If you learn Thai you should learn it like any other language and that means you should immerse yourself in it as much as possible. To do this it makes sense to use multiple sources of learning materials. Books that teach the Thai language are probably the first that come to your mind. Of course you have the drawback with books that you don’t hear the sound of the language or the book just comes with one or two CDs that cover a few passages of the book. Another problem of learn Thai books is that most of them use their own transliteration scheme which makes it harder for you to learn from different books as you first have to learn their transliteration scheme.
Nevertheless there are some books that are worth checking out. They will help you especially if you want to look up words or check on some Thai grammar rules.
1. Thai: An Essential Grammar (Routledge Grammars)
This is a great Thai grammar reference that has short explanations for almost all Thai grammar rules. It is (unlike many Learn Thai books) very well structured and it takes you just a minute to look something up. Highly recommended. Another benefit is that its pretty much available everywhere. No matter if you order from Amazon or pick it up and Kinokuniya at Siam Paragorn in Bangkok.
2. Lonely Planet: Thai Phrase Book
This Learn Thai book is a handy, cheap and small guide to common Thai grammar rules and full of phrases and a small vocabulary section. It is great if you just visit Thailand on vacation but also for serious learners of the Thai language. The grammar section is spot on and probably the most comprehensive you can find in any book. Because it is very compact and just a few pages it only lists essential rules.
3. Thai-English English-Thai Dictionary for Non-Thai Speakers
This dictionary is a compact and very beginner friendly dictionary that lets you search for english words and also for transliterations of Thai words. While you might want to take the Lonely Planet Thai Phrase Book on the road this dictionary has many common words and is also one of the few dictionaries that offer you to look up transliterations.
4. Colloquial Thai: A Complete Language Course
This book is a good work book to go through but the structure and index makes it hard to look things up.
5. Thai for Beginners
This is one of the most common and widely available Learn Thai books that will give you a good idea of what the Thai language is all about.
6. Thai for Intermediate Learners
The second book of the series with a bit more advanced phrases and some more information about grammar and the alphabet.
If you look for a workbook we recommend Colloquial Thai over Benjawan Poomsam Beckers books (No. 5 & 6) because it covers more details. If you just want to get an idea what learning Thai is all about have a look at Beckers books.
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We hope you will never need these sentences but of course it makes a lot of sense to know them if you visit Thailand. But don’t worry, Thailand is not more dangerous than other countries. Just if something happens some basic phrases might make a huge difference.
We also created a PDF file for you to print with the transcript of this lesson and all important phone numbers you might need here in case of an emergency (for example phone numbers of the police, several hospitals, embassies and more).
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The biggest problem for us foreigners who learn Thai is that we are not used to phonetic languages. In many Asian languages a word that is spoken with a different pronunciation can have a different meaning. In this episode we focus on the five different tones that are used in the Thai language. As an example we use the word “mai”.
Here are the different meanings and uses of the word:
The word mai:
- is used to form other words if you say it with a middle tone
- means “new” if you say it with a low tone
- means “no” if you say it with a falling tone
- is used at the end of a sentence to make it a question if you say it with a high tone
- means “silk” if you say it with a rising tone
We also have a podcast lesson for this that I will post tomorrow together with some more updates regarding the site and premium content.
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In this lesson we explain how the podcast is structured and you can learn basics of the Thai language. Words and phrases in Thai that you will probably use every day like “Hello”,”Thanks”, “Sorry”… If you go on a vacation to Thailand for the first time these phrases will be great.
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Learn Thai Lesson 1: Introduction and Basic Words and Phrases [10:32m]:
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This lesson deals with dating related sentences. How you exchange numbers and ask your partner out or tell him/her some sweet things. Suprise your Thai sweety with some of these sentences. This lesson will be soon followed by another lesson that just deals with feelings.
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Learn Thai Lesson 2: Dating and Sweet Things [15:10m]:
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One of the beautiful things in Thailand, besides the friendly people and the lovely beaches, is the yummy Thai food. In this lesson you will learn some helpful sentences that you can use when you eat out.
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Learn Thai Lesson 3: Food and Drinks in Thailand [16:06m]:
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Counting in Thai is pretty straight forward and if you know how to count from 0-9 and a couple of special case for numbers like 11 or 20 its easy once you get the system. When I arrived in Thailand I really wondered what all this Haa-sib, hok-sib and whatever sib means. It really helps to know the numbers. In the next three days we will release a learn thai shopping episode that you can put your new knowledge in action.
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Learn Thai Lesson 4: Counting and Numbers in Thai [10:38m]:
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Besides beautiful night markets and the huge busy weekend market in Bangkok, huge malls make Thailand a great destination for shopping. The variety of stuff that can be found is huge and in this episode you learn some expressions that will help you to bargain or get the product you desire in another size or color. Enjoy shopping in Thailand!
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In this lesson you will learn the essential directions and how to get from A to B which is sometimes a bit lame in a city like Bangkok. Anyway the most important thing is probably to keep in mind that public transportation like MRT (subway) or BTS (skytrain) are the best ways to get around.
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Learn Thai Lesson 6: Directions and Getting Around in a City [11:56m]:
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In this episode you will learn about useful phrases for free time activities in Thailand. What’s going on tonight in Bangkok? Where is the next bar or supermarket? Well going to the supermarket in Bangkok might not be the best free time activity but we included several different destinations to make it better to understand.
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Learn Thai Episode 7: Free Time Activities in Thailand [14:13m]:
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In this episode we talk about feelings and how you can express the most common feelings in Thai. You learn to tell others how you feel or ask them if they feel like that. Thanks for the great feedback for the last episodes. We really appreciate that and will try to improve this little Thai language course more in the future.
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Learn Thai Lesson 8: Express Feelings in Thai [10:48m]:
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Thailand is reknown for the great Thai food, Thailand’s beautiful beaches and the huge variety of places to relax and chill out. One of the most relaxing and best things in this matter are Thai massages. Whether one decides to go for a traditional Thai massage during which the ladies from the massage parlour jump on you to bend and stretch you, or one goes for a more relaxed oil or bodymassage, everyone who knows how a good Thai massage can feel, gets addicted to it.
If you want to surprise your partner or just pamper yourself visit one of Thailand’s many spas and enjoy a full day treatment. Compared to other countries you will get an amazing service for little money.
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Learn Thai Lesson 9: Getting a Thai Massage [9:39m]:
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In this episode you will learn words for places and locations in Thai. This is one of the ideas of some of you that we also make some episodes with single words. Thanks for the great feedback and enjoy the first Learn Thai Podcast episode in this style.
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Learn Thai Lesson 10: Words for Places and Locations in Thailand [8:27m]:
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