Finally Over The Hump On Reading Thai

[stevehaigh]

i've been leaning to read very sporadically for about 3-4 years now, but just recently, it all starting to come together. i actually don't know how it happened; i guess enough of it just got lodged in my brain. anyhow, now i can read about 70% of Thai words in a reasonable amount of time and it feels good!

i was looking at http://thai-language.com/lessons/ at the reading exercises but it looks like Glenn chose newspaper articles and reports that use a lot of words i don't know and probably don't need to know.

i wonder if there are any stories or articles online somewhere using very simple language? i prefer online to a book because its easier to copy and paste the word into thai-language.com if i get stuck (often).

does anyone know of a place to find stories or articles using mostly simple language? i guess thai wikipedia pages would be a place to look, any other ideas?

thanks, steve

[BigSnake]

i've been leaning to read very sporadically for about 3-4 years now, but just recently, it all starting to come together. i actually don't know how it happened; i guess enough of it just got lodged in my brain. anyhow, now i can read about 70% of Thai words in a reasonable amount of time and it feels good!

i was looking at http://thai-language.com/lessons/ at the reading exercises but it looks like Glenn chose newspaper articles and reports that use a lot of words i don't know and probably don't need to know.

i wonder if there are any stories or articles online somewhere using very simple language? i prefer online to a book because its easier to copy and paste the word into thai-language.com if i get stuck (often).

does anyone know of a place to find stories or articles using mostly simple language? i guess thai wikipedia pages would be a place to look, any other ideas?

thanks, steve

Hey, dude good for you 16 plus years and I am just learn to speak it. I do have three friends(farangs) who are fluent speakers and reader/writers of Thai, hats off to all three, old bigsnake just got lost in the grass.

[krading]

http://www.sealang.net/lab/justread has some simple stories to practice on

[loong]

Good for you,

My reading always seems to go 3 steps forward and 2 steps back, sometimes 2 steps forward and 3 back.

I'm probably the same as you although I cannot read 70% of anything. I know that it is lack of practice, but anything written in Thai, unless simple, is just so confusing. Sometimes I can get the gist, but most times I cannot make the individual words form a coherent sentence.

For example, this sentence in another thread at

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/and3619and36...38-t257541.html

ด้วยภาระหน้าที่การงาน รัดรึงราวกะติดหนึบอยู่กลางตาข่ายเหนียวหนืดจนแทบกระดิกตัวไปไหนไม่ได้

No way that I can understand that.

[teacup]

Many of the early elementary school textbooks will do nicely

Edited April 18, 2009 by teacup

[stevehaigh]

http://www.sealang.net/lab/justread has some simple stories to practice on

thanks, that's a good link. i can use it with my step daughter for English reading practice too.

wikipedia is actually a good place too, i've been reading this

http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/อำ...;ัน and i can follow it pretty well

i've noticed that once you start to read 'real Thai', there's a lot of vocab that isn't covered by the books that are specifically written for teaching Thai.

[phaethon]

One thing I miss is the bi-lingual books I used in learning Spanish - Spanish/Mexican folk-tales, one page in English, the facing page in Spanish. This is rather like the layout of "Thai Fever", but simple stories.

The only thing I have found so far (at Se-Ed, cinema level of MBK) is this:

(I blurred most of the text to stay within fair-use etc. - don't want to end up in a Swedish jail )

Simple children's stories in both English and Thai, with some vocab. Obviously for Thai children learning to read English, but usable the other way too. Includes a CD of the stories read in Thai and English (latter by non-native speaker though, rippable MP3s). 50 stories in total.

199THB from Se-Ed, on offer from the publisher (msibook.com) for 170THB, 22x25cm hardback, ISBN 978-974-258-003-2

I have no commercial interests in this book or its publisher.

Anyone know other similar format examples?

For a slightly more challenging read, I couldn't resist this (just for bookshelf kudos :

Edited April 18, 2009 by phaethon

[rak sa_ngop]

One thing I miss is the bi-lingual books I used in learning Spanish - Spanish/Mexican folk-tales, one page in English, the facing page in Spanish. This is rather like the layout of "Thai Fever", but simple stories.

Keep searching, bi-lingual books are published and are usually found in the Thai section of the bookshop.

I have 24 volumes of Scooby-doo stories (45 baht each), 2 volumes of Disasterous Dez, 3 vols of The Chills, 4 vols of Captain Fact, 4 vols of Pickle Hill Primary. All these are published by Nation Egmont and are bi-lingual in good English and good Thai, intermediate level (very few typos). However I think they have a limited print-run so when they sell out they do not seem to be restocked. I have been collecting these over the last 3 or 4 years and I haven't seen them for a while, apart from a few Scooby-doo stories.

Scooby-doo is my favourite!!

Edited April 18, 2009 by rak sa_ngop

[wasabi]

I have days where I am having fluid and complex conversations about all manner of topics with a Thai person and start to think I'm really making progress. Then I come across a Thai article and hour later and I can hardly understand a single word. I think it just takes time and practice.

[fabianfred]

Don't forget that any language is made up of many parts. For instance English...if you are interested in Golf or Angling or Cricket etc. each subject has its own vocabulary and you would only learn it if you were interested enough. Nobody could know every word in English. Equally with Thai.... I am interested in Buddhism and easily read books about the Dhamma.... but give me a Newspaper where I then have trouble deciding what are words and what are names of people or organisations etc....I'm lost.

Once we have the basic grammar all the rest is vocabulary.... I do little writing though so that is my weakness.

[Gaccha]

One thing I miss is the bi-lingual books I used in learning Spanish - Spanish/Mexican folk-tales, one page in English, the facing page in Spanish. This is rather like the layout of "Thai Fever", but simple stories.

The only thing I have found so far (at Se-Ed, cinema level of MBK) is this:

(I blurred most of the text to stay within fair-use etc. - don't want to end up in a Swedish jail )

Simple children's stories in both English and Thai, with some vocab. Obviously for Thai children learning to read English, but usable the other way too. Includes a CD of the stories read in Thai and English (latter by non-native speaker though, rippable MP3s). 50 stories in total.

199THB from Se-Ed, on offer from the publisher (msibook.com) for 170THB, 22x25cm hardback, ISBN 978-974-258-003-2

I have no commercial interests in this book or its publisher.

Anyone know other similar format examples?

For a slightly more challenging read, I couldn't resist this (just for bookshelf kudos :

See my topic here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Trip-World-t247098.html

Same publisher with a book still aimed at kids but clearly more interesting than yet another Brothers Grimm story.

Something bizzare I saw the other day was a bilingual (Thai- English) manga for parts of the Bible. For example, there was a 'Women in the Bible'.

[stevehaigh]

Don't forget that any language is made up of many parts. For instance English...if you are interested in Golf or Angling or Cricket etc. each subject has its own vocabulary and you would only learn it if you were interested enough. Nobody could know every word in English. Equally with Thai.... I am interested in Buddhism and easily read books about the Dhamma.... but give me a Newspaper where I then have trouble deciding what are words and what are names of people or organisations etc....I'm lost.

Once we have the basic grammar all the rest is vocabulary.... I do little writing though so that is my weakness.

so true, i understand the stuff about building almost 100% because i know the lingo.

http://www.sealang.net/ is a great site, thanks to krading for pointing that out

[orish]

After my Read Thai in a Weekend workshop, I provide the following tips on how to consolidate what you have learnt and take it to the next level:

1. Start by becoming consciously aware of street signs, place names and shop notices. Read them! Try to work out the correct tone also and understand why they are the way they are. You will nearly always see a transliteration, but beware: a lot of them are wrong! Names (like พระโขนง) might be a bit tricky because they tend to use the more obscure letters and rules. [Edited.]
   
2. After about a week to allow the information to “settle” in your mind, start working through the Read Thai in a Day ebook again:
   
   • First read the introductory section, and refresh your memory on the basic consonants.
     
   • Start working through the reading exercises in the main section – just do one page (one letter, maximum 15 words) a day. It only takes about 5 minutes. Make it part of your daily routine with coffee or something. Understand how each word is pronounced thoroughly, and review the visual story association while you’re at it.
     
   • When there is a note about tones that you don’t understand, go and review the relevant page(s) in the tone section.
     

[*]Go through the introductory online course on www.its4thai.com. It's free. (Switch on Thai script, not phonetics!!!)

[*]Get the book Everyday Thai for Beginners by Wiworn Kesavatana-Dohrs (from Bookazine/Amazon). No phonetics here either. Find a Thai teacher who will follow this program and not theirs, on a one-to-one basis.

[*]Get the book Instant Thai by Stuart Robson & Prateep Changchit (Kinokuniya).

[*]Carry the SE-ED Modern English-Thai Dictionary Pocket Edition around with you. It’s in Thai script only!

[*]It helps also to listen to some Thai podcasts. So far, I’ve only found: www.learn-thai-podcast.com. The audio is free, but if you pay $25 you can download all the videos, which are transcripts and explained in a detailed slowed-down manner. (Tip: cancel your subscription after everything has been downloaded.)

[*]Start reading. Children’s books are a little bit complicated and flowery in the writing style, but there’s a lot that you can still understand. Start with the bilingual Winnie the Pooh First Reader series (หนังสือสองภาษา) and the Noddy series, either obtainable from SE-ED or Kinokuniya or contact [email protected]. After that, it’s probably a good idea to find original Thai reading material. The simpler texts can be found in the pulp fiction novels from 7-11 (the 12 baht books) or autobiographies. This is where having a private Thai teacher, who is very patient, helps. Read the text aloud and ask for explanations on why things are the way they are.

[*]Read aloud! It may seem silly, but you will develop stronger and more agile face & tongue muscles that will make your diction that much clearer. Thai people will start to understand you! Don’t forget to exaggerate the tones: emphatic for falling, question for rising, skeptical for high/rising.

[*]Use either www.thai2english.com (they have a downloadable dictionary for $40) or www.thai-language.com/dict. Typing the Thai words into the dictionary (using the Thai keyboard) will also help to make you more consciously aware of the spelling over time.

[*]Develop a strength and stamina for reading by persevering. At first, it will be a struggle. It will be slow and frustrating. Like first learning to play the piano or guitar. [Edited.]

Here are some other books that are useful for intermediate-level reading:

• The translations of the Roald Dahl books, The Witches, Esio Trot, Mathilda, etc., The Little Prince by Saint Exupery or Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. The Harry Potter series also uses fairly simple language, or you might want to brave The Lord of the Rings, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Wind in the Willows (Thai title: การผจญภัย & มิตรภาพวีรบุรุษสัตว์ทั้งสี่). There are also translations of the Agatha Christie mysteries and the Sherlock Holmes series. Most of these books can be obtained from Kinokuniya. The Thai version of Wind in the Willows is published by www.goodonebooks.com. Monte Cristo by Mild Publishing (02 270 0928). And TWP publishes a "Bright Kids" series of classic children's tales and stories with a science bent. Hard to find though...
  How you read these is to have the English language version of the same book and read the two side by side. Awkward, yes, but it works. What I do is use a multi-coloured pen: I underline the more obscure words in red, the ones that I'm sort of familiar with but have forgotten in blue, and those that I know but are kind of important in black.
  
• For a fun, but fairly advanced (read "poetic") use of Thai language, try The Shark That Lost His Teeth (ปลาฉลามฟันหลอ) published by Post Books (Bangkok Post). Buy the bilingual version, English on one page, Thai on the other...
  
• Another great book is A Child of the Northeast by Kampoon Boontawee. A special English translation has been published. The original Thai book is ลูกอิสาน.
  
• There are of course plenty of business and self-help books that use a fairly straight-forward writing style, many of which have been translated into Thai: Anthony Robbins (Unlimited Power, etc.), Malcolm Gladwell (Tipping Point), etc. etc. So pick your favorite topic, get the original and the Thai translation and work through the two books, side by side.
  
• The SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand) publishes a series of bilingual children's books to teach basic concepts of finance and investment, such as 1,000 Dolls. You can buy them from the SET bookshop (next to Queen Sirikit Exhibition Center).
  
• Finally, there are the myriad of Thai newspapers and magazines, aimed at all levels of readership. The headlines are usually difficult to read at first coz they are often printed in a more modern font. But all the major newspapers are online anyway. I prefer that, because I can copy and paste into Word, change the font to my liking, increase the size, and even use software or online dictionaries. Look at www.newspapers24.com/thai-newspapers or perhaps more helpfully: www.learningthai.com/newspaper.
  There's also a useful book (aimed at Thais learning English) called You Can Read The Bangkok Post by Terry Fredrickson. It works the other way round also: there are sufficient paired translations of passages from the newspaper for you to develop an understanding of newspaper-styleThai language.
  

Edited April 21, 2009 by Rikker

[phaethon]

I have days where I am having fluid and complex conversations about all manner of topics with a Thai person and start to think I'm really making progress. Then I come across a Thai article and hour later and I can hardly understand a single word. I think it just takes time and practice.

Are you sure it's not because your girlfriend has actually been teaching you Laos?

[desi]

[Note: Offensive comments have now been removed and commenters have been warned. --Rikker]

Do we have to have this crap in the Thai language forum?

[stevehaigh]

i just found a new learning tool, kind of obvious really.

i watched one of my favourite movies but in Thai with the Thai sub titles on and remote in hand. i was able to read and follow pretty much the whole thing (pausing to give me time to read the subs), just pulling up the dictionary for words I didn't know. perhaps a more entertaining way to read than kids books, etc.

[bow]

Yes. the 80 page, 12 bath pulp fiction books in seven -eleven are often written with a simplyfied language and vocab.

[RickBradford]

I read the Doraemon cartoon books, which consist mainly of short dialogue in basic colloquial Thai.

The stories are quite funny in their own right, which is a help, but it's important to realise they are aimed at children (and the dialogue is coming from the children in the books) so the words may not be appropriate for adults to use. Still, very instructive and quite entertaining.

[klons]

These are some short stories free on the net with transcript, translation and audio. I just started on the first story a few days ago .

http://131.156.68.78/thai2/literature/shortstory.htm