I’m taking this from my experience of learning Thai to a C1 level. I stole most of the strategies I use from Mandarin + Japanese learning methods, so I’m sure this applies to any language you would want to learn. There’s nothing specific to Thai here.
On language lessons: outside of help with pronunciation at the start, I don't actually think taking lessons helps that much. These days with the internet it's easy enough to find natives to talk to, and if you know what you're doing you'll learn faster on your own than you would from any class or private tutoring. The exception to this might be if you're really aiming for a native level and want to tighten up that last 2% at a very high level.
1. Pronunciation
Focus on this first. It’s a lot harder to adjust your pronunciation after you’ve been learning for years and building up habits in how you speak, than it is to get it handled upfront.
The best way to do this is to work with a native speaker. This is the only area I could recommend a tutor if you don’t have any native friends willing to help. More than likely you won’t have an ear for the language yet at the start, so you’ll need the feedback from a native.
I took a very methodical approach to it. I would read from a book, and then figure out the specific consonants, vowels or tones that I wasn’t able to produce correctly, and then drill them until I got it, one by one.
In my experience natives will be pretty easy on you with pronunciation as a beginner — if they can understand it ‘enough’, like you’re 70% there, they’ll say it’s correct or fine. Be aware of this and get them to help you so you can pronounce individual words close to a native. You’ll thank yourself later on.
2. Vocabulary + Grammar
Next stumbling block is vocabulary. You’ll need a hell of a lot of it. The most efficient way to learn that I’ve found is to drill flashcards with Anki.
The type of flashcards you make will evolve over time. Initially you’ll be putting a single word on the front of the card, with an English translation on the back.
Next you’ll work this up to putting a longer target-language sentence on the front with 1 new word you want to learn, with the definition of that word in English on the back.
The end goal should be to have a full target-language sentence on the front with 1 new thing you want to learn, and then a target-language definition of that thing on the back.
A good breakdown of how you should aim to make them is here: http://www.antimoon.com/how/usingsm-make...ntence.htm
I’ve never done much intentional grammar study, I’ve found that using flashcards like this, studying full sentences has got me to intuitively understand advanced grammar without ever actively studying it.
What I’ve found for Thai is you can pretty much expect the following, although I’m sure this slightly differs per language..
2-3k words to have a basic conversational level. Not enough to understand a conversation between natives, but you’ll have enough to sit down one on one and talk about a wide range of things. Some people say this is all you need.. personally I want to aim higher than just basic conversation
7k is where ‘fluency’ begins in my opinion. You’ll be able to read books, understand TV shows / movies, and have in-depth conversations.
10k is what you'll need for a native level C2 fluency. Vocabulary shouldn’t hold you back from anything you want to do.
Learning 20-30 new words a day is sustainable, really depends on your commitment.
That's not to say learning a bunch of flashcards will get you to fluency. You still need a lot of practice, which is why you should be filling as much time as you can with...
3. Input + Output Practice
This is the fun part. And fortunately it’s the part you should be spending most of your time on.
Steps 2 + 3 should be happening at the same time.
Speak as much as you can. Consume as much of the language as you can. Watch movies, tv shows, read books, read the news, talk to people, hit on girls, switch your phone to the target language. Keep a book next to your toilet and read it whenever you take a shit. Take anything and everything you do in your native language, and do it in the target language. Everything you come across that's new, make a flashcard out of it and learn it. At first this sucks because you don't understand a lot, but you improve quick.
I don’t know the science of how it works, but I know it does. Our brains are good at learning language, give them the material to do their job.
Reading + listening to the language you want to learn directly translates to you being able to speak better. The people who have the widest vocabularies and are the most articulate in their native language are those who read the most. Learning a foreign language is no different.
People say they don't want to read because they just want to be able to speak well. That's bullshit. Reading is a foundation and the best way to improve your language skills. Finishing 10 books will drastically improve the quality of your speech.
Start with easy stuff. I’ve watched more episodes of Doraemon than I’d admit. I used to rip the audio off comedy shows and put it on my phone, then listen to it whenever I was traveling anywhere. It helps.
Best resources I’ve found:
hackingchinese.com — you can apply the same strategies he uses for Mandarin to any other language. 80% of it isn’t language-specific.
alljapaneseallthetime.com — his new stuff is premium, but his earlier posts give you all you need to know. He rambles on a lot, you can probably get the main message after reading his best 2-3 posts.
antimoon.com — read it all
And since this forum is focused a lot around girls, how have I found learning a language to relate to that?
Beginner level - it helps. Girls think it’s cute you want to learn their language, but you’ll still probably just speak English to them because you suck, and their English likely sucks less.
Intermediate level - this stage is a clear negative from my experience and not what I expected. You lose your exotic-ness. You need to speak the target language in order to improve, but you’re not good enough to actually say much interesting, and have trouble understand a lot. You can hold a conversation, but you’re boring as hell, they can’t understand your jokes, and the cuteness from the beginners stage is no longer there. You’d likely be better off speaking English in most cases, but then how do you improve?
Advanced level - Here’s where it shines. You can game as you would in your native language, have a deep understanding of humor, innuendo, and culture. It’s a massive advantage.
Either aim for a beginner level and be happy there, or go for advanced. Most people get stuck at intermediate and stop learning.
On language lessons: outside of help with pronunciation at the start, I don't actually think taking lessons helps that much. These days with the internet it's easy enough to find natives to talk to, and if you know what you're doing you'll learn faster on your own than you would from any class or private tutoring. The exception to this might be if you're really aiming for a native level and want to tighten up that last 2% at a very high level.
1. Pronunciation
Focus on this first. It’s a lot harder to adjust your pronunciation after you’ve been learning for years and building up habits in how you speak, than it is to get it handled upfront.
The best way to do this is to work with a native speaker. This is the only area I could recommend a tutor if you don’t have any native friends willing to help. More than likely you won’t have an ear for the language yet at the start, so you’ll need the feedback from a native.
I took a very methodical approach to it. I would read from a book, and then figure out the specific consonants, vowels or tones that I wasn’t able to produce correctly, and then drill them until I got it, one by one.
In my experience natives will be pretty easy on you with pronunciation as a beginner — if they can understand it ‘enough’, like you’re 70% there, they’ll say it’s correct or fine. Be aware of this and get them to help you so you can pronounce individual words close to a native. You’ll thank yourself later on.
2. Vocabulary + Grammar
Next stumbling block is vocabulary. You’ll need a hell of a lot of it. The most efficient way to learn that I’ve found is to drill flashcards with Anki.
The type of flashcards you make will evolve over time. Initially you’ll be putting a single word on the front of the card, with an English translation on the back.
Next you’ll work this up to putting a longer target-language sentence on the front with 1 new word you want to learn, with the definition of that word in English on the back.
The end goal should be to have a full target-language sentence on the front with 1 new thing you want to learn, and then a target-language definition of that thing on the back.
A good breakdown of how you should aim to make them is here: http://www.antimoon.com/how/usingsm-make...ntence.htm
I’ve never done much intentional grammar study, I’ve found that using flashcards like this, studying full sentences has got me to intuitively understand advanced grammar without ever actively studying it.
What I’ve found for Thai is you can pretty much expect the following, although I’m sure this slightly differs per language..
2-3k words to have a basic conversational level. Not enough to understand a conversation between natives, but you’ll have enough to sit down one on one and talk about a wide range of things. Some people say this is all you need.. personally I want to aim higher than just basic conversation
7k is where ‘fluency’ begins in my opinion. You’ll be able to read books, understand TV shows / movies, and have in-depth conversations.
10k is what you'll need for a native level C2 fluency. Vocabulary shouldn’t hold you back from anything you want to do.
Learning 20-30 new words a day is sustainable, really depends on your commitment.
That's not to say learning a bunch of flashcards will get you to fluency. You still need a lot of practice, which is why you should be filling as much time as you can with...
3. Input + Output Practice
This is the fun part. And fortunately it’s the part you should be spending most of your time on.
Steps 2 + 3 should be happening at the same time.
Speak as much as you can. Consume as much of the language as you can. Watch movies, tv shows, read books, read the news, talk to people, hit on girls, switch your phone to the target language. Keep a book next to your toilet and read it whenever you take a shit. Take anything and everything you do in your native language, and do it in the target language. Everything you come across that's new, make a flashcard out of it and learn it. At first this sucks because you don't understand a lot, but you improve quick.
I don’t know the science of how it works, but I know it does. Our brains are good at learning language, give them the material to do their job.
Reading + listening to the language you want to learn directly translates to you being able to speak better. The people who have the widest vocabularies and are the most articulate in their native language are those who read the most. Learning a foreign language is no different.
People say they don't want to read because they just want to be able to speak well. That's bullshit. Reading is a foundation and the best way to improve your language skills. Finishing 10 books will drastically improve the quality of your speech.
Start with easy stuff. I’ve watched more episodes of Doraemon than I’d admit. I used to rip the audio off comedy shows and put it on my phone, then listen to it whenever I was traveling anywhere. It helps.
Best resources I’ve found:
hackingchinese.com — you can apply the same strategies he uses for Mandarin to any other language. 80% of it isn’t language-specific.
alljapaneseallthetime.com — his new stuff is premium, but his earlier posts give you all you need to know. He rambles on a lot, you can probably get the main message after reading his best 2-3 posts.
antimoon.com — read it all
And since this forum is focused a lot around girls, how have I found learning a language to relate to that?
Beginner level - it helps. Girls think it’s cute you want to learn their language, but you’ll still probably just speak English to them because you suck, and their English likely sucks less.
Intermediate level - this stage is a clear negative from my experience and not what I expected. You lose your exotic-ness. You need to speak the target language in order to improve, but you’re not good enough to actually say much interesting, and have trouble understand a lot. You can hold a conversation, but you’re boring as hell, they can’t understand your jokes, and the cuteness from the beginners stage is no longer there. You’d likely be better off speaking English in most cases, but then how do you improve?
Advanced level - Here’s where it shines. You can game as you would in your native language, have a deep understanding of humor, innuendo, and culture. It’s a massive advantage.
Either aim for a beginner level and be happy there, or go for advanced. Most people get stuck at intermediate and stop learning.
