Learning 'proper' Thai

[Halfie]

After living here for eight years I now seriously want to learn to read, write, and speak Thai. The Thai i've picked up over time is quite 'mixed' so I now want to remedy that. I have a small child so attending a language school is not an option. What are the best books people have used to teach themselves here?

[SlyAnimal]

You should look further than just books, as books won't be able to teach you pronunciation.

Signing up at a language school would likely be your best option, they may have their own text book which you can then use in addition to the classes.

Alternatively, if you live outside the major centres or don't have the time/money to study at a language school, then get a book and get a Thai friend/gf to assist you with learning Thai.

Although sorry I can't recommend any books, as I've never really studied from a book (Except the one I was given in class). However, I use the Paibook Publishing "Word in the hand" Thai dictionary on both my computer and phone (You can search on google for it), which I find very useful.

[Johpa]

Well it really all comes down to what you mean by "proper Thai". Most instructional books do teach Bangkok Central Thai. My own Thai is also highly laced with Northern Thai (Kham Muang) vocabulary and pronunciations, so I too reckon I speak a rather mixed mongrel variation of Thai that hopefully offends those who prefer propriety in speech.

[AyG]

I would suggest getting hold of the J. Marvin Brown books developed for AUA. They go to a much higher level than pretty much any other system, other than the Union system. They're designed for use with a teacher, with the left page in Thai, and the right page in Latin script using a variant of the Mary Haas system.

There are three books teaching Thai, and two more dedicated to reading and writing. (There were a couple of others, one about conversation. Can't remember what the other was about, but both are now out of print.)

The books are a little old-fashioned, but the method is very thorough with plenty of opportunity for practice.

If you're in Bangkok you can buy the books directly from AUA. (Probably true of Chiang Mai, too, since I understand they still use the JMB system. Bangkok has stopped using the system, and only has old stock of the books - no reprinting.) Doing this is much, much cheaper that buying the books via the Internet from the likes of Amazon.

[villagefarang]

In my opinion you are right to try and learn “proper” Thai if you want to be accepted in broader social circles. Unlike many westerners, Thais generally accept and adhere to their principles of appropriate language and behavior. Learn to play the game and life is much more enjoyable. It really isn’t that difficult.

[CaptHaddock]

OP,

What is the basis of your confidence in self-teaching from books as a way to learn a difficult, foreign language? Have you ever done that yourself? Have you ever met a native English-speaker who successfully taught himself Thai from books? The only foreigners I have encountered who are competent in Thai learned at a very good school or in a university program. Or else grew up here.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I think your chances of success on such an endeavor are very close to zero. On the other hand, even if you cannot spare the time to go to a school, you might consider having one-on-one tutorials via Skype with a qualified Thai teacher, which several schools offer.

[Halfie]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Yeah, CaptHaddock, you're probably right. I know I'll never be perfect at it. My Thai partner is helping me but his English is not perfect so he can't explain well. Our daughter is nearly three so my main motivation is to raise my level enough to be able to speak to teachers and help her with homework since her father is at work during the day.

[phuketsub]

I would suggest getting hold of the J. Marvin Brown books developed for AUA. They go to a much higher level than pretty much any other system, other than the Union system. They're designed for use with a teacher, with the left page in Thai, and the right page in Latin script using a variant of the Mary Haas system.

There are three books teaching Thai, and two more dedicated to reading and writing. (There were a couple of others, one about conversation. Can't remember what the other was about, but both are now out of print.)

The books are a little old-fashioned, but the method is very thorough with plenty of opportunity for practice.

If you're in Bangkok you can buy the books directly from AUA. (Probably true of Chiang Mai, too, since I understand they still use the JMB system. Bangkok has stopped using the system, and only has old stock of the books - no reprinting.) Doing this is much, much cheaper that buying the books via the Internet from the likes of Amazon.

I got my start with the AUA books and tapes, which were about the only thing available at the time. If you really want to learn it you need some audio input. I had all the tapes, but they got thrown out in one of my many moves over a decade. I wonder if AUA still has the original recordings in a more up-to-date format? It would be fun/nostalgic to listen to them more than 20 years later!

[SlyAnimal]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Yeah, CaptHaddock, you're probably right. I know I'll never be perfect at it. My Thai partner is helping me but his English is not perfect so he can't explain well. Our daughter is nearly three so my main motivation is to raise my level enough to be able to speak to teachers and help her with homework since her father is at work during the day.

You've got a great environment in which to learn Thai.

You can learn a lot of Thai with your daughter (Although of course only speaking to her in English to ensure she learns English), since she'll probably learn Thai faster than English, so when you point to things she'll say Maa instead of Dog etc, and she'll probably be addicted to the "Gor Eei Gor Gai" video which is the Thai alphabet song. You could also learn from some books that you give her too.

This, combined with your husband could really put you on a path towards learning Thai very very well over the next few years.

Your husband could probably do something similar to improve his English at the same time too, so that the whole family is learning.

if you combined this kinda passive learning with a text book you could learn quite quickly

[kevindorian]

I been on and off studying Thai for a while now, can read, write but conversation is sub par

the thing with the language schools for us foreigners is what is taught isnt always what is used

Thai people have many short cuts, many slangs and many ending particles that they use daily life and really if u just learn from books and class

it aint going to cut it for most people

the key is to practice the language with the Thais all the time, but for some of us with shyness might not always be the case

I started watching Thai Movies with Thai movie subtitles, not only do u learn new things but u learn how they speak

of course having a teacher, thai friend, dictionary is going to help... i wrote about it on my Thai blog

http://learnthaireviews.com/learn-speak-like-thai-thai-movies/