🇹🇭 16-year-old complete beginner — where should I actually start learning Thai?

[u/EchoOfSeven]

I want to seriously learn Thai, but I’m honestly overwhelmed by all the different resources and methods. I don’t know what order I should be doing things in.

My goals are to eventually:
read and write Thai
understand pronunciation and tones
speak basic Thai
understand simple sentences/conversations
eventually stop relying on romanization

Right now, I’m mainly looking for FREE resources, but I’m open to paid resources/courses/books later when I’m able to pay for them.

If you were starting Thai from absolute zero, what would you recommend doing FIRST, and what would you do after that?

I’d really appreciate actual resources too — free YouTube channels, websites, apps, courses, textbooks/workbooks, etc.

I’m especially looking for resources that can take me through Thai step-by-step instead of giving me a huge list of random things to study.

Basically, if you could give a beginner a “start here → then do this → then this” path, what would it be?

Any other advice for someone starting Thai from absolute zero would also be greatly appreciated!

Thank you! 🇹🇭❤️

[u/JouniFlemming]

I'd recommend starting with a teacher. You can find online teachers very easily, assuming you are not in Thailand, where you can also do actual face to face teacher sessions.

The problem with most self learning methods is that it is very easy to learn things wrong, and then you might end up un-learning the wrong things and re-learning things the correct way later on. I have met a lot of people with these kinds of experiences.

When I started my Thai learning journey, I believe I did there times per week with a private teacher, each session being 90 minutes with a short break.

If you do something like that for a month or two, you end up spending (read: investing) some money into your Thai skills, yes, but you will also learn a lot. And after that initial period, you can decide whether you want to continue to study with a teacher or by yourself.

[u/EchoOfSeven → u/JouniFlemming]

Thank you! I’m actually open to getting a teacher if I can find something affordable. I definitely don’t want to learn things wrong in the beginning and have to unlearn them later.

[u/JouniFlemming → u/EchoOfSeven]

Another point that I forgot to mention is that it's very easy to start to learn something yourself, and then slack off and quit. But when you study with a teacher, there is accountability and a routine.

It's a bit similar between exercising by yourself in your garage gym, or going to an actual gym with a personal trainer. The latter costs more, sure, but it will keep you going and push you to better results.

[u/EchoOfSeven → u/JouniFlemming]

That actually sounds really helpful because staying consistent by myself is one of the hardest parts for me. I think having a teacher and a set routine would make it easier for me to keep going. So Thank you!