10 Best Books To Learn Thai For Beginners
Original blog post: https://ling-app.com/th/best-books-to-learn-thai/
Are you ready to dive in a dedicate yourself to learning the Thai language? Learning Thai is no light undertaking, so in this article, we’ll give some recommendations on the best books to learn Thai.
To begin learning Thai, you must first understand the Thai script and the Thai alphabet. Thai learners often find learning Thai confusing because it’s a tonal language with more characters and vowels than other familiar languages.
We’re not trying to scare you away from learning Thai. In fact, you might find learning Thai is actually relatively easy for you! We’re just giving you a heads-up that it can be more of a challenge than other dialects.
How Do You Learn Thai?
Learning Thai is always a challenge for beginners. And to speak Thai, write Thai or read Thai like a native, you will need to have a lot of patience, create a plan, and have some time.
Here are some helpful tips to help you learn Thai words more easily:
- Create Thai Flashcards — You should make these on your own. Create 3–5 per day to learn.
- Learn To Read Thai — create a phonetic script of the Thai alphabet
- Memorize — spend time dedicated to learning what’s on your flashcards for the day.
- Practice With Thai Speakers — get out there and start talking!
- Study Pronunciation — listen to people talking and repeat what they say to correct the pronunciation.
- Watch Thai movies — watch some of our recommendations to help you become more familiar with the Thai language and Thai culture.
- Get A Language App — Apps like Ling have everything you need built into them to help you learn a new language.
- Read Books — that’s why you’re here! Let’s get to our list of best books to learn Thai.
List Of Best Books To Learn Thai
1. Teach Yourself Thai
Sometimes, instead of taking online courses or using other teaching methods, it’s easier (and sometimes better) to teach yourself! Personally, this is the method that I prefer because you can learn at your own pace whenever you want.
‘Teach Yourself Thai’ is a great Thai book with an audio CD (now available online) because you can start learning before traveling and take the resources with you during your trip to Thailand.
This book will teach you the Thai language basics, such as the five tones, grammar, and sentence structures.
2. Read Thai In 10 Days
Perfect for beginners of the Thai language, this book will teach you the Thai alphabet, which is the first step to learning Thai. You’ll learn the Thai script and how to read and write Thai. Well, if you put in the effort, that is!
Reviewers say it is possible to do precisely as the title suggests; Read Thai in 10 Days. Some even learned to read Thai quicker and can now read effortlessly. However, you will not learn how to speak Thai with this resource.
That being said, this is one of the best Thai learning books and should be strongly considered the first or second book you study. The tones and different Thai pronunciations are taught, which is invaluable as a new language skill.
3. Master The Thai Alphabet, A Handwriting Practice Workbook
When you’re learning a tricky writing system like the Thai alphabet and Thai script, you’ll want to practice, practice, and practice your Thai letters!
This workbook is perfect for that and includes helpful studies on pronunciation and tone. You’ll also learn the Thai symbols used to indicate tones and how to read and write them.
4. Thai For Beginners
This book is always within the top two books recommended to help beginners learn Thai. However, to get proper use out of this book, you need to know the Thai script and alphabet first, so we recommend your purchase our number two and three recommended books first.
Thai for Beginners is one of the easiest Thai language books to get a hold of and is one of the oldest, but there is one thing to watch out for. In the book, the author created their own phonetic version of Thai, which does not correlate to any other Thai language learning material anywhere else, making it very confusing. That’s why you should use additional resources to learn the Thai alphabet first.
The book is an excellent resource that breaks down the alphabet appropriately into its middle, high and low consonants and explains short and long vowels. The book also has helpful quizzes to allow you to practice what you’ve learned.
5. Everyday Thai For Beginners
This is the more updated version of Thai For Beginners (although not by the same author or publisher.) Many people find the book’s layout is better. However, one major complaint is that there is no phonetic Thai-English notation throughout. Once again, studying or knowing the alphabet is a prerequisite for using this book.
This book will teach you tonal rules, greetings, Thai culture, time, food, shopping, and more!
6. Thai Picture Dictionary
This is a must-have book for all Thai language beginners. In this picture dictionary, you’ll learn 1,500 Thai words and phrases; the best part is each image’s Thai and English phonetic breakdowns.
The book is organized into 38 themes to make learning easy, but you are expected to already know about the five tones in Thai and how to pronounce them. You can use the Google Translate speaker feature to help with pronouncing the words so you can memorize and practice.
7. Thai Reference Grammar
Did you know that you can’t learn a new language without grammar? This comprehensive and huge book breaks down the structure of the Thai vocabulary and Thai grammar. With this resource, which is more like a textbook, you’ll learn the ins and outs of Thai.
To get the most out of this book, you must be already familiar with Thai. This deep dive will teach you all you need to know!
8. AUA Language Center Thai Course: Book 1
This is one of the most influential textbooks for learning Thai as the most prestigious Thai language schools developed it. Initially an in-person course (it still is), you can get your hands on the textbook and study at your own pace along with complementary resources to help you master learning Thai.
9. Outrageous Thai: Slang, Curses, And Epithets
Truly learning Thai means learning how to sound like a local! This is the best part of learning any new language — slang!
Use this book to add some fun and entertainment to your learning. Some slang is hilarious and strange, but you’ll need to know it to fit in with Thai culture truly. This book will have you having fun speaking Thai.
10. 100 Thai Words That Make You Sound Thai: Thai For Intermediate Learners
Once you’ve picked up on quite a bit of Thai and feel confident, it’s time to learn when to use different phrases in different contexts. This book will teach you to use specific sentences in formal or informal situations.
You’ll also learn the class and age system for when to use certain Thai words or phrases and which ones are more often used by women or men.
What Else Can You Use With Books To Learn Thai?
Using just a single resource nowadays isn’t necessary. With so many audio and visual components you can add on to your books to learn Thai, it can be complicated to decide which ones to use. Thankfully, everything is available all-in-one in language apps such as Ling.
Ling is a popular language learning app with over 10 million downloads. The beautiful Thai language is one of the 60+ languages offered to learn!
After using Ling App for 10 minutes every day for one month, you’ll be able to pick up on and acquire natural pronunciation and conversational tone thanks to the audio produced by Thai native speakers.
Our innovative chatbot will let you practice your Thai and be ready to chat with your Thai friends! Not to mention that you will even get to practice Thai alphabet writing with an interactive whiteboard.
Our users have praised our beautiful and user-friendly app design, the quality of our lessons, and r the effectiveness of learning a language from beginning to advanced.
Are you curious to know everything that Ling has to offer?
