Learning Thai

[Kim93]

Hi,

 

Any strategies, tips, and learning methods that you can give me to learn thai language. Where do I start? What to do first?

 

Thank you

[rvaviator]

Hi,
 
Any strategies, tips, and learning methods that you can give me to learn thai language. Where do I start? What to do first?
 
Thank you

PocketThaiMaster and. Its4Thai. - two very good applications that will give you a good start .. Available for Android and IPhone


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[SteveK]

I used Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker. Although not perfect, it gave me a very good basic understanding. It teaches you how to write the letters, quite a bit of vocabulary, and how to put the words together correctly. Best place to start is learn the characters and what letter they correspond to in English.

[SteveK]

5 minutes ago, remorhaz said:

Yes this is all you need to know.... When you go to a bar and the first girl approaches say "I like nom yai" 

If that's true, then Thailand should not really be top of your list of destinations to enjoy such things.

Edited July 31, 2019 by SteveK

[timendres]

I am a visual learner. So for me, the first step was to learn the alphabet. This helped a lot, and I think is a very important step.

[remorhaz]

23 hours ago, SteveK said:

If that's true, then Thailand should not really be top of your list of destinations to enjoy such things.

Very true sir... very true but Russia is cold.

[moontang]

Start with the numbers.. Also, learning the Khmer script numbers is pretty easy and not daunting like the Thai alphabet. There are about 6 Mai _____ words that you hear all day. 

[57mg20floz]

Also keep in mind it is a very, very simple language grammatically. You'll often formulate sentences and think to yourself, "Is this really it? I don't sound like an idiot?" and the thing is - yes, that's absolutely how simple Thai is. There is difficulty in getting your tongue around the tones, but it prompts more of a laugh when you spew out all your variations of "kow" ...

 

....also most farang here are lazy as hell, and Thais absolutely respect you for learning the language. I've had so many positive interactions just because I said something as simple as "No bag please" at 711 - the locals get thrown back, wondering if they actually just heard someone who tried making an effort in their lives.

 

Anyways, I like Evan Winget's "PTS" apps on the Apple Store. 7 dollars. What works with them is that he has a better ear for Romanization than other instructors, so what you're reading is often what's meant to be heard. It's not a comprehensive app though, and you should be done with it in a couple weeks or less.

[57mg20floz]

Also, it's helpful to think of Thai like German - words are just compounds of previous words. Once you attain a basic vocabulary for daily household and things, you can make educated guesses and strike 70% correct.

 

Example, the word in German for a bedroom is "schlafzimmer." Schlaf, meaning to sleep. Zimmer, meaning room.

 

Thai? Hong-ngon. Hong, room. Ngon, sleep. Easy. The word for car? Roat. Want a train? Roatfai = vehicle, "electricity"/energy. Subway? Roatfai din = Vehicle, energy, ground.

 

You'll start realizing that most exotic Thai dishes also translate to as simple compounds as "food street chicken" (khao soi gai)

[rak sa_ngop]

Go to the Piammitr Language School in the Trendy Building Suk Soi 13.  Small, friendly, classes. One month, 20 days,  3 hours a day for 6,000 baht, morning or afternoon.

 

Evenings, weekend, and private lessons also available (higher rates apply).

 

I can recommend this school from personal experience.

[blackcab]

A troll post has been removed.

 

Moved to the Thai language forum.

[tgeezer]

On 8/1/2019 at 3:06 PM, 57mg20floz said:

Also, it's helpful to think of Thai like German - words are just compounds of previous words. Once you attain a basic vocabulary for daily household and things, you can make educated guesses and strike 70% correct.

 

Example, the word in German for a bedroom is "schlafzimmer." Schlaf, meaning to sleep. Zimmer, meaning room.

 

Thai? Hong-ngon. Hong, room. Ngon, sleep. Easy. The word for car? Roat. Want a train? Roatfai = vehicle, "electricity"/energy. Subway? Roatfai din = Vehicle, energy, ground.

 

You'll start realizing that most exotic Thai dishes also translate to as simple compounds as "food street chicken" (khao soi gai)

 I was told that the ซอย describes the noodle type, to slice and was made by slicing up sheets of rice ‘dough’ to make the noodles which form the basis of the dish ข้าวซอย 

The fy in rot fy is for fire not electricity. The ‘under-ground’ train is rot fy ‘ dty din.’ 

electricity is ‘sky fire ‘. ไฟฟ้า 

 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

Another vote for Pocket Thai Master ( PTM ) there is also PTR and PTS , apps available for your smartphone, very well structured programs allow you to monitor your progress with tests that you can repeat as often as you like and are super convenient to use.

I strongly suggest you download PTM and check out the program, first 5 lessons are free .