Note: The course material described here is for the old version (priced at ฿7,000). The new, updated, revamped version is being incorporated into the Rapid Learn Thai app and will cost ฿12,000. You can purchase the old version (use coupon code alpha) and it will be upgraded to the new version for free (late Dec 2024).

So once I’ve mastered reading, then what?

Once you can read, you will be ready to start on the basic conversational course called Everyday Thai for Beginners. It’s based on the first-year university program at the University of Washington.

It consists of themed lessons for each common situation you will encounter in Thailand. You don’t learn phrases. You learn sentence patterns so that you can have a conversation in Thai by creating your own phrases according to the ideas you want to communicate.

As you work through the course, you will acquire the ability to have simple conversations in everyday situations such as greeting people, asking about their family, going out to eat or watch a movie, buying things, getting around by bus or taxi, dealing with money, etc.)

By the time you complete the Rapid Read Thai course, you will know about 1,000 words and possibly another 400 words as you study the supplementary songs and stories.

Everyday Thai has another 1,100 vital vocabulary words that you will memorize with the flashcard app as you work through the lessons.

The ebook is interactive, with embedded audio, so that you can listen to the vocabulary and the sentence patterns immediately. The idea is to progress quickly and effectively through self-study. However, I strongly recommend that you work with a Thai tutor, first to understand each chapter and get your pronunciation just right, and second to practice speaking using the vocabulary and sentence patterns you have been studying.

By memorizing the essential vocabulary – in Everyday Thai and Rapid Read Thai – and a little practice speaking and listening to typical sentence patterns, you can communicate competently in virtually any everyday situation.

Study with Erin

Erin is a native English speaker from London and has lived in Thailand since she was 10. She learnt to read and speak Thai from scratch as a teenager, many years ago, with the Rapid Method.

It’s lonely and sometimes difficult to motivate yourself to study by yourself online. So making a commitment with a tutor who can share your journey, explain the concepts in more depth and guide you through the exercises is a sure way of getting it done.

Erin will be your learning buddy, a bit like a graduate tutor helping out undergraduates. Her role is mostly to explain (or re-explain) the key concepts that you are struggling with and help you get the correct pronunciation from a farang/Westerner’s point of view.

The Everyday Thai for Beginners online course costs ฿7,000 ($205/£160/€185)

Note: you should budget an additional ฿36,000 ($1,050/£825/€950) for the sixty one-hour lessons with Erin (2hrs/chapter at ฿600/hour). Please add 3% if you wish to pay your teacher by credit/debit card or PayPal.

Click here to order the Everyday Thai for Beginners package
(Don’t forget to log in to your account.)

Note: there is no transliteration. The Thai words are only in Thai script, so you need to know how to read before this course will be of any use to you.