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WLT’s 2016 Thai Language Giveaway: Learn Thai from a White Guy

WLTs Thai Language Giveaway

WLT’s 2016 Thai Language Giveaway…

Here we are already, at week FIVE of WLT’s seven weeks of Thai language giveaways! If you don’t already know, to find out what’s going on please read Vote THAI and WIN! | SEVEN Weeks of FREE Thai Giveaways.

Brett Whiteside: Learn Thai from a White Guy…

On this giveaway Brett from Learn Thai from a White Guy is giving away SIX prizes (not four as previously announced). TWO winners will receive Read Thai in 2 Weeks along with The Need to Know Sentence Pack. And TWO will get Read Thai in 2 Weeks on its own.

I wrote an overview of Read Thai in 2 Weeks awhile ago in my post Read the Thai Alphabet in 2 Weeks, 10 Days, 60 Minutes? Here’s a tidbit:

When struggling to learn tones and pronunciation, Brett created his own materials to teach himself Thai. After many adjustments to get it just right, and having great personal success himself, he designed a course to teach Thai to hundreds of expat students: Read Thai in Two Weeks.

The strength of this course is that being online it offers clickable audio files as well as quizzes, drills and exercises to test what you’ve learned (or not). Another plus – the mnemonics (memory hooks) help get the materials down solid. Anki files with audio, as well as the free (to the public) iOS and Android apps are tailored to the course.

The Need to Know Sentence Pack is a new course created as an addon to Read Thai in 2 Weeks. There is no transliteration in the course so you must know how to read Thai (hence the bundled prizes).

Brett: After getting a grasp on the sounds in any language, I believe that one should move immediately into learning a pile of short phrases and sentences that you might actually use if you get the opportunity to speak the language with a native speaker.

What I’ve done is pulled many of the sentences from my “100 Sentence Project” from 2008 and created examples for each of them, added in explanations where helpful or needed and had a professional voice artist record everything.

Rules for WLTs Thai Language Giveaway…

The rules are simple:

To be included in the draw, leave comments below.
Comment(s) need to add to the conversation (it really does matter).
Each relevant comment gets counted, so please leave as many as you like!
If you don’t collect your prize within a week of the announcement, it will be given away to the next person in line.

Brett will choose the winners for this giveaway. And even if you’ve won previously, you can enter this competition as well, no probs.

The draw will run from now until 26 June (Sunday), 6pm Thai time. After the winners have been selected a comment will be put below and I’ll create a dedicated post.

Thank you Brett for sponsoring WLT’s eight year celebration – and good luck to you all!

Cat Cartoons Episode Thirty Six: Learn and Love the Thai Language

June 20, 2016 / Sean Harley / 0 Comments

รู้รักภาษาไทย: Cat Cartoons: Episode Thirty Six…

เสียงเด็ก ๆ ร้องเพลง: รู้รักภาษาไทย
Sound of children singing: Learn and Love the Thai Language.

ผู้บรรยาย: ตอน สตางค์
Narrator: Episode – ‘Sa-dtaang’.

น้องก้อย: พี่เก่ง คุณพ่อไปไหน
Nong Goi: Pee Geng, where’s Dad gone?

พี่เก่ง: คุณพ่อไปเติมน้ำมัน เพราะพรุ่งเนี้ยะ(นี้)(อ่ะ)น้ำมันจะขึ้นราคา 50 สตางค์
Pee Geng: Dad’s gone to fill up the tank because tomorrow the price of fuel will be increased by 50 ‘Sa-dtaang’.

วิเชียรมาศ: สตางค์นี่นะ มันราคาเท่าไหร่กันน้า(นะ) ได้ยินบ่อย ๆ เลย
Wi-chian maat: This ‘Sa-dtaang’, how much is it? I do hear it quite often.

สีสวาด: สตางค์ เป็นหน่วยเงินปลีกย่อย ร้อยสตางค์เท่ากับ 1 บาท
Si Sawat: ‘Sa-dtaang’ is a monetary unit: 100 ‘Sa-dtaang’ is equal to 1 ‘Baat’.

วิเชียรมาศ: สตางค์มีค่าเท่านั้นเองหรอ แล้วทำไมพี่เก่งพี่ก้อยไปโรงเรียนจึงขอแต่สตางค์ล่ะ ทำไมไม่ขอเป็นบาท
Wi-chian maat: That’s all? That’s the value of the ‘sa-dtaang’? Then why is it that when Pee Geng and Pee Goi go to school, they only ask for ‘Sa-dtaang’? Why do they not ask for ‘Baat’?

สีสวาด: สตางค์ นอกจากหมายถึงหน่วยเงินปลีกย่อย ร้อยเท่ากับ 1 บาทแล้ว ยังหมายถึง เงินที่ใช้สอยอีกด้วย จะเป็นกี่บาทก็ได้ เช่น วันนี้แม่ให้สตางค์มา 5 บาท
Si Sawat: Apart from meaning “a monetary unit, with 100 ‘Sa-dtaang’ equalling to 1 ‘Baat’”, ‘Sa-dtaang’ also means ‘money in use’ and it can be any amount of ‘Baat’ for example “Today Mom gave ‘Sa-dtaang’ in the amount of 5 ‘Baat’.”

ผู้บรรยาย: สตางค์ เขียน ส เสือ ต เต่า สระอา ง งู ค ควาย การันต์ เป็นหน่วยเงินย่อยของบาท แล้วใช้หมายถึง เงินที่ใช้สอยด้วย
Narrator: ‘Sa-dtaang’ is written ‘sor seua’ ‘dtor dtao’ ‘sa-ra aa’ ‘ngor ngoo’ ‘kor kwaai gaa-ran’. It is a monetary unit of ‘Baat’ and is used to mean ‘money in use’.

แมวทั้งสามตัว: แล้วพบกันใหม่นะครับบบ (ครับ)
All Three Cats: See you again next time!

เสียงเด็ก ๆ ร้องเพลง: รู้รักภาษาไทย
Sound of children singing: Learn and Love the Thai Language.

Comments…

An alternate transliteration of ‘Sa-dtaang’ is ‘satang’ and it is quite widely used. ‘Sa-dtaang’ (สตางค์) is technically a monetary unit: 1 ‘Baat’ (บาท) consists of 100 ‘Sa-dtaang’ (สตางค์). As explained above, ‘Sa-dtaang’ (สตางค์) can also mean ‘money’ in general.

The 25-‘Sa-dtaang’ (สตางค์) coin is a currency unit equivalent to one-fourth of 1 ‘Baat’ (บาท). It is a bit smaller than the American Dime and remains in circulation because regular bus fares often involve a fraction of a Baht – e.g. 3.75 Baht. Beyond that it is used very infrequently. It is commonly called ‘sa-leung’ (สลึง) by Thai speakers.

The 50-‘Sa-dtaang’ (สตางค์) coin is a currency unit equivalent to one-half of 1 ‘Baat’ (บาท). You will usually find these in 7-11s around the country where item prices are still ‘11.50′ Baht and the like. It is commonly called ‘song sa-leung’ (สองสลึง) by Thai speakers.

Both the new series 25 and 50-‘Sa-dtaang’ (สตางค์) coins are copper plated. Many people would probably like to see the 25 and 50 ‘Sa-dtaang’ (สตางค์) coins go out of circulation.

(Adapted from wiki: Twenty-five-satang coin, wiki: Fifty-satang coin and Discovery Thailand: Know the money).

PDF Downloads…

Below is a pdf download (created by Catherine) to help with your studies. It has Thai script, transliteration, and English.

Download: Cat Cartoons Episode Thirty Six: Conversation

Disclaimer: The study pdfs are Catherine’s baby. If you notice any mistakes drop her a line via the contact form.

The Cat Cartoon Series…

Original transcript and translation provided by Sean Harley. Transliterations via T2E (thai2english.com).

2016 WINNERS: Learn Thai Style

June 19, 2016 / Catherine Wentworth / 6 Comments

WLTs Thai Language Giveaway

Welcome to the FOURTH week of WLT’s seven weeks of Thai Language Giveaways. The Language Giveaways are a part of the Language Lovers Competition. The LLC is now over – to see the results go to Thank You for Voting: Top Language Lovers of 2016.

Chosen by Kruu Jiab and Tom, here are the winners of the Speak Thai Course:

To be fluent in a language, it is a life long project and different resources help developing different skills. So thanks Catherine for an amazing Thai language resource website! And congratulations to the 4 winners; Stuart Cox, Michel Geneva, Lauren Sautter and Micky.

There are different skills that should be developed alongside each other when learning a language; vocabulary, pronunciation, listening, function (grammar, sentence structure, etc) as well as learning about local culture, attitudes, personality, beliefs, etc.

My Speak Thai Course helps learners to develop these skills from a beginner to intermediate level. If you already speak some Thai I hope my course will still benefit and help you to develop your current skills.

After moving to a quiet island, I now have time to concentrate on editing my materials. I am currently working on new edition of my Speak Thai Course which will be released before Christmas this year with even more thorough explanations, a new design, better layout, more selfstudy/homework materials, new audio, smart vocabulary flashcards and more! The new edition will be available for all current learners to download at no extra cost!

Good luck and keep me updated with your progress! Kru Jiab and Tom

Kruu Jiab and Tom, thank you so much for sponsoring the FOURTH week of WLT’s giveaway! Thanks also go to those leaving comments – be sure to check back on Tuesday morning for more.

Note: To get a list of the coming prizes please read the first post in the series, Vote THAI and WIN! | SEVEN Weeks of FREE Thai Giveaways.

The SET Foundation really really really needs our help…

As mentioned in a previous post, the SET Foundation seriously needs our help this year. Psssst … Kruu Jiab and Tom donate every year (thanks you two!)

Did you know that…

Since SET became a registered foundation in 2005, the value of its scholarships (to end of 2015) totals 158.00 Million Baht.

If you can please donate to The SET Foundation by filling out the Paypal button at the top right of their site. Ta:)

WLT’s 2016 Thai Language Giveaway: Learn Thai Style

June 14, 2016 / Catherine Wentworth / 12 Comments

WLTs Thai Language Giveaway

WLT’s 2016 Thai Language Giveaway…

Welcome to week FOUR of WLT’s seven weeks of Thai language giveaways! To catch up with the series please read Vote THAI and WIN! | SEVEN Weeks of FREE Thai Giveaways.

Jiab and Tom: Learn Thai Style…

This week Jiab and Tom from Learn Thai Style are giving away FOUR Speak Thai Courses (includes a pre-release version of Speak Thai Course with Thai script only – no transliteration).

The winners will receive lifetime access to structured worksheets, audio, video, quizzes, self study materials, learn Thai blog access, all future updates as well as access to over 900 trained teachers (UK, USA, Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Skype).

NOTE: The prize covers the course materials only (time with individual teachers is not included).

Angela (Udon Thani): “The curriculum is well structured, with a good mix of vocabulary, teaching of principles, and practice. The homework is very helpful especially the listening portion. The audio and video supplements online are very good and helpful. I like the tone table and the consistency of it throughout so that you continuously are getting a grasp on the difficult task of tones. The videos are especially helpful in providing a visual and the mouth and throat diagrams are great.”

Bob (Brighton): “I have to admit to starting this course with some trepidation. I knew only a couple of words and probably mispronounced those! The tonal sounds worried me and that’s just for starters! My target was to be able to have a basic conversation and have some understanding of the structures, so that I can string together some basic sentences. Eventually, I hope to make a start on reading and writing – some time away from now, though! I have just completed chapter 6 of the first course and it all going the way I hoped. The material is jam-packed with information. The homework is great especially the audio/ listening section.”

Web: Thai Style Language Co. Ltd.
Facebook: LearnThaiStyle
Twitter: LearnThaiStyle
YouTube: ThaiStyleLanguage
Google+: Learnthaistyle

Rules for WLTs Thai Language Giveaway…

The rules are simple:

To be included in the draw, leave comments below.
Comment(s) need to add to the conversation (it really does matter).
Each relevant comment gets counted, so please leave as many as you like!
If you don’t collect your prize within a week of the announcement, it will be given away to the next person in line.

Jiab and Tom will choose the winners, so not worries, you can still win if we are best buds or worse. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve won before either, you can keep entering to win.

The draw will run from now until 19 June (Sunday), 6pm Thai time. After the winners have been selected a comment will be put below and I’ll create a dedicated post as well.

Thank you Jiab and Tom for sponsoring WLT’s eight year celebration!

Cat Cartoons Episode Thirty Five: Learn and Love the Thai Language

June 13, 2016 / Sean Harley / 0 Comments

รู้รักภาษาไทย: Cat Cartoons: Episode Thirty Five…

เสียงเด็ก ๆ ร้องเพลง: รู้รักภาษาไทย
Sound of children singing: Learn and Love the Thai Language.

ผู้บรรยาย: ตอน ไม่นำพา
Narrator: Episode – ‘Mai nam paa’.

เก้าแต้ม: สวัสดีจ้า สีสวาด เมื่อเร็ว ๆ เนี้ย(นี้)ดูละครโทรทัศน์ มีผู้หญิงคนนึง(หนึ่ง)ชอบพูดอะไรน้า(นะ) นำพา ๆ อยู่บ่อย ๆ
Kao Taem: Hi there, Si Sawat! Just recently, I was watching a soap opera on television and there was this one woman who liked to say…hmm, what was that again…‘nam paa’, ‘nam paa’…quite often.

สีสวาด: แต่ก็มิได้นำพา
Si Sawat: ‘Dtae gor mi daai nam paa’?

เก้าแต้ม: เฮอะ ๆ ใช่แล้ว ๆ คำนี้หล่ะ มันหมายความว่าอะไรหรอ มิได้นำพา หมายถึง ไม่ได้นำ หรือ ไม่ได้พามา ใช่มั๊ย(ไหม)
Kao Taem: Aha! Yes, that’s it! That’s the word! What does it mean? It’s ‘mai daai nam’ / ‘mai daai paa maa’, right?

สีสวาด: แต่ก็มิได้นำพา หรือ ไม่นำพา ไม่ได้หมายถึง ไม่ได้นำมา หรือ ไม่ได้พามา แต่เป็นสำนวนหมายถึง ไม่สนใจ ไม่เอาใจใส่จ้ะ
Si Sawat: But ‘gor mi daai nam paa’ or ‘mai daai nam paa’ does not mean ‘mai daai nam maa’ / ‘mai daai paa maa’ [(to) not bring here]; it’s actually a saying that means ‘(to) not be bothered’, ‘(to) not pay attention’.

วิเชียรมาศ: เหมือนที่เธอเคยบอกเก้าแต้มว่า เวลากินข้าวต้องระวังอย่าให้หกเลอะเทอะ แต่เก้าแต้มฟังแล้วก็ละเลยไม่เอาใจใส่ที่เธอบอก ยังคงกินข้าวหกเลอะเทอะ หยั่งงี้(อย่างนี้)เรียกว่าไม่นำพาใช่มั๊ย(ไหม)
Wi-chian maat: It’s the same as when you told Kao Taem to be careful when eating meals so as not to spill food and make a mess. Even after Kao Taem has heard what you said however, he neglected and paid no attention to it and probably still spills food and makes a mess every time he eats. We can call this ‘mai nam paa’, right?

สีสวาด: ใช่แล้วจ้ะ บอกแล้วแต่ก็ไม่นำพา
Si Sawat: Yes, that’s true! I’ve told him already but ‘mai nam paa’.

ผู้บรรยาย: ไม่นำพา เป็นสำนวน หมายถึง ละเลย ไม่เอาใจใส่ เช่น ครูบอกว่า ก่อนรับประทานอาหารควรล้างมือให้สะอาดทุกครั้ง แต่นักเรียนบางคนก็ไม่นำพา
Narrator: ‘Mai nam paa’ is a saying that means ‘(to) neglect’, ‘(to) pay no attention’ for example the teacher said that every time before we eat something we should wash our hands so that they’re clean but some students ‘mai nam paa’.

แมวทั้งสามตัว: แล้วพบกันใหม่นะครับบบ (ครับ)
All Three Cats: See you again next time!

เสียงเด็ก ๆ ร้องเพลง: รู้รักภาษาไทย
Sound of children singing: Learn and Love the Thai Language.

Comments…

The RSD’s definitions of ‘mai’ (ไม่) and ‘mi’ (มิ) suggest that they can be used interchangeably. They are basically used to give the next word or group of words a negative meaning (the closest English equivalent would be ‘not’). In practice however ‘mai’ (ไม่) is widely used while ‘mi’ (มิ) seems to be preferred for formal writing for example in legalese. So sometimes ‘mi’ (มิ) can be used deliberately in an informal situation so as to add a hint of irony or sarcasm, for example ‘dtae gor mi daai nam paa’ (แต่ก็มิได้นำพา).

‘Nam’ (นำ) and ‘paa’ (พา) can both be used as verbs to basically mean ‘(to) lead / guide or take / bring’ so in a ‘serial verb’ construct i.e. ‘nam paa’ (นำพา), this basic meaning remains the same. ‘Nam paa’ (นำพา) as a compound word however, means ‘(to) neglect’ or ‘(to) pay no attention’ or ‘(to) pay no heed’. It can get confusing because the serial verb construct and this compound word both look identical but it will usually be quite clear from the context which is the one intended by the writer / speaker.

PDF Downloads…

Below is a pdf download (created by Catherine) to help with your studies. It has Thai script, transliteration, and English.

Download: Cat Cartoons Episode Thirty Five: Conversation

Disclaimer: The study pdfs are Catherine’s baby. If you notice any mistakes drop her a line via the contact form.

The Cat Cartoon Series…

Original transcript and translation provided by Sean Harley. Transliterations via T2E (thai2english.com).

2016 WINNERS: Bingo-Lingo’s Read Thai in 10 Days

June 12, 2016 / Catherine Wentworth / 4 Comments

WLTs Thai Language Giveaway

Welcome to the THIRD week of WLT’s seven weeks of Thai Language Giveaways. The Language Giveaways are a part of the Language Lovers Competition. The LLC is now over – the results and a huge THANK YOU from me are in my post, Thank You for Voting: Top Language Lovers of 2016.

Chosen by Arthit (Bingo-Lingo), here are the winners of Read Thai in 10 Days:

Hello everyone, thank you for sharing your experience in learning Thai and expressing your interest in my book. I appreciate your participation and hope the winners get the most out of Read Thai in 10 Days!

And the winners are … FABIAN, BERNARD, MATTHEW and PETER!

Congratulations to all of you for winning Read Thai in 10 Days by Bingo-Lingo (with audio). In fact, you are going to receive the 2ND EDITION of my book with a new cover as well! I have rewritten the chapters about Thai tone and devised something I call ‘DLS string method’ to help you visualise the tones rules for those who prefer picturing than memorising rules. Please tell me how you find my new method and give me feedback :-)

Happy learning! Bingo, Author of RTITD

Winners, if you would please send your addresses via WLT’s contact form we’ll get the books to you asap. Again, congrats!

Bingo, thank you so much for sponsoring the THIRD week of WLT’s giveaway. And lucky them, to get your second edition (I’m envious!) My thanks also go to those leaving comments – be sure to come back for more (there’s plenty more).

Note: To get a list of the coming prizes please read the first post in the series, Vote THAI and WIN! | SEVEN Weeks of FREE Thai Giveaways.

The SET Foundation would appreciate our help…

As previously mentioned, the SET Foundation seriously needs our help this year. Did you know that…

SET was originally established to help just one needy student (Seckson) study for a Bachelor degree in Physics. With SET support, he went on to gain a Masters and a PhD. Dr Seckson is now director of the Institute of Fundamental Studies at Naresuan University.

If you can, please donate to The SET Foundation by filling out the Paypal button at the top right of their site. Thanks in advance :)

Thank You for Voting: Top Language Lovers of 2016

June 10, 2016 / Catherine Wentworth / 2 Comments

Thank you for voting

This year WLT came 12th in the Top 25 Language Learning Blogs of 2016. The placement isn’t as sweet as last year (7th) but as the competition continues to be stiff I’m totally chuffed (and will be sipping the bubbly tonight).

As always, my thanks go to the team at bab.la and Lexiophiles for arranging the competition. Running a competition of this calibre is hard work so I do wonder if they knew what they were getting into all those years ago.

Thanks also go to my friends who showed their support with tweets and FB likes and comments, and to everyone who voted. It means a lot to me.

Thank you: Guest Writers…

I also want to thank WLT’s guest writers who make WLT what it is.

The current Guest Writers are: Sean Harley (Thai Cat Cartoons), Hugh Leong (Thai Language Thai Culture), Yuki Tachaya (Colloquial Thai), Tod Daniels (Thai Language Schools), and Andrej (Language Learning Methods).

The up and coming Guest Writers to watch are: Arthit Juyaso (Thai-Time), Kru Jiab (Feeling Like a Thai), and Wannaporn Muangkham (65 Useful Thai Phrases You Won’t Find in a Travel Phrasebook ).

There are many more excellent writers on WLT – please check them out in the Guest Writers section.

With such a quality lineup WLT is guaranteed to offer posts suitable for whatever level of Thai you are at. Enjoy!

Thank you: Sponsors for WLT’s Language Lovers Giveaway…

WLT’s SEVEN Weeks of FREE Thai Giveaways to celebrate eight years online isn’t over but what better time to give thanks to the sponsors of the giveaway. Below are the sponsors with their prizes.

PickupThai Podcast (24th-29th May): SIX winners will get subscriptions to the new Creamy Coconut course for beginners (One winner – all 30 lessons. Two winners – 15 lessons. Three winners – 10 lessons).

Duke Language School (31st May-5th June): TWO 60 hour Journey One group lessons with course books. This is not a taster, the winners go straight through the course to the end.

Bingo-Lingo (7th-12th June): FOUR copies of Bingo’s detailed book and CD, Read Thai in 10 Days.

Learn Thai Style (14th-19th June): FOUR Speak Thai Course winners (includes a pre-release version of Speak Thai Course with Thai script only – no transliteration) will receive a lifetime access to over 40 hours of audio and video materials, over 300 worksheets (with or without transliteration), online quizzes, self study materials, learn Thai blog access, as well as access to over 700 trained teachers (UK, USA, Singapore, Thailand and Skype).

Learn Thai from a White Guy (21st-26th June): TWO courses of Learn to Read Thai in 2 Weeks and TWO courses of The Need to Know Sentence Pack.

Learn Thai Podcast (5th-10th July): THREE subscriptions to Learn to speak, read, write Thai via LTP’s massive Thai course that has over 800 video, audio and text lessons.

Paiboon Publishing and Word in the Hand (12th-17th July): FOUR EACH of the newly updated Talking Thai-Eng-Thai Dictionary apps (your choice of iOS or Android).

We are now on week three, sponsored by Arthit Juyaso (Bingo-Lingo). Thanks all!

Thank you: The SET Foundation…

As I mentioned in the first post, Vote THAI and WIN! | 2016: Top 100 Language Lovers Competition, Peter Robinson (director of the SET Foundation) has asked us for help. Due to various issues out of their control, this year SET is struggling and would appreciate any assistance you can give.

WLT doesn’t accept payment for ads – ad money goes direct to to the SET Foundation. But to help further, I decided to use this competition to educate readers about the SET Foundation (it really is a fantastic charity – rare these days).

In the 2016 academic year, SET plans to award 1,500 scholarships with a value of approximately 21.10 M Bt. An additional 1,250 welfare grants with a value of approximately 4.60 M Bt will also be awarded.

To donate to the SET Foundation, just fill out the Paypal button at the top right of their site. Thank you. Seriously.

WLT’s 2016 Thai Language Giveaway: Bingo-Lingo’s Read Thai in 10 Days

June 7, 2016 / Catherine Wentworth / 11 Comments

WLTs Thai Language Giveaway

WLT’s 2016 Thai Language Giveaway…

Here we are at week THREE of WLT’s seven weeks of Thai language giveaways! If you don’t know what’s going on be sure to read Vote THAI and WIN! | SEVEN Weeks of FREE Thai Giveaways. There are prizes galore.

Bingo-Lingo: Read Thai in 10 Days…

Bingo-Lingo (Arthit Juyaso), is giving away FOUR copies of his detailed book and CD, Read Thai in 10 Days.

Thai national Bingo is an author, linguist, translator, and popular guest writer at WLT. Not only is he the principal of Duke Language School, he’s also responsible for the fantastic course materials at Duke. Dissatisfied with how the Thai alphabet is being taught to expats, and influenced by his studies in linguistics, he came up with the method taught in his well written book, Read Thai in Ten Days.

Learn to Read Thai in Ten Days Read Thai in 10 Days
Author: Arthit Juyaso (Bingo-Lingo)
Price: $17.99 (orig $49.99)
Paperback + audio files: 170 pages

I wrote an overview in Learn to Read the Thai Alphabet in 2 Weeks, 10 Days, 60 Minutes, but here are the main selling points from Arthit:

Simplification: Many Thai script teaching courses don’t handle rules well. For example, the tone rules. Instead of using bloated tables or cumbersome-looking tone flow charts, RTITD organises tone rules into one principle (plus the default tone for each tone mark) and three exceptions. The course also has a different take on Thai vowels. RTITD simplifies the ‘traditional’ number of vowels from 32 vowels (plus 10 vowel changes) to 22 vowels (4 of which have two forms), and treats vowel shortening and vowel-less words as separate.

Understanding: People may forget what they remember, but they will never forget what they understand! RTITD doesn’t rely on sheer effort to purely memorise individual character’s sounds when at initial and final position, it tells you WHY they are the way they are. The course also explains the nature of the Thai phonological system, that there are no unreleased finals, and which initial sound will become which final sounds, and much more.

Organisation: By prioritising what’s essential, the entire course is carefully structured in such a way that makes sense. Lesson by lesson, what learners have previously studied is repeated and combined with the new materials being introduced.

For reading skill reinforcement, the approach draws from the principles of spaced repetition. Words chosen for the reading practice exercises are not random, but appropriately distributed throughout the course. Using this method, students quickly gain confidence in their ability to read Thai.

Website: Read Thai in 10 Days
Facebook: Read Thai Language
YouTube: Read Thai in 10 Days
Twitter: @readthai

Rules for WLTs Thai Language Giveaway…

The rules are simple:

To be included in the draw, leave comments below.
Comment(s) need to add to the conversation (it really does matter).
Each relevant comment gets counted, so please leave as many as you like!
If you don’t collect your prize within a week of the announcement, it will be given away to the next person in line.

Arthit will choose the winners, so don’t worry if you’ve known me for yaks ages, you can still win. And it doesn’t matter if you’ve won before, you can keep entering.

The draw will run from now until 12 June (Sunday), 6pm Thai time. After the winners have been selected I’ll leave a comment below as well as create a dedicated post.

Thank you Arthit for sponsoring WLT’s eight year celebration!

2016 WINNERS: Duke Thai Language School’s Journey One Group Lessons

June 6, 2016 / Catherine Wentworth / 4 Comments

WLTs Thai Language Giveaway

Welcome to the SECOND week of WLT’s seven weeks of Thai Language Giveaways. The Language Giveaways are a part of the Language Lovers Competition. If you haven’t voted yet, please click on the Language Learning Love Button to your right. Thanks a ton :)

Chosen by Duke Thai Language School, here are the winners:

Hello everyone, thank you all for writing about us. We wanted to give our prizes to you all, but could only choose 2 winners (randomly).

And the winners are… MICKY and GORDON!

Congratulations to both of you for winning our intensive 60-hour course at Duke Language School!

As a last minute bonus, we decided not to have any level restriction; you may sign up for ANY LEVEL of your choice. Please visit our website (www.dukelanguage.com) for the course description and schedule. Soon I will email both of you to discuss the terms and conditions for claiming your prize.

For others, do call (+66 8-2444-1595) or email (info@dukelanguage.com) to schedule a FREE TRIAL LESSON.

Thank you and happy learning!

Bingo, Principal of DLS

Thank you Bingo and Duke Thai Language School for your sponsorship! And a double thanks for adjusting what what were already great prizes. Wow! My thanks also go to those leaving comments as well – be sure to come back for more (there’s plenty more).

Note: To get a list of the prizes and schedule for WLT’s giveaway, read the first post in the series, Vote THAI and WIN! | SEVEN Weeks of FREE Thai Giveaways.

Let’s help SET!…

As already mentioned, the SET Foundation needs our help. Did you know that…

SET became a registered Thai foundation in May 2005. Since 1994, SET has awarded scholarships to more than 6,000 students at high schools, vocational colleges and universities.

If you can, please donate to The SET Foundation by filling out the Paypal button at the top right of their site. Ta :)

Cat Cartoons Episode Thirty Four: Learn and Love the Thai Language

June 6, 2016 / Sean Harley / 0 Comments

รู้รักภาษาไทย: Cat Cartoons: Episode Thirty Four…

เสียงเด็ก ๆ ร้องเพลง: รู้รักภาษาไทย
Sound of children singing: Learn and Love the Thai Language.

ผู้บรรยาย: ตอน เรื่อย ๆ
Narrator: Episode – ‘Reuay reuay’.

สีสวาด: เรื่อย ๆ มาเรียง ๆ นกบินเฉียงไปทั้งหมู่
Si Sawat: ‘Reuay reuay’, coming, coming in a line, the whole flock of birds flying at a slant.

วิเชียรมาศ: แหม วันนี้อารมณ์ดีจริงน้า(นะ) ร้องเพลงแต่เช้าเลย
Wi-chian maat: Whoa! Today, you’re in a really good mood, huh?! And singing from the early morning too!

สีสวาด: โน่นไง ชั้น(ฉัน)เห็นนกบินมาเรื่อย ๆ เรียงกันเป็นหมู่บนท้องฟ้า ก็เลยนึกถึงเพลงนี้ขึ้นมาได้
Si Sawat: Well, over yonder, I saw a flock of birds flying this way ‘reuay reuay’, in formation, in the skies above. That made me think of this song.

วิเชียรมาศ: ที่ว่าบินมาเรื่อย ๆ น่ะ บินยังไง(อย่างไร)หรอ
Wi-chian maat: When you say “fly ‘reuay reuay’”, what kind of flying is that?

สีสวาด: คำว่า เรื่อย ๆ หมายถึง อาการต่อเนื่องกันไปไม่ขาดระยะ เช่น เดินไปเรื่อย ๆ พูดไปเรื่อย ๆ บินไปเรื่อย ๆ ก็คือบินต่อเนื่องกันไปไม่ขาดระยะไง
Si Sawat: The words ‘reuay reuay’ mean a state of continuousness without pause or interruption for example “(to) walk ‘reuay reuay’ (continuously)” and “(to) talk ‘reuay reuay’ (continuously)”, so “(to) fly ‘reuay reuay’” is to fly continuously without pause or interruption.

วิเชียรมาศ: คำว่า เรื่อย พูดต่อท้ายเป็น เรื่อยเจื้อย ก็ได้ใช่มะ(ไหม)
Wi-chian maat: We can have a word follow after the word ‘reuay’, as in ‘reuay jeuay’, right?

สีสวาด: มี เรื่อยเจื้อย และยังมี เรื่อยเปื่อย อีก
Si Sawat: There’s ‘reuay jeuay’ and also ‘reuay bpeuay’ too.

ผู้บรรยาย: เรื่อย ๆ คือ อาการต่อเนื่องกันไปไม่ขาดระยะ เรื่อยเจื้อย คือ พูดยืดยาวแต่สาระน้อย เรื่อยเปื่อย คือ พูดไปเรื่อย ๆ ไม่มีจุดหมาย
Narrator: ‘Reuay reuay’ is a state of continuousness without pause or interruption; ‘reuay jeuay’ is “(to) talk ceaselessly but without saying anything important” and ‘reuay bpeuay’ is “(to) talk ‘reuay reuay’ (continuously) and aimlessly”.

แมวทั้งสามตัว: แล้วพบกันใหม่นะครับบบ (ครับ)
All Three Cats: See you again next time!

เสียงเด็ก ๆ ร้องเพลง: รู้รักภาษาไทย
Sound of children singing: Learn and Love the Thai Language.

Comments…

Many Thais like to informally respond to questions about how they are doing or how their business (or even their romantic relationship) is going, with a ‘gor reuay reuay’ (ก็เรื่อย ๆ). This is usually a neutral way of saying that everything is the same and is still going the way that it is going continuously. There is also an implication that everything is going steadily.