After graduating with a PhD in linguistics, Titima Suthiwan knew she wanted to teach Thai to foreigners. But she can hardly have predicted the huge popularity the Thai programme she pioneered at the National University of Singapore (NUS) enjoys today.

Just eight years after first stepping into the Centre of Language Studies at NUS, the programme has grown from a single class of 21 students to several classes with 240 fresh admissions each semester - surpassing Bahasa to become the most popular Southeast Asian language at the university.

"I think Thai is popular among Singaporean students because they like Thailand so much, especially its popular culture," says assistant professor Titima. Some are so keen on the Kingdom, she says, that even their mobile phones' ring tones are Thai songs.

It isn't just pop culture, however, that brings Singaporean students to Thai class.

"Some students, particularly those studying engineering, tell me that they want to work abroad. By studying Thai, they hope they'll stand a chance of getting a post in Thailand."

At the start of each semester, the programme's Thai 1 class gives 150 beginners the basics in all aspects of the language. Separated into 12 groups, with a tutor assigned to each, the students have three lessons a week, two on speaking and listening, and one devoted to writing Thai. The level and intensity get higher through to the Thai 6 class.

The teaching philosophy is to avoid spoon-feeding students. "We don't use any other language in class besides Thai. We don't teach them grammar and don't encourage them to be dependent on a dictionary. Rather, we let them think and guess for themselves from what they hear and speak in class. It's the natural way a baby learns how to speak," says Titima.

And the job satisfaction for her and her colleagues - mostly highly-educated Thai women - in seeing students speaking fluent Thai after just 15 weeks of study is immense, Titima explains.

Correcting students' pronunciation can also be fun. While tones are difficult for Malay students, Chinese students often have problems with vowels. "For example, they can have problems with the word 'laew' [already] and 'leaw' [to turn]. Sometimes the word 'khwai' [buffalo] can be dangerous too," she says with a laugh.

Despite the pressures of learning a foreign language, the Thai classes have a reputation among the students for being fun and relaxed. Not everyone, though, follows through - statistically, only a third of students from Thai 1 will enrol in Thai 2, a number Titima would like to increase to half. By the Thai 5 class, the number of students is whittled down to single digits. Many, though, don't even make it past the first stage.

One reason for making it at least as far as Thai 3 is the chance the students get to spend a month in Thailand, practising what they've learned so far. Titima says she purposely places them in universities outside Bangkok. "I want them to experience more than just Thai pop culture. Besides, these kids will eventually make their ways to Bangkok anyway."

Singaporean students are allocated a Thai partner and a host family if there's one available. "After one month, you can see their speaking skills improve dramatically. They're much more fluent and natural."

By the time they reach Thai 4 and 5, the students are reading novels for youngsters, magazine articles and watching Thai movies, then discussing them with the instructor. "They're immersed in the full culture of Thailand, rather than just the language," says Titima.

The programme's success in getting students speaking Thai in such a short time has drawn groups of academics from around the region eager to see how it is done.

Titima attributes the success of the programme to the host university.

"They've been willing to invest - to hire more tutors. We have small classes - a maximum of 12 students - which means every student has a chance to speak and be corrected by the instructor."

Apparently, though, there's still room for improvement. "Language is never a static thing. We have to adapt to its changes, to make what's already good even better."

One way Titima hopes to do this is by writing a new course textbook - currently, the AUA book is being used.

The thing that won't change, believes Titima, is the popularity of Thai language. Which is just fine by her - she's happy doing what she's dreamed of for years: Teaching Thai to foreigners.

Sopaporn Kurz

The Nation

Singapore