What are some effective online resources or methods for learning Thai as a beginner?

I purchased Linguaphone’s PDQ Thai (stands for Pretty Darned Quick!) before I came to Thailand 15 years ago and it really helped me get good start on the importance of Thai tones. Their PDQ series is targeted as a quick start on the essentials before you travel on holiday.

With regards to teachers, unless they are very experienced I’ve found many Thai ‘teachers’ don’t understand the nuances around the tones as obviously they don’t learn that way. It’s like most English natives can’t explain grammar. Unfortunately being able to speak fluent English is not enough to be a good Thai teacher, they need additional training in how to teach it as a foreign language.

Here’s a link to the course and it’s still only £30, The same price I paid when I bought it!

You could try the Ankidroid app - there are loads of flashcard decks, many with audio that you can listen to as many times as you need.

Good luck with your Thai learning journey - it's not always easy but very rewarding😁

For me, Type anything in English in Google Translate and then listen to the Thai translation as many times as you want. Besides the read aloud feature, they also have some rough phonetic translation but it's hard to figure out.

Linguaphone possibly the oldest and still the best. Many foreign friends I have now speak almost native Thai using that method

I struggle with languages. The best thing I did was learn to read and write Thai. It is not so difficult and will pay dividends learning the language in the long run. Also self study is easy this way

Check out

@Thai ************

I feel she is very good on teaching tones meaning I can hear the differences well. She got a tonne of content online for free so can start there. She does tutoring or classes. When I got schedule that works I plan to take her group classes myself!

Thai Pod 101, Mondly, Pocket Thai for reading and learning tone rules , Duke language school fir zoom group classes

I highly recommend Khru Nok on iTalki. She's an excellent teacher who speaks fluent English. I spent a lot of time trying different teachers on iTalki and Preply before I found her.

Learn to read Thai the way Thais do, every Thai I ask knows this book from childhood.

TSL chiangmai might be help😊😊

Learn to read. The tones suddenly become clear and you can do it at your own pace

Fun easy Leary Thai

Thaipod 101

Both good

I’ve been taking lessons with Jaime on Preply. She insisted on my learning the alphabet and to read and write. Invaluable for proper pronunciation because as an older guy it’s hard for me to hear the subtlest of the language. And with a home in Phetchabun, being able to read street signs is a big side benefit. Good luck to you.

i have found for referencing and adding to vocab, is really good since they have recorded sound of nearly every phrase too

Try learning how to read Thai first. Wish i had

Try this group lots resources.

I'm the same. I find listening to radio, watching random lives on here for cooking or beauty products, watching thai soaps and having anything thai on in the background as often as possible really helps. You start to understand some repetitive words and tones and the uses of them. It's slow but real talk rather than learning from an app. Repetition and writing phrases down phonetically works for me. If you find a great app or resource please let me know 🤩