Best Way To Increase Vocabular - At Home

[Pontare]

Hi! I'm trying to learn Thai. I've been living here for some months, and I'm meeting Thai friends two-three times a week. But I struggle with a limited vocabulary. What is the best methodology to increase ones vocabulary?

I have a dictionary and can read Thai letters, but just finding words in the dictionary and trying to remember them by writing them down/saying them out loud doesn't quite do the trick for me. I am hoping to learn 5-10 new words a day.

[Scottish Thailander]

You could try ANKI which is a flashcard repetition software which you can also add in sound so it is pretty good. Downside, you make your own cards up (or share others). Upside, as specific to you as you want it to be.

[coma]

อ่าน ๆๆๆๆๆ หนังสือไงครับ

[Pontare]

อ่าน ๆๆๆๆๆ หนังสือไงครับ

I'll do some reading, but that doesn't bring good pronunciation and listening skills.

Thanks for the ANKI tip, it seems like a great tool, and there's quite a few modules downloadable. Is there any of them that are especially recommended?

And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?

[AyG]

There's no one "best" way to increase vocabulary. It rather depends upon the individual concerned.

Some people are situational learners - they will remember a word based upon where they first encountered it and/or used it. So, for example, if you hear a new word you don't recognise, ask the speaker to explain it. Take a note of it (keep a small notebook with you at all times for this) and then make sure you use the word soon and often. Alternatively, you can choose words you want to learn and deliberately go out to use them. Again, repetition is important to anchor the new lexis in the brain.

Other people are more driven by what they read and write. (Such people will typically give a high priority to learning the alphabet of a new language and are often more comfortable reading/writing than speaking the new language). Learning from flashcards can be effective. However, reinforcement of new words is important and should be structured. After you've learnt a new word from flashcards, make sure that you repeat the flashcard with a regular schedule. If you learn the word in the morning, make sure you retest yourself with the flashcards in the afternoon, and again later in the day, then again the next day, after 3 days and after a further week. By that time the word should be firmly anchored in your brain. Again, it's helpful to use these new words as soon as possible and as often as you can.

Finally, don't be overambitious. Learning ten words a day every day is virtually impossible for a typical adult learner. (The British army runs full immersion courses for its soldiers and it manages to impart 9 words per day. In a less intensive environment 5-7 might be a realistic target.)

[RickBradford]

If you learn the word in the morning, make sure you retest yourself with the flashcards in the afternoon, and again later in the day, then again the next day, after 3 days and after a further week. By that time the word should be firmly anchored in your brain.

Well, proper spaced repetition learning programs (Supermemo, Byki) have an automatic schedule built in -- you review the word when the program thinks you are on the point of forgetting it. This is the most effective method.

Learning ten words a day every day is virtually impossible for a typical adult learner.

I think that's very pessimistic. I believe that a dedicated adult learner should be easily able to get to 500 words in 50 days.

[krading]

"And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?"

You can buy a thai keyboard from Lotus for a few hundred baht.

[Pontare]

"And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?"

You can buy a thai keyboard from Lotus for a few hundred baht.

Not very practical as I have a notebook.

[Pontare]

Well, proper spaced repetition learning programs (Supermemo, Byki) have an automatic schedule built in -- you review the word when the program thinks you are on the point of forgetting it. This is the most effective method.

What are those programs, and do they have Thai modules?

[flying]

"And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?"

You can buy a thai keyboard from Lotus for a few hundred baht.

Not very practical as I have a notebook.

I got them off of ebay

[Peppy]

อ่าน ๆๆๆๆๆ หนังสือไงครับ

I'll do some reading, but that doesn't bring good pronunciation and listening skills.

Thanks for the ANKI tip, it seems like a great tool, and there's quite a few modules downloadable. Is there any of them that are especially recommended?

And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?

Most any shop that sells computer equipment should have them... just ask for สติ๊กเกอร์คีย์บอร์ด "sa-tik-ger kee-bawt".

On the topic of vocabulary, I agree that reading doesn't help your listening much... but it might actually do more for your pronunciation than you think, since recognizing the consistencies between written letters and their sounds can help you recognize and reproduce those sounds accurately and consistently than you otherwise would. For example, your ear may hear two words that actually have the same vowel sound as being pronounced with a different sound (perhaps owing to them having different tones), but if you see the words in print you will realize they actually have the same vowels, allowing you to correct your error and develop clearer and more accurate pronunciation. This system works just as well with tones, and with initial and final consonants. Spot the consistencies, and implement them in your speech.

Of course, all the consistency in the world won't be of much help if you're lacking real-world examples of how the sounds actually sound when spoken in sentences by real Thai speakers. For the last six years, I've spent at least an hour every evening watching Thai-language television (though it's frequently more than an hour, and Mrs. Peppy and I usually watch at least three or four Thai-language movies a week as well--some actual Thai movies, and some foreign movies dubbed in Thai). When I first started watching, it was usually game shows, which are relatively easy as the questions are always written on the screen, and the topic of conversation is always the questions. Later I graduated to soap operas, and for the last few years it's been the news (I'm also quite addicted to The Star Season 7, an American Idol-style singing competition, at the moment). Anyway, my spoken Thai and my listening comprehension are pretty decent (IMHO), and the TV has been (and is) an important contributing factor.

Last but not least, you should try to make some Thai-speaking acquaintances that you can practice on and learn from as well. To summarize: read, read, read, listen, listen, listen, and then get out and speak, speak, speak! Best of luck to you!

[ThaiClub]

And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?

I bought some at Pantip once. The vendors selling keyboards are the ones most likely to also have stickers, though you may have to check around.

[coma]

Buy an new Laptop dude. This time with Thai characters and programs installed.

[Pontare]

Thanks for great advices, keep the coming I'm sure this is a topic many can find helpful.

Buy an new Laptop dude. This time with Thai characters and programs installed.

The day I can afford to buy a new MacBook just to get Thai characters on the keyboard is the day I will buy everyone posting in this thread a round of belgium beer at an overpriced Thong-Lor club.

[RickBradford]

Do Macs come fitted with USB ports? If so, there is no need to buy a new laptop -- simply plug the new keyboard into a USB port and you're ready to go (well, it certainly is that simple on a Windows machine.)

As for Supermemo and Byki, they are software packages incorporating what are known as Spaced Repetition Learning Systems, and Byki, certainly, has numerous Thai-language word lists.

[keo]

Thanks for great advices, keep the coming I'm sure this is a topic many can find helpful.

Buy an new Laptop dude. This time with Thai characters and programs installed.

The day I can afford to buy a new MacBook just to get Thai characters on the keyboard is the day I will buy everyone posting in this thread a round of belgium beer at an overpriced Thong-Lor club.

Haha! If you've got a bit of cash to spare you could replace the keyboard on your macbook with a thai-eng one. It will certainly look nicer than the sticker job. New macbook pro keyboards are about 2000 THB, and they will charge you 1000 THB to fit. It's fairly easy to do yourself, all you need is a precision screwdriver set and a Torq screwdriver set.

Installing Thai on a mac is easy, just click the flag on the bar at the top of the screen and "Open international". You can set up a keyboard shortcut to switch between languages. Mine is 'Apple key + space'.

As for learning vocab - thai-language.com has a list of 1,000+ most common - that's a good a place as any to start. I use ProVoc. Find a patient Thai who will listen and correct your reading. Get some Thai friends on facebook and start reading their status conversations. It all adds up.

Be patient, and stick at it. Good luck!

[featography]

"And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?"

You can buy a thai keyboard from Lotus for a few hundred baht.

Not very practical as I have a notebook.

I got them off of ebay

buy the thai/english keyboard and plug it into the notebook

[coma]

Thanks for great advices, keep the coming I'm sure this is a topic many can find helpful.

Buy an new Laptop dude. This time with Thai characters and programs installed.

The day I can afford to buy a new MacBook just to get Thai characters on the keyboard is the day I will buy everyone posting in this thread a round of belgium beer at an overpriced Thong-Lor club.

Haha! If you've got a bit of cash to spare you could replace the keyboard on your macbook with a thai-eng one. It will certainly look nicer than the sticker job. New macbook pro keyboards are about 2000 THB, and they will charge you 1000 THB to fit. It's fairly easy to do yourself, all you need is a precision screwdriver set and a Torq screwdriver set.

Installing Thai on a mac is easy, just click the flag on the bar at the top of the screen and "Open international". You can set up a keyboard shortcut to switch between languages. Mine is 'Apple key + space'.

As for learning vocab - thai-language.com has a list of 1,000+ most common - that's a good a place as any to start. I use ProVoc. Find a patient Thai who will listen and correct your reading. Get some Thai friends on facebook and start reading their status conversations. It all adds up.

Be patient, and stick at it. Good luck!

[bkksteviejai]

The "mental hooks" technique can be quite good, although I think used more for languages using a romanic script?. You create a mental image and tie it to the new word your trying to learn, the link can be obscure as you want it to be really.

I've tried using it and it has worked for some words, particularly ones that I hear time and time again.....but annoyingly can't quite remember!.

As I can read Thai script I try and read more than anything, particularly as I'm not here in Thailand for 6 months of the year so listening / speaking practice isn't as straight forward.

Good luck with it.

Cheers

[Tod Daniels]

Sorry in advance for the overly long post , I hope if you stick with it you may find it of at least marginal value.

I think what you need to concentrate on is acquiring the Thai vocabulary you're gonna use, and use, and USE some more in every day life. Once you get your head wrapped around how things are structured Thai language wise, learn the most common "phrozen-phrasez" (trademark pending; but those are things you say again and again to almost every thai you interact with, with no variation) and basic sentence constructs which you switch out the subject/object but the construct stays the same to ask or answer different things which, I call "topic substitution": suddenly youre speaking tongues, err I mean Thai.

As far as private Thai tutors go:

A private Thai tutor is ONLY as good as the material they bring to teach you (or the material you MAKE them use, if their stuff bites!) Simply being a native Thai speaker who happens to also speak engrish doesn't a quality private tutor make. I've taken free 'sample lessons' from over a dozen alleged Thai tutors and they vary in "bang-4-the-baht" quite markedly. About the best and ONLY one I'd recommend is Jentana and Associates. That company doesn't fool around with or offer ED visas, they don't offer group classes, they don't rely on marginal material, AND they're totally in line with what most other private Thai tutors in Bangkok are asking price-wise.

Private Thai Language Schools;

I've also sat MANY, many lessons at private Thai language schools. Some teach you mostly worthless Thai vocabulary, like things you'd NEVER EVER say or ask here in a gazillion years. Others have low quality material, or unskilled teachers running the classes. I strongly suggest ; if you contemplate going to a private Thai language school, visit as MANY as you can, and sit as many free classes as you can BEFORE you pay a single satang's worth of your hard earned baht.

(BTW: I'm not affiliated with ANY private Thai language school, I go scope 'em out and review 'em for a hobby ).

I got enough "regular" Thai vocab cluttering my brain already . I don't need to waste the time or effort into learning a word in Thai for something I've either got no interest in or am not gonna use in my personal "game plan" for "speaking Thai 2 Thais in Thailand".

There's a pinned thread at the top of this forum (I think its still there) which has a list of the top 3000 Thai words by spoken & written frequency. That's a good place to start, as those would be very high-usage words indeed. Those online flash-card programs are excellent to use with material like this.

Face it, most day to day stuff a person does in Thailand can be carried out almost completely with either "phrozen-phrasez" or simple sentence constructs using "topic substitution". We ain't trying to solve world hunger or talk about global warming here.

We're trying to get things accomplished! Things like finding where things you need are sold, knowing how to get to those places. For me it comes down to being able to ask people the correct questions in as few words as possible to get the answers I need to live amongst the Thais.

*Now if your particular goal here IS actually solving world hunger or discussing global warming with the Thais; well my advice could be worng, errr wrong.

Good luck, dont let it get you down, dont give up, and certainly dont take it too seriously! Sheesh, were talkin about learning the Thai language here right? We're not sequencing the human genome or something serious are we?

Above all; HAVE FUN WITH IT!!!!

Edited May 1, 2011 by tod-daniels

[keo]

I made this keyboard map...

...have it laminated back-to-back. Helps when I can't remember where the lower frequency characters are!

Another option!

[MianMianSuthida]

thank you, this helps so much=)

[ChristianPFC]

And for something just slightly related, where can one buy Thai letters to stick on a western keyboard?

My advice: Don't use stickers, learn to touch-type instead. That's what I did: I printed a Thai keyboard from the internet and looked at the printout while my finger was heading for the letter (I already touch-type in English), it took only a few weeks to learn where the 90% most common Thai characters are.

[wump]

I believe you can buy keyboard stickers for 39 ฿ at most stationary shops. But they are often hard to find, go and ask the shop attendant.