Learning Thai with variation

Repetition is the best way to learn anything, and this is particularly the case with languages. You do not learn new words just by hearing them once; you have to repeat them to make them stick. On traditional language courses, this is often achieved by going over vocabulary lists until all of the words have been memorised, at least until the next day.

One of the problems with this method is that the situation in which you use the word does not change. Your brain cannot get any help from remembering where you were or what you did when you were learning.

Compare this to the concept we adopt in our Thai language courses at Lanta International Language School where “variation is the mother of learning”. We advocate that you will learn and remember words most easily by being reminded of them in as many different situations as possible.

Let’s take the word “chair”. When learn Thai with us you will get a feeling for the word “chair” when your teacher tells you to: “walk to the chair”, “put the chair on the table”, “sit on the blue chair” etc. “Chair” will be repeated several times in many different situations during a number of lessons.

In addition to this repetitive use of the word “chair” during classes, you will also hear “chair” in the videos that will be loaded onto your computer, and you will meet the word in computer games, sound files and in the wordlists that you get at the end of every week.

This gives your brain such frequent exposure and varied experiences of the word that it will be easy to remember it. Due to the variation in your learning you will not be bored by repeating the same word tens of times. On the contrary, your memory traces will grow deeper and broader until your Thai words become a part of you.

>> Read the next article about learning Thai; Multimedia Advantage

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