unit731 Posted April 29, 2006 Report Share Posted April 29, 2006 Anyone have any experience with PRIMSLEUR Thai language tapes/CD's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaiGuruDev Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglesoup Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 I didnt find it that good. Its not bad also. But for the price the course by benjawan Poosan Becker is I think better in everyway. This programme has Thai for beginners, Thai for intermedaite and thai for advanced learners. The thai for beginners I think helps with pronounciation and all the basics skills. Pimsleur only deals with speaking. I find that learning parts of writing,reading and speaking in combination help you to learn more words faster and remember them also. You can buy this course in Asia booksand most other book shops. Cost about 400 baht. I have the e-books of the material. I can send you the ebook to give you an idea of thematerial. You do but need the cds to really make the best of it so its best to buy it,in the shop or online. PM me if you want to see it. Good luck Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaiGuruDev Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 I prefer the Thai Rosetta Stone, but I also bought the Pimsleur Comprehensive course to listen to in the car. I have quite a few of the Benjawan Poomsan Becker books as the classes at the local wat require them, but I can't really say I'm happy with any of them. And the more I learn, the less I like them; IMO they?re incomplete and inaccurate. Even the classes don?t follow the books chapter by chapter; they jump around in the book depending on what is being taught that week. Additionally, the classes also supplement the Benjawan Poomsan Becker books with a lot of handouts. In fact, after the first semester, the classes rely more on the handouts than the Benjawan Poomsan Becker books! If one just wants to dabble in Thai, the Benjawan Poomsan Becker books are cheap enough and they prolly won't do much harm; however, I don?t believe it is the best way to learn the language. But if one is really making a commitment to learning Thai, I recommend Thai Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur Comprehensive, and Courage Software Thai. Unfortunately, one course won?t do it all. The Courage software helps to learn the consonants and vowels. After going through the program a few times, I stared writing them on my own and got pretty good with practice. At the same time I started learning the Thai alphabet, I also started using Rosetta Stone. I believe the dynamic immersion method works wonders, and understanding a bit of the alphabet helped out a lot with the reading sections of Rosetta Stone. Sometimes it?s difficult to accurately repeat what?s being said, so if one can read along with the Thai script, it?ll go a long way to improve pronunciation. The downside to Rosetta Stone is that the student has to put the effort in to understanding what is going on because nothing is explained in English. A few guys that I know tried it, clicked on a few pictures, and then gave up. I stuck with it, and it really paid off for me. The Pimsleur Comprehensive course is good because of the way it teaches the conversation; it's a lot like the classes given at the local temple with a lot of questions and answers back and forth. Unfortunately, it doesn?t include a script so students must rely on their ear to get things right. The course starts off slowly so students aren?t overwhelmed, but by Lesson 8 I was grabbing dictionaries to look up words so I could figure out how to pronounce them correctly. The other nice thing about using a few different ways to learn the language at the same time is that sometimes one?s mind wanders? If I notice that happening to me, I just switch to a different program and start fresh again. Learning Thai isn?t exactly easy, but is sure is rewarding. If one really wants to learn the language, they must put the effort (and hours in). It just isn?t going to happen over beers at GBB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiLeakHunt Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 One of the board members here sent me a copy of the Pimsleur one. I found it useful, but also so some of the language was overly formal. Ossibly OK if you're going to meet the head of state but a little too hi so when your asking Nok if she does bum tricks. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit731 Posted May 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 Hmmmm . . . Too formal? I guess I need to look for language tapes/cd's that are geared toward the night like. Or Thai street langugage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiLeakHunt Posted May 3, 2006 Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 There's a book with tapes called "Thai for Lovers" Sounds wet but has some very funny phrases in. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaiGuruDev Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 SiLeakHunt said:One of the board members here sent me a copy of the Pimsleur one. I found it useful, but also so some of the language was overly formal. I wouldn't say Pimsleur is overly formal, it's just proper. For example, for the word 'eat' they use 'gin' not 'taan' and for the word drink they use 'gin' and not 'deum.' I think 'gin' is used commonly by the BGs, but certainly not 'taan' and 'deum.' Once one goes through the Pimsleur course, I believe it'll be easy to start dropping words to speak BG style. And even better, one can use the proper use of the language with people that might be able to help; like the police, hotel counter help, or airline gate personnel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaiGuruDev Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 'Thai for Lovers' will provide a few laughs in the bars, but it's even better if one can speak a little Thai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglesoup Posted May 5, 2006 Report Share Posted May 5, 2006 I was under the impression that in most modern language schools, people are being taught to speak less formally. Whats the point of speaking in a way that the masses dont use anyway. Real everyday language is what is being encouraged by the english curriculms now in Thailand. I just think that for the price of the pimsleur course its not so good. I feel I ve learned thai just as well from the 400baht books and CDs. These were the books and cds recommended to me by farangs who spoke excellent thai. The pimsleur course only concntrates on speaking with absolutely no reference to any other aspect. Anyway, everybody to their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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