good Thai textbook for beginners?

[BT444]

Kno of any ?

[JamieP]

Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker is an excellent starter book.

It teaches you to read from the very start which is so important.

Some of the language might seem a bit strange at first but it's teaching you the structures.

It's available in most bookshops and you should get the box including CDs.

[BT444]

Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker is an excellent starter book.

It teaches you to read from the very start which is so important.

Some of the language might seem a bit strange at first but it's teaching you the structures.

It's available in most bookshops and you should get the box including CDs.

great thanks! wheres a good book store to buy it around silom area?

[BlueScouse]

http://www.lyndonhill.com/FunThai/CONTENTS.html

Fundamentals of the Thai Language, written about 1956.

[AyG]

Textbook in web form: http://thailanguagewiki.com/

Rigorous, well-structured course. Should be more widely known.

[desi]

Essential Thai by James Higbie is my personal favourite. Add Higbies Thai Reference Grammar and you'll be set for a good while.

The links go to DCO Books (if you are in a hurry, they deliver via motorcycle taxi within Bangkok - if not, they'll post anywhere, international and in Thailand, but be sure to select the right page to order from). In Bangkok, both books can usually be purchased at Kinokuniya bookstore (Paragon). Kinokuniya now keeps a decent selection of books for learning Thai, so no more wasted trips.

[AyG]

Essential Thai by James Higbie is my personal favourite. Add Higbies Thai Reference Grammar and you'll be set for a good while.

Just curious, but does "Essential Thai" use the same ghastly form of transcription as the grammar book? Personally I'd suggest not buying Thai Reference Grammar (excellent book that it is) until you can read Thai comfortably just to avoid getting to grips with the transcription.

An easier grammar book is "Thai An Essential Grammar" by David Smyth.

And on the subject of transcription, I have a strong preference for the Haas system (as used in the AUA books and at Union-syllabus schools with slight modifications). It's much more consistent and logical than any other system (including Becker's).

[Genericnic]

Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker is an excellent starter book.

It teaches you to read from the very start which is so important.

Some of the language might seem a bit strange at first but it's teaching you the structures.

It's available in most bookshops and you should get the box including CDs.

great thanks! wheres a good book store to buy it around silom area?

Asia Books usually has it in stock.

David

[desi]

Essential Thai by James Higbie is my personal favourite. Add Higbies Thai Reference Grammar and you'll be set for a good while.

Just curious, but does "Essential Thai" use the same ghastly form of transcription as the grammar book? Personally I'd suggest not buying Thai Reference Grammar (excellent book that it is) until you can read Thai comfortably just to avoid getting to grips with the transcription.

An easier grammar book is "Thai An Essential Grammar" by David Smyth.

And on the subject of transcription, I have a strong preference for the Haas system (as used in the AUA books and at Union-syllabus schools with slight modifications). It's much more consistent and logical than any other system (including Becker's).

If you object to the transliteration (I dislike transliteration no matter what it looks like), then spend a little time with 60 Minutes Thai Alphabet and/or Brett's Learn to Read Thai in Two Weeks. Learning how to read Thai isn't difficult and beats struggling through all the different transliteration styles found in Thai learning materials.

David's is good but when I started finding answers to my queries in Jim's but not David's I switched mainly to 'Thai Reference Grammar'. A plus, 'Essential Grammar' is on Kindle, which makes it searchable (except for the scanned Thai). But I'm told that 'Thai Reference Grammar' is coming out in Kindle soon and the Thai will be searchable.

[kriswillems]

The beginners book that helped me the most was:

David smyth, Teach yourself Thai.

But also in this book, the transliterations are awful.

[OldChinaHam]

Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker is an excellent starter book.

It teaches you to read from the very start which is so important.

Some of the language might seem a bit strange at first but it's teaching you the structures.

It's available in most bookshops and you should get the box including CDs.

Yes, you are right. Also the Intermediate book by the same authors.

These books are the best for self instruction/study, and the audio recordings are excellent.

There is also what is being called a "language pack" floating around on the internet some place with about 9 GB of material. I won't provide a link because a friend of mine just told me about it, and I have not yet had time to look.

[OldChinaHam]

Also, you should listen to Pimsleur Thai audio recordings, 30 lessons.

These are the best you will find for very beginner Thai.