Thai Language study

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Permalink Reply by TaoMountain on October 4, 2008 at 10:54am

Has anyone tried Rosetta Stone? I've looked at them in the mall kiosks, and thought they looked pretty good, but haven't ever tried it.

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Permalink Reply by Jo Jensen on October 5, 2008 at 11:00am

The only one I am familiar with is Pimsleur Language Courses. It was a good beginning, but I never followed through on learning any more than the basics. It is just spoken language, but I retained what I had learned while traveling in Thailand.

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Kidson on October 7, 2008 at 12:20pm

Some libraries offer Rosetta Stone for free. You use your library card number and log in from home. We were doing the Thai one until our local library lost the funding for extra programs. It's worth checking to see if your's offers it. I liked it for basics. I think it's worth the money.

I have friends studying Mandarin who swear by Pimsleur. I personally don't like it. I am a visual learner and need more than just spoken language to really retain anything. But, for what it's worth I think it's a good CD set to have a play in your car stuck in AM traffic. : D

I still really like the programs the Center for Southeast Asian Studies @ Northern Illinois University offers. When I started learning Lao I used SEAsite and still refer back to it.They are all online, free. http://www.seasite.niu.edu/ The Thai one is here: http://www.seasite.niu.edu:85/thai/The websites are pretty complex, there is really a wealth of info inside once you get looking around. http://www.seasite.niu.edu:85/thai/guide.htm

Aside from online, maybe there are local classes or meetup groups to practice with others. (after all, that's really the best) I know there is a Thai Language Meetup group. http://thai.meetup.com/ I've been thinking about starting a Lao one, but have been busy with moving to even get to that point. But maybe there are others in your area you can practice with. We used to have study nights at our house, I'd cook a big Lao dinner then we had a group study session. It was drop-in so anyone could start @ anytime. It kept us motivated and learning fun. I swear learning a language is much like a relationship. You have to love it. ; D

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Permalink Reply by Kelly Kidson on October 27, 2008 at 10:38am

Just wanted to say I've been playing around with the website Harry posted... Its4Thai.com .. it's great. And much less expensive than RS!

Thanks Harry!
: )

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Permalink Reply by Robin Muldowney on January 19, 2009 at 10:11am

Hello
I tried the RS for Thai. It is not how I learn. A Thai word is spoken, you have to guess what it is and click a picture if you are correct you move to another word if not the word is repeated until you get it correct. Each sequence is repeated, adding words and pictures as you go. It felt a bit strange.

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Permalink Reply by nephyr on March 1, 2009 at 11:44pm

Okay, this was all a long time ago, but if anyone is still interested in this subject, here is my two cents...

Rosetta Stone - great if you have the money, and if you want to spend yet more time at the computer. Their theory of how humans learn language is good. I found that things that I learned with Rosetta Stone stuck with me better than things I learned elsewhere. But I just can't spend more time on the computer.

Pimsluer - I really really like pimsluer. I got it free from my library. One thing I really love is that I can listen to it while driving or doing my dishes. So it has a better chance of actually being used.

here is a good website for just looking up a word and hearing it said... http://www.thai-language.com/

here is an extensive and fabulous website for learning Thai ...http://www.learningthai.com/index.php

My favorite book right now is Teach Yourself Thai by David Smyth (and believe me, I've looked at a LOT of books)

So here is the deal; having worked with various thai language teachers, programs and books, I have found that not a single one came without gaps. They all had different gaps though, so by using a variety of systems, the gaps start to get filled in. As near as I can see there is no perfect book, program, audio cd., what have you. Just some that are better than others.

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Permalink Reply by TaoMountain on March 2, 2009 at 7:54am

As someone who's studied (more or less successfully) several languages, i'd echo Nephyr's observations and say that the key is diversity. Even if you find something (a book, a CD, etc) that works for a while, you'll sooner or later feel the need to move on to other things. I've gone from courses to books to podcasts to CDs to flashcards and back again. Although it really seems like you're never getting anywhere sometimes, this actually is a strength as you keep challenging yourself to learn new language skills in new situations.

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