If you want to learn Thai, you need to be prepared for a few challenges. This language of southeast Asia has a unique alphabet which always makes learning another language a little more difficult. Even if you don't need to read or write and only want to focus on speaking, Thai still has a challenge for
you. Much like its distant cousin Chinese, Thai uses tones, something we aren't too familiar with as native English speakers.
With that said, your own determination and willingness to engage in a new endeavor will help you achieve your goal to learn Thai. Approach it with an open mind and conquering those minor challenges will be very rewarding. Here are some ways to get started learning Thai.
Internet/Free Thai Language and Culture
This site has extensive lessons, it's more comprehensive than sites for most languages. Audio, help with the Thai alphabet, short stories and other reading materials, cartoons and comics and links to lots of resources. This site has plenty for the beginning and intermediate student to learn Thai.
Learning Thai
This site has lots of free lessons, alphabet help, chat rooms, forums and links to other resources to help you learn Thai.
Learn Thai Podcast
You can never get enough audio when you are learning a language. Use this podcast to supplement your other learning methods, books, programs etc.
Langhub
This site has a nice collection of videos showing Thai vocabulary with an English translation and native audio. There are lots of categories, sections for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners, and sections for travelers and business.
Book/Audio Combo/Inexpensive Teach Yourself Thai
The longstanding Teach Yourself series has always had a wide variety of languages. The coursebook comes with two audio cd's or cassettes, and is readily available in most bookstores or online.
Audio Only
Pimsleur Comprehensive Thai
As far as ease of use and quality of the material and method, Pimsleur is the best. You learn to speak Thai in a natural and comfortable way. Thankfully, Pimsleur publisher Simon and Schuster recently upgraded their Thai Compact to a full 30 Lesson Comprehensive Thai course. I love the Pimsleur method and I highly recommend it for learning to speak Thai, but because of the unique Thai writing system, I also think you need additional written materials to supplement Pimsleurs all-audio course if you want to continue learning Thai beyond basic conversation. Read my more indepth
Review of Pimsleur Products
or listen to the first lesson of Pimsleur Thai free below!
Software Rosetta Stone Thai
Rosetta Stone's program is probably one of the most comprehensive products to learn Thai. They use an immersion approach, and present the learner with text, audio and images. The text is important if you want to be able to read Thai. They also offer an online version of the software for a more affordable price.
Rosetta Stone is an excellent choice to learn Thai. Read my
review of Rosetta Stone
or see for yourself how Rosetta Stone works for you and try out the free demo - Rosetta Stone: Free Demo
"Let language be the divining rod that finds the sources of thought.
