Speak Easy Thai

[WujouMao]

with tones of learn thai stuff around, its hard to choose which to go for. as a british speaker, i wouldnt listen to a program intended for the american speaker, eg 'Pimsleur Thai 30 Lessons'. The accent does my tree in.

So today i found this by chance. the bad news is that unless you are in thailand the only way you can get it is by credit card. something some folks dont use. so has anyone heard of 'speak easy thai'? looks great as its all updated, and looks like it has all the promises.

http://www.thai-software.com/MultiLangDict...hai-SpkEasy.htm

what do you guys reckon? is it the real McCoy?

[desi]

I have a similar problem with the American accent. If you are looking for British courses, Lingaphone Thai is one of the top languages courses no matter what accent.

Lingaphone - British

Collins 40min Thai - British

FSI - American

Pimsleurs Thai - American

Let's Speak Thai - American

Becker's - American

Cracking Thai Fundamentals - Australian

Learn Thai Podcasts - European / Thai

Reading Thai - Thai speakers

(I don't remember any English included)

I don't have Speak Easy Thai. I guess it's because I see it out here often and the packaging doesn't look professional. Nor do the samples online. I'm not saying it's not a good program. It's a designer thing.

And if you don't mind a course that's doesn't waste time on design, then why not go with Spoken Thai? It's free (although a commercial version is also available).

(note: most resources mentioned can be found here)

[JimShortz]

Well.... It looks fairly amateur to me. It depends how you learn best really...

I'm a Brit too, but Pimsleur would be a great place to start if you are just starting to learn Thai. You're hardly going to pick up an American accent, and the Thai is spoken very clearly with great emphasis put on getting your pronunciation right. I used it and found the way they dissected words, repeating them from the final consonant back towards the beginning of the word really useful. Up to you i guess... Good luck.

[desi]

Unless you are in thailand the only way you can get it is by credit card. something some folks dont use. so has anyone heard of 'speak easy thai'? looks great as its all updated, and looks like it has all the promises.

The grammar eBook included in Speak Easy Thai is online for free here.

[JimShortz]

I have a similar problem with the American accent. If you are looking for British courses, Lingaphone Thai is one of the top languages courses no matter what accent.

Oh, Desi... I must disagree. DO NOT touch Linguaphone with a bargepole! I bought their PDA Thai course before coming out to Thailand and it almost put me off learning the language. They have their own (useless) phonetic system, that nobody else uses, the repeat after me method shows no understanding of how we aquire language, etc, etc... Uggghhhh. They are British and awful. A shame.

You have been warned!

[desi]

I have a similar problem with the American accent. If you are looking for British courses, Lingaphone Thai is one of the top languages courses no matter what accent.

Oh, Desi... I must disagree. DO NOT touch Linguaphone with a bargepole! I bought their PDA Thai course before coming out to Thailand and it almost put me off learning the language. They have their own (useless) phonetic system, that nobody else uses, the repeat after me method shows no understanding of how we aquire language, etc, etc... Uggghhhh. They are British and awful. A shame.

You have been warned!

I also have the PDA version of Linguaphone, but I don't use their transliteration. I just listen on my iPod.

Btw - you can read what multi-language users have to say about Linguaphone here.

Basically, it's all down to what type of learner you are. And at what level. I started out with Becker's Thai for Beginners and disliked it. Now that I know more, I feel it's pretty decent. But the best way I learn languages is with the Michel Thomas method (I have his French course). Only, there isn't one for Thai.

[WujouMao]

i'm not living in thailand so learning the language on my todd is going to prove rather difficult. also i live in an area of East Anglia which, although has world famous uni's, and differant races living here, all sems to want to learn english. i havent found anywhere that would do lessons as i'm a slow learner, i'd rather have a teacher scolding me if i havn't said the correct tone. you're not going to get this in online lessons and cd packs right?

sure, the easy speak thai looks naff but its simplistic that counts. i'd rather go down to primary school level of learning rather than over the top of my head uni learning

cheers all for the links etc

[Cobalt60]

Best of all is to have a long black haired dictionary, constantly there to teach you.

[Groongthep]

This thread has me completely perplexed. All the thai self study courses I have seen and used, which include most all of the ones mentioned in this thread, use native thai speakers on the recordings. What difference in the world does it make if the narrator is speaking with a British, American, Australian or any other accent. It's the thai speaker you should be listening to not the narrator. Am I missing something here?

[desi]

This thread has me completely perplexed. All the thai self study courses I have seen and used, which include most all of the ones mentioned in this thread, use native thai speakers on the recordings. What difference in the world does it make if the narrator is speaking with a British, American, Australian or any other accent. It's the thai speaker you should be listening to not the narrator. Am I missing something here?

Some courses have a lot of narration, some put the majority of the explanations in their course text. And if it's a course with a lot of narration, in an accent that grates, it annoys and distracts.

I have the same problem with lynda.com. Some of their instructors have medium American accents so they are perfectly fine. But certain accents make me grit my teeth.

I liken it to listening to The Nanny... only with no commercials... ouch...

(I'm American. So no, it's not a prejudice against the country)

[Groongthep]

Some courses have a lot of narration, some put the majority of the explanations in their course text. And if it's a course with a lot of narration, in an accent that grates, it annoys and distracts.

I have the same problem with lynda.com. Some of their instructors have medium American accents so they are perfectly fine. But certain accents make me grit my teeth.

I liken it to listening to The Nanny... only with no commercials... ouch...

(I'm American. So no, it's not a prejudice against the country)

I am not aware of a Thai course which has a narrator who sounds anything like the female New Yorker in your Nanny link. Mr. J. Marvin Brown who did the original FSI and AUA books years ago had a slight bit of an American country accent (he was from Utah), but nothing that I thought was distracting. John Moore who did Colloquial Thai has a strong British accent but I find that he too is quite understandable. I haven't subscribed to lynda.com so maybe there is a narrator there who has a voice that sounds like screeching fingernails across a blackboard. I don't know. Maybe it's because I have travelled a great deal in my lifetime and have grown accustomed to hearing people speak English differently than I that has made me less sensitive to different accents and pronunciations. I would of course, be angry if I paid for a course and couldn't understand the narrator, but I doubt if any publisher would chose to use a narrator who speaks English unintelligibly. All this aside, the point is that the learner should be concentrating on the tones and pronunciation of the native Thai speaker on the recordings and not on the narrators accent.

[desi]

I am not aware of a Thai course which has a narrator who sounds anything like the female New Yorker in your Nanny link. Mr. J. Marvin Brown who did the original FSI and AUA books years ago had a slight bit of an American country accent (he was from Utah), but nothing that I thought was distracting. John Moore who did Colloquial Thai has a strong British accent but I find that he too is quite understandable. I haven't subscribed to lynda.com so maybe there is a narrator there who has a voice that sounds like screeching fingernails across a blackboard. I don't know.

I was not using The Nanny as an exact sample of what I'm hearing. It was to show those who are not sensitive, what it's like to those of us who are.

Humans being what they are, some are sensitive to different foods, some to chemicals, some even to the air we breath.

And some just happen to be sensitive to certain accents or sounds.

If you go to the animal and pet forum, you'll find a post where different birds are being discussed. It's no different.

I have sensitive ears. They hurt if music or noise is too loud. Or if some notes are hit just so.

I can't stand some electric guitar music (but love ACDC).

The repetitive stomach-thumping of modern music heard from the downstairs flat until 4am drove me to reach for the phone. And eventually move.

On the plus side, I'm also sensitive (in a good way) to tones. And that's suits me fine with learning Thai.

Maybe it's because I have travelled a great deal in my lifetime and have grown accustomed to hearing people speak English differently than I that has made me less sensitive to different accents and pronunciations. I would of course, be angry if I paid for a course and couldn't understand the narrator, but I doubt if any publisher would chose to use a narrator who speaks English unintelligibly.

Goodness. I've been travelling and living overseas since I was a tot. I'm now semi-retired.

All this aside, the point is that the learner should be concentrating on the tones and pronunciation of the native Thai speaker on the recordings and not on the narrators accent.

I'm happy for you that you are not sensitive. But downplaying the issue with instructions (no matter how they logical they seem to you) is not going to make it any less of a problem for those who do have certain preferences.

We will deal with it by purchasing products that suit our likes and dislikes. And that my dear, is the reason for this conversation.

[Groongthep]

I'm happy for you that you are not sensitive. But downplaying the issue with instructions (no matter how they logical they seem to you) is not going to make it any less of a problem for those who do have certain preferences.

We will deal with it by purchasing products that suit our likes and dislikes. And that my dear, is the reason for this conversation.

Wow...I guess you really are sensitive. I intended my post to be a constructive comment. The point being that the accent of the narrator is really unrelated to the quality of the learning material contained in the program. Judging from your cynical reply I assume I must have offended you. If so, be assured that was not my intention.

[desi]

Wow...I guess you really are sensitive. I intended my post to be a constructive comment. The point being that the accent of the narrator is really unrelated to the quality of the learning material contained in the program. Judging from your cynical reply I assume I must have offended you. If so, be assured that was not my intention.

If you offended me, I would have either ignored you totally or neglected to add the smiley on the end.

To you, the accent does not matter. So obviously you saw your instructions as constructive. But to others, certain accents do stop them from concentrating on the learning materials. So therefor, your instructions would fall on deaf ears (pun intended).

So the point I was making is that for some people, the usability of the material (no matter how brilliant) is directly related to the presentation.

And as we all know, companies spend millions each year on presentation. This is mainly due to its importance in the market place.

Companies know that they can have the most amazing idea for a product, but if it's not created/packaged/presented/handled right, it has a good chance of bombing.

Moving from culture to culture has its own preferences to take note of (colour, references, sounds, taboos, etc). Accents are just a part of the whole.

[WujouMao]

This thread has me completely perplexed. All the thai self study courses I have seen and used, which include most all of the ones mentioned in this thread, use native thai speakers on the recordings. What difference in the world does it make if the narrator is speaking with a British, American, Australian or any other accent. It's the thai speaker you should be listening to not the narrator. Am I missing something here?

its the very 1st few lines of 'Pimsleur Thai 30 Lessons' which the narrator says which jarred me. 'imagine you're an american sitting next to a woman on a bus in Bangkok. i thought jesus, if the narrator is going to start behaving like this all through the lesson, i might as well delete the file

i can just imagine what would happen next. imagine you're an american at a market, train station etc. its the whole american attitude which i dislike. we all speak the same language, apart from lots of differant prononcation.

[Groongthep]

its the whole american attitude which i dislike

So your post really isn't about learning Thai at all. I have always hoped that the Learning Thai forum would remain above this sort of comment.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Groongthep

[desi]

its the very 1st few lines of 'Pimsleur Thai 30 Lessons' which the narrator says which jarred me. 'imagine you're an american sitting next to a woman on a bus in Bangkok. i thought jesus, if the narrator is going to start behaving like this all through the lesson, i might as well delete the file

I have to laugh here because it was that very same line that struck me, but for different reasons. I came across Pimsleurs in the beginning of my search for Thai courses, but only after I'd found a run of learning Thai materials for expat men wanting to pick up Thai girls. My response was a huge groan of 'not another!'

From what I understand, all the Pimsleur's language learning programs have the same script. So no matter if you are in France, Italy or Spain, you'll be sitting with that American all the way through. And yes, they are heavy on American...

'you are an American man, sitting next to a Thai girl on a bus...' 'you are an American man, asking for...' 'how do you say, I am American?'...

My husband is laid back, low key Brit. When I started playing the lessons this morning he was happily joining in. By lesson 3 he was finding the constant referrals to 'American' this and 'American' that tedious.

Pimsleur's gets high points for effortless learning. Luckily, the American references do not bother me (I have the first 30 lessons - do not know what the rest are like), but I can see how some Brits or Australians would get tired of the constant American focus.

It's a pity really, as they could have added needed words into the course by peppering it throughout with the different nationalities.

Note: Pimsleurs is Endorsed by the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

Edited August 17, 2008 by desi

[MKAsok]

I have a similar problem with the American accent. If you are looking for British courses, Lingaphone Thai is one of the top languages courses no matter what accent.

It's probably worth mentioning the audio in the Linguaphone course is entirely in Thai. There are no English instructions whatsover contained in the audio (contrast this with Pimsleur), since they are all contained in the textbook. Any discussion of accents, with regard to Linguaphone, therefore seems pretty irrelevant.

I have to agree with desi. In terms of self-study (at least for Thai), I don't believe there's anything better than the Linguaphone course. The Linguaphone Thai Complete Course shouldn't be confused with the Linguaphone Thai PDQ, which is, I believe, aimed primarily at very casual learners or people who want to aquire enough of the language to get by on holiday.

They have their own (useless) phonetic system, that nobody else uses

The transliteration system is, I believe, based on the Mary Haas system which is widely accepted. Anyway, it's a bad idea to rely on transliteration for any longer than the very early stages of learning.

I have to laugh here because it was that very same line that struck me, but for different reasons.

I had to laugh as well. I'm sure I've mentioned this in another thread somewhere, but here's my all time Pimleur's favourite:

"Imagine you are an American man shopping with a Thai woman. How do you tell her, 'that's too expensive?'"

Pimsleur is, however, excellent and probably well worth doing before the Linguaphone course. I still don't understand why they never made any beyond the first 30 lessons, since most other Pimsleur courses appear to have 90 lessons. It's a real shame.

To the OP: If you're looking for something easy and highly graphical, you might want to have a look at this from the Thai Ministry of Education. I can't say I've ever used it, but it looks similar to what you're after. If you're looking for something you can do on your computer, I believe the Maanii Reader is the best place to start.

mk

[WujouMao]

To the OP: If you're looking for something easy and highly graphical, you might want to have a look at this from the Thai Ministry of Education. I can't say I've ever used it, but it looks similar to what you're after. If you're looking for something you can do on your computer, I believe the Maanii Reader is the best place to start.mk

ah that link you gave me form the MOE is sweet, cheers. i'm working my way through the 1st lesson

Edited August 17, 2008 by WujouMao

[Doug]

Hi all, I'm the author of Speak Easy Thai. I'd like to clarify a few things.

First, there is no spoken English. All the Thai is spoken clearly and at a moderate speed, slightly slower than normal speech, by native speakers. There are more than 35000 words in the dictionary that is included, but only 5000 have images and sounds. Speak Easy Thai draws words by subject or other means from the dictionary, but the default case is to choose words with a picture and a sound file.

Somebody above didn't like the packaging. Well, too bad, what does the packaging have to do with the product?

I wrote Speak Easy Thai because I had difficulty remembering Thai vocabulary. Since the roots of the language are not European (Latin, Greek, Viking, etc.) there is nothing to hang your hat on, so to speak. I found that seeing a picture while hearing the word with the correct tone did it for me. I finished the software after 18 years of part-time effort, packaged it, and got it out into the market. Over 1000 people have now purchased the CD for 800 baht from Asia Books, B2S, and Kinokuniya; there have been zero returns and zero complaints.

Speak Easy Thai teaches vocabulary, but not grammar. There are no grammar lessons. A grammar book is included and, as pointed out above, this is also available on the web. It's included in Speak Easy Thai so it can be run on your computer WITHOUT being connected to the web.

Personally, I find this grammar book difficult because the phonetics (transliterations) are oriented towards British speakers, which I am not. However, it is filled with little hints about thousands of words, and this is where the value is.

In the Thai dictionary, I faithfully entered transliterations (phonetics) for about 2500 words, but then stopped, as I realised that they would be wrong for half the people using the software. Speak Easy Thai includes an option to display the phonetics if available, but I encourage people NOT to do this. It's much better to see the picture, see the Thai word, and hear the Thai word so your brain forms the links. When the phonetics are shown, your brain focuses on the English phonetics and ignores the Thai. Not good.

There are some cartoon scenarios drawn by an 18 year old girl, so they look childish. They teach vocabulary for specific situations, such as hotel room, restaurant, reading a map, etc. I have had many positive comments on the scenarios.

In 40 years of writing software, this is the only software that ever generated any feedback. Many, many people have sent e-mails and phoned to say "thank you".

I have had complaints that the download (which is well over 120 MB in size) is too complex, especially from people who don't know the meaning of "unzip", so in some cases I have temporarily taken over control of their computer using MSN Messenger and Request Remote Assistance to install the software; this only works with a broadband connection. In other cases, I have told them to order the CD which installs in 2 minutes with no download issues and no hassles.

[WujouMao]

hi Doug. i thought Speak Easy Thai was although simplistic compared to other thai learning stuff, it looks like its easier to remember stuff as you say, cos of the picture of the thai word rather than just a voice. as i dont own a credit card, and have only heard about this after my 3 week holiday in Thailand, i cant use your software.

i'll be sure to browse and buy a copy once i'm in Thailand again next year

and i dont care if the cartoons are childish, even if its drawn by an 18 year old girl. have you ever seen a japanese or korean camera/DVD instruction booklet? almost the same.