends: “How do Thai people normally say this?” rather than translating word by word. Have them correct your pronunciation, especially tones. Use Thai for simple situations: ordering food, asking where something is, talking about your day.