Thai language books

[rowy]

I'm just curious as to what book(s) everyone is using to learn the language. I'm pretty sure most will say the Benjawan Poomsan Becker's books. I use them as well and find them to be quite good. I just want to make sure I'm not missing out on a good book.

[mondero]

I use no books for speaking and listening. Instead, I focus on videos with transcripts such as Thaipodcast. I find them more useful as make you being aware all the time on the right pronounciation and tones.

 

As for writing and reading I bought a book but not started this stage yet.

Edited January 17, 2010 by mondero

[rowy]

Mondero,

 

Thanks for the reply. The Thai podcasts are nice. I didn't know about these before. Did you sign up at the website or just find them on the web?

[mondero]

I signed up for just a month and downloaded many lessons, still studying them.

Today I think you can find many of these videos in youtube for free.

 

 

 

Mondero,

 

Thanks for the reply. The Thai podcasts are nice. I didn't know about these before. Did you sign up at the website or just find them on the web?

[SirSpike]

thanks for mentioning the learn thai podcasts hadn't thought about looking in iTunes for some listening they even got the videos so can now pick them up on my phone where ever, when ever.

[tiger]

Still think Good- to have a pocket dictionary..phrase book..the girls love it when you try in hotel...have pity..on you..Like the effort..Want to teach..It's fun and connections made.Plus, ;) you know better if you want long-time with girl verses just short time-given her reactions.

[Flashermac]

The Rosetta Stone CDs are good for listening practice and vocabulary, but only as supplemental material.

[Mission]

I use a combination of the Benjawan Poomsan Becker books, a Thai-English-Thai dictionary, the Pimsleur audio files and Youtube.

Not forgetting my girlfriend. I seem to learn more when I'm with her than during all the studying I do.

[Kadachi]

You can get all 6 grades of the Manee and Friends books from the following link.

 

http://issuu.com/search?q=manee&si=20&ps=10&sb=visual&rp=*&tags=manee

 

Its only the books which can either be viewed online or downloaded.

 

 

Kadachi

[Angel Wong]

I used Poomswen Becker to learn to read and write Thai script. I have found that the most efficient way to learn. Not only that but the conversations are realistic as are the excerpts in the advanced learners book. For me reading and writing is important because learning by sound would be impossible. I can't even understand half the people in my own country when they speak English, so I always resign myself to avoiding too much conversation, especially with a language as tonal as Thai. I onced asked my gf (Thai) which BTS station I should head for. The station was phnom phen station. I swear all I could hear when whe was telling me was the words pon pon. I asked her to repeat herself about six times, and then just got her to write it down.

[jamesb]

I've used many different books, tapes, etc. While they are great for learning words and phrases, the problem was that my pronunciation was a disaster and nobody could understand me. If you really want to learn Thai, find a teacher and commit to a couple of days a week. I live outside of Thailand so I meet with my teacher using Skype. The beauty of this method is that I can record the calls and then go back later and review the classes. It been very helpful in improving my pronunciation. A teacher can also increase the speed and rhythm of their speaking as your comprehension gets better which the tapes cannot do. Additionally, learning to read and write has been significantly easier with a teacher. At the end of the day you might spend a little more money but it will be worth the investment. Note - when I found my first teacher she immediately told me I was speaking "bar girl" Thai (no big surprise to me). I guess this would be fine unless you eventually want to speak Thai in a business environment and then it could be a problem.