A really good tip that you will benefit a lot from in the long run is to learn how to type in Thai. When you know how to type you will be able to use Thai dictionaries on your computer which will save you hours of flipping through analogue paper dictionaries. You will also be able to use Google and other search engines as great learning assistants. If you want to know how to use a certain Thai word in a sentence, just type it into Google and within a second you will have thousands of examples.

When you know how to type in Thai you can send emails and chat in Thai. This is a really fun way to practice your language skills, both reading and writing. Add some Thai friends to your favourite social media platform (Facebook, Hi5, Google+ etc) and start to interact with status updates and comments. You will be surprised how fast your typing skills will improve when someone is waiting for your comment.

If you want to type in Thai on your computer you will first have to install the Thai keyboard so that your computer understands that you want to type in another language. This is pretty simple and straightforward if you already have South East Asian languages installed with your operating system. In Windows you open the Control Panel and choose Languages and Regions. Click on Add Languages or Change Keyboard and add Thai language and the Thai Kedmanee Keyboard.

If you succeed you will see and abbreviation for the language you are currently typing in, in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. It will show EN for English and if you click on it you can choose TH for Thai.

The next step is to find out where the Thai letters are located on your plastic keyboard. The easiest way to do that is to get a Thai keyboard sticker set and place each sticker on the corresponding key on your keyboard. And don't worry, you will still be able to see the Roman letters as they are included on the stickers. You can buy Thai keyboard stickers in our reception.

If you don't want to cover your keys with stickers you can buy a separate Thai keyboard and plug it into one of your usb ports on your computer. The next step is to learn how to type - we will get back to that in our next post.

There are many tools and resources that you can use for learning Thai. If you choose good material and equipment your learning will improve faster than if you settle with mediocre ones. So spend some time on researching and selecting your learning material and tools. It will pay off in the long run. 

As we are all different the tools and material that you choose might not appeal to your fellow student, but that's ok. You should set up your own study kit so that it suits you best. You don't need to worry about other student's preferences. 

The results of the learning style questionnaire that you fill in on your first day of the Thai Intensive Course at Lanta International Language School will show you your learning profile. If you are an analytical learner you will benefit from tools and material that present the Thai language in a structured and sequential way. If you are a relational learner you will benefit more from studying together with other people and learning from the Thai community around you, and so on. Every learning style has its most effective tools and materials. 

The first tool that most students benefit from when learning Thai is a dictionary. The tricky thing with dictionaries for Thai language learning is that as a beginner you can't read the Thai words. On top of that the order of the Thai sounds is different from the order of the sounds of the Roman alphabet so you need to learn a new sound order before you can look up words at a convenient speed. 

Luckily there are dictionaries for Thai learners that present Thai vocabulary in a way that makes it easy for a beginner to learn. The Thai learner dictionaries include a section where Thai words are written and ordered by the Roman alphabet system. In this way you can look up words that you hear right from the start. Just don't let this be an excuse for not learning how to read Thai the real way. Thai written in the Roman alphabet will never show you the correct pronunciation.

You can find English-Thai, Swedish-Thai and German-Thai learner dictionaries for sale at our reception area. If you want a dictionary to use on your computer we recommend Thai2English (http://www.thai2english.com) They have an on-line version but the dictionary you download is even better. You can try it for free for two weeks and then decide if you think it's worth the money.

At Lanta International Language School we emphasize the importance of listening comprehension training when you study the Thai language. You will learn a lot if you open your ears and listen to how native Thai speakers use their language. As a beginner you will not understand what they say but you will hear how they say it. Such as how Thai people use intonation and tones when they speak. After a while you will start to pick up words and sentences. The YouTube clip below is an example of our listening comprehension videos. For our website we made a version with subtitles in English too (below).

The tones and new sounds in the Thai languages make it extra important to learn from listening. So open your ears and listen to as much Thai as you can. Both in and out of school. It's common to ”close” ones ears and stop paying attention to a language that you don't understand, but don't do that. In the beginning you will not understand anything of what is being said on TV, in restaurants etc. but even if you don't understand you will hear:

• Pronunciation of both new sounds and the Thai tones. In the beginning you will not hear the difference between some sounds and tones but the more you listen the better you will be able to distinguish between them.
  
  
• Language melody and rhythm. The only way to sound like a native Thai speaker is to imitate the melody and rhythm of the language. When you listen you will improve your understanding of the Thai language melody and rhythm and build a mental sound library of examples to use for imitation.
  
  
• Vocabulary. Words will initially blend together but after a while you will be able to hear when words start and end. You will also start to recognise words that you hear often.
  
  
• Sentences and phrases that come up frequently in different situations will give you hints of their usefulness. 
  
  
• Thai language spoken by different people and in different speed. The more you listen to different voices the better you will understand.
  
  
• Vocabulary and phrases that have been taught in school. If you listen attentively out of school you will get free repetition of lesson material.

So start to listen to Thai from the very beginning of your Thai language studies. And keep listening to Thai as you go from beginner to intermediate to advanced levels. It will help your learning tremendously.

Get a good foundation when you learn Thai - start with listening comprehension. Lanta International Language School considers listening comprehension to be the key to effective and successful language learning. We base this on both scientific research and our own experiences during testing and teaching. 

Grammar and rules are good for understanding why something is said in a certain way and for getting an overview of a language phenomenon quickly, but thinking about Thai grammar and rules when you speak will slow you down. When you speak Thai you just want to know how to say something correctly, you don't need to bother about why it is correct. 

Our goal is to give you so much listening comprehension training that you should be able to ”hear” in your head what is correct grammar and pronunciation just from experience. When you can do that you will be able to speak Thai like a native.

If you can ”hear” what is correct grammar you will also be able to write using correct grammar. If you know how people speak Thai you will also find it easier to read Thai as you can predict which words should be written together and hear their pronunciation.

This is why we spend a lot of time on giving you listening comprehension training when you study Thai with us. It's the foundation for speaking as well as reading and writing.