Newbie To The Site

[holidaze]

Hi All,

I'm new to the site so hello.

My Husband and I have visited Phuket twice and love the place. We love it so much that we want to eventually buy a small condo and retire there. I have consequently been learning the Thai language for an hour each day for the last three months and I've hit a snag.

The site that I've been using is called its4thai and thought I was doing really well until my Husband decided to buy a Thai phrase book and dictionary. Some of the Thai words that I'm learning on its4thai clash with some of the exact same words in the Berlitz Thai Phrase book and dictionary.

I'm starting to wonder if there might be different dialects in different parts of Thailand where some of the words for the same things may differ.

If anyone has any light to shed on this subject, I would be most grateful as we are heading back to Thailand next year in March and I want to practice what I've learned but don't want to discover that I've wasted all of these hours so far, learning a dialect that may be used in a different part of Thailand.

Having said that, I'd like to discover that now, rather than continue learning a dialect that I can't use.

Any help out there would be well received.

Thanks

[bkkmick]

Try the Thai Language forum. These guys know what they're talking about.

[Geekfreaklover]

Hi All,

I'm new to the site so hello.

My Husband and I have visited Phuket twice and love the place. We love it so much that we want to eventually buy a small condo and retire there. I have consequently been learning the Thai language for an hour each day for the last three months and I've hit a snag.

The site that I've been using is called its4thai and thought I was doing really well until my Husband decided to buy a Thai phrase book and dictionary. Some of the Thai words that I'm learning on its4thai clash with some of the exact same words in the Berlitz Thai Phrase book and dictionary.

I'm starting to wonder if there might be different dialects in different parts of Thailand where some of the words for the same things may differ.

If anyone has any light to shed on this subject, I would be most grateful as we are heading back to Thailand next year in March and I want to practice what I've learned but don't want to discover that I've wasted all of these hours so far, learning a dialect that may be used in a different part of Thailand.

Having said that, I'd like to discover that now, rather than continue learning a dialect that I can't use.

Any help out there would be well received.

Thanks

Hi,

If you are planning on staying here for some time I would recommend learning the thai alphabet first and foremost. Try and work through the sounds of each character and vowel. There are so many sounds that just do not correspond to the western alphabet, thus the difference in phrase book translations. The only way to really achieve this is through a good thai teacher, although there may be some software out there that helps.

Other than that it is just a matter of trial and error and not to be too afraid of making mistakes.

Good luck.

Jim.

[Boater]

Thailand has many different dialects, easiest way to understand is reflecting this to the uk, where a northerner will not understand a southern but in theory it is the same language

[Radius]

I have been using: http://www.thai-language.com/dict/

Quite usefull and sound files too.

I now have a Thai dictionary as well. There are always multiple words for the same thing and there are also words with the same or very similar meaning.

This is true in any language but can be confusing when trying to learn a new one.

[phaethon]

As a fellow learner I can sympathise

Also when a source says a Thai sound X is like in the English word Y the source may not pronounce the English sound as you would. For example Becker's pronunciation of the vowel 'as in cat' (American English) is quite different from my idea of how it should sound (British English). Ideally a recorded source will clear this up, but also try and stick to sources that use examples in the same L1 (your own language) as you.

Just about every source uses their own idea of transliteration into Roman characters and even phonemic symbols. For this reason I agree with the above about learning Thai script, even with my limited knowledge ambiguities in the romanized transliteration and can cleared up by examining the thaiscript.

For reference I use thai-language.com which has recordings of many words and tutorials.

thaiarc.tu.ac.th/thai/introth.htm has some nice clear audio samples of the alphabet and, if you rummage around some other interesting stuff.

Chok/shok/chock/shock dee/dii khrap/khap/kap/crup/krub/khrup/kup/cup/grub/gap........

Edited September 21, 2008 by phaethon

[MKAsok]

I just had a (very) quick look on that site and it looks like central Thai to me. As I said, it was a quick look, so don't shoot me later. Do post your question in the Thai Language Forum. Giving specific examples would also help.

mk

[myauq]

firstly, don't give up.

you will find that, when learning a language which is quite different from your native tongue, you'll often encounter words and concepts which are very difficult to translate directly into your home language.

it's just a matter of having faith in the learning process, and eventually you will learn enough to think in the new language, and the problem you're describing won't be a problem.

having said that, if you are have dictionaries which give you different meanings for basic nouns, like 'water', 'sun', '31', 'foot', then you might be in trouble. (note: even then you might find different words, but all meanings should be given - i.e. you can understand why 'drinking water' and 'rain water' might be different).

[myauq]

having said that, if you are have dictionaries which give you different meanings for basic nouns, like 'water', 'sun', '31', 'foot', then you might be in trouble. (note: even then you might find different words, but all meanings should be given - i.e. you can understand why 'drinking water' and 'rain water' might be different).

actually, i'm not sure there are that many dictionaries with entries for the noun '31'.

[Tim207]

There are regional variations but learning resources particularly at the basic level will generally be central Thai and should be understood anywhere. I think, as others have said, the differences you are finding have more to do with transliteration or multiple ways of saying the same thing than they do with regional dialects.

I briefly looked at itsforthai lesson 1 and it isn't a bad resources but you need more listening/speaking practice. Pimsleur Thai is a great audio resource. Audio is far more important than trying to learn by reading transliterations. Transliterations as a pronunciation learning method is not very useful. As some have noted, learning Thai script is very helpful, but I think at this stage it is probably too daunting for you. Transliterations should only be used as a convenient tool to help with audio resources. The site you mention seems to be the opposite.

Good luck, and don't be discouraged if some people don't understand everything you say. Pronunciation is as important in Thai. There are sounds that are not used in English and it takes effort to let go of your English pronunciation habits.

[5tash]

Hi All,

I'm new to the site so hello.

My Husband and I have visited Phuket twice and love the place. We love it so much that we want to eventually buy a small condo and retire there. I have consequently been learning the Thai language for an hour each day for the last three months and I've hit a snag.

The site that I've been using is called its4thai and thought I was doing really well until my Husband decided to buy a Thai phrase book and dictionary. Some of the Thai words that I'm learning on its4thai clash with some of the exact same words in the Berlitz Thai Phrase book and dictionary.

I'm starting to wonder if there might be different dialects in different parts of Thailand where some of the words for the same things may differ.

If anyone has any light to shed on this subject, I would be most grateful as we are heading back to Thailand next year in March and I want to practice what I've learned but don't want to discover that I've wasted all of these hours so far, learning a dialect that may be used in a different part of Thailand.

Having said that, I'd like to discover that now, rather than continue learning a dialect that I can't use.

Any help out there would be well received.

Thanks

I think what you'll find is happening here is that its4thai and the Berlitz book are using different transliteraton systems for the Thai script.

[mynextgig]

Hi All,

I'm new to the site so hello.

My Husband and I have visited Phuket twice and love the place. We love it so much that we want to eventually buy a small condo and retire there. I have consequently been learning the Thai language for an hour each day for the last three months and I've hit a snag.

The site that I've been using is called its4thai and thought I was doing really well until my Husband decided to buy a Thai phrase book and dictionary. Some of the Thai words that I'm learning on its4thai clash with some of the exact same words in the Berlitz Thai Phrase book and dictionary.

I'm starting to wonder if there might be different dialects in different parts of Thailand where some of the words for the same things may differ.

If anyone has any light to shed on this subject, I would be most grateful as we are heading back to Thailand next year in March and I want to practice what I've learned but don't want to discover that I've wasted all of these hours so far, learning a dialect that may be used in a different part of Thailand.

Having said that, I'd like to discover that now, rather than continue learning a dialect that I can't use.

Any help out there would be well received.

Thanks

I think what you'll find is happening here is that its4thai and the Berlitz book are using different transliteraton systems for the Thai script.

The problem with learning Thai when you are not hearing Thai everyday is getting the pronounciation right and you will be extremely frustrated on your next visit to Thailand when the locals dont understand the words and sentences you have spent hours memorising.

My advise is to learn the 44 Thai Consonants first, as each one is pronounced with a corresponding word, making sure you are using the correct tone for both that word and the actual consonant sound. Children are taught the Thai alphabet using this system and it is as ingrained in their minds as the A-Z is in ours.

It is very important that you remember the tone of both the consonant sound and the corresponding word, flash cards might help with this. To read and write Thai you also need to learn the class and final consonant sound for each consonant, but for my suggestion you could come back to this at a later date.

Next learn the 33 vowel sounds, again flash cards might help, but it is more important to appreciate the significant differences between the way thai vowels and english vowels sound at this stage.

www.thai-language.com is a great resource for this as you can hear audio clips of all the sounds and mimic them. If your husband is also keen on learning thai you should help each other to get the sounds right as you often dont hear yourself as others do !

Once you have learned this, you must make sure that any thai language resource you use to learn new words and sentences has Thai script along side the transliteration and the transliteration MUST show the tone of each word.

You will find that although you cant yet read Thai script you will be able to use it to check your pronounciation of the transliterated word.

Different people learn things at different speeds but i would say that if you spent your hour per day learning the alphabet and vowel sounds you will have this in your head fairly quickly and this preparation will serve you well as you progress to learning useful conversational Thai in the future.

Edited September 21, 2008 by mynextgig

[Tod Daniels]

I would not worry overly much about the regional "accents" and/or dialects. Believe me EVERY thai in this country here can speak/understand "Central Thai", as its the "official" language. It is also the only one taught in school or spoken on television.

Different areas will have different words that are specific to that region, just as we do in the US, but speaking central thai you will always be understood. I learned thai and live in Bangkok yet I am understood all over the country.

The advice offered by a previous poster about learning to read is critical to differentiating words in this language, and while you may be intimidated initially, it is far easier to learn to read than to speak clearly.

Any method of learning thai by transliteration or by 'karaoke thai' is fraught with peril, and the 'official' government transliteration doesn't even differentiate vowel length or tone. That is why there are many different systems by various authors of thai language books. Sound files from either online resources or c/d's can help a great deal.

As an example; if I write the word "khao" in English, can you tell me what word it might be in thai? Is it; 'enter', 'he/she', the word for 'knee', the color 'white', the word 'rice', the word 'news', or a 'bad smell'? BTW; the above words are all spelled completely different in thai.

Good luck, don't give up...