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Thai for Beginners
An easy to use Thai language textbook designed for either self-study or classroom use. Teaches all four language skills speaking, listening (when used in conjunction with the cassette tapes), reading and writing . Offers clear, easy, step-by-step instruction, building on what has beenpreviously learned. Used by many Thai temples in America. Recommended books to be studied along with Thai for Beginners are Thai for Travelers (a practical Thai phrase book) and Speak like a Thai series by the same author.
262 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 27, 2008
I am finding this book very useful, but it gets confusing because it and another book I have use different romanization systems/phonetic usages that sometimes don't correlate. I do find the setup useful, though. I only wish the written lessons were more detailed. Also I don't like the fact that the alphabet is chopped up into so many different lessons. Just put it in one section of the book, don't chop it up! I am learning this language still so I am only half way through, but I know enough. Useful, could be better organized.
September 20, 2020
I’ll begin with a short summary:
If you are serious about learning Thai, this book is a good place to start. The topics, vocabulary and example sentences are good, and the Thai writing system is introduced right from the start. Use it with the companion app to practice listening comprehension and pronunciation. On the other hand, if you are only interested in learning to speak a little Thai to get by in everyday life, there are probably better places to start.
Read on for the full review.
Thai for Beginners is an introduction to the Thai language for beginners. It is written by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, and was released in 1995. The book is organized into 10 chapters. Each chapter introduces one or a few topics, all with the same structure: new vocabulary, an example dialog, example sentences, some feature of the Thai writing system, plus a few exercises. (See the end of the review for a list of chapters and topics covered.)
At 270 pages, this book is not that long. But remember that learning a new language is hard, and that it takes time. Especially so if the new language is of a different language family than the ones you already know. So don't expect to finish this book quickly — properly working through the chapters will take some time. But if you are ready to put in the time and effort to do so, you will learn a lot.
Thai is written in the Thai alphabet, which is not used for any other language. It’s not really that different from the western (Latin) system, but the sounds have different symbols, and they are organized slightly differently.
When starting to learn Thai, you have the choice of learning this new alphabet, or using a romanized spelling of the Thai words, meaning that the Thai words are transcribed (= approximated) using English writing.
The romanization route will get you started faster. However, if you really want to learn Thai, it is not the right choice — learning the proper Thai alphabet is the way to go, primarily for two reasons: 1) it will give you access to authentic content for further learning, and 2) it will help your pronunciation. Also, in practice, there is no standard for romanization, which adds to the confusion (as if learning a new language isn't confusing enough on its own!)
This is the stance that Thai for Beginner takes as well, and one of the reasons I chose it. Starting from the very beginning, the Thai writing system is introduced piece by piece, each chapter covering a little more. By the end, you will know how to read and write Thai. (Now, don't expect to be a fast reader, but you will know how to read everything.)
All the vocabulary, dialogs and sentences are written in both Thai script, along with romanized versions. The romanization is fairly standard, using only English letters. I prefer using the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) for indicating pronunciation, instead of approximating it with English letters, which only confuses things. On the other hand, that would mean one more thing to learn, and I see the reason not to go that route. Besides, if you decide to learn the proper Thai alphabet, as recommended, this is not an issue.
There is very little focus on grammar. Most of it is implicit in the dialogs and sentences — as you work through them, you will learn the basic grammar automatically. I think this is the correct approach — there is no use explicitly learning grammar before you have a reasonably big vocabulary to apply it to. And by then, you will subconsciously have picked up a lot of it already, and the rest will be easier to learn.
Originally, the book came with a set of audio tapes or CDs. But now there is also a companion app for both Android and iOS. In this app you can listen to all the vocabulary and sentences, with the option of either male or female speaker. You can also test your reading and listening comprehension, chapter by chapter. Including both male and female speakers is excellent — pronunciation is learned by imitation, and I'd much rather imitate a male voice, lest risk ending up sounding like a woman.
The vocabulary and sentences cover the basics. You'll learn how to present yourself, ask for directions, understand time and dates, order food, speak about body parts, relationships and occupations. All in all, the book has around 1000 vocabulary words, and 350 sentences (some very short).
As for the exercises at the end of each chapter, these are by far the weakest point of the book. The translation and reading comprehension exercises are good. The rest are much too easy, and a waste of time and space. But you can just skip them, so no big deal.
Well. I think that covers the contents of the book well enough. As a final note, let's just briefly consider the pros and cons of learning a new language from a book compared to other ways.
There are mixed opinions about this. Some say you should start speaking from day one, while some say that if you focus on listening, reading and writing, then speaking will come automatically when you are ready. Some say learning from a book doesn't teach you the "real" language, the one people actually use in everyday life.
I would suggest that it all depends on your goals. If your only goal is to learn to speak to people about everyday things, then starting with a book like this is probably not the best strategy. On the other hand, if you truly want to become fluent, a book like this is a good place to start. I know for myself that I learn vocabulary much faster when reading and writing. Also, to say that everyday spoken language is somehow more "real" is nonsense. Written language is equally real, just used differently. However, I do think practicing pronunciation right from the start is helpful, whatever method you choose.
And that concludes this review.
Table of contents:
- Guide to pronunciation.
- Lesson 1: Greetings; polite particles; yes-no questions; personal pronouns; cardinal and ordinal numbers; the Thai writing system; consonant classes; determining tones in written Thai; middle consonants; long vowels; tone marks.
- Lesson 2: To be; more vowels; live and dead syllables; tone rules for middle consonants.
- Lesson 3: Colors; future tense; can; more vowels; complex vowels; final consonants; seven vowels that change their forms, tone rules for middle consonants.
- Lesson 4: Telling time; high consonants; tone rules for high consonants.
- Lesson 5: Days of the week; months; tone marks with high consonants; low consonants introduced.
- Lesson 6: To want; to be ... ing; tone rules for low consonants.
- Lesson 7: To hear; to remember; to fall asleep; to look; tones rules for low consonants.
- Lesson 8: Body parts; everyday life; special อ; silent ห.
- Lesson 9: Family and kinship terms; occupations; animals; how to use ใ; other features of written Thai.
- Lesson 10: Comparisons; adjectives; classifiers.
- Appendix 1: Summary of the Thai Writing System.
If you are serious about learning Thai, this book is a good place to start. The topics, vocabulary and example sentences are good, and the Thai writing system is introduced right from the start. Use it with the companion app to practice listening comprehension and pronunciation. On the other hand, if you are only interested in learning to speak a little Thai to get by in everyday life, there are probably better places to start.
Read on for the full review.
Thai for Beginners is an introduction to the Thai language for beginners. It is written by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, and was released in 1995. The book is organized into 10 chapters. Each chapter introduces one or a few topics, all with the same structure: new vocabulary, an example dialog, example sentences, some feature of the Thai writing system, plus a few exercises. (See the end of the review for a list of chapters and topics covered.)
At 270 pages, this book is not that long. But remember that learning a new language is hard, and that it takes time. Especially so if the new language is of a different language family than the ones you already know. So don't expect to finish this book quickly — properly working through the chapters will take some time. But if you are ready to put in the time and effort to do so, you will learn a lot.
Thai is written in the Thai alphabet, which is not used for any other language. It’s not really that different from the western (Latin) system, but the sounds have different symbols, and they are organized slightly differently.
When starting to learn Thai, you have the choice of learning this new alphabet, or using a romanized spelling of the Thai words, meaning that the Thai words are transcribed (= approximated) using English writing.
The romanization route will get you started faster. However, if you really want to learn Thai, it is not the right choice — learning the proper Thai alphabet is the way to go, primarily for two reasons: 1) it will give you access to authentic content for further learning, and 2) it will help your pronunciation. Also, in practice, there is no standard for romanization, which adds to the confusion (as if learning a new language isn't confusing enough on its own!)
This is the stance that Thai for Beginner takes as well, and one of the reasons I chose it. Starting from the very beginning, the Thai writing system is introduced piece by piece, each chapter covering a little more. By the end, you will know how to read and write Thai. (Now, don't expect to be a fast reader, but you will know how to read everything.)
All the vocabulary, dialogs and sentences are written in both Thai script, along with romanized versions. The romanization is fairly standard, using only English letters. I prefer using the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) for indicating pronunciation, instead of approximating it with English letters, which only confuses things. On the other hand, that would mean one more thing to learn, and I see the reason not to go that route. Besides, if you decide to learn the proper Thai alphabet, as recommended, this is not an issue.
There is very little focus on grammar. Most of it is implicit in the dialogs and sentences — as you work through them, you will learn the basic grammar automatically. I think this is the correct approach — there is no use explicitly learning grammar before you have a reasonably big vocabulary to apply it to. And by then, you will subconsciously have picked up a lot of it already, and the rest will be easier to learn.
Originally, the book came with a set of audio tapes or CDs. But now there is also a companion app for both Android and iOS. In this app you can listen to all the vocabulary and sentences, with the option of either male or female speaker. You can also test your reading and listening comprehension, chapter by chapter. Including both male and female speakers is excellent — pronunciation is learned by imitation, and I'd much rather imitate a male voice, lest risk ending up sounding like a woman.
The vocabulary and sentences cover the basics. You'll learn how to present yourself, ask for directions, understand time and dates, order food, speak about body parts, relationships and occupations. All in all, the book has around 1000 vocabulary words, and 350 sentences (some very short).
As for the exercises at the end of each chapter, these are by far the weakest point of the book. The translation and reading comprehension exercises are good. The rest are much too easy, and a waste of time and space. But you can just skip them, so no big deal.
Well. I think that covers the contents of the book well enough. As a final note, let's just briefly consider the pros and cons of learning a new language from a book compared to other ways.
There are mixed opinions about this. Some say you should start speaking from day one, while some say that if you focus on listening, reading and writing, then speaking will come automatically when you are ready. Some say learning from a book doesn't teach you the "real" language, the one people actually use in everyday life.
I would suggest that it all depends on your goals. If your only goal is to learn to speak to people about everyday things, then starting with a book like this is probably not the best strategy. On the other hand, if you truly want to become fluent, a book like this is a good place to start. I know for myself that I learn vocabulary much faster when reading and writing. Also, to say that everyday spoken language is somehow more "real" is nonsense. Written language is equally real, just used differently. However, I do think practicing pronunciation right from the start is helpful, whatever method you choose.
And that concludes this review.
Table of contents:
- Guide to pronunciation.
- Lesson 1: Greetings; polite particles; yes-no questions; personal pronouns; cardinal and ordinal numbers; the Thai writing system; consonant classes; determining tones in written Thai; middle consonants; long vowels; tone marks.
- Lesson 2: To be; more vowels; live and dead syllables; tone rules for middle consonants.
- Lesson 3: Colors; future tense; can; more vowels; complex vowels; final consonants; seven vowels that change their forms, tone rules for middle consonants.
- Lesson 4: Telling time; high consonants; tone rules for high consonants.
- Lesson 5: Days of the week; months; tone marks with high consonants; low consonants introduced.
- Lesson 6: To want; to be ... ing; tone rules for low consonants.
- Lesson 7: To hear; to remember; to fall asleep; to look; tones rules for low consonants.
- Lesson 8: Body parts; everyday life; special อ; silent ห.
- Lesson 9: Family and kinship terms; occupations; animals; how to use ใ; other features of written Thai.
- Lesson 10: Comparisons; adjectives; classifiers.
- Appendix 1: Summary of the Thai Writing System.
October 1, 2011
For learning Thai script and vocabulary this book is excellent, but for learning grammar it is not that good: it has no grammar exercises at all. So you have to learn the grammar by reading phrases over and over again until the grammatical structures stick in your head.
After a while this becomes a boring way to memorize grammar, exercises do not just have a functional purpose they also vary your learning experience.
So if you are a self-learner be aware that learning grammar from this book is like learning grammar from a graded reader or a phrasebook.
I am not new to this approach, but to those who haven't done it before the lack of detailed explanations could be frustrating.
I think this book is ideally used in a class where a teacher can explain the grammar in more detail and can give you grammar exercises to do, for self-learners with higher ambitions I think Smyth's TY book is much better because it covers the script AND explains the grammar. If you still prefer to use Becker's book I highly recommend that you complement it with Moore's 'Colloquial Thai' to get a good coverage of the grammar.
After a while this becomes a boring way to memorize grammar, exercises do not just have a functional purpose they also vary your learning experience.
So if you are a self-learner be aware that learning grammar from this book is like learning grammar from a graded reader or a phrasebook.
I am not new to this approach, but to those who haven't done it before the lack of detailed explanations could be frustrating.
I think this book is ideally used in a class where a teacher can explain the grammar in more detail and can give you grammar exercises to do, for self-learners with higher ambitions I think Smyth's TY book is much better because it covers the script AND explains the grammar. If you still prefer to use Becker's book I highly recommend that you complement it with Moore's 'Colloquial Thai' to get a good coverage of the grammar.
April 14, 2008
For those wanting to learn Thai, this is a great book to start with. I had to use it for my Thai class and I thought it was great and actually learned how to read Thai using it. It's a hard language to learn with all the different tones, but I think the book taught it well enough.
July 15, 2018
I've heard great things about this textbook/ it has been highly recommended as a self-study tool. However, I did not find it helpful. After 4 lessons, I am switching to a different textbook.
Other than loads of vocabulary and vocab exercises, the book provides little else. There are no grammar lessons, sentence explanations, or writing and reading practice. I also agree with the other review that the alphabet lessons are too spread out. I appreciate that this text does not romanize from the start, but what is the point if the alphabet is so spread out?
As a self-study tool, this source is incomplete and insufficient.
As a self-study aid, I see potential with the vocab practice.
Other than loads of vocabulary and vocab exercises, the book provides little else. There are no grammar lessons, sentence explanations, or writing and reading practice. I also agree with the other review that the alphabet lessons are too spread out. I appreciate that this text does not romanize from the start, but what is the point if the alphabet is so spread out?
As a self-study tool, this source is incomplete and insufficient.
As a self-study aid, I see potential with the vocab practice.
November 11, 2019
Helpful book for people who want an introduction into speaking and reading the Thai language. However take note that there are many different phonetic systems out there and what you learn in this book might vary from other textbooks (which I quickly realised when I signed up for formal classes).
What I do like about this book is all the conversation examples, really helped with giving context on how to use Thai vocab.
What I do like about this book is all the conversation examples, really helped with giving context on how to use Thai vocab.
June 16, 2021
U.S. shipping is fast from Berkeley, CA. I was worried it would be slow ordering it and CDs from the publisher but I got the book (in SF) within 40 hours.
I like the book so far. My iTalki Thai teacher started me with the writing and we bounce around the book a bit.
I like the book so far. My iTalki Thai teacher started me with the writing and we bounce around the book a bit.
January 28, 2019
Read this in 2008 and it is so methodically genius that everyone and his donkey can learn to read and write Thai.
June 22, 2022
This is the book you need if you want to become a student of Thai. I keep it with me at all times. :)
Read
September 3, 2012This is probably the most widely book used for beginners.
It offers a basic introduction.
Compared to other books for learning Thai, it is slightly above average.
I would highly recommend the 3-way electronic dictionary produced by Paiboon with the computer work by Chris Pirazi. Truly Fantastic!
Thai for Beginners is mediocre, but priced reasonably.
It offers a basic introduction.
Compared to other books for learning Thai, it is slightly above average.
I would highly recommend the 3-way electronic dictionary produced by Paiboon with the computer work by Chris Pirazi. Truly Fantastic!
Thai for Beginners is mediocre, but priced reasonably.
November 24, 2010
As finished with this book as I am going to be finished with this book in Year One.
A great resource for learning how to read and write and getting a feel for basic sentence structure. I didn't have the CD, which I imagine, of course, would help with cadence and pronunciation.
A great resource for learning how to read and write and getting a feel for basic sentence structure. I didn't have the CD, which I imagine, of course, would help with cadence and pronunciation.
Read
April 4, 2014that's good
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews