'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language'

[Slacker]

Students of the Thai language may have come across references to a book called 'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language', a 1957 classic by Stuart Campbell and Chuan Shaweevongs. It is probably a bit dated for modern teaching, but does pace it's lessons very gently and may give hope to those trying to crack the Thai alphabet as well. It is now out of print and copyright, but my idle trawling on the web has found an online version. It may be worth adding to your arsenal of teaching aids.

[plahgat]

Students of the Thai language may have come across references to a book called 'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language', a 1957 classic by Stuart Campbell and Chuan Shaweevongs. It is probably a bit dated for modern teaching, but does pace it's lessons very gently and may give hope to those trying to crack the Thai alphabet as well. It is now out of print and copyright, but my idle trawling on the web has found an online version. It may be worth adding to your arsenal of teaching aids.

 

Excellent book bought it back in the 80s myself and still occasionally use it today!

 

Plahgat

[OleKingCole]

Students of the Thai language may have come across references to a book called 'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language', a 1957 classic by Stuart Campbell and Chuan Shaweevongs. It is probably a bit dated for modern teaching, but does pace it's lessons very gently and may give hope to those trying to crack the Thai alphabet as well. It is now out of print and copyright, but my idle trawling on the web has found an online version. It may be worth adding to your arsenal of teaching aids.

 

Thank you for posting this link. Very useful

[Slacker]

At the moment I'm taking a Beginner's spoken-Thai course with an excellent teacher, but being out of the classroom for so long means that I am a slow learner. I actually need to re-learn how to learn ! I get face-to-face lessons backed-up with mp3 versions of the lessons and (recently) some video aids. However, my tired ol' brain needs bombarding with all I can find. I'm moving on to an Intermediate course next, which involves basic reading and writing and hoping that 'The Fundamentals' will break things down into memorable chunks.

[999Baht]

Thank you for providing this link.

I am using many different resources for my learning but am finding that the alphabet is the hardest to crack at the moment.

[Slacker]

Thank you for providing this link.

I am using many different resources for my learning but am finding that the alphabet is the hardest to crack at the moment.

 

A recent purchase from Lanna Innovation was 2 sets of flash cards that give a wealth of information on Thai consonants and vowels. These may well be the key to cracking the alphabet for me ! Maybe some use ?

[999Baht]

A recent purchase from Lanna Innovation was 2 sets of flash cards that give a wealth of information on Thai consonants and vowels. These may well be the key to cracking the alphabet for me ! Maybe some use ?

 

Thanks for the link.

I will be purchasing I set of these real soon.

[OleKingCole]

Thanks for the link.

I will be purchasing I set of these real soon.

 

They are incredible cards. 2 different sets. One for consonants, other vowels and other symbols. As said, they contain a wealth of information, including little pics about how to shape the tongue for pronouncing each one. The more you use them, the more information you realise is there. They are a splendid reference, you need to look at the web site to investigate what all the info is. They contain not only the printed version of the character but also what the handwritten form looks like. vowels have a reference to the partner short or long version of the vowel.

 

During lessons both my teacher and I have a set available and I reckon we consult them 4 or 5 times every time

[Slacker]

Thanks for the link.

I will be purchasing I set of these real soon.

 

I had no problems purchasing direct from the site - a speedy 7-day delivery even though they apologised in advance for potential delays (Songkran). They really are an excellent tool, as OleKingCole points out.

[Dr.Winston]

Great book. It's only 'flaw' , Ignoring the tones might actually be it's greatest strength in the sense that most who use it for grammar reference will probably understand the tonal rules anyway.

 

I'll download it later so that I also have a digital copy, thanks.

[OleKingCole]

Great book. It's only 'flaw' , Ignoring the tones might actually be it's greatest strength in the sense that most who use it for grammar reference will probably understand the tonal rules anyway.

 

I'll download it later so that I also have a digital copy, thanks.

 

Splendid book. It covers many areas that others ignore such as the correct way to address your servants, even when you don't know their name. ;-)

 

Ignoring those very dated references, I actually like its no nonsense style and reckon its a valuable addition to my learning resources

[Dr.Winston]

Splendid book. It covers many areas that others ignore such as the correct way to address your servants, even when you don't know their name. ;-)

 

Ignoring those very dated references, I actually like its no nonsense style and reckon its a valuable addition to my learning resources

It is a great book that I've had since the 80's, one of the first that I ever bought. The online version will do nicely for reference on my Iphone though!

[OleKingCole]

Great book. It's only 'flaw' , Ignoring the tones might actually be it's greatest strength in the sense that most who use it for grammar reference will probably understand the tonal rules anyway.

 

I'll download it later so that I also have a digital copy, thanks.

 

I'm learning reading and writing, I'm at the stage where my teacher only works in Thai script with me and am learning the complexities of tone rules etc, by analysing, with my teacher, spelling and pronounciation of new words (why has this got hor - heep before the vowel, or why should that have such and such a tone - or the otherway round how would you spell this or that word and so on) so I try very hard to avoid looking at transliterations. Mind you there are so many different systems that I find them quite confusing. So the lack of tones is an advantage. When I come across new words in it, I have to think and work out such things. With a slow old mind like mine, that aids learning no end and the internalisation of the rules

[Dr.Winston]

I'm learning reading and writing, I'm at the stage where my teacher only works in Thai script with me and am learning the complexities of tone rules etc, by analysing, with my teacher, spelling and pronounciation of new words (why has this got hor - heep before the vowel, or why should that have such and such a tone - or the otherway round how would you spell this or that word and so on) so I try very hard to avoid looking at transliterations. Mind you there are so many different systems that I find them quite confusing. So the lack of tones is an advantage. When I come across new words in it, I have to think and work out such things. With a slow old mind like mine, that aids learning no end and the internalisation of the rules

I really like the sound of your teacher, straight to Thai script is the way to go IMO. I did learn a phonetics system but started with the script after a few weeks. The book I used to learn Thai script is so small and simple, I've never seen it taught in simpler terms. Of course back then there was no internet and my tape/book course would still be considered expensive today, more than 20 years after I bought it. I hope that people appreciate the material available to them for free today.

 

I think that 'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language' is much better for those that can already read Thai script which means you can skip so much of it (especially the toneless phonetics) and just use it for grammar reference, a function it fulfils excellently.

[OleKingCole]

I really like the sound of your teacher, straight to Thai script is the way to go IMO. I did learn a phonetics system but started with the script after a few weeks. The book I used to learn Thai script is so small and simple, I've never seen it taught in simpler terms. Of course back then there was no internet and my tape/book course would still be considered expensive today, more than 20 years after I bought it. I hope that people appreciate the material available to them for free today.

 

I think that 'The Fundamentals of the Thai Language' is much better for those that can already read Thai script which means you can skip so much of it (especially the toneless phonetics) and just use it for grammar reference, a function it fulfils excellently.

 

Many years ago, when I was a young man, many UK schools introduced a scheme called the Initial Teaching Alphabet. I was a system where every phoneme in English was represented by a different grapheme, forget how many there were. This was taught to children when they started to learn to read. They then, at a later date had to unlearn that and learn the proper alphabet. Although there were some good ideas in there, it was all a bit pointless and increased the amount that the kids had to learn then unlearn then relearn.

 

Using transliteration to learn is as pointless. Learning weird symbols like a pair of back to front c and what sound that is supposed to represent then later have to lean the thai character representing that sound. Much easier, surely, to learn อ in the first place. Also it discourages using a range of books as every one uses a different scheme. Initial ป is variously represented by bp pb p and so on.

 

Perhaps for the first one or two lessons use some form of transliteration to get the first couple of words into your head, but get straight into the correct way of writing just makes so much sense. It is going to be slower to begin with, a bit cart and horse needing vocab to learn the writing and needing the writing to learn the vocab.

 

But you are right about technology making it so much easier, I use the talking thai dictionary on my iphone continually as a vocab reference, and as a spelling checker. Then there's the wealth of resource on the net. My lesson homeworks are often writing which I scan and email or, tonight's reading practice which is recorded and emailed. Allowing us to spend the lesson time analysing the work, looking at new grammar or vocab etc

 

Sorry I ramble on

Edited June 10, 2011 by OleKingCole

[Dr.Winston]

Many years ago, when I was a young man, many UK schools introduced a scheme called the Initial Teaching Alphabet. I was a system where every phoneme in English was represented by a different grapheme, forget how many there were. This was taught to children when they started to learn to read. They then, at a later date had to unlearn that and learn the proper alphabet. Although there were some good ideas in there, it was all a bit pointless and increased the amount that the kids had to learn then unlearn then relearn.

 

Using transliteration to learn is as pointless. Learning weird symbols like a pair of back to front c and what sound that is supposed to represent then later have to lean the thai character representing that sound. Much easier, surely, to learn อ in the first place. Also it discourages using a range of books as every one uses a different scheme. Initial ป is variously represented by bp pb p and so on.

 

Perhaps for the first one or two lessons use some form of transliteration to get the first couple of words into your head, but get straight into the correct way of writing just makes so much sense. It is going to be slower to begin with, a bit cart and horse needing vocab to learn the writing and needing the writing to learn the vocab.

 

But you are right about technology making it so much easier, I use the talking thai dictionary on my iphone continually as a vocab reference, and as a spelling checker. Then there's the wealth of resource on the net. My lesson homeworks are often writing which I scan and email or, tonight's reading practice which is recorded and emailed. Allowing us to spend the lesson time analysing the work, looking at new grammar or vocab etc

 

Sorry I ramble on

Well, with Thai being a totally different alphabet the need for a phonetics system is obvious, it's just that it's an extra step in the process if you wish to eventually learn the script as you say. I really wish I had just 1% of the resources available to Thai language students today back then. The Internet really has changed things so much.