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This however meant that when I did start learning to speak I didn't have too many bad habits.
My second piece of advice would be to learn to read and write Thai if you can't already as this helps to concrete the pronunciation into your brain. I guess my method was sort of a real life AUA approach, although I must admit their programme has never really interested me. The best way to learn pronunciation IMO is to speak as much as you can and listen when they say it.
I used to find that going to have a beer or coke at a bar and just sitting and chatting in Thai was great for learning pronunciation. IMO you are far better to try and practice with many people as that is a real gauge of how clear you are.
Some of my friends can speak Thai well because they practice with their girlfriends and the GF is used to what they are saying, but other people cant understand them. I studied Mandarin at the University level for 3 years with a Taiwanese teacher who was very strict about correct pronunciation and then lived in Taiwan briefly so I was ahead of the game when I started learning Thai. That said, my biggest help towards correct pronunciation was listening to my 4 year old nephew and his mom.
He would say something, she would say it back, but clearly and slowly. Kids are the best teachers for something like this, I think because they are learning it too and tend to speak much slower than adults. Well, results are a combination of the learner's natural abilities and interest as well as the teacher or method used. I have no gripes with your method except that before you start with that, it could be good to learn a blueprint of correct pronunciation which you can go back to for reference. I am convinced most people can improve their pronunciation to a great degree with the right type of coaching, and I am also convinced that it is best to start working on it straight away so as not to content oneself too early.
The problem is, many Thai language teachers do not provide or know how to give concrete advice for pronouncing Thai sounds. You need a carefully written down phonetic description of how to form your lips and move your tongue, as well as modulate your voice pitch. This is something physical, something you do with your body, and so it can be described.
The natural state of our tongues is laziness. They try to find the path of least resistance, fall back on the same groves it has been before. This is not a problem for being understood as it is so wide spread, but it is an unneccessary mistake and will make it more complicated to learn to read and spell correctly. Anyway Tax, you're correct that carefully pronounced Thai and colloquial Thai sound very different.
The advantage of starting with exaggeratedly careful Thai is that you form the right pattern in your mind first instead of trying to make a half-arsed emulation of what you think you are hearing. The tone contours and sounds are partially modified in everyday speech, but the basic underlying patterns are the same, otherwise communication would be extremely difficult. This is the point of formal learning. Once you have established this, it is much easier to navigate the rest. I honestly cannot always understand my landlord. However, he and his family always understand me!
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