Listening to Thai On-line

**Baraka** · 06-08-2010, 07:36 PM

I'm learning Thai in a language school. My strengths are in my vocabulary and pronouncing tones correctly, plus some grammatical rules. My biggest weakness is listening comprehension to spoken Thai. Where on-line can I practice listening, with English subtitles, to improve my comprehension?

sabaii sabaii · 07-08-2010, 03:44 AM

Get yourself a sleepin dictionary

**dtalok** · 08-08-2010, 08:19 AM

watch subtitled lakorn on youtube, the translation is right there, and if you can't pick out the separate words in a sentence just replay it till you can. Also has the benefit of hearing commonly used phrases the way people really talk [mostly], no dialects, no "guidebook/textbook" where is the hotel type phrases, and the thai actresses are always super good looking, drawback-really stupid plotlines
search "wishboniko" and you will find enough content to keep you busy for a year

**Baraka** · 09-08-2010, 09:44 PM

thanks - I'll take your advice, dtalok...

**Oswulf** · 10-08-2010, 07:36 AM

Learn Thai Podcast | Learn Thai Language Course. Online and on the go! - but apart from a few sample podcasts it's not free.

**norflondon** · 11-08-2010, 09:59 AM

NHK World Thai - daily news podcasts in Thai...

www (dot) nhk (dot) or (dot) jp /nhkworld/thai/top/index.html

(won't let me post links yet so you'll need to edit manually)

**simflier** · 31-08-2010, 02:28 PM

Nice post..but need more information and I will be keeping in touch.

**JessieHughes** · 25-10-2010, 05:21 PM

look it up on iphone apps

kansis · 10-12-2010, 08:37 PM

Can we collate a list of websites where we can learn Thai online?

**Smug Farang Bore** · 10-12-2010, 09:09 PM

Even when you do learn it the buggers move the goal posts by changing dialect or going in to slang..

**roger77** · 31-01-2011, 04:21 AM

Originally Posted by sabaii sabaii

Get yourself a sleepin dictionary

Or a ride on .

**Tubtaywun** · 18-02-2011, 02:48 AM

I have found learn thai podcast good. They seem to break the sentence down well and explain well also.

**padova44** · 29-03-2011, 03:18 AM

Excellent advice. Many thanks. I'll watch 'wishboniko' daily back in California once my 1-year visa is up.

**riclagriclag** · 08-04-2011, 11:49 PM

Originally Posted by padova44

Excellent advice. Many thanks. I'll watch 'wishboniko' daily back in California once my 1-year visa is up.

Who are you going to practice with? Maybe you can join a thai social club

**Kattaffy Break** · 09-04-2011, 09:21 PM

Hi
do you a link to the show please?

**yortyiam** · 10-04-2011, 07:20 PM

Thanks for those vids Acudlipp. looks really good!

**rapidll** · 22-06-2011, 10:37 PM

You used to be able to subscribe to the premium version of learn-thai-podcast.com on a monthly basis for $25. Now you have to pay the full $200. But you do get very clear, very slow videos karaoke-style. It's OK if you're an absolute beginner, but not if you already know a fair bit of Thai. The reading course is crap (yes, I am a competitor, but it's mostly wrong). He stole the concept from the developer of Read Thai in 60 Minutes - I thought they were collaborating until Damien told me his ideas were mostly copied without any modification. 60 Minutes can be purchased for around $20 if you really want to try this approach.

For a little less ($140), you can get highspeedthai. This is 1000 pages (a bit too much if you ask me) of material, along with audio and movie clips, all wrapped up in a series of Anki files.

I use Anki also. It's a great system for memorizing vocabulary. It repeats only the words you don't know well and drops the words you do know, so you build up a solid vocabulary very quickly. Highspeedthai is a bit complicated as you have to switch from the 1,000 page ebook to Anki and back again. But it's complete and comprehensive. Enough to keep you going for 2-3 years!

learnthaipodcast is great if you want slow and steady as she goes - but I would probably go for highspeedthai, as it's a bit cheaper and, once you get used to it, there's more to it.

I'd like to plug my own system, while I'm here. I believe it's important to learn to read accurately before you move on to developing your speaking and listening skills. The systems above also have a similar approach to learning the alphabet, but in my humble opinion they're incomplete and slightly wrong.

After you learn to read - whichever way you do it - my suggested strategy is to follow the book Everyday Thai for Beginners (it's all in Thai, so you don't get any distractions with arcane phonetic transliterations). I've produced an Anki file that helps to acquire the 1,200-word vocabulary for this first year university course. (By learning the vocab, you'll easily finish the course in about four months!)

And then I would suggest that you follow my 'fluency' course, which is based on a Thai novel called Sydney Remember. It's about a Thai girl who goes to live with her cousin in Sydney, looks for work, learns English, makes friends, finds love...? It's our story in reverse, but in a very straight-forward colloquial Thai with typical slang and everyday expressions. And it comes with the audio, an Anki file and a structured series of 50 weekly lessons. The promise is that if you follow this course, one hour a week and listen to the story and practice 20 minutes a day, you will be fluent by the end of the year...

Please check out my website and try out my approach by signing up for the free Read Thai Starter Course. You'll get 15 mini-lessons sent once a day.

I have one extra suggestion. AUA has a wonderful and fun series of classes where you just sit and listen - no speaking or interaction allowed! It follows a unique ALG method, which I personally disagree with; the idea being that you absorb meaningful material like a child so long as you are exposed to it for long enough.

Yes, it works after a fashion. But here's a better way. Combine the AUA "listening" classes with vocabulary learning using Anki, and choose an easier class to attend than the level they advise you. Then you get to enjoy listening to the teachers chat to each other while training your ear. And it's almost free (130 baht per 1-hour lesson). Go to youtube.com and look up ALG Thai. You can watch a few demo classes online. I'd study the lessons and listen to them over and over again until you know them off by heart. It's a shame AUA doesn't do this for its other ALG classes.

I purchased all the above systems as part of my journey in learning Thai. I'd be interested to find out about other people's experiences with their 'big system' purchases.

**captinbri** · 29-06-2011, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by JessieHughes

look it up on iphone apps

the best one i found is put out by Thai tourism authority it is called speakthai has about 2500 words in in, shows the work in Thai, English and tap the screen it says the word or phrase. The wife says it is very good.

**rapidll** · 30-06-2011, 06:00 AM

speakthai is ok, but has a basic interface.

Talking Thai is a lot better (expensive but worth it) - it shows several variations in meaning and can break down each word into its components., plus it has several other useful features for learners.

(the only thing that's a bit fiddly is when you switch from English to Thai script or vice versa, you also have to manually change the keyboard, a 5-step operation)

**richard1111** · 12-11-2011, 01:12 PM

A new online course has just been launched. Learn Speak Thai Online is offering beginner and intermediate online courses in Thai and Isaan Thai. The online lessons have cristal clear clickable audio text and slide shows and there are 100's of audio flash card and matching words games to help your learning along. No need to use a dictionary with the colourcoded words. Clear big tonemarks will help you speak Thai with the correct tones when you repeat it. At the moment they're offering about 100 free lessons and games, no sign up or purchase necessary. Worth checking out!

LearnSpeakThaiOnline

**Bettyboo** · 12-11-2011, 02:15 PM

Originally Posted by Baraka

Listening to Thai On-line

I'd rather stick a cocktail stick in my eye...

Originally Posted by Baraka

I'm learning Thai in a language school.

I'd rather stick cocktail sticks in my eyes...

Originally Posted by Baraka

Where on-line can I practice listening, with English subtitles, to improve my comprehension?

Culture is language; language is culture. You'll be needing to mix with people; use your language with Thais in a Thai environment; go to the market...

**dirtydog** · 12-11-2011, 02:18 PM

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

go to the market...

I'd rather stick a cocktail stick in my eye.

I hate Thai markets.

**Boon Mee** · 12-11-2011, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by rapidll

I have one extra suggestion. AUA has a wonderful and fun series of classes where you just sit and listen - no speaking or interaction allowed!

Cannot see the point in that. Why go to class and pay a fee when all you have to do is watch/listen to Saraudt etc doing the News on Channel 3?

Or, another alternative, watch the Soaps - now those folks speak slowly. Dialog a bit stultifying though...

**Hampsha** · 13-11-2011, 08:49 AM

Originally Posted by acudlipp

I have found learn thai podcast good. They seem to break the sentence down well and explain well also.

Like this one. My Thai is pretty good but following this was useful for me. It's good for reading, listening, and grammar.

**rapidll** · 06-06-2012, 08:57 AM

Originally Posted by Baraka

I'm learning Thai in a language school. My strengths are in my vocabulary and pronouncing tones correctly, plus some grammatical rules. My biggest weakness is listening comprehension to spoken Thai. Where on-line can I practice listening, with English subtitles, to improve my comprehension?

If you want to understand what people are saying, there are two very effective (and fun) ways to do it.

1. If you are in Thailand then attend the AUA "immersion" classes. Their philosophy is to talk to you in an animated way while miming and drawing illustrations on the whiteboard so that you understand the gist of what they are saying. The idea is that your mind stretches to understand the conversation by being gently stressed. Usually, there are two teachers chatting to each other and they are very entertaining. You are not required to speak, just sit back and listen!

My recommendation is to enroll in the class one lower than they suggest. You don't need to be stressed, it's just too tiring. And it takes too long. Use the AUA classes as a way to supplement your other learning by listening to content that you can already easily understand. It's ear training you need, not language learning. Do that 'off stage' as it were.

2. Watch Thai movies. But not just any movie. Choose movies where the speaking is relatively slow and clear and colloquial, not too much slang. Romance stories or docudramas about a person's life are usually about right, as they cover topics that are relevant to everyday life. Avoid the thrillers, historical movies, ghost stories and 'funny' movies because the language usage is usually obscure.

This is how you do it:

- Rip the Thai subtitles from the DVD (you can sometimes search for the .sub or .srt file online, but usually you'll only find English subtitles this way).
- (You can also rip or locate the English subtitles as a reference to help you understand the Thai; but you are not going to be reading this.)
- Study the Thai subtitles as a separate activity. Look up all the words, maybe get a Thai teacher to help you understand the language being used (a good Thai teacher will be able to translate and explain the colloquial usage and occasional slang, a dictionary will often not be sufficient).
- Create a word-list and memorize them. Use Anki for this.
- Now go back to the movie and watch it without subtitles. Print the Thai subtitles for reference (it helps to also print the timecode, so you can find where you are). Under no circumstances should you look at the English subtitles, your brain will not be able to hear and process the sounds if it's engaged in reading and deciphering the English text. Sometimes it helps to have the Thai subtitles on, but these usually flash by so fast that it's not really so useful.
- Pause and review bits of the movie several times - and read the conversation from the printed subtitles. Keep listening to each movie section repeatedly until you can hear and understand what's being said... With ear training, like muscle training, repetition matters. And already knowing in advance what's being said helps your ear to 'hear' and interpret the sounds. It still isn't easy. That's why it's not so efficient to listen to soaps. You need to slow down the process, master the material and repeat.

It's important to select original Thai movies, most aren't much good, but there are a few good ones that have been produced in recent times. Do not listen to movies dubbed into Thai! The dubbing is absolutely awful (I think it's the same 5 monotonous people who have dubbed all the movies) and there's a high risk that the language usage will be contrived.

At LearnThaiOnline, I am developing intermediate courses based on some popular Thai movies that are easy to understand and ideal for ear training.

I'm currently developing study material for the following movies:
- Top Secret
- Suckseed
- Beautiful Boxer
- ผุ่มผ่วง (Poom Puang)

and here are some others that may be worth studying
- ฝันโคตรโตตร (fan khot khot) "Huge Dreams"
- รักแห่งสยาม (rak haeng sayaam) "Siamese Love"
- สิ่งเล็กเล็กที่เรียกว่ารัก (sing lek lek thee riak waa rak) "A Little Thing Called Love"

Please let me know if you come across any other good movies that might be useful for language learning and ear training.

It's also fun to study songs, although the language is obviously a lot more flowery and poetic. You'll still pick up some useful expressions and be able to join in at the karaoke bars and restaurants.

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