Visited 11 hours ago
Mike Surinak
Thai
English
Native
Vietnamese
Spanish
Russian

From United States

Living in Bangkok, Thailand

Learning Thai with an American dude has its advantages! As a native English speaker, I am VERY familiar with the struggles that come with learning a tonal language - in fact, I bet I can help you overcome these struggles better than a native speaker simply because I have experienced them myself. I'm a native English speaker from the United States, but I have reached advanced and proficient fluency in the Thai language. I've lived in Southeast Asia for almost 8 years now, and I love teaching the Thai language and talking about Thai culture. I have taught Thai to English speakers for several years now. In addition, I was also a professional English teacher at the high school and university level in the United States. I will get you speaking Thai the way Thais speak Thai from day 1! . . . I know what it's like to get frustrated, but I also know the path to overcoming challenges with the Thai language. It's my firm belief that students learn best when they speak Thai in the context of real-life conversations. So I always try to focus my instruction with that goal in mind. Let me know what topics you like to talk about, and I will create a lesson to fulfill your needs!
My teaching material
  • Quizzes
  • Audio files
  • Image files
  • PDF file
  • Articles and news
  • Text Documents
Read more

Interests

Films & TV Series
History
Reading
Trial Lesson
119 lessons completed
USD 12.00+
Tourist Thai - essential phrases for travel and short conversations
A1-A2
Language Essentials
831 lessons completed
USD 16.00+
Intermediate converstion practice
B1-B2
Conversation
270 lessons completed
USD 16.00+
Based on your timezone (UTC)
5.0
76
Reviews
100%
Attendance
100%
Respond
Structured lessons·3
Pronunciation·6
For beginners·46
06jburt
1 Thai lesson
Felt like i made more progress in 30 mins of working on tone with Mike, than i did when i did months of group classes. He's an excellent teacher.
mitchell
1 Thai lesson
Amazing introduction lesson, Mike took the time to understand and listen to my situation, he then used this knowledge to tailor my onboarding experience with him, this resulted in a really comfortable learning environment. I would highly recommend Mike to anyone… Especially an English native speaker as his knowledge and practice on tone use was highly effective! 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Student Jeramy
Jeramy
32 Thai lessons
A really refreshing approach to learning Thai. In a few lessons, Mike made the tone rules I'd struggled to internalise finally click. Learning from someone who's navigated the language from the outside, they get the specific struggles of coming into Thai from a completely different base, and know how to structure things from that lens. Highly recommend. Thanks so much Mike!
leighton ashford
1 Thai lesson
Absolutely excellent teacher, explained everything in depth and very encouraging. I will definitely use this teacher again.
Jeffrey Frank
8 Thai lessons
Mike is a solid Thai language teaching pro! Perfectly aligned to my level and goals. Good at breaking things down into "bite-sized pieces". His lessons are geared towards real-world use, with each one building on the previous lessons, making it easy to track my progress.
Student Brendyn Hoag
Brendyn Hoag
2 Thai lessons
Best Thai Teacher Out There!!! I’ve been learning with Teacher Mike for over a year now, and honestly he’s one of the most knowledgeable and dedicated teachers I’ve ever worked with. His deep understanding of both Thai language and Thai culture really shows in every lesson. What I appreciate most is how thoughtful he is with his teaching. He doesn’t just explain things, he makes sure you actually understand and can use them in real life. His bilingual teaching style is incredibly effective and has helped me learn much faster than I expected. Every lesson is engaging, relaxed, and fun. You can tell he genuinely cares about his students improving and feeling confident with the language. His years of experience in Thailand make him an extremely valuable teacher for anyone who wants to seriously learn Thai. If you’re looking for a teacher who is patient, intelligent, and truly passionate about helping you succeed, I can’t recommend Teacher Mike enough.