I’m with you 100%. I started out with SRS (Spaced Repetition Systems) but that only works for me if I have sentences to go with the vocabulary. I need that carrot of being entertained. Also, out of the SRS’s out there, only BYKI would hold my interest. And that’s because it has activities, and was not mere acres of dreary vocab.

‘I think this is where some of Bangkok’s Thai-language schools fall down; their material is mind-numbingly dull and irrelevant to the real world.’

I haven’t been to any of the schools (yet), but I do enjoy Tod’s colourful reviews on what’s available. Last year I was convinced that I needed to attend classes somewhere, but I’m still undecided as to where.

I started with Pimsleurs (lots of repetition so it’s good for beginners). There was too much repetition for me (I got bored), so I moved over to Assimil Thai. They are similar, but Assimil is more advanced. Also, it only has Thai in the audio (the book is in French with Thai transliteration), and less repetition. Luca’s method uses this too. He explains how you can own a language doing it this way, and I believe he’s right.

For those wanting to try out the FSI materials:

thailanguagewiki.com has audio and Thai script to read and listen to online

But for the moment, if you want to download audio files you have to get them from fsi-language-courses.org

The FSI Basic Reader is good for this — load the MP3 into Audacity, select a 10-second or 15-second chunk, and set Audacity to repeat-play it, and write down what you think you hear.

Then go onto the next chunk (lessons start from 3 minutes, go up to 10 or so). Then compare what you wrote with the accompanying PDF. This is really good, hard work on listening, comprehending and spelling. The woman speaker is much clearer than the man, I find.

I think Rick was refering to the Thai reader project from the University of Wisconsin.

I think a learning style that “suits” you can simply be defined as one that motivates you and which you enjoy.

For example, I could never sit with a dictionary, learning words off the page — but give me a newspaper article which looks interesting, or a creative and stimulating flash-card game (an adventure-style game, for example) and I can learn for hours. Not only do I study for longer, but the material sticks better.

I think this is where some of Bangkok’s Thai-language schools fall down; their material is mind-numbingly dull and irrelevant to the real world.