My first Thai language lesson in Bangkok

I had my first Thai language lesson today in Bangkok and surprisingly it wasn’t as hard as I thought. Orawan speaks English, Thai and her (Northern) Esean language. I speak only English Hence the Thai language lesson.

Being together for years it was always on the cards for me to learn Thai but just where and when?

If someone you are with wants to improve their English, this seems to be the only language you use. So it leaves very little time for me to learn and practice my Thai. So we decided now that we are both here in Bangkok for a while then I will get myself some Thai Language lesson.

First lesson (Thai alphabet)

Learning the Thai alphabet for the first time for a native English speaker with no other language skills is difficult. Thai language has 5 tones and English has just one. This is a struggle for me as I still have no idea how one word can mean 5 different things. Depending on the tone of your voice along with your pronunciation. Another is the (ng) sound at the beginning of words which you have to say without moving your tongue.

The Thai alphabet consists of 44 consonants (Payanchana) and 32 vowels (Sara). Its quite daunting at the start but I managed to come out of my first lesson having memorised the first 22 consonants.

The school caters for private lessons as well as group lessons. I decided to take the group lessons because they are considerably cheaper than private lessons. Also I feel I learn better with other individuals all working together achieving the same goal.

Walen International (Bangkok) is the school we chose.

They have language schools all over Thailand but Bangkok is the closest to us at this moment in time. Walen school is easily accessible from BTS Skytrain Asok (E4), located on the 24th floor of the Times square building.

So the verdict after my first lesson. I have a long way to go! but I’m sure if I stick at it I can become somewhat decent soon!