Rak Thai Language School

I can only talk of private speaking lessons (with Srijan), but I found them very fast-paced, concise, clear, friendly, and professional. It completely depends on your personal taste, but I think I would have struggled with group lessons, and probably not learned half as much, especially if you already have a basic grasp of the Thai language.

2 months ago

Today was the last day of my 4-week Level 1 Thai Speaking course and I want to record my thoughts while they are fresh in my mind. I spent some time looking for a school that would give me the basics I need to be able to conduct basic transactions in Thai and build on that. RAK Thai Language School seemed to meet all my requirements so I registered. The school is in a modern building in Phloen Chit, adjacent to the BTS station. There were 4 of us in the class for the 20-day, 60-hour course, all beginners, though two of the students had been in Thailand for some time and had picked up some of the basics. Our teacher, K. Sarawut, was very professional, and kept us engaged with the materials and each other, practicing pronunciation through repetition, new structures through drills with him and subsequently in monitored practice in pairs. In the four weeks, we covered a large amount of grammar and vocabulary, and personally, I’m taking time out to go back over it, learn it properly and practice on unsuspecting members of the public, but then I’m old and need time. My younger classmates are going onward and upward. The techniques he used are not much different from those I used but they are proven and, I believe, have given us what we needed. Not long after the course started, it was the festival of Loy Krathong, and the school arranged for each class to take it in turns to sit together on mats making “krathong” from banana tree trunk and leaves, flowers, candles and incense. These are traditionally floated in thanks to the goddess of light, so we learned about Thai culture, how to make the krathong and the vocabulary associated with it, none of which I’d been expecting but was fascinated by. Today, our last, having completed all the material, our teacher took us and his morning class to the Museum Siam and across the river to Wat Arun. Again, not expected but greatly appreciated. Having taught English to speakers of other languages in 80s and 90s at some well-regarded schools in the UK and overseas, and been involved in teacher training and management, it was fascinating to be taught what the FCDO considers a hard language by someone who might have been me 30-odd years ago. K. Sarawut was always well prepared, knew the material inside out, paced the lessons very well, mixed hard work with humour and gave us homework every day. His classroom management and board work were excellent, and, in sum, I would recommend this school to anyone wanting a solid grounding in spoken Thai.

4 months ago

I had an amazing experience learning Thai at this language school! The teaching quality is excellent, and the lessons are well-structured and engaging. A special shoutout to Teacher Sarawut, who is incredibly dedicated and makes learning both effective and fun. His teaching style keeps students motivated, and he explains everything clearly with great patience. I highly recommend this school to anyone who wants to learn Thai in a supportive and enjoyable environment!

a year ago