Thai - Language/30 - A conversation course using a proven self-learning method (2 cassettes and phrase dictionary) (Thai Edition) [Box set] [Audio Cassette]

Language 30 (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0910542716 | ISBN-13: 978-0910542715 | Publication Date: May 1993 | Edition: Book and Cassette

Start speaking Thai today. Learn phrases and pronunciation while driving, exercising, or any time. This language course features two cassettes (totaling approximately 100 minutes) and an indispensable pocket size phrase book to give travelers conversational phrases, greetings, emergency terms, and more. Features all native voices with authentic pronunciation.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Educational Services Corp; Book and Cassette edition (May 1993)
• Language: Thai
• ISBN-10: 0910542716
• ISBN-13: 978-0910542715
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,211,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > Books on Cassette > Languages > Vietnamese
  • #1 in Books > Books on Cassette > Languages > Thai
  • #2 in Books > Books on Cassette > Languages > African > Swahili

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Audio is too fast., April 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Thai - Language/30 - A conversation course using a proven self-learning method (2 cassettes and phrase dictionary) (Thai Edition) (Audio Cassette)

This audio/book pack was good, except for the spoken part of the audio tape was very fast and sometimes difficult to understand, by the time I repeated the phrase-the speaker was on the next phrase to learn/repeat. I am still searching for a great thai/english teaching program. Any suggestions of yours to me are welcome.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars [e-mail], October 9, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Thai - Language/30 - A conversation course using a proven self-learning method (2 cassettes and phrase dictionary) (Thai Edition) (Audio Cassette)

This course is not thorough in the least. It gives no description of sentence structure. It is totally dialoge. I would recomend either the Teach Yourself or if you realy want to learn order Courage Softwares Thai interactive learning system. But dont get me wrong if you just want learn Thai for a brief vacation this course is OK.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A very good jump start for the determined!, April 24, 2005

By 

John (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thai - Language/30 - A conversation course using a proven self-learning method (2 cassettes and phrase dictionary) (Thai Edition) (Audio Cassette)

It's a way to memorize a few useful Thai sentences: two cassettes and a booklet. It's for you if you (1) *WANT* to learn (the biggie!), (2) have a Walkman with a review button, and (3) are willing to repeat aloud. One who could memorize and faithfully render all the phrases on these tapes without having been to Thailand would be a rare bird indeed, but most people will be able to get a few "faves" down pat. (Meant to give it four stars but it won't let me change it now.)

It is not a way to learn Thai in isolation, but it's better than three other products I tried. (Forget software, by the way.) This is not as good as Pimsleur, though! Pimsleur costs more but is worth it: Thai: Pimsleur Comprehensive, or the smaller version: Conversational Thai. Whatever you choose, you have some work to do. You can't buy the practice.

With this well-priced product and some practice, one can get the pronunciation down well enough to be understood. A phrase is recited once in English then twice in Thai, so it isn't strictly necessary to have the booklet on hand. There are both male and female Thai speakers, which matters grammatically.

A small nit to pick: The abbreviated recitation of the Thai consonants is useless. There are several series of similar consonants in a row: "ka, ka, ka, ka..." --indistinguishable to a Western ear. I would have spent another forty seconds of tape on a full, proper recitation ("gaw-ooey gaw-gai, kaw-khai nai-lao," etc.), but there are disadvantages to that as well: what I cited in parenthesis is just for the first two consonants, so it would be hard for a beginner to know which syllable is the letter itself among all the extra sounds in their dainty and not-so-little alphabet chant. It's a trade-off.

The booklet would fit in a letter envelope (sticks out of a shirt pocket) and I occasionally toted it along and pointed in it to communicate something important. The sentences are printed in both English and Thai. There is also a phonetic notation for pronunciation (similar to what's in a dictionary), which can serve as a memory jogger but is utterly useless without the tape because this is a tonal language.

*DO* TAKE THIS TO THAILAND with you! If you think you're pronouncing something correctly but all you get is blank stares, go listen to it on the tape again. Surprise! 8-[) And *that* is how I learned Thai!

Contrary to another (phony) review, there is no introduction to Thai writing here! (The best intro, by the way, is some of the very inexpensive drawing books that Thai pre-schoolers use to learn their alphabet. Those show you with arrows where to start and which way to draw. Hint: always make the loop first.)