"Reading Thai" Iphone App

[LazyYogi]

I have just released my first iPhone app, which may be of interest for anyone who wants to learn to read Thai.

It's called "Reading Thai". You should be able to find it easily enough if you just enter that into the iTunes search.

The app covers every aspect of the Thai script: consonants, vowels, tone marks, punctuation, and even the Thai numerals.

It covers all the tone rules in a very clear and organized manner, with lots of example words that have audio.

I think this app would be very useful for not only learning to read, but also for perfecting your tones and pronunciation.

Since it's a brand new app it doesn't have any ratings yet, so if you decide to get it and find it useful please be sure to rate it and review positively.

[Rumblecat]

Cool, I'll definitely check it out. Does it work in the older iPhone / iPods..? I've not updated my iPod to the latest OS yet. Anyway, from the preview on iTunes it looks good.

And does it have a test mode at all? Something I've found very useful for learning with iPhone apps- there's a Thai alphabet one by Ronald Bell which has a great test mode... but it's a missing a 1/3rd of the alphabet.

[LazyYogi]

It works on my iPhone 3G, but the performance is better on my wife's 3GS, which has twice the RAM. I think technically you're supposed to have at least IOS 4.0 to run it, but I was using an older version when I was writing and testing it.

It doesn't have a test mode for now. That's possibly something I could add in a future update. There is, however, a screen with a chart of all the letters, and when you touch any letter it goes to a new screen with that letter's name and picture, so you could use that to quiz yourself by trying to recall the letter's name and sound before tapping on it. And the same goes for all the vowels.

Not only do you get every letter of the Thai alphabet (even the obsolete ones), but also all the vowels, tone marks and other symbols. I came up with the idea for this app after I realized there was a need for one that actually shows you how to read an entire word. Knowing only the consonants and nothing else won't get you very far in real-life encounters with stuff written in Thai.

[Rumblecat]

Yeah, unfortunately I went to download it earlier but it said it need IOS 4.0 to run it. I'll get round to updating eventually though- there's still a few apps I use that haven't updated to it so I'm holding out for a bit- and pick it up then. Cheers, hope it all goes well, about time there was a decent Thai alphabet app on the store.

[LazyYogi]

I figured out how to set the minimum requirement lower. So I just submitted an updated Reading Thai version 1.1 to the App Store for approval. Hopefully it will be out within a week. The new version will run on IOS 3.0 or later.

[Rumblecat]

Alright, nice one. I'll keep an eye out for the 1.1 version and pick it up when it comes out.

[Genericnic]

I don't normally go for paid apps until there are at least a few reviews but I took the plunge on this one. First impression is that it looks like a good, well thought out, and useful app. I'll update as I have more time to play with it.

David

Edited September 21, 2010 by Genericnic

[LazyYogi]

I don't normally go for paid apps until there are at least a few reviews but I took the plunge on this one. First impression is that it looks like a good, well thought out, and useful app. I'll update as I have more time to play with it.

David

Thanks Genericnic. You rock!

I know exactly what you mean, about buying an app without any reviews. That's kind of the catch 22 of having a brand new app. You could really help me and others who would benefit from an informed decision by adding your own review to the iTunes store.

By the way, right now it is being featured under "New & Noteworthy" in the Education section of the UK app store. To take advantage of the extra exposure and try to get a spike in units sold I'm running a 40% off sale for the next 3 days. Get it while it's hot!

[LazyYogi]

The updated version of Reading Thai was released today. So now it can run on IOS 3.0 or later. I also fixed a couple typos that snuck in the first time.

[Rumblecat]

Got it now, excellent stuff- especially good is the attention paid to tone rules and to whether consonants are high, middle or low. Highly recommend this for anyone learning Thai who has an iPhone or iPod Touch.

[LazyYogi]

Glad you like it. I'm gonna assume by your nick that you are the "Rcat1" that wrote a nice little review in the UK iTunes store.

Thank you very much for taking a minute to do that.

[LazyYogi]

For the people who like free stuff I just released a lite version of my app. This one is called "Read Thai Alphabet".

It only covers the 44 consonants, and it has some ads, but its FREE!

[LazyYogi]

I'm bumping this thread up mostly to kindly ask anyone else who has downloaded my app to take just a minute to give it an honest review in the iTunes AppStore. Or at least just click to give it a star rating so others will know that it has some value for people who want to learn Thai.

[desi]

I'm jumping in to say that this really is the best Thai alphabet app out there. Nice job.

[tombkk]

For the people who like free stuff I just released a lite version of my app. This one is called "Read Thai Alphabet".

It only covers the 44 consonants, and it has some ads, but its FREE!

I was reluctant to download your main app for $4.99. I have previously downloaded apps for $0.99 just for the fun of it, though. You might want to reconsider your pricing plicy.

I did download your free app, and it seems you know your stuff.

I'm sure you can take it from here. Otherwise, please ask.

[LazyYogi]

For the people who like free stuff I just released a lite version of my app. This one is called "Read Thai Alphabet".

It only covers the 44 consonants, and it has some ads, but its FREE!

I was reluctant to download your main app for $4.99. I have previously downloaded apps for $0.99 just for the fun of it, though. You might want to reconsider your pricing plicy.

I did download your free app, and it seems you know your stuff.

I'm sure you can take it from here. Otherwise, please ask.

It has been selling well enough at 4.99 that I believe the price is justified. I briefly experimented with lower price points, and there wasn't a large increase in sales. I think there is just a limited number of people who own iphones and are seriously interested in learning to read the Thai script as potential customers. The people who are really interested will pay, because after all, it's still cheaper than a book with all the same info would be. I tried to make the full version so that people who use it will be able to recognize all the consonants and vowels, and be able to internalize the tone rules so they can look at any line of Thai writing and be able to sound out each syllable with some accuracy.

I put out the free version just for people who were more curious about the letters of the alphabet. I wanted to at least be able to put some accurate information out there since all the other alphabet apps I saw were either missing letters, had bad pronunciation, didn't give information about classes, had horrible phonetics, etc.

[tombkk]

It has been selling well enough at 4.99 that I believe the price is justified. I briefly experimented with lower price points, and there wasn't a large increase in sales. I think there is just a limited number of people who own iphones and are seriously interested in learning to read the Thai script as potential customers. The people who are really interested will pay, because after all, it's still cheaper than a book with all the same info would be. I tried to make the full version so that people who use it will be able to recognize all the consonants and vowels, and be able to internalize the tone rules so they can look at any line of Thai writing and be able to sound out each syllable with some accuracy.

I put out the free version just for people who were more curious about the letters of the alphabet. I wanted to at least be able to put some accurate information out there since all the other alphabet apps I saw were either missing letters, had bad pronunciation, didn't give information about classes, had horrible phonetics, etc.

Fair enough, let the user decide. For what it's worth, I have sent both app names (freeware and payware) to a friend who is learning Thai and for who this will be very useful.

The only reason it's not very useful for me is that I already read and write Thai, but I may have appreciated this app 20 years ago.

On another note, you mentioned in your OP that this is your first iPhone app. I would like to congratulate you to having written a useful app, and get it approved and listed in the AppStore!

Edited December 5, 2010 by tombkk

[LazyYogi]

On another note, you mentioned in your OP that this is your first iPhone app. I would like to congratulate you to having written a useful app, and get it approved and listed in the AppStore!

Thanks. I had no real programming experience before this, so I was quite amazed myself that I was able to endure all the technobabble induced headaches and actually put this thing together. I actually have another app I just released called "Speak Thai Sanuk". It's a simple talking phrasebook, which I did price lower since it's in more direct competition with other apps.

[Genericnic]

Time for a follow-up on the app from my earlier comments.

First, I am glad I bought it and would do so again. I have found it handy to have so I can practice while standing in lines or killing time waiting for retirement.

I do have a suggestion for something you might think of adding that I think might make it more useful for beginners.

If you are familiar with Becker's Improving Your Thai Pronunciation, there is a part at the beginning of the Guide To Pronunciation section where they clearly pronounce the separate tones using a single syllable (maa). This gives the learner a chance to hear the tones rise and fall, standing alone and where only the tone changes. It also gives the learner the chance to begin to make those sound distinctions himself and to make the necessary mouth and muscle movements needed to reproduce them. Also, it gives the learner the chance to hear where the tones are placed relative to a speaker's regular mid-level pitch is located. I don't think you can ever hear or practice the tones enough especially in the beginning.

I think a section that did that might be more useful to a beginning Thai student than the part you have that gives the names of of the tone marks (though I think that is important as well).

That is just my $0.02 worth.

David