Thai for beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker

[djayz]

I've been using the Beginner, Intermediate and, to a lesser extent, Advanced books from Benjawan Poomsan Becker for years and love them! They are practical, easy to follow and exactly my learning style. 

 

Two questions: Firstly, I've decided to review the Beginners book because I've been making some spelling and pronunciation errors. However, for some unexplainable reason I've lost the audio files for this book. Can anybody share these audio files with me or suggest where I can download them? 

Secondly, can anybody recommend any Thai language schools in Bangkok which uses Benjawan's books as the main material in their classes?  I'm interested in returning to a classroom to continue studying. 

Thanking you in advance for any help or advice. 

Edited January 20, 2022 by djayz

[Neeranam]

I've had conversations with her on Facebook. I suggest you message here directly. 

[Badger18]

1 hour ago, djayz said:

Secondly, can anybody recommend any Thai language schools in Bangkok which uses Benjawan's books as the main material in their classes? 

Try Thai Language Hut.

[Oxx]

7 hours ago, djayz said:

I've been using the Beginner, Intermediate and, to a lesser extent, Advanced books from Benjawan Poomsan Becker for years and love them!

 

7 hours ago, djayz said:

I'm interested in returning to a classroom to continue studying.

You praise this series of books and have been using them for years, yet still need further classroom study? I think that just shows that these books don't work that well.

Oh, and don't be misled by the titles.  The "Advanced" book is really still beginner level.

[djayz]

1 hour ago, Oxx said:

 

You praise this series of books and have been using them for years, yet still need further classroom study? I think that just shows that these books don't work that well.

Oh, and don't be misled by the titles.  The "Advanced" book is really still beginner level.

Yes, I would like to "go back to school" and study more. This is not, contrary to what you believe,  a poor reflection of these books, but of my wish to learn. I used to take classes in various subjects in the evenings when I lived in Farangistan. Thoroughly enjoyed it! Something I really miss here. It helps to keep the brain cells active and you might end up meeting a few nice people who share common interests. 

What books and/or Thai language school do you/have you used? 

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by djayz

[Chris.B]

The CDs can be bought here:

 

https://www.baylanguagebooks.co.uk/collections/language-courses/thai

 

[ColeBOzbourne]

7 hours ago, Oxx said:

Oh, and don't be misled by the titles.  The "Advanced" book is really still beginner level.

Ouch! I think anyone who has done due diligence and actually learned all the material in the three books/audios deserves more credit than that.

 

Oxx, I have read many of your posts and your language skills are obviously extremely high. Have you forgotten what it's like to be a lowly beginner? BPB For Beginners teaches basic vocabulary, the alphabet little by little, and provides reading/audio practice with single, simple sentences accompanied by English and Transliteration. To me that seems appropriate for a beginner program.

 

BPB For Advanced Readers eliminates the transliteration and provides reading passages/audio 3-5 pages long covering a variety of topics. Also reading sample newspaper articles (notoriously difficult), proverbs and tongue twisters. At this point the student should have a vocabulary of several thousand words. I can't imagine this being in any beginner's program for language learning.

 

Admittedly, after the three levels the student's writing skills would still be at an extremely low level. Reading, listening and speaking skills would be much higher. I would also recommend using a variety of supplemental materials along with the program.

[Oxx]

19 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

Ouch! I think anyone who has done due diligence and actually learned all the material in the three books/audios deserves more credit than that.

Trying to put this in context, if one completes all three books one's roughly at the same level of someone who has studied using the Union method for 3-4 months (240-320 classroom hours).  The FSI (US Foreign Service Institute which is responsible for teaching US diplomats) categorises Thai as a 4* language, requiring more than 1100 hours of study (but less than 2,200) for a native English speaker to reach speaking and reading proficiency.  So, someone who's completed the three books is only a fifth of the way to achieving such proficiency.  (And note that this does not include writing proficiency, which takes longer again.)  I still think it's fair to say that the "Advanced" book is only beginner level.

On a personal note, I spent 1200 hours in the classroom with the Union method (plus a few hundred more hours doing homework) over a year and a bit.  At the end of this study it was still a massive challenge to read a short newspaper article.  One could say that I'm a hopeless learner (I'm not, and have mastered several other foreign languages, including Japanese), or that the Union method is useless (it's not, but it is very old fashioned), but the reality is that learning a foreign language - particularly one so different from English - is a massive undertaking.

 

So, well done anyone who's mastered all three of BPB's books, but you've still got a long, long way to go.

[ashconnor]

Audio is on Spotify if you still need it.

[chubby]

I had the Intermediate CD never really used it, as it seems like an old fashioned method of just listening to whats in the book.

 

wouldn't bother looking for a school based on the transliteration method, nor the content, just find one you'll attend and stick with preferably in person, for X hours/week  if your serious

 

find one that doesn't allow you to speak English ????

[Bucyf]

Who knows, are there any Apple podcasts devoted to studying Thai Language?