Recommendation Of A Book/course To Learn Thai

[Sydman]

I'm using highspeedthai at the moment. I am only up to lesson 10 but haven't had any problem with what files to access.

It's all mapped out for you in the pdf file

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Tchooptip]

I have bought in Bangkok airport one month ago 2 books each with a DVD,(3 hours and 4 hours) the title most simple is "Speak Thai" I have a few different methods none being perfect ... But IMHO this one have something none had!

First a different colour for each word, in Thai, in transliterate and in English, for me its pure genius at least for the beginner and intermediate learner, one knows in Thai language word are not separate, so when you look at the Thai sentence and English translation, you have a colour for each word.

Second "innovation" you have a sign for the tone on the transliterate word syllables, I love that too!

I give you a link of their website where on the bottom you have a picture of these book, for I reckon a title so simple as "Speak Thai" could not be easy to find on the web, you can of course find it in most libraries.

http://www.learnspeakthai.com/

[Longbow212]

After contacting High Speed Thai they resent me all the files for the course and I am getting on well with it. The course is PDF based but supported by audio files and Anki exercises. My Thai is at perhaps around an advanced intermediate level but I have decided to go right back to the beginning and just fly through the easier more familiar topics while spending time on things I had never picked up on before.

HST is created from the perspective of a westerner learning the Thai - I feel this is critical as many Thais are not aware of the challenges we face. The tone identification exercises are unrivalled IMO, tone identification is one of the most important and difficult aspects of learning Thai and the exercises teach this thoroughly very early on. I believe there are many ways to learn Thai but what I can say so far is that at least for beginner and intermediate level the HST course is comprehensive and if I had studied with HST from the beginning I would have had a much more solid foundation is Thai language with much less effort.

[desi]

The two books I mentioned previously are being given away in a draw: FREE DRAW: James Higbies’ Essential Thai and Thai Reference Grammar

[OldChinaHam]

The two books I mentioned previously are being given away in a draw: FREE DRAW: James Higbies’ Essential Thai and Thai Reference Grammar

What I want to know: When will this Higbies Ref Grammar book be offered as an e-book. It is high time his publisher joined the rest of the modern publishers and offered an E-BOOK. There are many advantages to buy this text as an EBOOK.

If anyone knows either the AUTHOR or the PUBLISHER, please ask when this Ref Grammar will be offered as an EBOOK, an update us here.

Thanks.

Do you know if the author will be signing his copy on site?

[desi]

The two books I mentioned previously are being given away in a draw: FREE DRAW: James Higbies’ Essential Thai and Thai Reference Grammar

What I want to know: When will this Higbies Ref Grammar book be offered as an e-book. It is high time his publisher joined the rest of the modern publishers and offered an E-BOOK. There are many advantages to buy this text as an EBOOK.

If anyone knows either the AUTHOR or the PUBLISHER, please ask when this Ref Grammar will be offered as an EBOOK, an update us here.

Thanks.

Do you know if the author will be signing his copy on site?

From Jim: "Orchid Press is working on it, and the Orchid Press Catalogue is online and some of its books have been made into e-books already".

Over lunch, Jim signed the books for me to give away in the draw. The winner didn't meet him.

Edited July 8, 2013 by desi

[ChristianPFC]

There is a website that has sentences in Thai and English.

I made my own flashcards (word documents) on paper (total more than 1000). They include the whole vocabulary of "Thai for Beginners" and half of "Thai basic reader" and words I encountered in real life. If interested, pm me. I am curious to hear about other's flashcards (paper, but generated on a computer) as well.

[ProblemSolver3]

YES! I can sympathize. I wanted to find some Elementary-school-level materials but could never find anything appropriate for an adult foreign learner.

After I built myself a foundation of spoken Thai (using a combination of total-immersion *living* in Thailand, going to the market myself, etc....and the Jumbo Dictionary (because i could not read Thai at that time), I wanted to understand correct grammar and other more advanced topics.

So, I bought Benjawan Poomsan Becker's Intermediate Thai...Soooo very boring. And I wasn't impressed with the day-to-day practicality of the material in those books.

So, instead I got a job as a Chemistry Professor at a rural University ... all the memos and communications were in Thai...THAT was very engaging!

Failing that, I would suggest private lessons with a westerner who can read/write/speak Thai.

If you are interested, please send me a PM. I live in the Sukhumvit area.

-Dr. Mike

[ProblemSolver3]

One more side note...I know it is easy to learn to speak Thai by using the English alphabet (transliteration)

but you'll never have proper pronunciation.

for example: "Pai nai" is the transliteration for "where are you going" (ไปไหน) but without 'accent marks' for intonation, it can also sound like "inside" (ภายใน).

So, despite the bonus of being literate (can read signs and generally know what's going on around you), you also gain proper pronunciation , as the "tone" is indicated by how the word is spelled.

[Groongthep]

I think OldChinaHam's reply answers the original question regarding recommending a book to the OP best. Those books mentioned range from beginner to fairly advanced and levels in between. I would recommend the OP browse through some of these and find the one(s) that best fit his learning style as different people learn differently. The OP said that Poomsan-Becker's Intermediate book looked uninspiring to but unfortunately many are of this same style.

The OP also confused me a bit by claiming to be at the "advanced-intermediate" stage of learning, but then went on to describe Becker's Intermediate book as possibly difficult. IMHO if one cannot easily translate the simple sentences and quickly complete the exercises in that book, then they are still very much in the beginning stage and I would recommend some of the earlier books mentioned in OldChinaHam's quote of Smyth, such as David Smyth's own Teach Yourself Thai and Yates' old but still good Thai Basic Course. I would also agree with desi that Higbie's Thai Reference Grammar is extremely good although some of it might be too advanced for the OP.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Groongthep

[asiaexpat]

Having used most of the Smyth suggested material as well as Bejawan's books I found Higbie's texts to be most useful. The problem I have with all these texts is that they all use different transliteration methods. Smyth's method seem way off for actual pronunciation and very confusing. CDs and online courses have helped some but I finally resorted to learning the Thai alphabet and writing/reading with a Thai tutor. My communication skills improved dramatically.