The reading course starts with learning the Thai alphabet, which has 44 consonants and 32 vowels.

Learning Thai is a necessity for those planning to stay in Thailand and would like to understand more about its culture. Many language schools now offer courses that will enable foreigners to learn how to speak, read and write Thai after only a short time.

The speaking and listening courses focus on learning basic expressions that are useful for daily conversation with the locals.

At the same time, it gives a primer on knowing how to to tell time and dates. There is also a part where one gets to know the Thai words for numbers, days and months. And in order to be able to buy or order food, it is important to know the names of fruits and vegetables.

Soon after, the focus shifts on knowing the Thai words for important places, such as banks, hospitals, the post office and police station. Also included in the initial vocabulary list are the Thai words for colors, clothing, accessories and general utensils.

Then it's time to learn business jargon and more of Thai culture. Video tapes on this and on important celebrations and tourist destinations are shown. The instructor has the option of taking the class out, for example, to a fresh market, a restaurant, temple or museum to enable them to practice their speaking and listening abilities.
   

The reading course starts with learning the Thai alphabet, which has 44 consonants and 32 vowels. It then moves on to sentence structure, reading signs and learning   prepositions and conjunctions and transitions. The next step involves knowing how to make complex and compound sentences.

After this, it's time to move on to different sentence structures, reading passages and writing short paragraphs.

All exercises will cover various topics related to Thai life, such as family, food, occupation and clothing. After reading, it's on to increasing one's vocabulary and reading on Thai traditions and cultures.  

Where to go:

• Thammasat University, Faculty or Liberal Arts (Tha Prachan Campus); call 02- 613-2608, 02-613-2675 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Rangsit University, (Pathum Thani), call 02-997-2200
• Inlingua; call 02-254-7028/-30 (Chidlom), 02-631-1850/-3 (Silom), 02-745-6246/-8 (Bang Na) or  e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• AUA Natural Thai (Rajadamri); call 02-252-8170 ext. 399 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Unity Thai Language School (Sukhumvit); call 02-653-1538.
• Nisa Thai Language School (Sathorn); call 02-671-3359/-60, 02-671-3343/-44.