Time To Make Our Own Learners' Dictionary

[Gaccha]

The dictionaries available for native English speakers learning Thai vary from dreadful to poor. For a learners dictionary to be useful it must do the following:

1. highlight the most common 2,000 spoken words (and then highlight the 2,000 most common written)

2. Limit the dictionary to 4,000 words

3. Carefully break down the usages of each word

4. Provide natural examples gleaned from real usages

5. Be a Thai-Eng dictionary, not a Eng-Thai (this is far less important for learners)

6. provide a good phonetics system (the 'Teach Yourself Thai' system is designed for native English speakers and is the most intuitive I have come across)

7. Have an audio recording of every word

So I want to make a dictionary. [pause for shock and the hours of work ahead of me]. I need to do the following:

a. work out what are the 2,000 most spoken words. I will hunt academic resources for this.

b. use advanced dictionaries (ie. ones for Thai people with more than 35,000 words)

c. suck off examples from old dictionaries (out of print)

d. create an audio recording ( I have found a very old,large Thai-Japanese dictionary with every word on tape [yep, not CD] that I can put onto MP3, cut apart and stick back together in the right order)

Obviously, this could take some time. Anyway, any thoughts on things I am missing, ways to achieve this quickly etc.

[please no tedious comments about copyright infringements etc. I am a lawyer and I know the general principles of intellectual property law. This dictionary is to give away and is non-commercial.]

[ozsamurai]

sum of Top 1000..enjoy...

Sum of top 1000 wordsการที่ภาษีได้ในตามให้หรือเงินและผู้เป็นมาตราค่าของรัษฎากรประมวลมีเพิ่มรับไปรายว่าโดยพศสรรพากรมูลไม่แห่งฉบับพระต้องนี้วันใช้ราชประกอบข้อกรณีกำหนดเสียบุคคลส่วนค้าสินความออกจากกรมอากรจ่ายแต่ดังไขอธิบดีประกาศด้วยใบซึ่งจะกับขายกิจการนั้นคำทะเบียนเพื่อต่อบริษัทนิติแก้สำหรับหักเติมบริการประเทศงานนำประเมินตั้งจดต้นบังคับส่งยื่นณไว้เว้นกฤษฎีกาสั่งยกกระทรวงหุ้นแบบคำนวณกล่าวหลักบัญชีชำระทำเกี่ยวลักษณะซื้อเจ้าปีแสดงเรื่องทั้งไทยอื่นเก็บห้างเวลาจำนวนพนักงานแล้วสถานหน้าที่ลงแทนมากำกับแก่ละอยู่ถือบัญญัติจัดเฉพาะรวมคลังขึ้นตัวขอกฎหมายราคาทุนมิต่างถึงเบี้ยหมายอัตราหนึ่งหมวดตราวิธีพึงทรัพย์เกณฑ์กันอำนาจฐานเดือนวรรคเข้าใดปฏิบัติร้อยลดอย่างขสารปรับแสตมป์กำไรก็เกินเรียกฯเงื่อนมูลนิธิทางเครื่องสิทธิระยะคณะวินิจฉัยหนี้ฝ่ายบันทึกบาทภายก่อนจ้างธรรมดากรรมการดูเหตุเมื่อเช่ารัฐมนตรีผลสอบนายจักรสมผิดสุทธิแจ้งกว่าโอนสำนักประเภทถ้าอนุมัติเดียวกจึงธุรกิจควรรอบกฎประจำถูกนับกระทำอาณาระหว่างอาศัยเลขคืนทวิคนกองสองจังหวัดเลิกประโยชน์ขนประกันเกิดเท่าลูกตรวจหนังสืออันธนาคารเขตนอกเนื่องศึกษาดอกราชการสัญญาอสังหาริมทรัพย์แต่งชื่อน้ำมันมกราคมบรมโรงใช่องค์การยังหลังตรีพิจารณารองรักษาเปลี่ยนเอกสารปรัฐบาลอาคารขาดคือครั้งน้อยบทพร้อมดำเนินธันวาคมร้องเหลืออำเภอท้องมอบเล่มผลิตเห็นบัณฑิตบุณยะปานะจำเป็นคงครองตอนสามารถอุทธรณ์บางสุดกู้ตลาดเช่นสร้างย่อระบุตนปิดสิ้นเกล้าใดๆหากจำหน่ายอีกโปรดสมเด็จตรงโสณกุลจัตุมงคลชนิดตอบท้ายรจหมดกรรมสิทธิ์งวดจริงทุกเสริมผ่านพยาบาลสาขาทปเดินพื้นเริ่มแปลงภูมิพลอดุลยเดชระเบียบศุลกากรหน้าโองการถัดดินหย่อนกันยายนยืมใหญ่สิบแยกถอนสำเนาชอบทั่วเสร็จโทษแบ่งวัตถุสามเสื่อมจนพัฒนาอนุญาตเฉลี่ยคราวสำรองเองครบครอบสึกหรอห้าทรงอุตสาหกรรมใหม่ทำนองพิเศษมากเครดิตเรือสาธารณกุศลตั๋วระวางราชกิจจานุเบกษาจำยอมระบบดิบฝากชีวิตปรากฏมคต่างๆบินพฤศจิกายนสลากคลำดับควบบริจาคช่วยประสงค์กรกฎาคมกีฬาตกสาธารณะเรียนกุศลชุดสถาบันเชื้อเพลิงเลี้ยงแรกก่อภาษามรดกยอดปรุงล่วงหาชั่วชีพปัจจุบันพาณิชย์รหัสทอดมิถุนายนมือสายหน่วยอาจตลอดทราบธรรมเนียมมหาเปิดต่ำงดพยแนวกุมภาพันธ์ขยายตายนายกรัฐมนตรีตุลาคมปันเมษายนเอกชนนักวิจัยสมาคมห้ามโครงด้าวบุตรภริยาภัยมรวปลูกร่วมเดิมถิ่นภัณฑ์สามีสูญคอมพิวเตอร์ยารถสัตว์หลายหัวอายุปลีกพฤษภาคมสิงหาคมจำกัดมีนาคมสรรพสามิตหายเพียงกรุณาปรปรมินทรภงดยนต์รัชกาลรางวัลสนองติดถ้วนนั้นๆบนบ้านพืชสูบอำนวยพ้นอากาศยานพนัสสิมะเสถียรเพราะกระดาษกรุงเทพมหานครสภาพอื่นๆโปรแกรมขนาดบริบูรณ์พิมพ์สงเคราะห์สามัญเผยกรรมขีดย่อมสำคัญงเลือกแลกช่วงน้ำบัตรประชุมภาระรัฐวิสาหกิจอาหารข้าวค้างทบวงรัฐธรรมนูญเหมาขาคุมนามย่อยละเอียดอนุโลมกอล์ฟทะเลปกติสวนสิ่งจัตวาชัดตีน้ำตาลสาธารณประโยชน์หลีกเลี่ยงใต้ตำแหน่งถาวรระดับข้องทบบริหารประมาณศาลสังกัดสูงเต็มกคคู่ถามธารินทร์นิมมานเหมินท์ป่ารูปวิเทศธนกิจเชื่อเพิกเรือนกินปริมาณผ่อนลายสรรไม้งบตันตยกุลปลัดวิทย์สะดวกกพกลางคดีเครดิตฟองซิเอร์เบื้องใจขณะฆ่าทีหกเท็จพันราชูปถัมภ์สนามสหประชาชาติข้าคุกคุณสมบัติประธานภูมิภาคสมาชิกฮุนตระกูลเกษตรเทียบททรายทันนั่งบรรจุพบวัดสื่อเฉลิมเด็กบำรุงพิสูจน์ยึดสดสมหมายอุปกรณ์เกียรติเหมาะแนบขัดคิดทดธรรมปกพิกัดพุทธศักราชเช็คไร้กลับข้างฉภูมิลำเนาม้วนยางวางแผ่นแย้งโรคกรอกชนซอฟต์แวร์ถังพลาดพันธบัตรภพย้ายรู้วโรกาสสังคมสิทธิ์เคลื่อนกงสุลชำรุดดีภาชนะศรีหีบเครือแม้ไฟฟ้าทัณฑ์ธคบรรเทาประชาผนึกพยานพฤติการณ์วิชาชีพสหกรณ์สะสมสาระห่อเกษตรกรรมเขียนเตรสแนะไต่:ทายาทรัฐวินาศภัยสัตตสีสุชาติออมเจตนาเชาว์วิศิษฐเศษเอาแรงกระป๋องกึ่งคุ้มชชวนซ่อมตัดทำลายบรรดาฟ้องวิทยุห้องเสนอแข่งการณ์ขันคลาดค้ำจองดุลธรรมโนพลเรือนพักมัดหลีกภัยอรัญอุดมศึกษาไถ่ค้นชาติฐานะถ้อยปรึกษาภาคอังกฤษเทคโนโลยีเปรียบเย็นเสมือนแซมแปรแผนกแรมชนนีด้านตคปฏิวัติปลอดพลอยพาณิชยกรรมมั่นวิชาสมบูรณ์สี่เรียงแช่แพ่งโกวิทย์โปษยานนท์กยจชี้ประทับปันยารชุนภงดกล้านสภาอักษรอานันท์เทศบาลกรรมวิธีฉะนั้นชำนัญซ้อนนครินทราพคมิเตอร์ราชย์ลองสาธารณรัฐอากาศอาญาอิสระเกษียณเจ็ดเบญจเบ็ดเยาว์เลื่อนเอกแตกทับทุพพลภาพทูตบำเหน็จบิลออฟเลดิงบุญประการผสมมหรสพมาตรฐานสมรสอัครราชทูตอายัดเบ็ดเตล็ดเปล่าเมยเยาวชนแปลแผนถนนทวงธรรมนูญนิยามปลายผูกฝืนฝ่าพรรษาพอวิโรจน์สนับสนุนสมุดสรรพสิงห์เสน่ห์สุธีสุราอัฏฐเคียงเลาหะพันธุ์เศรษฐกิจกรุงเทพฯคูณซซีเกมส์ถัวนัยบิดาปริยายพิพากษารอยระงับสมุห์บัญชีสุขาภิบาลหนึ่งๆหารอารบิคฯลฯเชิดเบิกเลยแจงชนบทซองซักดื่มถุงทหารประดิทินปัญหาภธภาวะภูมิมีคมุ่งสคสอดสำเร็จหารืออ่านเก่าเขาค้อเจดีย์เร็วเสียงเหนือแน่โฆษณาโลหะกิจกิ่งขั้วคุณภาพทศธรรมชาตินางประปาปุ๋ยป่วยป้องฝีฝึกพยายามพาหนะมงคลร่องร้อยเอกลำเนาสสพทหยุดหลวงอนุรักษ์อบรมเทียมเยี่ยงเวนแข็งโต้ไตกระสอบกลาโหมกลุ่มขอบครัวคว้าจงฉีกชนมายุฎีกาดีดดุนถวายนอนนิคมนโยบายบกบรรลุบวกประสบปาล์มปิโตรเลียมป่านผ้าพุทธมารดาร่างลิขสิทธิ์ล้มวิทยาศาสนาศิลปะสัมพันธ์สำรวจหมู่องค์อัตโนมัติอาชีพอ้อยเคยเชื่อมเด็ดเนื้อเมืองเรียบเสื้อแจกแพทย์แอร์เวย์บิลโบนัสไฟกระทบกายกู๊ดวิลล์ก่อนๆจอมพลจำแนกชดชั้นช่องดนตรีดีบุกด่วนตึกธาตุธุระนมน้อมบริโภคบางละมุงบำนาญประกวดประเพณีพลเอกภสภาพยนตร์ยี่ห้อย้อนรวดรวบรัตนโกสินทร์ราชินีนาถละลายลิตรวัฒนธรรมวิสัยศาสตร์สงสัยสมัครสลักหมึกหาดใหญ่อาทิตย์เทปเปลือกเย็บเลตเตอร์ออฟเครดิตเล่นเสน่หาเอกาทศเฮ้าส์แอร์เวย์บิล

edit: looks like excel format doesn't paste well....hmmmm

Top1000.xls

Edited July 26, 2008 by ozsamurai

[Gaccha]

Can I ask on what basis these are the top 1,000. Are they the most spoken? The most widely written? Who says they are. Also, be handy, if you can increase it to 2,000

Thanks.

(I really want to get this right)

[Gaccha]

Can I ask on what basis these are the top 1,000. Are they the most spoken? The most widely written? Who says they are. Also, be handy, if you can increase it to 2,000

Thanks.

(I really want to get this right)

Actually, had a look around and the voacb lists on this site look promising. Particularly interested in the Haas one.

[Rionoir]

Have you used http://www.thai-language.com ? Aside from the fact that it has a lot more than just beginner words, it has everything else you are talking about... including examples, MP3 clips of many of the words, and a bulk translator for Thai-to-Eng. For the "compound" type words, you can also click on each part of the word to see which words make up the word.

[DavidHouston]

Have you used http://www.thai-language.com ? Aside from the fact that it has a lot more than just beginner words, it has everything else you are talking about... including examples, MP3 clips of many of the words, and a bulk translator for Thai-to-Eng. For the "compound" type words, you can also click on each part of the word to see which words make up the word.

At this site Glenn has marked each "common word" with a purple star for easy identification and on any list in his dictionary the starred words are shown at the beginning. The entire list of "common words", all 1172 of them, can be seen at http://www.thai-language.com/ref/starred.

I wish you the best of luck on your project.

[ozsamurai]

The XL file is based in an earlier post in this forum, maybe a search will unearth the original, I believe it is based on 3 systems which analized written Thai.

Oz

[Gaccha]

The XL file is based in an earlier post in this forum, maybe a search will unearth the original, I believe it is based on 3 systems which analized written Thai.

Oz

I was having a look around Glenn's website just before coming back to this. Would be nice to pull of the audios-- wonder if Glenn would mind... It is definitely good but it is limited to the internet. I just find that when I am looking up words I am not carrying my computer with me...

It would be nice for a starter to get the audios together with the top 2000 as a word list so it can be stuck onto 'Voca' [http://www.oriente.nl/voca/] (this is an updated version of Vocatude that many of you will know and love). Can get it here, but more importantly, it allows Wordlists to be uploaded so everyone can get hold of them. There is currently no Thai word list but I saw one on this site with around 300 words so I am not alone in this ambition.

What would work wonders is to combine the fullness of the Thai language dictionary site with the capabilities of the Voca. Then get these licensed onto one of those electronic dictionaries and we are all laughing. I am sure Sony or Canon would be interested to hear from Glenn and Voca man.

I want to be able to sit in Starbucks, open the electronic dictionary, look up a tough word, see the example sentences, add the word to a vocab list, do a listening test of the new vocab added that month, finish my coffee and then head home. All the technology and work is already out there, just needs to be combined...

And while I wait for that dream, I'll carry on with my paper 4,000 word dictionary.

[ChiangMaiAjarn]

Ozsamurai, I like the 1000 word list. I could make great use of this on my Palm using the free Anki software if it had the english translation too. Does the list exist with English translation?

Thanks.

PS I've got lots of vocabulary lists for the Palm. If anyone wants them just let me know.

[ozsamurai]

Anki is what I made the file for, but with other project on the boil the translation bit hasn't been done as yet.

I have all the Thai anki DB's ( I think) but the board forbids either the .zip or the unpacked version, so can't share them here.

Oz

[desi]

I've been putting a dictionary together by scouring out the top basic words used. I started with 500, increased to 1000, I'm now at 1500 (but haven't had the time to complete it - busy, busy). Looking at it, I'm aiming to top out at around 2000. Time...

[Gaccha]

I've been putting a dictionary together by scouring out the top basic words used. I started with 500, increased to 1000, I'm now at 1500 (but haven't had the time to complete it - busy, busy). Looking at it, I'm aiming to top out at around 2000. Time...

Desi,

Nice to hear from you. It is your 300 word list that can be put onto Voca that impresses me. Where did you get the audio files and when you speak of getting to 1500, do you have them in the Wordlist format. I would love you to upload it here or at the Voca home page. Any audio you provide I would love to add to my own idea.

To all,

I had a friend work on making a learners' dictionary back in England. Her job was to select the appropriate sentences from a computer extracted list of 5 options. The computer extracted the sentences from sources on the internet. Anyone know the software that does this or can think of any other way to get real/natural Thai sentences...?

I am thinking the sentences really need a native speaker recording of them. Think I can get this done myself.

[desi]

Nice to hear from you. It is your 300 word list that can be put onto Voca that impresses me. Where did you get the audio files and when you speak of getting to 1500, do you have them in the Wordlist format. I would love you to upload it here or at the Voca home page. Any audio you provide I would love to add to my own idea.

It's not a 300 word list, it's now over 1500 and will be closer to 2000 (or even over) before I'm done. As for the audio, my Thai teacher will be recording it once we've gone over the list to make sure the ones I've compiled fit the criteria (commonly used). As you can imagine, I've run into questions working my way through and a native is the obvious choice for answers.

[Gaccha]

Nice to hear from you. It is your 300 word list that can be put onto Voca that impresses me. Where did you get the audio files and when you speak of getting to 1500, do you have them in the Wordlist format. I would love you to upload it here or at the Voca home page. Any audio you provide I would love to add to my own idea.

It's not a 300 word list, it's now over 1500 and will be closer to 2000 (or even over) before I'm done. As for the audio, my Thai teacher will be recording it once we've gone over the list to make sure the ones I've compiled fit the criteria (commonly used). As you can imagine, I've run into questions working my way through and a native is the obvious choice for answers.

Desi,

That is nice to hear. Please upload whenever you feel it is ready.

For all,

I want to firm up my objectives here as there are a lot of good things out there but they don't quite do what I want.

The aim of the learners' dictionary is to get the basic 4,000 words absolutely mastered. To have them explained, broken down into their various meanings and given examples. To be small enough that it can be carried about. (The idea of the PDA is interesting, but perhaps a hard copy is the way to go) To be able to take words from it and add to a 'wordlist'(*) (or to have a wordlist already , that can then have the words highlighted on it...) that can then be used to test your knowledge (via reading and listening).

I think the major point ahead is to work out which words, where to get an audio, and how to extract good example sentences.

(* this is a document that holds a list of vocab on a piece of computer software, such as Voca. The list can be altered, much in the same way the "Windows explorer" lists programmes by either date/author/creation date/type of document. The list can contain audio files. The list can then be tested by, for example, multiple questions or by self-correction)

[dhind1]

Excellent idea.

The majority of the Thai vocabulary I have I learned by listening to Teach yourself Thai tapes when I was walking around. Most of these words have stayed with me even though I have not bothered to advance my learning in a few years.

I would be very interested in something like this.

[aanon]

a random question:

* people seem to be aware of a few different software tools for vocab training. i've used wordquiz (for when i actually want to practise typing words) and 'vocabulary trainer' (for when i want to move quicker and mostly focus on memorising new words, not typing). what i'd love to find is a fully audio-based training package, where i could test myself on hearing a word in english then saying it in thai, or vice versa. does anyone know whether such a thing exists?

all the best.

[desi]

I'm using ProVoc at the moment (Mac). It does everything you mentioned. You can quiz for spelling and typing as well as listening (depends on what options you choose to set up).

So if you want to hear Thai or English first, it's up to you. If you want to quiz yourself in Thai script or transliteration, up to you.

I've started building vocabulary tests, as well as full sentences. All with sound. Only Thai sound files though, as I didn't want to take the time to mess with English.

[aanon]

I'm using ProVoc at the moment (Mac). It does everything you mentioned. You can quiz for spelling and typing as well as listening (depends on what options you choose to set up).

So if you want to hear Thai or English first, it's up to you. If you want to quiz yourself in Thai script or transliteration, up to you.

I've started building vocabulary tests, as well as full sentences. All with sound. Only Thai sound files though, as I didn't want to take the time to mess with English.

just to clarify:

can i hear, say, 'colony' in english, then i respond by saying 'a-na-ni-kom' into a microphone, and the program assesses whether i've given the right answer?

if so, that's cool. and does it take long to set up the audio files?

thanks,

aanon

[desi]

can i hear, say, 'colony' in english, then i respond by saying 'a-na-ni-kom' into a microphone, and the program assesses whether i've given the right answer?

If you want to have control of your own vocabulary, then I believe you'd need to combine a program such as ProVoc with something like Voice Viewer.

If not, perhaps something like Rosetta Stone would work (I believe it has something similar?)

and does it take long to set up the audio files?

Type out words and/or sentences in English and Thai. Record in English and Thai. Cut and paste the voice files into ProVoc. That's it.

One of the reasons I like ProVoc over language CD's is mainly because I can click the sound files of difficult words/sentences until I get them sussed.

[aanon]

can i hear, say, 'colony' in english, then i respond by saying 'a-na-ni-kom' into a microphone, and the program assesses whether i've given the right answer?

If you want to have control of your own vocabulary, then I believe you'd need to combine a program such as ProVoc with something like Voice Viewer.

If not, perhaps something like Rosetta Stone would work (I believe it has something similar?)

and does it take long to set up the audio files?

Type out words and/or sentences in English and Thai. Record in English and Thai. Cut and paste the voice files into ProVoc. That's it.

One of the reasons I like ProVoc over language CD's is mainly because I can click the sound files of difficult words/sentences until I get them sussed.

ok, thanks for your answer desi. i did consider rosetta stone but i wasn't (and still am not) sure whether I can add my own sentences and vocab to work on. i agree with you, on the face of it rosetta stone does seem to have a basic approach closest to what i'm looking for. for me, it wouldn't be an issue to record in both languages all the sentences and phrases i want to work on.

thanks again, sorry for taking the thread on a tangent.

all the best.

[desi]

After a break, I'm back working on a word list for beginners.

Could I please get help with the top jai words? Greng jai is a given, but what else is out there is a need to know for beginners? I have Heart talk (the book) as well as hundreds of heart words on a spread sheet sourced from the internet. I just don't know enough to choose the top jai words on my own, so if anyone here is comfortable putting in their two cents, please do.

[mangkorn]

The dictionaries available for native English speakers learning Thai vary from dreadful to poor. ....

thai-language.com contains more than 38,000 dictionary entries, and more than 13,000 audio clips.

Neither dreadful, nor poor.

[desi]

The dictionaries available for native English speakers learning Thai vary from dreadful to poor. ....

thai-language.com contains more than 38,000 dictionary entries, and more than 13,000 audio clips.

Neither dreadful, nor poor.

All of us own dictionaries. A learners dictionary extracts the most commonly used words for any language.

When you start in school, your vocabulary is expected to cover a certain range. As you get older, more words are added. Coming into a language new, you are faced with thousands of words. Do you learn all? No, you start with words you will use everyday, then build from there to cover individual lnterests.

Some take the known words and write them on flashcards, aiming for anywhere from five to twenty new words learned per day. Others input them into a SRS (Spaced Repetition System), which is basically computerized flashcards on steroids.

It's not for everyone. But, for those of us who do learn in this manner, having that list is important.

I have no intentions of learning a huge chunk of the dictionary. I just don't have it in me, so I want to know the top words to converse in. In Thai it's word chunks that are more important, so my concentration will be mainly on learning the phrases along with the top words.

This week I came across a dictionary of the top 3000 words. As I glanced through, I noticed too many mistakes for me to be able to depend on it. Pity.

[5tash]

In post#6, David provided a link to thai-language.com, which shows a list of 1172 common words.

The main search function at TL.com allows you to search for short phrases. Enter the word you want to search for, and select "contains".

Over at SEAlang the Thai Bitexts is useful in a similar way, entering a Thai word will result in example sentences and their translations.

Good luck!

[desi]

In post#6, David provided a link to thai-language.com, which shows a list of 1172 common words.

I've added them to my spreadsheet (but 1000 words are 2000 too few).

The main search function at TL.com allows you to search for short phrases. Enter the word you want to search for, and select "contains".

Over at SEAlang the Thai Bitexts is useful in a similar way, entering a Thai word will result in example sentences and their translations.

Thanks. The short phrases are invaluable. I'm more comfortable with thai-language.com though (perhaps more time at SEAlang is needed).

Ditto being able to wing it with the reverse phonemic transcription at thai-language.com.

Good luck!

This exercise has been more fun than anything else (even if peppered with occasional tedium). And a plus, my ability to read tiny Thai script (at times guessing at what it should be) has improved immensely (an early worry).

[keo]

I'm using ProVoc at the moment (Mac). It does everything you mentioned. You can quiz for spelling and typing as well as listening (depends on what options you choose to set up).

So if you want to hear Thai or English first, it's up to you. If you want to quiz yourself in Thai script or transliteration, up to you.

I've started building vocabulary tests, as well as full sentences. All with sound. Only Thai sound files though, as I didn't want to take the time to mess with English.

interesting piece of free software for the mac there. nice, thanks.

Any chance of sharing your pvoc document?

[desi]

interesting piece of free software for the mac there. nice, thanks.

Any chance of sharing your pvoc document?

Sure, swing over your email.

Btw - the sound files were created before I got a Snowball. Some do not have sound, and others came from their website.

I played around with Anki, ProVoc and others before switching, so there's a bit in each. But I've since switched to Byki.

The free version of Byki has quite a few free lessons for Thai. If you upgrade (it's cheap) there are a lot more. If you scroll down the list on the left, you can see some of Byki's vocab list.

I've finally settled on Everyday Thai for Beginners as my main Thai lessons. It took me awhile as I tried everything under the sun and couldn't settle due to the annoying transliterations (I strongly disliked AUA's transliteration, but struggled on for months anyway, making every excuse to cancel lessons).

Everyday Thai for Beginners doesn't have transliteration, it's all Thai with English. And that suits me as I'm more comfortable reading Thai (although I don't mind the odd transliteration cheat from thai2english.com). So it is higher than beginner level, but perhaps better in the long run.

Anyway, I'm sucking in the Everyday Thai for Beginners lessons into Byki quite happily. Byki has more gadgets and the program is less clunky than the others, by far. For some that doesn't matter, but it does to me.

[kokesaat]

interesting piece of free software for the mac there. nice, thanks.

Any chance of sharing your pvoc document?

Sure, swing over your email.

Btw - the sound files were created before I got a Snowball. Some do not have sound, and others came from their website.

I played around with Anki, ProVoc and others before switching, so there's a bit in each. But I've since switched to Byki.

The free version of Byki has quite a few free lessons for Thai. If you upgrade (it's cheap) there are a lot more. If you scroll down the list on the left, you can see some of Byki's vocab list.

I've finally settled on Everyday Thai for Beginners as my main Thai lessons. It took me awhile as I tried everything under the sun and couldn't settle due to the annoying transliterations (I strongly disliked AUA's transliteration, but struggled on for months anyway, making every excuse to cancel lessons).

Everyday Thai for Beginners doesn't have transliteration, it's all Thai with English. And that suits me as I'm more comfortable reading Thai (although I don't mind the odd transliteration cheat from thai2english.com). So it is higher than beginner level, but perhaps better in the long run.

Anyway, I'm sucking in the Everyday Thai for Beginners lessons into Byki quite happily. Byki has more gadgets and the program is less clunky than the others, by far. For some that doesn't matter, but it does to me.

Desi,

I'm considering ordering the Everyday Thai for Beginners from Bangkok (I live in Udon), but thought I'd see if you still have a positive opinion of the book. I've finished the 3 Benjawan Becker books (which is not to say I can still remember the vocab), now I'm looking for something that provides some drill work (like the AUA book 2). I can read, I know the tones, and I'm pretty good with day-to-day grammar. My vocab sucks....the words I remember are the ones I learn and use regularly. Once-over words don't stick.

I welcome your comments on the book.

[desi]

Desi,

I'm considering ordering the Everyday Thai for Beginners from Bangkok (I live in Udon), but thought I'd see if you still have a positive opinion of the book. I've finished the 3 Benjawan Becker books (which is not to say I can still remember the vocab), now I'm looking for something that provides some drill work (like the AUA book 2). I can read, I know the tones, and I'm pretty good with day-to-day grammar. My vocab sucks....the words I remember are the ones I learn and use regularly. Once-over words don't stick.

I welcome your comments on the book.

I had to take time off from learning Thai (too many things going on) but I'm now back on Everyday Thai for Beginners. It's my book of preference as I need a course clear of clutter and prefer to study without transliteration. I might read slower, but I'm reading. And if I'm reading, I have a better shot at remembering.

Throughout the book (where applicable) you'll find the vocabulary with classifiers in parenthesis. When there is a difference between spoken and written Thai, it's noted.

Loosely... Each chapter covers vocab, patterns, grammar, classifiers, drills (up to three sections), partner activities, class activities, exercises and cultural snippets.

Unlike other books teaching Thai, the design of the book is not cluttered so it's easy to concentrate on the information. Also, it goes straight into the lessons on the CD so there is no wading through ads or music. They clearly made legibility and ease of use a top priority for this product. I'm fussy so it matters to me.

As it's a beginner's book, you'll be repeating what you've already gone through with Becker and AUA. Due to the reading, my Thai teacher disagrees and says it's not beginners level but I'm sticking with the beginners description. She likes the book but says she won't teach it to her beginning students as it's too advanced... please let me know what you think.

So overall, it's a total thumbs up on Everyday Thai for Beginners from my end. For those who took the time to learn the Thai alphabet, I'd advise going for this book over any other book on the market. But that's just my personal preference...

[kokesaat]

Thanks for the advice, Desi. I ordered my copy today from Asia Books online. 735 baht including shipping to Udon.

I'll let you know how it works out.