Which Thai Book Is Best To Learn With

[acoustic25]

its been a long time ive posted on here. hope everyone is good. i have 2 questions

im looking for a thai book which is based on reading and writing thai. ive got a few books but they have romanisations in them which ive been told is not the way to learning thai language as its tonal. Is there any book which hasnt got them in?

what are the best thai books on reading and wrinting. I would like to here people views

thank you

jay

[Peppy]

The biggest problem with romanized Thai isn't lack of tones--they can be shown with the aid of accents--it's that it isn't used anywhere outside of signage and books that teach Thai to foreigners. As well, there's no standard system. One sound could be romanized a half dozen different ways, whereas any particular sound in Thai is written one way and one way only in the Thai script. So learning to read and write is a wise move if you're serious about learning the language--it's actually far easier than sticking to romanization in the long run. (Though reading, writing, and knowing which word is which tone still won't help you with what the tones actually sound like--you'll need to listen to native speakers for that.)

When I first started learning I used Easy Thai by Gordon H. Allison. It doesn't teach any useful vocabulary, and there's nothing in the way of grammar, or conversation, or useful phrases--but it does teach the letters, their sounds, and how to put them together to make words. And it does this very well, in my opinion.

I then moved on to Thai For Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, and when I finished that I did Teach Yourself Thai by David Smythe, and then the next two Poomsan Becker books, Thai For Intermediate Learners and Thai For Advanced readers. All of these books seem to get good reviews, and they teach reading and writing as well (alongside vocabulary, grammar, and conversation). I'd still recommend you start with Easy Thai, though, for the best introduction to the writing system.

[katana]

I liked the Gordon Allison Book as well.

[Tod Daniels]

I passed over the book called "Everyday Thai for Beginners" by Wiworn Kesavatana-Dohrs for ages at the bookstores only based on the title. Once I actually looked at it (and could read basic thai); I saw that it was quite an in depth book about proper thai language structure, situational thai vocabulary and conversations. It won't teach you to write, but man, if you have a spare thai handy about the house, it can teach you to read thai. Sadly as there is no pronunciation guide and the script is only in thai with the english translation, if you can’t read at least a little, it’d be a tough row to hoe.

The first three Benjawan Poomsan Becker books (get them with the c/d, not the stand alone ones; and her "Speak Like a Thai" c/d's with booklets are so well known internationally that they almost deserve their own thread. The Beginner and Intermediate have her method of engrish transcription, but the third book; Advanced, has just the RID's thai pronunciation in it.

I honestly doubt any other thai national has made such a concerted effort to target foreigners in learning the thai language. (FWIW: I doubt any other thai national has reaped as great of financial rewards Benjawan has either. But hey, that's why she's in business, so she can't be faulted for making money!! ). She hasta be one of the most well known 'learn thai' authors out there.

The old AUA two text book series is worth picking up. They are aptly named; "Reading and Writing". There are two books, one is blue; has a "W" on the cover and says 'workbook, mostly writing', the other is red; has an "R" on the cover and says 'text, mostly reading'.

I just returned from Kinokuniya Books at Siam Paragon, and there is NO shortage of books in their section about the thai language. Go to almost any large bookstore, pull up a chair and browse thru them to see what methodology is a good 'fit' for the way you learn things. A book I might find totally incompatible to my learning style, you might luv, an vice versa.

Good Luck

[acoustic25]

thank you very much for information. I appreciate it alot

Edited August 18, 2010 by acoustic25