Recommendations for a book(s)

[BaldPlumber]

Hi

In currently learning to read and write thai.

No real problems so far with either vowels or consonants but my problem is that I'm so slow in reading that I'm hardly moving.

My problem is that I'm reading the words and not seeing them as I do in English. So, I'm having to mentally articulate each and every word, which is exhausting.

I think I need some simple children's books to practise with.

I've tried the มานี books, well the first one, but I don't have a printer and find it difficult to read via a PDF reader. If this series was still available then it would be ideal for learning; previously I didn't know that field crabs existed!

So, has anyone got any recommendations and leads to where I can buy these books?

Many thanks

PS or e-books in non PDF format come to think of it.

[BaldPlumber]

Found a much better version of Manee which I've downloaded.

Renders far better than the previous version I had.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

[Scottish Thailander]

http://www.suksapanpanit.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=มานะ มานี

[Oxx]

Comic books aimed at children are a good source of practice, and the language used is less formal - closer to spoken Thai.  There is a bit of a learning curve getting used to the typefaces used, though.

[BaldPlumber]

http://www.suksapanpanit.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=มานะ มานี

Thanks very much, just what I was looking for.

[BaldPlumber]

Comic books aimed at children are a good source of practice, and the language used is less formal - closer to spoken Thai.  There is a bit of a learning curve getting used to the typefaces used, though.

I can't deal with those fonts. Might try this idea when I know a bit more.

[BaldPlumber]

http://www.suksapanpanit.com/index.php?route=product/search&search=มานะ มานี

Has anyone got any idea of any market in the Pattaya area that might sell second hand books like these?

I'm probably going to need quite a few and it seems crazy to buy them new if I can avoid it.

An old girlfriend of mine used to buy the second hand comic books at one of the Threpasit night market stalls, but haven't been able to find it recently.

Thanks

[Scottish Thailander]

It is extremely unlikely that you will find the Mana Manee books second hand. There are 6 in the series (one for each school year) and the original books (previously 2 books per year, both parts now bundled into one book) are long since out of print. These have only recently started being reprinted and they seem to be being published very slowly with months between one "yearly" issue and the next in the series being issued. As you can see from the link I supplied above, currently, (31/08/2016), only the first 3 of the series have been issued so far and we can but hope that they will finish publishing the whole 6 books eventually.

 

That is not to say that you can not find "comic books" or other previous or current school books of similar types and reading grades in markets second-hand, or in second hand book stores, I think it just extremely unlikely you will find either the old or the new prints of มานะมานี series.

 

ST

[futsukayoi]

 

Have a look at www.thai-language.com  They have a lot of reading materials at different levels.  Compared to Manee they a little more geared to adults rather than children / rice farmers.  For some of their materials you can show or hide english translation or transliteration.  There is also often an option to mouse over a word to see a dictionary definition.

[BaldPlumber]

I have a Thai tutor for a 4 hours each week, but I am worried that his effectiveness is now being impaired by a lack of reading resources.

 

Luckily, he is printing a couple of the Marnee / Marna books which will keep me going for a while.

 

I'm not too worried about the content and am concentrating more on the structure of the progression within the books from simple to more complex. I actually find them quite entertaining; I didn't know that field crabs existed, let alone that they lived in holes. It's also quite good to talk about these books with Thai people as they all remember them, seemingly with a lot of affection. My take is, if it was good enough for Thais at school then it's probably good enough for me.

 

Since starting to learn to read and write Thai I have decided on two things:-

 

• Transliteration is a complete waste of time and is unlikely to be useful or accurate in the long term. A much more effective technique is to generate electronic flash cards and test yourself against English / Thai words in both directions and in a variety of ways e.g. multiple choice, exact spelling etc

 

• Orally learning new words, as a structured learning technique, is also now a waste of time, except as an essential consequence of  learning to read, obviously this does not apply to casually picking up new words.

 

I've got, or will have tonight, about 180 pages of content now, which should keep me busy for a while.

 

Am I right in thinking that, as a general assumption, Thais are not too keen on reading fiction as many westerners are? I say this after visiting a few book shops and noticing almost a complete lack of Thai fiction. Technical reference yes, fiction not so much.

 

I'd be interested in any thoughts about my two decisions outlined above and any other techniques others have found useful for reasonably rapid progression.

 

Thanks