[I can't update my OP, so I'm posting a new reply]

My next intensive Rapid Read Thai Bootcamp is January 19-24 (Mon-Sat, 8am-5pm).



Please watch the video in the post above for feedback from actual participants of the course. It's even better if you sign up for the free trial course and learn to recognize hundreds of (admittedly, very simple) Thai words... in about two hours.

This very misunderstood course is based on the Rapid Method, which simplifies the concepts, eliminates anything that is unnecessary or duplicated, and uses bizarre stories and mnemonics to help you fix the ideas and facts in your head.

Myth: it's better to learn to speak first and not waste time on reading.

Fact: by reading Thai, you can absorb Thai and pick up vocabulary from your environment independent of textbooks, classes and phonetic transliteration schemes. The secret is to choose to read modern, conversational material not dry academic or literary texts.

Myth: one can learn to speak well enough with phonetics.

Fact: the phonetic schemes are inconsistent and mostly wrong: you will learn to speak badly and it'll be almost impossible to fix this in future.

Myth: it's easy just to learn the alphabet.

Fact: in any language, learning the alphabet doesn't mean you can read - even knowing the names of the letters is fairly useless (especially in English where A, C, G, H, etc. don't sound at all like their names!)

Myth: the conventional method is cheap, everyone knows the system and it's effective: you just have to put in the time and persevere.

Fact: although it's relatively easy to learn the "classes" of letters, the conventional method is unnecessarily convoluted. There is absolutely no correspondence between high class and high tones, or mid class and mid tones, or low class and low tones; there are no "initial" and "final" sounds in Thai; many letters look identical but are completely different so you will always read like a dyslexic and you probably won't bother to spend the extra time figuring out the tones; many letters and rules are duplicated, and several are either obsolete or entirely forgettable (which means more to learn).

Moreover: if you have more time than money then you can buy cheap books like Beginner's Thai or watch youtube videos or attend inexpensive classes at AUA, say. Keep in mind that you will spend as much if not more on travel and coffees and meals over the many months and years of "cheap" study.

Myth: the Rapid Method isn't at all "rapid" and has a lot of extra baggage.

Fact: there aren't quick ways to learn a language, you have to do the time. But most ways of learning require huge mental effort and hundreds of hours of practice and memorization. In the Rapid Method, I also take into account the physical mechanics of speaking and help you develop strategies - that fit into your busy/lazy lifestyle - for developing a kind of "muscle memory" and gaining fluency through repeated listening of relevant, colloquial and entertaining stories and songs and movies.

We remember images and stories and associated facts far more readily than lists of unrelated facts.

It's true that you need to put a lot of effort into creating images and stories and mnemonics, but the effort pays off. It may take half an hour to think up scenarios for a dozen or so words, say; but it would take several hours spread over many days to remember the same words by rote. If you have a good mnemonic then you won't ever forget. Unrelated facts or rules get forgotten over time and need constant refreshing to keep them "live". And the only way to do this is to study several hours a day.

Most of us aren't language enthusiasts whose bedtime reading includes dictionaries or phrase books. And most of us are lazy and don't enjoy studying and would much rather spend our leisure time reading a good novel (or even non-fiction works) or playing games or chatting with friends.



Try this Thai word as an example. Start by trying to memorize it by rote. And then see if you still remember it tomorrow. Then come back to this thread and see how I remember it (see the post below). It took me several minutes to think of a mnemonic, but I've never forgotten the word since then. I might not have got it 100% right at first, but after only a few repetitions, it's stuck perfectly.

In Thai, January is MOKARAAKOM.

For more details about the Rapid Method, to sign up for the free trial course, or to book please go to Learn Thai Online