Lesson - 01 - free download with sound

I have the same sentiments as sally.....am very appreciative and grateful for the hard work you people have put in to make learning thai for foreigners easier and more interesting.... Thanks a million.... !!

[roni]

Richard,
I definitely agree with not including roman letters. At first they seem really helpful, but then problems with transliteration occur (none of the letters are fully pronounced the same as their roman "counterparts"), and people use the romanizations as a crutch. It think in the long run it's more of a hinderance. It also makes sense to start this in the downloads, because some visitors to the website may only be looking for a few phrases, and probably will want the transliteration. I say you should stick to this!

[tonbo]

Hi again,

Richard, thanks for putting replies to my comments on the forum...

1) The "soft" and "hard" vowel sounds. I think this is what is often referred to in Thai textbooks for foreigners as "live" and "dead" vowel sounds (syllables). David Smyth uses this description in "Teach Yourself Thai". Live syllables are those which end with long vowel sounds, or end with "n", "m" or "ng" or "ai". Syllables with short vowels and those that end with consonants other than those mentioned are "dead" syllables. Dead syllables can either be long or short and it is important to learn the difference as that influences the tone -- i.e. the difference is part of the tone rules. Either way, it's just a question of terminology and not a negative criticism of the program, which is great!

2) ´ and µ, and º and » consonants again. Actually, I'm NOT suggesting that romanizations be used, so I agree with everyone else on that subject - just as well to get used to Thai script as quickly as possible and not use roman script as a crutch. My point was that very early beginners will find it hard to distinguish between the ´ and µ, and º and » pairs. Some people have said "if you listen to it you can hear the difference." OK, if you're confident that all new learners of Thai will be able to do this, then it's OK as it is, but I do not 100% share your confidence. At least it should be pointed out that they ARE different and that the learner should try to be aware of the difference when using the material. That will probably be enough for most people. Anyway, time will tell. When 1000 people have used the materials and we get no "can't tell the difference between X and y" messages, then we'll know I'm wrong!

Best wishes

Tonbo

Thanks for the excellent first lesson. It's pretty basic, but it is very nice to have some Thai native speaker audio reference for offline use. The only time I get to practice my Thai is with the waitress at my favorite Thai restaurant during my weekly visits there.I have the "Thai for Beginners" by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, I could have bought the tapes along with it but I don't even have a cassette player in the house anymore! If the material was available on CD that would be great,but as that is not the case, downloadable lessons like yours come in very handy when all I have access to is CD players and my computer for audio content.

By the way, Thai restaurants have had the best food and the prettiest waitresses in all of my Asian dining experiences here in L.A.

[Richard Barrow]

Thanks for all your comments so far. Keep them coming as it is helping us provide a better service at the end of the day.

Quote[/b] ]why don't you add a word list using some of the letters and vowels in the first lesson. Also, have it so that when we click on the word we can hear the proper pronounciation. That way we can check to see if we have got them right.

Good idea. We will do that in the next upgrade.

Quote[/b] ]I definitely agree with not including roman letters.

Great. If we are all in agreement then we won't include any Roman letters.

Quote[/b] ]The "soft" and "hard" vowel sounds. I think this is what is often referred to in Thai textbooks for foreigners as "live" and "dead" vowel sounds (syllables).

This is something different as a dead syllable can be both short and long. Thai grammar books here use the same words for "live" (kam ben) and "dead" (kam dtai).

Quote[/b] ]very early beginners will find it hard to distinguish between the ´ and µ, and º and » pairs.

I agree. It is not easy to start with. However, I think once we include a word list with sounds then it will be easier to spot. We have noted your point and we will add some language notes to future versions of this lesson. We will point out that although they may look and sound the same they are different. Thanks for bringing this up.

Quote[/b] ]I have the "Thai for Beginners" by Benjawan Poomsan Becker, I could have bought the tapes along with it but I don't even have a cassette player in the house anymore! If the material was available on CD that would be great

We have had quite a few people say that. We will speak to the publishers tomorrow to see if we can have permission to copy the tapes onto CD for people who buy the book and tape from us.

Please keep the comments coming. When we come to publish the book (in our dreams) we will give you all a written credit!

[Boo Boo]

Hi,
Does anyone know, once the program is installed, does it have an uninstall?

[Cherry]

Hello Richard,
I'm very interested in free download lesson with sound. As a volunteer Thai teacher for children at Sunday temple school in Wimbledon, I'd like to try using your free download lessons with sound in my class. Is there any chance you'll provide all lessons soon? The new term will start in March, so I'll have about a month to prepare for a new class aged between 7 to 9, both Thai and Look-Krung.
Thanks.
Cherry

[Panrit "Gor" Daoruang]

Quote[/b] ]Does anyone know, once the program is installed, does it have an uninstall?

You don't actually "install" it as it is not a program. It is an e-book which you run by double clicking on the icon. It works much the same as internet explorer.

Quote[/b] ]As a volunteer Thai teacher for children at Sunday temple school in Wimbledon, I'd like to try using your free download lessons with sound in my class. Is there any chance you'll provide all lessons soon

I am not sure if they will all be finished by then as we are still planning the design of the lessons and also the content. Maybe. I am sure a lot of people would be interested to read about your local temple. I would for sure. Could you click on "new reply" and tells us a bit about what you do there?

[Cherry]

Thanks Gor for your quick reply. The Sunday school I'm teaching is in Wimbledon called Buddhapadipa Temple (ÇÑ´¾Ø·¸»·Õ»). There are about 7 classes. We start the school from 1 pm with 30 minutes of Buddhism lesson (like assembly) by a monk who is our head teacher and after that the students will go to their class for Thai lessons until 4 pm.
I've been a volunteer teacher for 5 years and my 2 sons (14 & 11) are also students here. It is a hard job because I didn't have any teaching qualification and the students are not only Thai but also Eurasian (ÅÙ¡¤ÃÖè§). And most of the students don't come to our school willingly (are forced by parents). I don't blame them because I also hated learning Thai when I was young. It's very boring. But I want my sons to learn not only English (as their father is English) but also some Thai, Thai culture and Buddhism.
The children can enroll from the age of 5 - 13. All volunteer teachers have to prepare their own lessons by photocopying lessons from some Thai books, which we don't have many at the temple. It would be nice if we can have provided lessons from professional.

[Richard Barrow]

Thanks Cherry for your reply. Everyone here was interested to read about your temple school. You say that you are volunteers in the teaching staff. Does that also mean the children can attend free? How many students are there?

We are also interested to know about the level of the students. Can some of them read books in Thai?

It is probably a bit like the Thai teenagers here that have Chinese grandparents. They too are "forced" to learn Chinese in after school lessons. Like their teachers you have your work cut out to make the lessons attractive and interesting.

We are interested to know what other methods you use in teaching? Do you have computers and if so can they run Thai educational programs? Do they have a Thai operating system so that you can see Thai fonts?

Sorry about all the questions but we are very interested to learn more.