ศาลาชุมนุม

[Pirin]

I wonder if you have got any book to start.

Reading and Writing Thai
by
Somsonge Burusphat
might be a good choice for you.
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/jsealt/Volum ... ngThai.pdf

By the way, this doesn't mean that I'm selling a book of Prof. Somsonge Burusphat. I just bought one a few years ago and like it.)

[RedheadPapa1]

After many hours of thinking I choose to buy a book which probably will be the best for someone who knows nothing about Thai language.
Which one should I choose? Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker or Reading and Writing Thai by Somsonge Burusphat? I think that Thai for Beginners will be better because it contains every aspect of the language as writing, reading and talking. Thanks for all your answers, it helps me a lot.

[Vortarulo]

Even though I would also suggest you learn the writing system as well, so you can look up words in a dictionary, I think it's manageable to get by without the alphabet for a while.

In the beginning, when I learned Thai from native speakers, I asked for the words and wrote them down in IPA (including tone), and that's what I learned and practiced for several months, maybe until I had a stock of perhaps 200 to 300 words and could talk about the most basic things. Only then I decided to REALLY learn the alphabet. Before that I merely knew some letters.

So if you use a system that can perfectly reproduce the pronunciation of the words (and IPA can do that fine), it can work very well.
I revised my vocabulary list and ANKI deck later and added the real pronunciation, so now I'm always learning both: my vocabulary cards in ANKI have both the Thai spelling and the pronunciation in IPA.

I have also switched this website here to display IPA instead of that ad-hoc transcription used as default, on my computer. Works perfectly fine.

Greetings,
- André

[Rick Bradford]

Even though I would also suggest you learn the writing system as well, so you can look up words in a dictionary, I think it's manageable to get by without the alphabet for a while.

I think this depends on whether you are primarily a 'visual' learner or an 'auditory' learner.

I am a 'visual' learner -- this means that I cannot remember a word until I've seen it written down. Some people can hear words and remember them; I cannot.

So for me (and other 'visual' learners), learning to read Thai is essential, because there is no standard transcription method, and many of those methods are inadequate.

That is quite apart from the benefits of learning to read Thai; the huge world of resources that opens up in terms of newspapers, magazines and (if you are in Thailand) street signs and so on.

[claude06thailand]

Even though I would also suggest you learn the writing system as well, so you can look up words in a dictionary, I think it's manageable to get by without the alphabet for a while.

I think this depends on whether you are primarily a 'visual' learner or an 'auditory' learner.

I am a 'visual' learner -- this means that I cannot remember a word until I've seen it written down. Some people can hear words and remember them; I cannot.

So for me (and other 'visual' learners), learning to read Thai is essential, because there is no standard transcription method, and many of those methods are inadequate.

That is quite apart from the benefits of learning to read Thai; the huge world of resources that opens up in terms of newspapers, magazines and (if you are in Thailand) street signs and so on.

As André (Vortarulo) says, "I think it's manageable to get by without the alphabet for a while."
I did so, although I am a visual learner, because I wanted to learn the basics as quickly as possible when I came to live in Thailand.
I know a few people who speak rather good Thai without being able to read or write, but their vocabulary is generally limited and they cannot have a real conversation. Or it will take many many years for the more gifted of them.
Learning to read Thai is essential, as Rick says, and not so difficult as most people think before trying it...

[Rick Bradford]

It's like being illiterate, in my opinion.

If you can't utilise any written resources, then there is only so far you can go.

I know some illiterate people, and they speak their language fine, but the only way they can learn new words and concepts is through other people, either live or through TV/radio. They are unable to study independently, and that is always going to limit them.