Found a very useful free book uploaded to the internet from the 60's out of print fundimentals of thai (Fifth Edition) by Stuart Campbell and Chuan Shaweevongs

[poseidon5566]

Here is the link http://www.lyndonhill.com/FunThai/CONTENTS.html. im mixed race and can see some of the racism, I also find it funny to look back reading the preface and seeing talk of making the servants understand you and market thai. any way the book was written by someone with a degree, the romanisation of the thai words makes sense and it helps teach the alphabet. it advises we have a native thai speaker to learn the correct tone/ pronuanction of the words thank's to you tube and google translate audio we have this. it also acknowledges the importance of learning sentence structure so we can communicate exactly what we want to say to our servants rather than repeating usless phrases. should be a good investment of your time     

Edited March 5, 2021 by poseidon5566

[Dave1986]

@poseidon5566 Thanks for the link!   Haven't seen that site before.  One of my goals for 2021 was to start making a formal effort to learn Thai - particularly reading and writing.  I'm not so confident about my ability to learn speaking/listening due to the tones - suspect that will take more "immersion" than book study or youtube videos.

[The Sly Fox]

It's a very good book, however I think to make a start in reading/writing Thai one is better to get those kiddy books and learn the alphabet using them and reading those very basic "the cat sat on the mat" type sentences. After all that is how Thais learn their language. You can find those kiddy books for a few baht in the school supply shops everywhere.

[poseidon5566]

im not sure about that the sly fox. after learning some basics of how the language works and stringing some words together. I am picking it up a lot quicker, you start to recognize the words as you learn them i think learning the sentance structure with some words then start cracking the alphabet before going on to the rules of past present tense ect is the way to go. but ultimately i agree learning to read will be critical also im finding the rapid method is actually working after a free trial i am going to have to pull the trigger at some point on it 

[Kahoy]

Not long ago I mentioned this book in another thread. I bought the hard cover around 1982 in the Asia Book Store on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok. Unfortunately, I loaned it to a friend who never returned it. I liked the book so much that I paid AUD $137 for a copy on eBay in Novemeber and had it sent to me from the US. It was my Christmas present to myself. I regard this book as the bible of Thai language for English speakers. It even looks like a bible. Forget about trying to get a copy in Thailand, I tried for a few years on and off.

 

[Wiley Coyote]

This is Classic .

To be honest ,I only got 1/3 the way through it.

The problem was the tonal pronounciation .

Time has also moved on You Tube gives good short lessons with spot-on pronounciation .

I also remember George MacDonald Fraser's character "Flashman" remarking that the best way to learn a foreign language is "horizontally with a lady" .There is a lot of truth in that ,living with a local can be lots of fun .

[MarcusS]

Thanks a lot for sharing - it elaborates a bit and has interesting explanations I have not seen before. 

A comment on the tones: 

A fantastic resource for mastering tones when speaking is the Talking thai (ThaiDict) app - see below. It is written in Paiboon+, ensuring you learn the tones of each word correctly - without being able to read thai. 

Edited March 8, 2021 by MarcusS

[poseidon5566]

12 hours ago, Kahoy said:

Not long ago I mentioned this book in another thread. I bought the hard cover around 1982 in the Asia Book Store on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok. Unfortunately, I loaned it to a friend who never returned it. I liked the book so much that I paid AUD $137 for a copy on eBay in Novemeber and had it sent to me from the US. It was my Christmas present to myself. I regard this book as the bible of Thai language for English speakers. It even looks like a bible. Forget about trying to get a copy in Thailand, I tried for a few years on and off.

 

Its what inspired me to go hunting. i actually have 2 print orders on order one signed copy from 1957 as a novelty (also i pressed buy it now instead of delete order) and small piece of history and a second edition cost me £40 for each copy    

[poseidon5566]

Wiley Coyote id say ignore the tones learn the words the thais will help correct that and there is millions of things on youtube to hear the tone. common sense will tell the thais what you are talking about based on context. id say word order and sentence structure is far far more important and thanks to learning the language a bit the alphabet is starting to make some sense to me tho im a long way off from being able to read childrens books tat feels like degree level. lol   

[slick67]

While I agree that tones are not the end all be all of being understood when you speak Thai, ignoring them will be a mistake that’ll take you a long time to correct.

For me that’s also the major downside from this book: no tonemarks on the transliteration.

You always see guys on forums, who have learned Thai for a long time and think they are fluent, and then ask questions like:

”Why do Thais pretend they don’t understand me when I speak Thai?”

“Why do Thais always switch to English when I speak Thai to them?”

Now there are a handful of reasons for this, but the tones are a big part of it. Even if they can understand you, it just gives them a headache listening to you.

 

So: Don’t be that guy...

 

[plahgat]

On 08/03/2021 at 12:11, Kahoy said:

Not long ago I mentioned this book in another thread. I bought the hard cover around 1982 in the Asia Book Store on Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok. Unfortunately, I loaned it to a friend who never returned it. I liked the book so much that I paid AUD $137 for a copy on eBay in Novemeber and had it sent to me from the US. It was my Christmas present to myself. I regard this book as the bible of Thai language for English speakers. It even looks like a bible. Forget about trying to get a copy in Thailand, I tried for a few years on and off.

 

I still got my copy that I bought in 1987! 

Plahgat

[Wiley Coyote]

1980 -Bookshop/Shop on Left side of Walking Street ,before soi where Carousel bars