SnakeheadAngler

On 12/24/2019 at 12:42 PM, Nokawou said:

I am currently listing to โน๊ต อุดน episode 12 a Thai standup comedian  with good English subtitles  and some Thai subtitles if you look around. Have fun while you learning and some insights into the Thai thinking.  

 

 

Watching Thai videos along with Thai subtitles is a really great way to improve listening comprehension if you have already developed some competence in the written language.  At least it helps me.  I will watch a segment of the video (say 15 seconds or so, but gradually lengthening as I gain proficiency), ignoring the subtitles, and write down in Thai what I thought I heard.  I'll substituting boxes for the things I couldn't make out.  Then I'll go back and check my translation.  This helps me home in on the problem sounds so that my ear becomes progressively tuned to them.  The first time I listen, I may slow down the video speed so I have more time to process the input; but I only do that when absolutely necessary, and make a point to go over the material again at normal speed.

The only problem is that I only know of one Thai-language YouTube channel which offers Thai subtitles for its videos.  (OK, now that I read the post above, I know two.)  I really, really, REALLY wish that someone out there could suggest some more.  Especially welcome would be videos covering Thai local news and current events, Thai culture, and Thai TV shows and movies.

Hi tgeezer,

Thanks for the reply.  I must say that I am specifically looking for YouTube videos, as I do not reside in Thailand and therefore cannot access the train.  Online videos allow me to play and replay content at my leisure, even slowing it down if I wish, so I can acclimate myself to the spoken language.  Since I have been studying Thai for many years, my reading comprehension is advanced enough that I can easily read the written language (except for newspapers, which have a specialized jargon).  The problem is that all of the books I have studied, the novels I have read, etc., etc., are just printed symbols on pages, not accompanied by any sounds.  I have great difficulty connecting the sounds with the syllables, for my listening skills have not been polished.  My ears have trouble distinguishing between long and short vowels, between the consonants ng- and n-, between mid and low tones, and so on and so on.  This results in a bewildering number of possible permutations of what a given spoken syllable might be, with the number of untranslated syllables becoming overwhelming as the speaker continues to talk.  Watching YouTube videos without captions helps some, but progress is agonizingly slow- sometimes I might spend 30 minutes playing and replaying a single minute's worth of audio, trying to figure out what was said.  Access to subtitles allows me to resolve the ambiguities without getting overwhelmed, so that I begin to internalize the subtle (to my ears, at least) differences between different sounds.

Hi again everybody,

   Seems I am on a roll today with all the questions I'm submitting to this forum!  Forgive me, but I just joined and these questions have been on my mind for a long time.  This particular post concerns what Thai-->English dictionary you would suggest for a person who has used and loved the Thai Student's Dictionary by Mary M. Haas for many years, but who finds it increasingly dated and incomplete.  Please note that I am NOT looking for a pocket dictionary, a traveller's phrase book, a beginner's dictionary, or the like.  I seek a competent desktop reference to assist me as I read works of Thai literature, watch Thai videos, etc.  Transliteration into Romanized Thai is desirable, though not an absolute requirement, as Thai is a very regular language and I am familiar with its phonetic rules.

   Thanks!

Hi everyone,

   I'm wondering what you would suggest as the equivalent of Oxford or Webster's when it comes to Thai dictionaries.  Please know that I am not talking about a bilingual dictionary such as those by Mary Haas or So Sethaputra, but rather a comprehensive dictionary entirely in the Thai language, one in which the vocabulary words and their definitions are both written in Thai.  I'm talking about a general dictionary that an educated Thai adult would consult.  I would prefer something of sufficient print quality and with large enough font and page size to allow a person to use it without having to strain his or her eyes.  A durable binding would be another plus.

   Thanks!

Hey folks,

   I have been looking... and looking... and looking... for a copy of a book entitled "Teaching Grammar of Thai" by William Kuo, from the 1970s.  Of course it is out of print, at least here in the States, and all of my Internet searches have been in vain.  I learned a lot from that book back in the day, and I really miss having it on my shelf as a reference and as something to lend to people who are attempting to learn conversational Thai grammar at the intermediate level.

   I wonder whether remaining copies of it might be available at some bookstore in Thailand, perhaps Chula Books or the like.  That way I could snag one next time I'm in the area.

Hi folks,

   My ongoing study of the Thai language leads me to inquire whether someone might be able to suggest some YouTube channels featuring Thai language videos for which Thai subtitles (e.g. in the form of .srt files) are available.  I have found one such channel already, "Purifilm"; surely there must be others.  After all, deaf people visit YouTube too.

   I am able to read Thai (currently translating ลูกอีสาน).  However, I have great difficulty making out the spoken language, especially in real time.  Subtitles allow me to compare what I thought I heard against what was actually said, fine-tuning my ear to the sounds as delivered by different speakers with different regional variations.

   I will consider all suggestions, but if given the choice, I would prefer videos in conversational Thai relating to world and local news, cultural topics, and the like.  I have an interest in fishing, as my forum name suggests.  A Thai television drama might fit the bill as well.  While I respect Buddhism, I would rather not delve deeply into that genre, as my ultimate goal is to be able to casually converse with relatives and acquaintances on secular topics.  Political screeds, no matter where they exist on the left/right spectrum, do not interest me.  I am also not interested in materials from "Learn Thai with Our Easy Method"-type sites, of which there appear to be hundreds, almost all of which have some commercial angle.  I'm looking for specimens of actual Thai language, not watered down- "Thai in the wild," so to speak.

   Any suggestions would be appreciated!