If you want to learn Thai to a decent basic level that gives a basic vocabulary of 2000 words , then the Linguaphone full Thai course is a very good structured course which is far superior to Benjawan Poomsan Beckers Thai for Beginners and Thai for Intermediate learners.

Beckers Thai for Advanced Readers is a good book to use after the Linguaphone course.

Sriwilai Ponmanee has some great books such as Speaking Thai 1 and 2 , 45 Thai Stories and Reading to Learn Thai.

5 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Ok, but here we are talking Arabic Alphabet and Thai language. What you seem to not understand, is that English has not much to do with that, as many languages uses the Arabic Alphabet, and different languages will pronounce what you are on about in different ways. English speakers do not rule the world, even if you think so. That´s just a delusion.

Nice attempt but a fail. 55555

Arabic numbers. Roman alphabet.

Did you know French, German (other languages of Germanic origin) and languages originating fron Latin have simplified "PH" to "F", although German does sometimes still use PH.

It's not so much as ruling the world than a world rule.

2 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

You completely misunderstand my point, which is as simple as pie, for even a 3rd-grader.

We use Science and the Scientific Process to evaluate which learning methods are more effective.

Or, you can sit hunch over your tea leaves trying to guess.

Linguistics is a science, by the way.

Where did you go to school, one wonders, since this might have a bearing upon how you choose to analyse this question.

You are funny. So funny you can't see humour yourself.

There is no set "science" to learning language, as has been proven by this thread. Your method is NOT the only way to succeed, as has been shown by this thread. One doesn't have to learn script, as has been shown by this thread.

At first the OP's post was being answered, but then as usual, a perfectly decent thread descends in to petty squabbling, oneupmanship and im smarter than you by the usual suspects.

Sad!

Learning to read Thai opens up a whole new world. I realised I had been pronouncing 'Pattaya' wrong for over 10 years until I first read it in Thai - it then becomes obvious that it is pá-tá-yá

I learn Thai starting about 23 years ago with a teacher in Bangkok, learning the Thai characters (no transliteration) and learning to read first, then correct tones for the different letter groups, then speaking in real-world situations.

I learnt Lao language with a teacher in Luang Prabang, mostly to understand where a word common to Thai and Lao have different tones. I learnt to read/write Lao myself, using my existing Thai language knowledge.

Now I'm self-learning Burmese, reading and with correct pronunciation assistance from native Burmese speakers. I find myself in situations in Myanmar where no-one speaks English (or are too shy to speak it!), and then I'm forced to speak Burmese. Amazingly (to me), they seem to understand me...

52 minutes ago, foxboy said:

Learning to read Thai opens up a whole new world. I realised I had been pronouncing 'Pattaya' wrong for over 10 years until I first read it in Thai - it then becomes obvious that it is pá-tá-yá

From what I've heard over the years the majority of farlangs pronounce Pattaya wrongly, especially those in Pattaya.

But your comment is correct, most thai place names transliterated in to English on road signs are wrong. Near where I live is BangBo which would be better written as BangBor.

8 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Nice attempt but a fail. 55555

Arabic numbers. Roman alphabet.

Did you know French, German (other languages of Germanic origin) and languages originating fron Latin have simplified "PH" to "F", although German does sometimes still use PH.

It's not so much as ruling the world than a world rule.

I just said that it´s used sometimes, and it is, and therefore the best choice.

11 hours ago, mlkik said:

English uses the Roman alphabet. Hence when you translate a language into English you Romanise it.

English speaking countries use the Arabic numerals.

You have lost any credibility on any posts regarding learning a new language.

Yes, but only to the ones that looks at English as a superior language. Are you Brit by any chance? You just came across like one.

2 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

I just said that it´s used sometimes, and it is, and therefore the best choice.

555555

"Ph" is used BUT it's still pronounced "F". Therefore, it's not the best choice. Unless you want to say Fasa Thai.

2 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Yes, but only to the ones that looks at English as a superior language. Are you Brit by any chance? You just came across like one.

No. Everyone knows it's Roman alphabet, Arabic numerals. French, German, Spanish........all the same. You are talking bo%%x.

I'd start to get the latest Gen. of iBuds that have direct translation..or checking out the latest gen, of virtual reality goggles.

3 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Yes, but only to the ones that looks at English as a superior language. Are you Brit by any chance? You just came across like one.

Just accept you are ignorant about who uses the Arabic alphabet and who uses the Roman alphabet.

You are trying to deflect your lack of knowledge and mistakes with silly Donald Trump style retorts.

17 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

555555

"Ph" is used BUT it's still pronounced "F". Therefore, it's not the best choice. Unless you want to say Fasa Thai.

Hey, this to all guys that put the thumbs down now. Not only you, so you not get too sad. Check the images below, and then you guys do the same and click the Thai sound button. See there you have the answer.

3 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

Hey, this to all guys that put the thumbs down now. Not only you, so you not get too sad. Check the images below, and then you guys do the same and click the Thai sound button. See there you have the answer.

Hey, you still don't get it, do you?

Just admit you messed up. It really is that simple.

While you are doing that, say these words. Phase, Physics, Physical, alphabet, elephant, phonetic.

Try it. You'll soon see your mistakes.

2 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Hey, you still don't get it, do you?

Just admit you messed up. It really is that simple.

While you are doing that, say these words. Phase, Physics, Physical, alphabet, elephant, phonetic.

Try it. You'll soon see your mistakes.

No, I will not, listen to the result I just sent you. We are talking Thai here, and not English. How Thai language connect with the alphabetic connection.

Same like when you connect your name with the Thai language, it will surely not sound same. Now you can have another laugh you know, like it don´t look you can spell either.

I speak thai well and my exwife learned me when we lived in surin. It took years to where im now.I helped the local police translate when a foreigner made problems. I also help the langueschool in my country learning our langue to thais who arriving here with bad english skills.

A friend of me study at a langue scihool in chiang mai and it took 3 years included writing/reading.When we lived in surin i was around thais everyday and the locals also helped me to speak thai.

16 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Hey, this to all guys that put the thumbs down now. Not only you, so you not get too sad. Check the images below, and then you guys do the same and click the Thai sound button. See there you have the answer.

I keep giving the thumbs down to you and your mate's pathetic oneupmanship.

On 3/23/2026 at 6:44 PM, jts-khorat said:

so I learned words I would likely really use often.

Always focus on high-frequency words.

Never waste time on other words or terms.

One can obtain a list of high-frequency words for various fields, just by searching the internet.

Also, one can use linguistics software to examine a book, and then create a frequency table of most-often occurring vocabulary, using a spreadsheet, and least-common occurring vocabulary. This, as you have stated, is a very efficient approach.

Also, I should know about the most efficient strategies for L2 and L3 learning because...after all...

I am a genius, as I have mentioned previously, a few times.

On 3/25/2026 at 9:46 PM, Bredbury Blue said:

But your comment is correct, most thai place names transliterated in to English on road signs are wrong.

Thai place names are NOT transliterated into English.

That would be impossible to do.

In Thailand, we often see road signs that use one scheme or another to romanize Thai script.

I know that you know the difference between transliteration and romanization....

Right?

On 3/25/2026 at 1:30 PM, mlkik said:

If you want to learn Thai to a decent basic level that gives a basic vocabulary of 2000 words , then the Linguaphone full Thai course is a very good structured course which is far superior to Benjawan Poomsan Beckers Thai for Beginners and Thai for Intermediate learners.

Beckers Thai for Advanced Readers is a good book to use after the Linguaphone course.

Sriwilai Ponmanee has some great books such as Speaking Thai 1 and 2 , 45 Thai Stories and Reading to Learn Thai.

You have this exactly backasswards.

Start with the Becker Beginners.

Then the Becker Intermediate book.

The Becker Advanced book is a TOTAL WASTE of time. since there are far better readers to be found, mostly for free, on the web.

The vocabulary of the Advanced Becker book is not useful.

Also, the Advanced Book is far less well done, poor quality of design, etc.

The best book is the Becker Beginners.

The Intermediate Book is still OK, but still not as well done as the Beginner book.

The Intermediate book has a major drawback in that it throws about 50 words ending in JAI, such as PoomJai, etc...and...this is a total FAILURE

because nobody can learn 50 of those similar words in one lesson.

I have already discussed the phenomenon of INTERFERENCE previously here, and this is why Becker editors made a HUGE BOOBOO, in this case.

Still, I highly recommend the Becker books, but not the third advanced book.

The dictionary is quite good, and useful on an Android phone.

13 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Thai place names are NOT transliterated into English.

That would be impossible to do.

In Thailand, we often see road signs that use one scheme or another to romanize Thai script.

I know that you know the difference between transliteration and romanization....

Right?

"Road signs in Thailand are standardised and are uniform throughout the country...Road signs are often written in Thai language and display in metric units. In tourist areas, English is also used for important public places such as tourist attractions, airports, railway stations, and immigration checkpoints. Destinations on direction signage is written are written in both Thai and English."

"The Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS) is used for rendering Thai names in the Latin alphabet. This is the official standard for road signs and government publications, though its usage can sometimes be inconsistent."

Happy?

1 minute ago, GammaGlobulin said:

You have this exactly backasswards.

Start with the Becker Beginners.

Then the Becker Intermediate book.

The Becker Advanced book is a TOTAL WASTE of time. since there are far better readers to be found, mostly for free, on the web.

The vocabulary of the Advanced Becker book is not useful.

Also, the Advanced Book is far less well done, poor quality of design, etc.

The best book is the Becker Beginners.

The Intermediate Book is still OK, but still not as well done as the Beginner book.

The Intermediate book has a major drawback in that it throws about 50 words ending in JAI, such as PoomJai, etc...and...this is a total FAILURE

because nobody can learn 50 of those similar words in one lesson.

I have already discussed the phenomenon of INTERFERENCE previously here, and this is why Becker editors made a HUGE BOOBOO, in this case.

Still, I highly recommend the Becker books, but not the third advanced book.

The dictionary is quite good, and useful on an Android phone.

From your reply it is clear to me that you have no ability to read,write and speak Thai at even an intermediate level ,let alone an advanced level.

On 3/25/2026 at 1:30 PM, mlkik said:

Linguaphone full Thai course is a very good structured course

I bought it (came with 4 cassettes) in Australia almost 40 years ago. Very little competition for linguaphone back then. It's very good. Leads you progressively in to learning Thai. I still have the course in its case.

6 minutes ago, Bredbury Blue said:

I bought it (came with 4 cassettes) in Australia almost 40 years ago. Very little competition for linguaphone back then. It's very good. Leads you progressively in to learning Thai. I still have the course in its case.

I bought it 34 years ago and yes it came wuth 4 cassettes. I agree there was hardly anything else available to learn Thai at the time.

All these years later ,I still believe it is the most structured and productive course for learning Thai.

The great thing about it is that the exercise books are in both Romanised script and Thai.

This allowed me to complete the course using the Romanised script and then to repeat using Thai only script.

The 2000 word vocabulary is a great base to build on your language skills.

I have since purchased the cds from Linguaphone at a discount price due to being a previous customer.

On 3/25/2026 at 1:30 PM, mlkik said:

If you want to learn Thai to a decent basic level that gives a basic vocabulary of 2000 words , then the Linguaphone full Thai course is a very good structured course which is far superior to Benjawan Poomsan Beckers Thai for Beginners and Thai for Intermediate learners.

Beckers Thai for Advanced Readers is a good book to use after the Linguaphone course.

Sriwilai Ponmanee has some great books such as Speaking Thai 1 and 2 , 45 Thai Stories and Reading to Learn Thai.

One very good thing about the Becker Intermediate book is this:

I forget which lesson but...

This book teaches the Thai word for "To Lose On's Virginity"

SiaDuo

Or, meaning to not be a virgin, probably.

This is a very useful term, and might be worth the purchase price for this book, depending on one's circumstances.

Do, please do not forget this tem: SIA-DUO, SIA-DUO

Now you got it...!!!!!

24 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

One very good thing about the Becker Intermediate book is this:

I forget which lesson but...

This book teaches the Thai word for "To Lose On's Virginity"

SiaDuo

Or, meaning to not be a virgin, probably.

This is a very useful term, and might be worth the purchase price for this book, depending on one's circumstances.

Do, please do not forget this tem: SIA-DUO, SIA-DUO

Now you got it...!!!!!

Who is On ? And why would I care if On's has lost his virginity ?

SiaDua , is that a Spanish word or phrase ? It doesn't sound very Thai to me 555.

On 3/25/2026 at 1:30 PM, mlkik said:

If you want to learn Thai to a decent basic level that gives a basic vocabulary of 2000 words , then the Linguaphone full Thai course is a very good structured course which is far superior to Benjawan Poomsan Beckers Thai for Beginners and Thai for Intermediate learners.

Beckers Thai for Advanced Readers is a good book to use after the Linguaphone course.

Sriwilai Ponmanee has some great books such as Speaking Thai 1 and 2 , 45 Thai Stories and Reading to Learn Thai.

I have a complete Linguaphone Thai language course in very very good condition that I would be willing to sell for the bargain price of 1500 baht. Tapes are in cassette format. If anyone is interested, they can PM me.

25 minutes ago, mlkik said:

Who is On ? And why would I care if On's has lost his virginity ?

SiaDua , is that a Spanish word or phrase ? It doesn't sound very Thai to me 555.

a. Sia = Broken

b. Duo = Body

SiaDuo = To Lose One's Virginity

c. Who is On? Your guess is as good as mine. Whoever she is, she has lost her virginity by now, for sure.

6 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

I have a complete Linguaphone Thai language course in very very good condition that I would be willing to sell for the bargain price of 1500 baht. If anyone is interested, they can PM me.

Better to just download it from the internet, for free.

Download the files, and use it on your device.

I actually used that for a couple of months, over a decade ago.

Not too bad.

However, the vocabulary is limited to a fairly small number of words.