What Does It Take to Become Confident or Fluent in Thai? Let’s design your learning path.
If you’re ready to start learning Thai, you might be wondering: “How can I become fluent?” The answer depends on your personal goals!
In this blog post, I will introduce you to designed paths to reach your learning goal, whether you want to have basic conversations, speak Thai fluently, or master all four language skills.
Table of Contents
Why You Need a Solid Plan
Learning a language without a plan can be like wandering in a maze. 😵💫 Thai, with its unique script, tones, and grammar, requires a focused approach. A well-thought-out plan:
- Helps you prioritize skills like conversation, reading, and listening.
- Maximizes your efficiency by breaking down complex concepts.
- Keeps you motivated and on track by setting achievable milestones.
Step 1: Choose your goals
Goal 1: Become just conversational
If your goal is to become confident in speaking daily Thai and can get by with ease, you can focus on a few things:
✅ Solid conversational foundation
✅ Speak incorrect syntax and word orders
✅ Focus on learning 300 essential vocabulary
✅ Learn common Thai phrases in different daily situations
❌ No distraction with too advanced topics
❌ You can skip basic Thai reading. (unless you want to learn it)
Goal 2: Become Fluent in Speaking Thai
Nice one! 👏🏽
If you aim to become fluent in speaking, it takes more effort and time, but worth it! Here is your focus:
✅ Everything from Goal 1, plus…
✅ Learn basic Thai pronunciation at the beginning
✅ Master advanced topics like: unit words, ending words, tenses, if-clause, conditional, conjunction, etc. to communicate in complex sentences
✅ Truly understand the nuances and colloquial Thai.
✅ Tons of practice. Collecting your speaking hours like a pilot collecting flying miles
💡 Expert Tip:
We highly recommend you learn basic Thai reading as you will no longer rely on English transliteration, improve your pronunciation as well as open new sources to learn the language (Visual learning method).
Goal 3: Become Fluent in all skills
If your dream is to master Thai in speaking, listening, reading, and writing, it’s inevitable not to learn basic Thai reading. So your focuses are as follows:
✅ Start off with basic Thai reading rules
✅ Everything from Goal 2, plus…
✅ Enhance your comprehension with different learning sources such as articles, short stories, podcasts, movies, and songs
✅ Focus on both input (learn, read, listen) and output (express, speak, write, journal)
✅ Challenge yourself to think in Thai instead of translating from your native language.
💡 Expert Tip: 90% of students who became fluent in Thai start learning basic Thai reading at the beginning of their journey.
Step 2: Follow the ready-to-learn Paths
Path A: Intensive Thai for Beginners
Goals:
- Build a solid foundation in basic conversation and reading.
- Become ready to continue improving at the higher levels.
- Communicate in ALL daily situations comfortably.
Path Instruction:
- Start with Intensive Thai Volume 1 (Chapters 1-8) to learn basic syntax, build up vocabulary, and see the overview of how the language works.
- Continue with Volume 2 to enhance your foundation with more advanced topics.

🌟Skills: Conversation & Foundation
🚀Level: Beginner to upper-beginner
📚Number of courses: x2
⏳Study time: 4 months
💲Price: 9,990 THB
Path B: Intensive Thai Series
Goals:
- Designed for learners who want to focus solely on speaking Thai without delving into reading or writing.
- Build competence in conversation by mastering essential topics for Thai syntax, word orders, colloquial elements, etc.
- Build up your vocabulary to 500-600 Thai words with more than 40 daily conversations.
Path Instruction:
- Start with the Beginner Bundle (Volume 1&2)
- Continue with Volume 3 to extend more vocabulary and enhance Thai proficiency, spontaneity, and confidence to engage more in deeper-level topics in Thai.
- Lastly complete the last volume, to elevate proficiency to fluency, enhancing their speaking skills and expanding their vocabulary dynamics.

🌟Skills: Conversation & Foundation
🚀Level: Beginner to Intermediate
📚Number of courses: x4
⏳Study time: 8-10 months
💲Price: 17,000 THB
Path C: 4-skill Ultimate Thai Bundle
Goals:
- Be able to read Thai sentences or basic Thai stories with full understanding.
Takes you from beginner to advanced, ensuring well-rounded proficiency.
Enhance your foundation and elevate your skills with additional exercises and drills.
Path Instruction:
- Start of with reading basic Thai, take the Ultimate Thai Reading Course.
- Continue with Intensive Thai volumes 1&2 to build a solid foundation of communication.
- Enhance your listening skills with 15 Thai colloquial dialogues in the Thai Listening Exercise.
- Improve your reading comprehensive with 20 short and fun stories and speed up your reading skills.

🌟Skills: Conversation & Foundation
🚀Level: Beginner to Intermediate
📚Number of courses: x6
⏳Study time:12 months
💲Price: 25,000 THB
Summary
No matter what your ultimate goal is, we do believe you can achieve it.
With our comprehensive and structured programs and our student support, learning Thai is possible and can be fun! 🥳
If you’d like to get started with learning Thai, contact us or book a call with us. We are here to support you and help you get started with ease!
Hear from Our Students
More than thousands of students enrolled in BananaThai’s programs. See hundreds more reviews on our Facebook Page and Google Review
EXCELLENT Based on 40 reviews Steven Milne2025-04-17Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Kru Smuk is a superb teacher. Online course content is well-structured, easy to follow and of a very high quality. Exercises on vocabulary and grammar are supported by individual feedback to aid student learning. Kru Smuk's excellent communication skills, friendly manner and enthusiasm make learning Thai an enjoyable experience. I strongly recommend Banana Thai. Enzo Cyber2025-04-03Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. This class is excellent for learning Thai grammar! The lessons are well-structured, and the explanations are clear. Smuk does a fantastic job teaching, providing helpful examples that make concepts easy to understand. I highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to learn Thai in English. Plus, you can pause and ask questions anytime, which really helps clarify any doubts. If you're serious about learning Thai, don’t hesitate to join! Margaret Lee2025-03-29Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I have completed 2 Thai language classes, Read & Write and Intensive Thai Level 1, with Banana Thai. As a beginner, I am lucky to have Kru Look Kaew as my teacher as she is very patient and always look for ways to help us to understand more about Thai language. Thanks Banana Thai and Kru Look Kaew! Globe Trotter2025-03-27Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I just completed the Thai intensive course volume 1 with Banana Thai. It was a 24 hours of study spread over 16 classes in a group setting of 5 students with Kru Praiya (Look Gaaew). I really enjoyed the 8 week course and highly recommend it to anyone who’s a beginner. The teacher was very friendly and really took the time to explain everything. The study materials were easy to understand and they upload a lot of online self study quiz materials and class recordings, in case you want to go over it later or missed the class for any reason. I’ll definitely do the volume 2 with them too. Thank you Banana Thai team, Kru Praiya and all my classmates who made it so fun. Richard Tan2025-02-03Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I have traveled to Thailand many times over the years. If you're reading this, you too, have fallen in love with the beauty of the Thai people, culture, and food, and now want to learn to read and speak Thai fluently to fully enjoy everything about this wonderful country. After plenty of research for the best resource to learn Thai, I easily chose BananaThai. I'm sure you have seen the lovely Kru Smuk on the YouTube videos. That same charm and charisma show in her courses as well. I purchased the Ultimate Guide to Thai Reading, as well as the first two Intensive courses. The information is so well organized and streamlined that I learned to read Thai in less than two weeks. Others have done it even faster, but I'm thorough in my studies. Compare that to people on YouTube showing how to learn Thai for free by using many different resources. It takes months for them to just learn the Thai alphabet, never-mind reading, because they have to create their own structure on how to study. With BananaThai courses, the information is broken down into perfect bite size lessons that are engaging, funny, entertaining, and logical. With each passing lesson, everything just makes perfect sense, and your confidence grows immensely. It feels so effortless to watch and learn as Kru Smuk teaches everything at the perfect pace with the most pleasant voice. Her smile and personality make learning Thai so enjoyable and fun. If you want to know what I chose to learn first, I decided to learn how to read Thai first (Ultimate Guide to Reading Thai) before learning the conversational material in the Intensive courses. Don't worry, you will learn plenty of vocabulary when going through the reading course. I can certainly promise you this. When I learned to read, and then began the other materials, learning became infinitely easier and faster! You can read the Thai script and transliteration so the vocabulary and information are so easy to learn! I highly recommend learning with BananaThai. The fun courses, charming teacher, perfect structure and organization make BananaThai the best investment in yourself to truly enjoy our beloved Thailand. Maliwan Khienpanya Swalve2025-01-25Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I took the learn to read course and it was amazing! I actually managed to learn how to read in less than a week. The teaching style is great and there are plenty of exercises to do to practice. Highly recommend to anyone who wants to learn to read Thai. Truly is as easy as peeling a banana lol Duria Durianovna2025-01-14Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Banana Thai is by far the best Thai learning program that is available on the market today! Kru Smuk is an incredible teacher, takes pride and joy in her work, very easy to study and very modern! I am proud to be your student! Highly recommended, very well organized classes and you will be able to speak Thai! Victoria Chai2024-12-27Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Highly recommend! I have attended intensive 2 & 3 group classes (and now onto intensive 4) with BananaThai. My Thai has improved significantly! The topics and pacing of classes are well thought out. My teacher, Kru Nooaon, is terrific, bubbly and engaging. I appreciate her sharing about the etymology of certain Thai words to better our understanding of the language. Shaminho Chang2024-10-23Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. I learned Conversational Thai Level 1 to level 4 from Banana Thai. My teacher was Kruu Ying who is patience, kind and bubbly. Class is always fun with her and she always takes time to give us alot of examples and made learning easy and enjoyable. There are fun online quizzes, voice clip homeworks and many more. The materials provide from the school were good and very detailed. The format in text book structured and easy to follow. I think Banana Thai would be a good choice for you to being your Thai language learning Dexter Florendo2024-10-22Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. This school is the best if you wanted to learn Thai in a very Easy way.Verified by TrustindexTrustindex verified badge is the Universal Symbol of Trust. 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