Books Every Student Should Have.

[withnail]

I have a fairly decent dictionary by Benjawan Poomsan Becker (although if there is a better one please let me know)

I am also looking for a couple of other books namely a grammer reference book and/or a book that teaches how to read and write in Thai.

In my last post somebody (thanks but I forget who that was) recommended 'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language' however I believe this is now out of date.

Thanks

[Richard W]

In my last post somebody (thanks but I forget who that was) recommended 'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language' however I believe this is now out of date.

I said I liked it despite its faults, and mentioned that there was an electronic version about. It's currently available for free download from http://www.thai-info2004.com/the%20language.htm. (I googled for that - I encountered the electronic version at http://www.geocities.com/funthai/, which has disappeared.)

There seem to be some quite steep prices being asked for bound copies. Presumably they're in good condition; my hardback copy is falling apart.

[Spee]

I am also looking for a couple of other books namely a grammer reference book and/or a book that teaches how to read and write in Thai.

I have many of the books by Ms. P-Becker including the dictionary. Although I'm a neophyte with the language, I think one could not go wrong with them.

I also like her "Improving Your Thai Pronounciation" which focuses primarily on tonality. It has a companion CD, so you can read, listen and practice.

There are also other books and software packages that have audio CD's, which I've found moerately useful.

I think the key is to take a few humble pills and put one's self back in kindergarten mode, where you have to learn the basics. So I'm in the mode of practicing writing letters one at a time, like when I was a little kid.

Take one letter and write it 40 or 50 times before moving on to the next one, and so on. It's hard and it takes patience and dedication. Some of my letters are positively awful and it takes a different kind of finger and hand control to learn to write the letters properly. IMHO, you can only get there with practice. Ms. P-Becker's "Thai for Beginners" book stresses this part.

[Boon Mee]

The recent publication of the updated AUA workbooks by Cornell University are some of the best I've seen lately.

Available at Amazon. Come with tapes too.

บุญมี

[meadish_sweetball]

The recent publication of the updated AUA workbooks by Cornell University are some of the best I've seen lately.

Available at Amazon. Come with tapes too.

บุญมี

I used the AUA books for reading comprehension and writing practice, and I am quite happy with the results.

[Boon Mee]

The recent publication of the updated AUA workbooks by Cornell University are some of the best I've seen lately.

Available at Amazon.  Come with tapes too.

บุญมี

I used the AUA books for reading comprehension and writing practice, and I am quite happy with the results.

They seem to be working pretty good for me too and I figure if all goes well, perhaps in a couple years I'll be ready for the P6 exam.

บุญมี

[Neeranam]

I started learning to read with a Pratom 1 reading book, then 2. I then got bored with it. After a couple of years I tried again with the AUA, which I got through the first 1/4 or so and bored again. I can read just about anything now. I didn't find the AUA method worked, although I never stuck it out. I read everything I can and if there are new words I think of words I already know to guess the tone. I have to go back and learn properly though.

'Thai reference grammar'- the structures of spoken Thai is great. By James Higbie & Snea Thinsan.

I have that dictionary by Benjawan Poomsan Becker and checked it yesterday actually. The word I was checking was flattery which he gives the definition as "bpra-job" , and "yok yo". I understood "bra-job" to be "sucking up" or "brown nose", which is not the same as flattery. I could be wrong, but there are a quite a few other references which I disagree with. On the whole a great dic for beginner. Easy to look up the Thai word if you can't read Thai.

[Neeranam]

QUOTE (withnail @ Tue 2004-10-05, 17:57:38)

In my last post somebody (thanks but I forget who that was) recommended 'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language' however I believe this is now out of date.

I said I liked it despite its faults, and mentioned that there was an electronic version about. It's currently available for free download from http://www.thai-info2004.com/the%20language.htm. (I googled for that - I encountered the electronic version at http://www.geocities.com/funthai/, which has disappeared.)

There seem to be some quite steep prices being asked for bound copies. Presumably they're in good condition; my hardback copy is falling apart.

Thanks for that link Richard. I have just gone to the site and it is the new site of a good friend of mine. I am going to download the book.

My sister gave me the fundamentals of the Thai language years ago, it must have been printed re 1970. I wish I had stuck with it, and kept it. Was too much for me as a total beginner.

[Boon Mee]

The word I was checking was flattery which he gives the definition as "bpra-job" , and "yok yo". I understood "bra-job" to be "sucking up" or "brown nose", which is not the same as flattery. I could be wrong,

I've also heard the expression "choop tooit" for brown nosing. Not sure if it's a slang word or not?

บญมี

[withnail]

thanks for the response

so whats a good dictionary I am only a begginer really (maybe advanced beginner) but I can see that my dictionary is not great. One with example sentances would be good.

[withnail]

The e book is great

[sabaijai]

I think the best single grammar reference available for Thai is Thai Reference Grammar: The Structure of Spoken Thai by James Higbie, published in 2003. It's very comprehensive and authoritative. Significantly better, more up to date and more complete than The Fundamentals of Thai Language, in my opinion. The only gripe I have is the transliteration system, but you can ignore that.

And as one Amazon review of this book rightly points out, if you're at a level where you can appreciate the intricacies of Thai grammar laid out in this text, then you won't be paying any attention to the translits anyway.