Learning to Speak Thai

[House13]

I was browsing the posts but couldn't find a good one on any suggestions for learning to speak Thai. I know quite a few of you have learned and I was wondering what, if any, programs or books were used? I am not looking to learn Thai completely just learn a decent amount of practical Thai for my upcoming trips. I know the best way is to learn it in Thailand but I want to be able to learn more while I am away from LOS. Thanks.

Edited October 21, 2010 by House13

[slacko]

I use Rossetta stone, expensive to buy but is "available" on the web to download. I practice talking it when I go see my mate who is married to a Thai lady.

I find it is a great way to learn just by listening to it. I work a job which most times has down time waiting and can fire up my laptop to get half an hour a day in.

I will be honest though, I can understand a lot more than I can speak correctly.

[The Irish Rovers]

A few years ago i used Pimsleur Thai,,,30 x audio 30 minute lessons,,,, great for speaking basic thai,,, put it on ipod and away you go, worked wonders for me

[Caipirinha]

If you own an Iphone you can try Wordpower. It's a nice app though a bit messy in the layout at times. It has quite a few words and phrases divided into many categories and a voice which pronounces the words for you.

Found it to be quite useful.

 

Oh and thought this might be of use as well.

The Thai-Language Forum on ThaiVisa

Edited October 21, 2010 by Caipirinha

[Shake Girl]

there's a good program available for IPhones, IPads, IPods... i can't recall what the name of it is, but one of the nanotrax members uses it and says it helps a lot. my guess is its probably called IThai

[sinkorswim]

Pimsular Thai as someone mentioned, it does take a long time to learn. Also Pimsular Thai audio is the very correct way to speak Thai and not many people outside BKK speak like that.

[House13]

I use Rossetta stone, expensive to buy but is "available" on the web to download. I practice talking it when I go see my mate who is married to a Thai lady.

I find it is a great way to learn just by listening to it. I work a job which most times has down time waiting and can fire up my laptop to get half an hour a day in.

I will be honest though, I can understand a lot more than I can speak correctly.

 

Awesome, thanks for the help. I was thinking about Rosetta Stone, I used it to learn Japanese it worked well but the only thing bad about it is it made me sound kind of like a robot because of the weird vocab it teaches Is the Thai one set up better?

[House13]

A few years ago i used Pimsleur Thai,,,30 x audio 30 minute lessons,,,, great for speaking basic thai,,, put it on ipod and away you go, worked wonders for me

 

 

Pimsular Thai as someone mentioned, it does take a long time to learn. Also Pimsular Thai audio is the very correct way to speak Thai and not many people outside BKK speak like that.

 

Thanks guys, The only thing I am always worried about is the sounding too correct and robot like but I guess it would be a great way to start, and I can't ask for too much cause I am trying to learn a language that is from a country 2000 miles away and no one to speak it to

Just curious but about how long did it take you guys to learn a decent amount of Thai?

 

[House13]

If you own an Iphone you can try Wordpower. It's a nice app though a bit messy in the layout at times. It has quite a few words and phrases divided into many categories and a voice which pronounces the words for you.

Found it to be quite useful.

 

Oh and thought this might be of use as well.

The Thai-Language Forum on ThaiVisa

 

I don't have an I phone but I do have an Itouch so I can probably get it on there, thanks! I think no matter what program I use it will come in handy to have some Thai on my phone to practice when I am just waiting around somewhere, because I always have my phone on me. Thanks for the link to I will check it out

Edited October 22, 2010 by House13

[House13]

there's a good program available for IPhones, IPads, IPods... i can't recall what the name of it is, but one of the nanotrax members uses it and says it helps a lot. my guess is its probably called IThai

 

Thanks! I will check it out, It will help cause like I told Caipirinha it is always good to have apps on the Itouch because I always have it with me so I can practice anywhere anytime I have spare time. Thanks for the advise!

[BostonSteve]

I was browsing the posts but couldn't find a good one on any suggestions for learning to speak Thai. I know quite a few of you have learned and I was wondering what, if any, programs or books were used? I am not looking to learn Thai completely just learn a decent amount of practical Thai for my upcoming trips. I know the best way is to learn it in Thailand but I want to be able to learn more while I am away from LOS. Thanks.

 

Check a previous post I made. There is a huge manual on foreign languages from the US military school. Mind you, huge, it is a challenge.

[House13]

Check a previous post I made. There is a huge manual on foreign languages from the US military school. Mind you, huge, it is a challenge.

 

Thanks man I will be sure to look it up, I am in the Navy so you bring up a good point in looking to their resources.

[na-rak86]

are rosetta stone and pimsleur available on the cheap at tucom?

[stillakid]

Has anyone tried the handheld electronic translating devices? I saw them at some of the malls in BKK.

[Bam_Bam]

Don't know if you will get it anywhere else other than in Thailand, but my ex TGF bought me a book a few years back now call "Thai for Everyday Use"

 

I learned a lot out of that, mostly one liners, how to ask for various things, directions etc. Also learnt how to count in Thai as well out of that.

 

I must say that it was mostly with my wifes help when it came to pronouncing things in the right tone, so people will know what the fuck your trying to say, pronunciation is so important with Thai.

 

Bam Bam

[chunderground]

rosetta stone to get started and then a card /word based learning program to improve vocabulary.

[astroboy]

I'm currently at school in Sydney. Week 2 of the alphabet class surrounded my naughty 8 year olds.

 

Gor gai, kao kai etc etc. Good fun actually

[na-rak86]

Has anyone tried the handheld electronic translating devices? I saw them at some of the malls in BKK.

cyberdict, top quality, great vocabulary, instant translation with human voice also, if your looking at one of these go to tesco south pattaya, as its my TGF who sells 'em there she'd be happy as sales are a bit tight now. top model quite expensive though

[El Cata]

Think about how you learnt English. First you learnt how to speak it (requires in LOS exposure), then you learnt how to read, then to write.

 

There is a 'learning Thai' section of the forum here:

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/forum/91-learning-thai/

 

Good luck.

 

Peace.

[ragazzo]

I agree with El Cata, that the best way to learn a language is like a child - full immersion, and meaning and pronunciation before form. However, most of us aren't lucky enough to be in LOS most of the time, and it's hard to find a good, communicative Thai course in most places. So here's the option I went for:

 

I just bought the 'Thai for Beginners' by Benjawan Poomsan Becker book and CD from Amazon, which after some research seemed to be one of the better options out there.

 

Please note that you have to buy the book and CD separately, which comes to about £25. Certainly cheaper than Rosetta Stone.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thai-Beginners-Benjawan-Poomsan-Becker/dp/1887521003

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1887521313/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1887521003&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=13E1Z4ZKQJNX6F2GB4EZ

 

I've only just got it, so I can't really give a review yet, but the Amazon customer reviews are on the above links.

 

You really need a Thai person with whom you can practice and consolidate what you learn, even if it's on Skype, but a good book and CD is better than nothing.

 

I imagine that it's also available on the USA Amazon too.

Edited October 24, 2010 by ragazzo

[DVD]

I've tried to learn some thai by listening to Pimsleur thai 30 lessons in my headphones. I've noticed that I learned some sentences immediately and some I still haven't learned.

I'll countinue to with Pimsleur and then I'll try to learn the alphabet and some basic reading.

 

Maybe it's good to combine Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone?

[aussieB]

I've used Pimsleur Thai complemented by watching thai movies (with English subs) that i pulled off bit torrent.

 

Like DVD above I was finding some stuff wasn't sticking and watching the movies really helps.

 

B

[odiecologne]

there's a good program available for IPhones, IPads, IPods... i can't recall what the name of it is, but one of the nanotrax members uses it and says it helps a lot. my guess is its probably called IThai

i've got an app on my iphone witch is called ipood thai, it has hundreds of words and phrases with voice recordings to help with the pronounciation. it cost 3.99aud and it has been a massive help for me!

 

good luck

[naa_maa]

I've tried to learn some thai by listening to Pimsleur thai 30 lessons in my headphones. I've noticed that I learned some sentences immediately and some I still haven't learned.

I'll countinue to with Pimsleur and then I'll try to learn the alphabet and some basic reading.

 

Maybe it's good to combine Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone?

 

I started with Pimsleur as well, and when I was nearly at the end of the lessons I've combined it with "Thai for Beginners", which now comes with an audio CD as well - and teaches you the alphabet and the thai script. Tried Rosetta Stone but didn't actually like it, stopped using it after a couple of times.

[MrMercury]

I find these helpful on youtube.

 

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=learn-thai-podcast.com&search=Search&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&spell=1

 

MM.