Please vote for the Top 100 Language Learning Blogs of 2012…

Each year the Top 100 Language Learning international competition put on by bab.la and Lexiophiles has gradually gotten tougher. But this year the quality of the sites have taken a noticeable leap, meaning it’s a win win for anyone interested in learning languages. It also means that you have even less excuses for not learning a second or even a third language. Yeah, I’m bad.

Which reminds me… if you don’t want to read all the way to the bottom of this post before voting, just click on the button to your right. Tip: Scroll all the way to the w’s for Women Learning Thai… and some men too ;-)

No doubt, competing in the Top 100 Language Learning Blog competition has improved WLT immensely. It’s also taught me that qualifying for the competition isn’t about making pretty right before the event, but working on improvements throughout the year.

In the early days I concentrated on tweaking WLT’s design, creating posts and series useful to students of Thai, and adding knowledgeable guest authors (megga thanks go especially to Hugh, Tod(d), Rikker, and Luke).

Something must have worked because WLT is now listed as a go-to resource for learning Thai on BBC – Languages – A Guide to Thai, CNNgo, Yahoo, and elsewhere.

When I first entered the Top 100 Language Learning Blogs competition, I took Lexio’s suggestions on what makes a good language blog to heart. In 2009, competing against more popular languages such as English, Chinese, French and German, WLT came in 85th place. Sweet. In 2010 I kept up with the improvements, and even though I mostly quit blogging about learning Thai during the Red Shirt protests (it was too heartbreaking), WLT came in 54th place. Not too shabby (especially as I didn’t expect to place at all).

Last year was a shocker when WLT came 10th in Top 25 Language Learning Blogs 2011 and 19th in the Top 100 Language Lovers 2011. Understandably, I was surprised and totally chuffed at the leap.

Shortly after the competition a tweet came through stating that placing where it did, WLT was representing Thailand. It was then that I realised that the Language Learning Blog competition was not just about the language learning community. It was about my responsibility to Thailand as well.

Seriously, it was a sobering thought. And with sobriety comes much responsibility.

No doubt, I have fun researching and writing posts for WLT. And I also enjoy being in the position to give back to Thailand (reason why I donate all proceeds from WLT to the SET Foundation). But ever since that tweet the idea of taking WLT to another level has been a concern.

After months of going through options to improve WLT I decided to focus on two main projects. One, started after the competition last year, will take more time to complete (and I’ll need even more of your help). But the other, already three years in the making, will launch following this post.

Project 1: Top 100 Thai vocabulary…

Since starting WLT I’ve learned that it’s not unusual for students to fizzle out soon after embarking on their Thai language adventure. And while it’s clearly a worry, I wasn’t quite sure what I could do about it.

From what I’m seeing the problems with learning any new language are: memory, available time, and sustained motivation. But confidence is also high on the list (especially for a tonal language such as Thai).

If you remember, last September I reviewed The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. The resources mentioned lead me to an idea that just might work as a mini Thai course.

The idea is simple. Start out by learning your way around the 100 most useful words in your target language. This includes using those mere 100 words to learn basic grammar. And if you make it through to the end, and still have an interest, work out from there. And if you don’t, you won’t have wasted too much time. Correct?

Choosing the top 100 Thai words was an adventure. These days I’m staying busy creating workable phrases (words on their own are just words) but I continue to tweak the list.

To see how the method operates I purchased several top 100 courses, but in Italian. Seems they all fudge on what they are calling 100 words (some shamefully) so back to square one I went. But whoever said that necessity is the mother of invention has it soooo very right because getting around the hurdles made me very creative indeed. And in the coming mini-course I’ll only cheat a little. Promise.

Disclaimer: In no way can you communicate fully by learning 100 words and choice phrases. But, with the right 100 words one can get a taste of a language. My hope is that a taste will tantalise students enough to push them over the quitting hump and into the excitement of learning more Thai.

People learn in different ways so I’ll be using a combo of resources (most free): BYKI, Learning with Texts and Brainscape. Scott came to my rescue with LWT so it’ll be implemented first. Ta Scott :-)

Even though I’ve been working on this project since last year, more time and collaboration is needed. That’s right. I’m in the need for guinea pigs. And if you want to pig out on Thai, please contact me.

Project 2: Successful Thai Language Learners Compilation series…

In 2009 I started the Successful Thai Language Learners series. One, two, three years have now gone by, with over 50 talented students and former students of the Thai language being interviewed.

Some of their replies were surprising, some quirky, and all were totally interesting. Well into the series a suggestion was made to tally the results, so I did. Wanting to share what I found, a compilation series was put together.

The compilation series will start next week. I seriously hope you enjoy reading the results as much as I have.

Oh. And btw. After sending out a zillion emails for the Successful Thai Language Learners series, I was able to interview 47 men and 3 women. So, as it turns out, I chose an appropriate tongue-in-cheek name after all. True?

Now back to voting for your favourite Top 100 Language blogs…

There are four categories to vote for. Please note that you are allowed just one vote for each section.

• Language Learning Blogs
• Language Professional
• Language Facebook Page
• Language Twitter Account

Other Thai blogs to vote for…

As before, there are other Thai blogs entered in the contest (three). Would I love your vote? Absolutely. But please check them out (if you haven’t already).

• Learning Thai
• Thai Language Hut
• Learn Thai from a White Guy

Before I sign off I’d like to thank the teams at bab.la and Lexiophiles. As I mentioned before, it’s clear that without their yearly competition and advice, WLT wouldn’t be the site it is today.

Once again, stop by Lexiophiles Top 100 Language Learning Blogs to leave your vote. Ta!

Learn Thai by Speaking Your Language…

Over a decade ago I learned Thai by using a method called Speak Your Language. I wrote a post on what Speak Your Language is, but to summarize: I learned to speak Thai by starting with what I knew about English, slowly converting it into Thai one word and one grammar point at a time. By using the Thai I knew, filling in any gaps with English, I was able to communicate right away, and at the same time focus on what I needed to know next.

Times have changed over the last 10 years and so have I. I am now a father of four children living on the opposite side of the world (at least as far as time zones go). I am not living in a fully immersed atmosphere of Thai language 24/7. Despite that, I can still perfect my Thai. And I do that by using the Speak Your Language method.

Don’t you already know Thai?…

Let me ask that question another way. Despite being a native English speaker, do I know all there is to know about the English language? The answer is no. I have gaps in the lingo of lawyers, doctors, politics, cars, and the list goes on. My ability to talk incomprehensibly about any of those subjects vary considerably. And while I might be able to hold conversations in Thai, depending on the subject they are talking about, keeping up on the news is hit and miss. So there is always room for improvement.

When I learned Thai, I was a missionary. As missionaries we sacrifice many outside pleasures. One of those pleasures is watching TV or reading anything that is not related to the church. We got to go to an Internet Cafe once a week to send an email home and that was it. Now speed up 10 years and I am no longer living as a missionary. I have the new challenges of being a full-time working father with four children.

Ten years ago high-speed internet in the home was a novelty. It was the swimming pool in the back yard. We all know someone who had one, but never had one ourselves. There are now many advances in technology that I would never have dreamed possible when I first learned to speak Thai. Logically, to take advantage of these useful tools, I upgraded how I use Speaking Your Language.

Record yourself speaking to the wall…

The wall is such a nice conversational partner. It never talks back. It will listen to you ramble on and on. I’ve been told that steering wheels have a similar personality. Don’t just talk to the wall, record yourself while you talk. Digital recorders are fantastic upgrades from the tape recorders of old. They are not only smaller, but let you separate the recordings into individual files that can be kept independent from each other.

With digital recorders, you can record yourself talking about any subject you want. And as you fill in the gaps with English, you can figure out more words and phrases you want to learn. You can also record yourself translating TV, Radio, or whatever.

Use Anki to practice the words you need to learn…

Now that you have these words and phrases you need to learn, what do you do with them? Back in the day I would have made a list or flash cards. It’s not a bad method but flash cards are so old-fashioned. If you want to be hip and with the times you use a spaced repetition system, known as SRS. There are many on the web for free; the one I like the best is Anki.

Why is SRS better? It’s like flash cards on steroids. SRS gives you a new list of words to review every day based upon how successful you were in the past. Words you need to work on more come up more frequently. On the flip side, those you know better appear less often, but are not taken out entirely, so you still get a chance for a review. It’s like having a tutor pick which words and phrases you should review that day.

Post your Thai online using social media…

Just because you are not sitting in a street vendor’s fold up chair waiting for a plate of kài jieow mŏo sàp, doesn’t mean you can’t have the benefit of having a native correct you. There are many websites like lang-8.com or thai-language.com that let you post something online for others to correct. Twitter and Facebook have also proven to be useful tools. The great part is that you can continue to use English to fill in the gaps, while getting instant feedback from native speakers on how to say what you want to say.

The point I’m making is that it’s not the tools that improve your Thai, it’s how you use them. The point is that with Speaking Your Language, you need to speak as much Thai as possible, while using English to bridge the gap. And the more you speak Thai, the better you will become.

Justin Travis Mair
I Want To Speak Thai | I Want To Speak Spanish
Successful Thai Language Learner: Justin Travis Mair

Thai chili scale: A spicy secret to ordering Thai food…

I’ve been eating Thai food for like a gazillion years now and while I can order เผ็ดเผ็ด /pèt-pèt/ just fine, what arrives is almost never “up to me”. Tom Stephan has the same difficulties, only in a slightly different direction.

Tom: I wish I knew how to say “I’d like to order the Pad Thai, but moderately spicy. Not bland, but not number 5 on the scale. Maybe a 3?”

Me: A new one on me… I have the opposite problem – getting Thais to believe me when I say I want super spicy (especially as I don’t eat rice, used to cool down the mouth). I’ve settled on เผ็ดเผ็ด (and lots of praying to the pepper gods). Can’t you just say spicy a little bit? But all in all, what you get often comes down to the cook’s belief in what you can handle more than anything else.

Tom: Yeah, most of the time when you ask for spicy, the waitresses at the local Thai eateries (there are a dozen) kind of look at you like one regards a small child asking for his own glass of whiskey; adorable, but…no.

Thai chili ranges…

After chatting with Thai friends an easily understood chili range was agreed on. Number 1 being for (cough) (cough) wimps, with the chilis getting progressively hotter from there.

1. Western style spicy: เผ็ดแบบฝรั่ง /pèt bàep fà-ràng/ (or not spicy: ไม่เผ็ด /mâi pèt/)
2. A little spicy: เผ็ดนิดหน่อย /pèt nít-nòi/
3. Moderately spicy: เผ็ดปานกลาง /pèt bpaan-glaang/
4. Somewhat spicy: ค่อนข้างเผ็ด /kôn kâang pèt/
5. Very spicy: เผ็ดๆ /pèt-pèt/, เผ็ดมากๆ /pèt mâak mâak/
6. Thai style spicy: เผ็ดแบบไทย /pèt bàep tai/
7. Super spicy (the most spicy): เผ็ดสุดๆ /pèt sùt sùt/

[See post to listen to audio]

So if you want to take a stab at getting your Thai food at a hotness suitable for your tastes, you’d say something like this:

น้องๆ ขอส้มตำไม่เผ็ดหนึ่งจาน
nóng nóng kŏr sôm-dtam mâi pèt nèung-jaan
Waitress, I want one plate of somtam, not spicy.

[See post to listen to audio]

ขอลาบไก่เผ็ดนิดหน่อยหนึ่งจาน
kŏr lâap gài pèt nít-nòi nèung jaan
I want one plate of mixed chicken salad, a little spicy.

[See post to listen to audio]

ขอผัดกระเพราไก่เผ็ดปานกลางหนึ่งจาน
kŏr pàt grà prao gài pèt bpaan-glaang nèung jaan
I want one plate of chicken with basal leaf, moderately spicy.

[See post to listen to audio]

ขอแกงเขียวหวานไก่ค่อนข้างเผ็ดหนึ่งถ้วย
kŏr gaeng kĭeow wăan gài kôn kâang pèt nèung tûay
I want one bowl of green (sweet) chicken curry, somewhat spicy.

[See post to listen to audio]

ขอต้มยำไก่เผ็ดๆหนึ่งชาม
kŏr dtôm yam gài pèt pèt nèung chaam
I want one bowl of Tom Yam Chicken, spicy.

[See post to listen to audio]

small bowl: ถ้วย /tûay/
big bowl: ชาม /chaam/

[See post to listen to audio]

ขอผัดเผ็ดขี้เมาทะเลเผ็ดสุดๆหนึ่งจาน
kŏr pàt pèt kêe-mao tá-lay pèt sùt sùt nèung jaan
I want one plate of stir fried drunken seafood, super spicy.

[See post to listen to audio]

When your Thai food is not spicy hot enough…

Often (for me) a dish will arrive and it’s not spicy enough. It’s a good thing that most Thai restaurants have a condiment selection on the table.

Condiments: เครื่องปรุง /krêuang bprung/
Dried crushed chili: พริกป่น /prík bpòn/
Shrimp paste with oil: น้ำพริกเผา /nám prík păo/
Vinegar with fresh chili: พริกน้ำส้ม /prík náam sôm/
White sugar: น้ำตาล /nám dtaan/

[See post to listen to audio]

If you can’t find what you like, you’ll need to ask the waitress. What you ask for sometimes depends upon the dish. But, as they say in Thailand, up to you.

I’m not fussy (I just want hot), so if there isn’t a chili pot on the table I ask for น้ำปลาพริกขี้หนู /nám bplaa prík kêe-nŏo/ (fresh mouse dropping chili and lime in fish sauce).

[See post to listen to audio]

But if you want to be more traditional, here are a few dish/chili combos:

Papaya salad: ส้มตำ /sôm-dtam/
Ask for either พริกป่น /prík bpòn/ or พริกขี้หนู /prík kêe-nŏo/

[See post to listen to audio]

Minced chicken salad: ลาบไก่ /lâap gài/
Ask for พริกป่น /prík bpòn/

[See post to listen to audio]

Chicken with basal leaf: ผัดกระเพราไก่ /pàt grà prao gài/
Ask for น้ำปลาพริกขี้หนู /nám bplaa prík kêe-nŏo/

[See post to listen to audio]

Green chicken curry: แกงเขียวหวานไก่ /gaeng kĭeow wăan gài/
Ask for น้ำปลาพริกขี้หนู /nám bplaa prík kêe-nŏo/

[See post to listen to audio]

Tom Yam: ต้มยำ /dtôm-yam/
Ask for either น้ำพริกเผา /nám prík păo/, or พริกป่น /prík bpòn/, or พริกขี้หนู /prík kêe-nŏo/

[See post to listen to audio]

To get what you want just say:

Waitress, I’d like… + your chili of choice
น้องๆ ขอ /nóng nóng kŏr…/

[See post to listen to audio]

Spicy downloads…

If you are not confident enough to speak Thai I’ve prepared audio downloads. So all you need to do is stick the audio on your smart phone, and when needed, play your chili needs for your waitress. And pray.

Zip format: Thai Chili Pepper Scale
Zip format: Thai Chili Conversations

Good luck and good eating!

Thai Language School Review: UTL Unity Thai Language School…

Review: UTL Unity Thai Language School
Website: utl-school.com
Address: 18th floor Times Square Building, 246 Sukhumvit Rd, Khlongtoey, Khlongtoey, Bangkok Thailand 10110
Telephone Number: 02-653-1538
Email: info@utl-school.com

Location: UTL Unity is in the Times Square Building. The school is easy to get to by either the MRT (Sukhumvit Road Station), or the BTS (Asok Station). From the MRT, go up to the sky walk to the Sky Train and follow it around until you walk directly into Times Square, and then up to the 18th floor. Note: if you’re coming from the MRT, you can’t get thru Asok Station without paying, so use the sky-walk for Terminal 21 because it jumps Asok stations turnstiles and connects to the skywalk.

Basic Info: UTL Unity is another Union Thai Method school. The method was designed to teach foreign missionaries who washed up on Thai shores. UTL Unity’s website says the school itself has been around for over 10 years, which I totally believe. I’ve lived behind the Times Square building for the last 7 years and they were already there when I arrived. UTL also mentions that the material was designed over 40 years ago. And given some of the out-of-date phrases in their books, I believe that too.

Materials: UTL Unity concentrates on teaching spoken Thai first. The books use phonetics (karaoke Thai). You’re unlikely to find it in any other Thai course books, except for other Union Clone schools. It’s not as wacky as other phonetic systems but it’s squirrelly enough that you first need to learn the system before you can get anywhere.

UTL Unity has two ‘modules’ (a fancy way of saying ‘books’) for conversational Thai. The books ONLY have karaoke Thai and English translations. There is NO Thai script at all.

Before you are exposed to Thai script (starting at module three) you work thru modules one and two to develop proficiency in speaking Thai.

Surprisingly, the books are quite intensive. By the time you get thru with the second book you’ve got a really good ‘getting by in Thai’ grasp of the language.

To me, the methodology could be improved by including the Thai script in the beginner books. This is so that students can at least begin to see what real Thai looks like.

From module three on students are exposed to the Thai writing system. Module three also concentrates on conversation as well. Note: You have to do both module three AND four to learn all the Thai consonants and vowels.

Beginning at module four you are given homework for writing the most commonly used Thai words, short answers to questions, etc.

Module five is where you really learn to read and write Thai via short stories, essays, etc. It’s also where your homework starts to dial in your writing ability.

Module six is conversation based. It teaches slang, idiomatic expressions, and focuses on increasing the speed of a persons reading ability, as well as writing longer essays.

UTL Unity has a LOT of topics for advanced learners (more than I care to list, that’s for sure). Some are the same beat-to-death stuff you see at every Thai language school in Bangkok: Thai culture, Buddhism, social customs, etc. Some are pretty good though. The subjects touch on proverbs, newspapers, and current events.

UTL also offers a program which starts in the fall (I believe) and prepares students for the government Thai Proficiency Exam given in December.

Method: In the group class I sat (6 years ago), the classes were conversation based. They started out with the standard fare of meeting greeting, asking your name, etc. The teacher said the vocab words, we repeated (as a group), and then the teacher went around one by one, having us repeat back to her. She covered the dialog drill and we repeated in a group, then broke into pairs to practice the drills. It is a dialog substitution type format, where the words that can be switched out are marked and other vocabulary is used.

Teachers: I must admit that I have experience with only one teacher at UTL Unity. She taught the beginners’ class. In fact, she ONLY taught that class (and from her ease of teaching it, for a good long while). She was very well versed with the material and incredibly supportive of students abysmal attempts at toning and vowel length, and not too heavy handed in errant pronunciation corrections. She made extreme facial expressions, and much to the amusement of the students, used mime very effectively in class to get points across.

Classes: UTL Unity is like several other Union Clones which offer Intensive Thai classes. Intensive Thai runs in the morning for four hours a day M-F, and is three weeks long. The afternoon class is the same only its three hours a day. For your run-of-the-mill-foreigner lookin’ to learn conversational Thai, it’s really intense!!

The intensive Thai class moves along at a good clip; there’s not a whole lotta time spent on the “whyz-in-thai (why is Thai like this but English is like that). In fact, if I remember correctly, most of those type of questions were answered with, “That’s just how Thai is…” (FWIW: I hate that answer because everything they do in Thai has rules whether they know it or not.)

Now don’t get me wrong, perhaps had my motivation been different way back when, I’da gotten a LOT outta it. However, my class, not surprisingly enough, was composed entirely of foreign missionaries (people I have less in common with than I do Thais). Needless to say, it was not fun to go to, or sit thru. It was not a class I looked forward doing, at all.

ED Visa: As UTL Unity is registered with the Ministry of Education it provides ED visa support for students. UTL has a deal where if you buy so many modules they give you the documentation needed to secure your ED visa at a neighboring country’s Thai Embassy. UTL Unity provides in-country extension documentation too. They DON’T have a ED visa program where you can study Thai a mere 4 hours a week to live here. This is a school that makes NO bones about the fact that you’re gonna learn Thai come hell or high water.

Bang-4-The-Baht: As I said, this is not the school for someone looking to live in Thailand on the ED visa. For the serious learner of Thai, I’d give this school a very high “bang-4-the baht” rating. But I’m telling you, you’re gonna hafta be diligent to retain anything out of those intensive courses. You’ve gotta practice the dialog outside of class with someone. You miss a single day and you miss the material covered. And if you’re fresh off the boat, you’re gonna be overwhelmed early on.

I personally know several people who went thru to module six and they came away reading, writing and speaking super clear, well structured and enunciated Thai.

I hafta be completely honest, (well no, actually I don’t, but I will…) This is the first school review where I couldn’t personally go in to write this review. I had to send in a plant (a foreigner dressed as a small shrub actually).

When I first moved to Thailand I went to UTL Unity for their intensive Thai program. As I said, I was less than impressed with the entire endeavor. Perhaps, looking back (if I can even remember back 6+ years ago), my motivation for learning Thai wasn’t what it is today.

Of course, being typical American, I had a meeting with the principal where I made my dissatisfaction only too well known. Evidently I made such an impression on the entire staff that when I went into the school six months ago to check on their Thai Proficiency Training course, the girls at the front desk STILL remembered me!! Suffice to say, they were less than cordial (especially for Thais) in answering my questions, and made it clear my business was not wanted or needed.

Still, this review is accurate insofar as the information I’m relating. I hope you found it of marginal value.

Tod Daniels | toddaniels at gmail dot com
Reviewing Thai Language Schools in Bangkok
(BTW: Tod is NOT affiliated with any Thai language school)