Berlitz Thai Phrase Book [Paperback]

Berlitz Guides (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1994 | ISBN-10: 2831509319 | ISBN-13: 978-2831509310

Part language instructor, part tour guide, the world-renowned Berlitz Phrase Book series has been the ideal companion guide for millions of travelers worldwide. Providing a wealth of essential information and practical tips, this popular series, redesigned and updated, is primed for a new generation of foreign country visitors. With over 1,200 useful phrases and expressions and over 2,300 words covering just about any situation a traveler is likely to encounter, Berlitz Phrase Books remain the unparalleled market leader.

Completely redesigned for greater ease of use, Berlitz Phrase Books provide:
-- A new "essentials" section, offering the most basic vocabulary for quick reference
-- Expanded cultural tips, including sites to visit, places to dine, and faux pas to avoid
-- Easier-to-read single columns
-- Contemporary icons and illustrations
-- Up-to-date language to reflect the changes in banking, entertainment, media, and technology
-- Over 1,200 useful phrases and over 2,300 words
-- A unique color-coding system
-- An easy-to-read pronunciation guide
-- A dictionary with more than 3,500 words to fit any situation
-- A manageable, portable size

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

In January 2003, the renowned Berlitz Publishing became part of the Langenscheidt Group. The Langenscheidt Publishing Group, the premier group of map and travel companies, offers over 4,000 North American and international street maps, road maps, atlases, language-learning, bilingual dictionaries, and travel-related products covering countries, cities, and languages in every continent. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Berlitz (July 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2831509319
• ISBN-13: 978-2831509310
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,509,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Thai

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible phrasebook, don't buy it!!!, November 23, 2005

By 

L. Goodman (Chiang Mai, Thailand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Berlitz Thai Phrase Book & Dictionary (Berlitz Phrase Book) (Paperback)

A month ago before I left for Thailand I bought the Berlitz Thai Phrase Book and CD. It's terrible, anyone who buys it is wasting their money for several reasons:

1} The CD phrases don't match with the book phrases.

2} The phonetic spelling is so bad that all you get is blank stares if you try to pronounce anything by reading it from the book. Thai is a tonal language, correct pronunciation is extremely important.

3} Gender specific words are not distinguished in sentences. Many Thai sentences have gender specific beginnings and endings. But this book uses just one gender in each sentence, usually the male one, so someone with no knowledge of Thai can easily be using the wrong words.

4} Important phrases are not included, while it has stupid ones like "Is there a cheap restaurant nearby?" (there are cheap restaurants everywhere in Thailand, a meal typically only costs one or two dollars).

5} It lacks useful information on how to speak Thai.

6} It's full of mistakes.

I've bought the Lonely Planet Thai Phrasebook since I've been in Thailand. It is very well done except for the small dictionary at the end of the book. I'm currently taking a daily 6 week long Thai language course. The only thing the Berlitz book might be good for is fire starter, or maybe toilet paper in an emergency. I won't sell it to a used bookstore and have some poor sucker buy it.

2.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't work, August 21, 2004

By 

John Mazon (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berlitz Thai Phrase Book & Dictionary (Berlitz Phrase Book) (Paperback)

Unfortunately this book won't help you speak the language, even the simplest sentences, because the pronunciation guide is written in a very unclear and frustrating manner.

Unlike some other Berlitz guides that I used in the past this one is good for one thing only - to show the necessary phrase in Thai script to the native and hope the script is not as mangled as their "transcription".

The main reasons for confusion are:

1. Wrong intonation marks (and believe me, that is important)

2. Very strange choice of transcription signs for vowels. It bears no resemblance to actual Thai sounds. I think that IPA (International Phonetic Association) signs would be better with proper explanation.

3. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes...

I cannot judge the correctness of the Thai script translations in the book, but the Thais themselves often laughed while reading the phrases I had shown them and I suspect the native script passages have even more mistakes than this horrible transcription...

4.0 out of 5 stars It works, November 29, 2001

By 

Justo S. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Berlitz Thai Phrase Book & Dictionary (Berlitz Phrase Book) (Paperback)

Thailand is a place with lots of tourists, no doubt, and many people speak English (and other languages too: French, Japanese, etc.); moreover, when shopping in streets, they'll show you the prices using a calculator, so you shouldn't care for buying a book like this one.

However, when I was dinning in a popular restaurant in a small town, the waitress didn't understand English, so this book helped me to know what to order (English translation of the menu is not enough, sometimes), and so on, even to ask for the bill.

You don't have to do any effort about the pronunciation, just show the phrase written in Thai to the other person.

It has also useful information for tourists, related to each of the topics the book is divided into (meals, transportation, etc.).

I missed it very much when I forgot it in the hotel and I had no way to tell to the taxi driver how to reach the place I wanted to. I had to wait 10 minutes to get a taxi with an English speaking driver.