Easy Thai-English Cognate Dictionary: Learn Thai Fast!

The Original Thai-English Language Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool is loaded with entertaining easy Thai sample sentences and figurative + literal English translations that will quickly get you speaking the Thai language more like a native speaker and less like a tourist. Available now in paperback, eBook, and a workbook version for Thailand residents.

There are a lot of Thai Dictionaries and phrasebooks for sale for foreigners. Some are quite good; others not so good. But the drawback that most Thai-English dictionaries share is that they do not have sample sentences, thus they are not really good as tools for learning Thai. In other words, trying to learn Thai vocabulary without a sample sentence is like trying to remember a Thai recipe without making the dish.

Although there are few Thai language dictionaries that do have sample sentences, these tend to be littered with mistakes, both in the English and the Thai. So, unless your level of Thai is quite good, you are not going to pick up on the mistakes. Thus you could end up ingraining incorrect Thai language within your head, or as we say in linguistic circles, fossilizing bad habits.

The following is an excerpt from the introduction to this new easy Thai dictionary. Whether you are a tourist visiting Thailand, a Thailand expat, or a retiree thinking about moving to Thailand, you’ll want to include this book in your arsenal of Thai language books.

The Original Thai-English Language Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool is an essential supplementary resource for speaking, reading, and understanding the Thai language in the quickest possible time. Written for both beginners and intermediate learners, it is the first English-Thai loanword dictionary and learning tool. Over the years, the Thai people have adopted hundreds of English words into their language. For example, a common Thai word for a cook is gúk (กุ๊ก), which as you can see is pronounced much like the English word from which it is borrowed.

In this book, you’ll quickly learn the most commonly used English loan words, as well as Thai words that rhyme with, or sound similar to, their English counterpart or a related word. For example, the Thai word for bell is grìng (กริ่ง), which is similar to what a bell does: ring.

For the beginning student, these similar words make it much easier to dive into the Thai language without experiencing that common feeling that you’re drowning in a sea of strange sounds. Learning Thai becomes less intimidating and more fun. It also makes all those Thai words which aren’t similar sounding easier to remember.

With this book you’ll also learn how English words sometimes change when pronounced by Thai people. These differences are important to know when having conversations with new Thai friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. While some Thais do speak “standard” English, many others do not. Their non-standard pronunciation results from the fact that the Thai language has different sound rules and lacks certain English sounds. You will often hear this non-standard English when talking to Thais, but if you don’t know how they’ve changed the pronunciations, you often will not understand what they are saying.

The colloquial Thai sentences make this book a valuable tool for intermediate students. Humorous and useful examples are combined in equal measure, so that you can better communicate and enjoy the authentic sanúk (fun) Thai lifestyle. The loanword (cognate) vocabulary provides easy practice for students who are starting to read Thai, while the sample sentences offer excellent reading practice for those further along. In addition, useful language notes are provided covering areas such as grammar, pronunciation, and additional vocabulary, as well as valuable tips on speaking the Isaan dialect.

Lastly, this book will help all learners better recognize the ways in which many Thai words are formed. Minus the polysyllabic words adopted from foreign languages, Thai is a monosyllabic language. More complicated ideas/words are thus formed by putting together one syllable root words to form new words. For example, the Thai word for refrigerator dtôo-yen (ตู้เย็น) is formed by the words dtôo (cabinet) + yen (cool). When such words occur in this book, they are broken down for you. Paying attention to how these root words are put together will help you build your vocabulary even faster. When reading these break-downs, though, do be aware that Thai root words often have quite a few meanings depending how they are used in a sentence. From the range of potential meanings, only those best suited to the entry have been chosen.

“My Favorite Thai Language Book”: Read Our 5 Star Amazon Reviews

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Add 100s of Thai words to your working vocabulary in a week’s time with our easy Original Thai-English Language Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool.

Buy the PDF eBook version for only $3.99*

Buy the Trade Paperback edition from our Bookstore for $8.99

For Buyers in Thailand: Purchase the workbook version for only 225 baht. Contact us at living(at)livinghour.org to receive the ATM transfer details.

*All proceeds from book sales go to the development of lessons and course materials at the Ysaan Institute.

Easy Colloquial Thai – Thai Slang Dictionary – Idioms

LivingHour.org is pleased to announce the publication of Learn Thai Language: Generation Next (Slang & Colloquial Talk). This fun and useful bi-lingual book is for all students who are learning the Thai language and wish to better understand and communicate with Thailand’s younger generation. Not a dry Thai textbook or simple dictionary of terms, this is one easy Thai language book that you will enjoy reading and using.

If you are a Thai language student looking for the latest Thai idioms and slang; a tourist looking for a Thai language book that’s not filled with the same old stuff; or an English teacher struggling to understand your Thai students, Learn Thai Language: Generation Next is the easy Thai book for you. More than just giving you new vocabulary, this book provides hundreds of sample sentences to advance your skills in listening, talking, and reading the colloquial language of Thailand.

Click here to view sample pages.

The book is organized to make it easy for you to navigate. The easy Thai vocabulary pages are arranged alphabetically by their transliteration (phonetic spelling). Each Thai entry is followed by an English definition and two English words or phrases that match the Thai. This vocabulary is used in the comic and in the sample sentence below the definition.

The easy Thai translation of the English sample sentence is followed by its transliteration and by a literal word-for-word translation, so that students can better understand the vocabulary used and how the sentence is organized. At the bottom of each page is a transliteration of the Thai used in the comic, followed again by its literal translation. An English word index is included in the back of the book, which can help you locate matching Thai entries.

Unlike other Thai slang resources that focus on curse words and vulgar language which could get you into deep trouble in Thailand, we focus primarily on common “G” rated slang. As a guide, we have rated the Thai as (G) for general inoffensive words, (PG) for slightly stronger language, and (R) for words which should not be used except when with close friends. The English words and phrases are likewise rated.

Learn Thai Language: Generation Next is also an excellent resource for Thai English students who are learning the colloquial language of native English speakers. English language notes included.

Order your copy today from our secure Createspace store, email us the receipt, and we will send you a free copy of our easy Thai mini-ebook: Colloquial Language Expressions.

Buy the Trade Paperback edition from our Bookstore for $9.99*

Buy the PDF eBook version for only $3.99*

Buyers in Thailand. Buy the workbook edition for 225 baht (price includes shipping). Contact us at: living(at)livinghour.org to make arrangements for an ATM money transfer.

*All proceeds from book sales go to The Foundation For Underprivileged Children (Chachoengsao) and the development of lessons and course materials at the Ysaan Institute.

Learning Easy Thai Language: Heart to Heart Talk

The mini-ebook Heart to Heart Talk, the 2nd book in our Easy Thai Top 40™ series, is now for sale. Whether you are an expat or a tourist in Thailand, Heart to Heart Talk will be an essential language resource for making the most out of your stay in the kingdom. Like our Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary, each easy Thai entry is complimented with a colloquial sample sentence that will help you better communicate with the Thais that you meet during your trip or those who are part of your daily life as an expat.

While there are hundreds of heart (jai) words in the Thai language, only a small percentage of these are commonly used on a daily basis. And if you use one of the uncommon heart words, you may not be understood. In Heart to Heart Talk, we give you the heart talk that every Thai will understand and which covers a broad range of emotions and situations. It is all the heart talk you likely will ever need. The following is an excerpt from the introduction to Heart to Heart Talk and two easy Thai sample entries:

Welcome to Heart to Heart Talk, the 2nd mini-ebook in our Easy Thai Top 40 series. In this edition you will learn the most commonly spoken Thai “heart” (jai) words, along with related sample sentences, so that you can start today having heart to heart talks and easily remember all the vocabulary. Each entry is written both in the Thai script and an easy to understand phonetic spelling in English. The heart talk word is defined both figuratively and literally. This is followed by an easy Thai heart talk sentence, the equivalent sentence in English, and a word for word translation of the Thai into English. With this book you will see exactly how Thai heart talk sentences are formed and quickly begin creating heart to heart talks with your Thai friends, colleagues, wife, husband, or lover.

Why should you learn how to have heart to heart talks in Thailand? Well, because the language we speak is a window into the way we view the world and interact with people. In addition, sometimes a particular language seems especially suited to a certain aspect of culture. For example, the musicality of the Italian language seems tailor made for poetry and opera; the vast multicultural vocabulary of the English language makes it a useful tool for modern science; and the heart talk of the Thai language helps us communicate with others with kindness, understanding, sympathy, patience, and joy. Learning how to use heart talk not only helps you better understand the spirit of the Thai people, it helps you better understand yourself.

SAMPLE

bplìan-jai – เปลี่ยนใจ – v. – to change one’s mind (lit. change heart)
I just changed my mind. That’s all.
ฉัน เปลี่ยนใจ ไม่ มี เหตุผล
Chăn bplìan-jai. Mâi mee hàyt-phŏn.
lit. I changed mind, not have reason

jai-rawn – ใจร้อน – v./adj. – to be hot-tempered (lit. heart hot)
Hold on a sec’. Don’t be a hot head.
แป๊บ นึง นะ อย่า ใจร้อน ไป หน่อย เลย
Bpáep nèung ná. Yàh jai-ráwn bpai nòi leuy.
lit. just a second one (soften), don’t hot head go (soften) (emph.)

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Purchase the PDF eBook version of Thai Heart to Heart Talk for only 99 cents!*

Or pick up the eBook edition for your iPad, Palm Pilot, Kindle, Sony Reader, Nook, iPhone, or other portable device by clicking on the following link:

Buy The Easy Thai Top 40 eBook: Colloquial Thai Heart to Heart Talk

*All proceeds from book sales go to the development of lessons and course materials at the Ysaan Institute.

Rewriting the Book on English Teaching in Thailand

The Ysaan Institute & LivingHour.org continue to rewrite the book on English teaching and education in Thailand with the release of student workbook versions of its popular paperbacks Generation Next (Slang & Colloquial Talk) and The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary & Learning tool.

The workbooks are for English students in Thailand, as well as expats learning the Thai language. The release of the two books follows the Ysaan Institute’s production of two online Thai Scholars English Reading Programs that take science and liberal arts students from a 3rd grade reading level to the college level over the course of one academic year.

“English and Thai language students both face the same problems,” says Ajarn David, an English specialist who has taught for ten years in Thailand and is an adviser to the Ysaan Institute. “More often than not the Thai and English books they use are littered with mistakes, lack word for word literal translations, and/or are filled with material that wouldn’t be spoken in the same way by the average Thai or English person on the street.

“Spoken Thai and English are much different than the written forms, yet most Thai language books and English books for Thais ignore that fact. In addition, Thai and English students both struggle with the very different ways that the English and Thai languages arrange thoughts and words, yet current language books rarely show them the differences.”

The Generation Next and Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary workbooks address these problems by using both figurative and word for word translations with all of its material, by including sentences and dialogue that both Thai and English speakers would naturally use, and by having professional Thai and English editors work on the books together. While some English teachers in Thailand might think that their young students need to be taught more formal English first and that idiomatic talk and slang is best left for advanced students, Ajarn David disagrees.

“The current methods of teaching English in Thailand are a total failure for the vast majority of students. This isn’t only my opinion. This failure was something talked about quite publicly a number of years ago by a former Thai Education Minister, who said that everything about teaching English in Thailand needed to be radically overhauled. One could say the same thing about the teaching methods applied to learning the Thai language. Unfortunately, English and Thai language students continue to be taught in the same ineffective ways.”

“As all experienced English teachers in Thailand know, it is often difficult trying to get students interested and motivated to study English. Students often find the material either too difficult or too boring. They get frustrated easily and think that they’ll never be able to learn English. As teachers, we are continually trying to help students get over their frustration, shyness, and confusion, and have fun learning English. The book Generation Next (Slang & Colloquial Talk), which was co-authored by Sam Kittayapong, helps teachers do just that.”

“The important thing about both the Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary and Generation Next books is that they engage students with material that interests them. You must first get students interested before any learning can take place. And just because both books focus on colloquial Thai and English, that doesn’t mean that they can’t be effective in helping teach these languages at a more formal or professional level. In addition, we don’t expect teachers to only use these books, but to use them as a valuable supplement to other language learning material.”

The Ysaan Institute provides English teachers in Thailand with free help should they decide to use either The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary or Generation Next (Slang & Colloquial Talk) in their classroom. The following are a few suggested sample activities:

1) Write some of the word for word English translations on the board. Then have the students try to figure out (without looking in the book) what the sentence is and how to write it correctly. This is an important activity because it gets students thinking about how thoughts and words are arranged differently in Thai and English.

2) For the Thai vocabulary words which are derived from English words, show students how the pronunciation and stress changes when the Thai language adopts an English word.

3) Have students learn the transliteration system of spelling Thai words phonetically for English speakers and randomly select different Thai words found in the book to spell phonetically. Learning to visualize the Thai language in English helps students better visualize English words too.

4)Place students in small groups and have them write new sample sentences using the slang or colloquial English words. Write them on the board and correct as needed.

5) Rewrite sample sentences and/or dialogue using more formal English, instead of the slang or colloquialisms that are used.

Contact the Ysaan Institute today at living(at)livinghour.org to order your copy of Generation Next (Slang & Colloquial Talk) or The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary. Teachers who order ten copies or more pay only 110* baht per copy, which is over 50% off the 225 baht price for a single copy.

*All proceeds from the sale of the Generation Next workbook is either being donated to The Foundation For Underprivileged Children in Chachoengsao or used for development of free learning material at the Ysaan Institute.

Learning Easy Thai for Lovers: Flirting & Making Out in Thai

Due to popular demand, the new edition of our Easy Thai Top 40™ series is For Lovers & Friends: How to Flirt in Thai. In this book you’ll quickly learn 40 easy Thai sentences that can be used to flirt with your Thai girlfriend/boyfriend or close friends of the opposite sex. What you won’t find is “dirty talk” (or Thai sex talk) that will get you slapped or perceived as a tourist with bad intentions, just playful talk about the heart. Flirting (or Making Out) in Thai really is no different than flirting in your own native language. To do it successfully (and without potentially offending the other person) just means keeping a smile on your face and an easy laugh.

As with all of the material in our Easy Thai Top 40 series, How to Flirt in Thai focuses on those sentences which you won’t likely find in other Thai phrasebooks, language books, and free online lessons. Each English sentence in How to Flirt in Thai is followed by a colloquial Thai translation in the Thai script; followed by an easy to read phonetic spelling (with tones) in English; followed then by a word for word translation of the Thai in English, so that you know exactly which English word corresponds to the Thai word.

Here are a couple sample entries:

C’mon now. I’m only teasing because I like you.
ใจ เย็น นะ หยอก ก็ เพราะ ชอบ เธอ
Jai yen ná. Yàwk gâw phráw châwp thuh.
lit. heart cool (soften) tease (joiner) because like you

I injured my leg falling in love with you.
ฉัน ขา แพลง เมื่อ ตก หลุม รัก เธอ
Chăn khăh phlaeng mêua dtòk lŭm rák thuh.
lit. I leg wrench when fall hole love you

Keep checking back with us at LivingHour.org for more mini-ebook Thai lessons. The next book up in The Easy Thai Top 40 series will be covering the Isaan language. At LivingHour.org we minimize the time you spend learning Thai and maximize the benefits!

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Purchase the PDF eBook version of How to Flirt in Thai for only 99 cents!*

Or pick up the eBook edition for your iPad, Palm Pilot, Kindle, Sony Reader, Nook, iPhone, or other portable device by clicking on the following link:

Buy The Learn Thai Top 40 eBook: How to Flirt in Thai

*All proceeds from book sales go to the development of lessons and course materials at the Ysaan Institute.

Thai-English Translation & Editing Service – Free Quote

LivingHour.org provides outstanding Thai-English and English-Thai translation services for corporations, small businesses, and private individuals at competitive rates. Every project is handled by a native Thai fluent in English and a native English speaker who can read and speak the Thai language. LivingHour.org’s experienced staff has consulted with and edited material for such large Thai advertising agencies and corporations as Young & Rubicam, Dentsu, King Power, East West Siam, and Blue River Diamond.

Whether it is a commercial script, press release, brochure, website, or private correspondence, you can be assured that our translations are accurate and precise, and capture the nuances of both the Thai and English languages. We are especially good at translating the colloquial aspects of spoken Thai and English, and are accomplished speech writers. In addition, we are familiar in the traditional and modern forms of Thai poetry and short stories, and welcome literary translations.

No project is too small or too large.

Prices vary depending on the translation project and the speed at which it needs to be delivered. If you would like a free quotation for a Thai to English or English to Thai translation, please send us the material and a message stating how quickly you need the translation finished by to:

living (at) livinghour.org

We also provide English editing services for Thai scholars, scientists, and academics who are working on dissertations or submitting papers to international peer-reviewed journals. We have broad English editing experience across the arts and sciences, including everything from pedagogy, business management, and social psychology to nanotechnology and biophysics. Contact us to today to let us know how we can help you complete your dissertation or successfully achieve publication.

Payments for our Thai-English translation and academic editing services can be easily made via ATM transfer or Paypal.

Learning Easy Thai: How to Speak Street Thai

When it comes to learning easy Thai, the biggest obstacle is how to speak Thai. That is, how to speak the Thai language without sounding like a Thai phrasebook, how to speak Thai more naturally like a native speaker. One of the problems with many Thai language books is that the Thai editors or co-writers are Thai academics who feel compelled to teach the student more formal Thai, even if they claim that the language is “colloquial Thai“. The sample sentences tend to be too wordy, lack common Thai particles, and use word choices that the average Thai on the street would not use.

On the other side of the coin, we have young Western authors who have spent a few years in Thailand as English teachers or Peace Corps volunteers publishing Thai language books that include outrageous epithets, vulgar slang, and bad advice about Thai personal pronouns under the pretense of sounding cool. Well let us set the record straight. There is nothing cool about insulting Thais and getting your ass kicked (or worse) in Thailand. What is cool is having a laugh with your Thai friends, often at your own expense,

One of the benefits of using our Original Thai-English Language Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool is that the hundreds of sample sentences we include are truly colloquial Thai (i.e. street Thai) and will help you joke with Thais without insulting them. And the book includes all of the particles that Thais so often pepper their speech with. The following is a brief excerpt from the introduction of this easy Thai language book and eBook where we offer a few tips on speaking easy Thai:

We would like to share a few things that we’ve learned over the past ten years speaking with rural Thais who rarely have heard foreigners trying to speak their mother tongue. Firstly, do not get discouraged if you have trouble with the tones of the Thai language. What is most important to being understood by Thais is not proper tones (though that surely helps) but getting your words in the right order.

Unlike English, where foreigners can mix up words and still be understood, Thais will (more often than not) look at you with confusion unless all the words are correctly situated in your sentence. This is true even if you are speaking with correct tones. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the exact order of the words in the sample sentences of this book. Speaking proper tones will come naturally as you increasingly talk and listen to Thais.

That being said, for those who don’t find speaking Thai tones an overwhelming obstacle, do try to learn them as best you can. But don’t get discouraged if mastery doesn’t happen quickly (it won’t); nor get so hung up on tones that it causes you to hesitate and stumble when speaking. In the beginning, the most important tone to recognize and speak is the falling tone, which can be mastered even by those who consider themselves tone deaf. The other tones will fall in place around it…

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Add 100s of easy Thai words to your working vocabulary in only a week’s time with the Original Thai-English Language Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool .

Buy the PDF eBook version for only $3.99

Buy the Print Book from our Bookstore for $8.99

Or pick up the multi-platform eBook edition for your iPad, Palm Pilot, Sony Reader, Nook, iPhone, or other portable device by clicking on the following link:

Purchase: Thai-English Cognate Dictionary

Learning Easy Thai: At the Workplace

Learning Thai does not have to be hard or boring. At LivingHour.org we make learning Thai easy and fun. Our book The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool is especially helpful to expats working in Thailand who want to learn the Thai language quickly. In one week’s time you can expect to add hundreds of easy Thai words to your working vocabulary.

The cognates, loanwords, and similar sounding words featured in the book makes it easy to remember new Thai words. And the colloquial Thai sample sentences help you to speak Thai correctly. Here is a brief excerpt of a few entries from the book and eBook dealing with the Thai workplace and working with Thais.

decide v. – ตัดสินใจ – dtàt-sĭn-jai
Don’t look at me. It’s up to you to decide.
อย่า มอง นะ แล้วแต่ คุณ จะ ตัดสินใจ
Yàh mawng ná. Láeo-dtàe khun jà dtàt-sĭn-jai.
lit. don’t look (soften), up to you will decide*

*decide (ตัดสินใจ) = dtàt-sĭn (ตัดสิน) decide/judge + jai (ใจ) heart/mind

graphic n. – กราฟิก – grah-fík
We need to change the graphics on this.
ต้อง เปลี่ยน กราฟิก นี้
Dtâwng bplìan grah-fík née.
lit. must change graphic this*

*When you point to an object as being the thing that you want or are talking about, the word for this takes a falling tone: nêe (นี่).

office n. – ออฟฟิศ – àwf-fít
I’ll see what I can do. But the office is closed for a week.
ผม จะ ดู ว่า ทำ อะไร ได้ แต่ ออฟฟิศ ปิด หนึ่ง อาทิตย์
Phŏm jà doo wâh tham à-rai dâi dtàe àwf-fít bpìt nèung ah-thít*
lit. I will see that do what can but office closed one week

*Note that the word ah-thít (อาทิตย์), which above means week, literally means sun, and is used in the word for Sunday, which is wan-ah-thít (วันอาทิตย์).

plan n. – แผน – phaen
Do you know why your plan failed?
คุณ ทราบ มั้ย ครับ ทำไม แผน พลาด ไป
Khun sâhp* mái khráp, tham-mai phaen phlâht bpai?
lit. you know (question) (polite) why plan fail go

*Note that the word sâhp (ทราบ) is the formal word for know. In most situations the less formal róo (รู้) is fine to use.

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Add 100s of easy Thai words to your working vocabulary in a week’s time with our Original Thai-English Language Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool.

Buy the PDF eBook version for only $3.99

Buy the Print Book from our Bookstore for $8.99

Or pick up the multi-platform eBook edition for your iPad, Palm Pilot, Sony Reader, Nook, iPhone, or other portable device by clicking on the following link:

Purchase: Thai-English Cognate Dictionary

Learning Easy Thai Language: Emotions & Feelings

The following material dealing with the Thai language and the expression of emotions and feelings is excerpted from the new easy Thai language book and eBook The Original Thai/English Language Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool, which includes loanwords as well as similar sounding words to help you learn colloquial Thai in the quickest possible time. Within the book you’ll find hundreds of easy Thai sample sentences not included in any other Thai learning book. You will quickly and easily be better able to express your emotions and feelings with your Thai friends and colleagues.

love (think luck) v. – รัก – rák
He said it was love at first sight.
เขา บอก ว่า มัน เป็น รักแรกพบ
Kháo bàwk* wâh man bpen rák-râek-phóp.
lit. he say that it is love-first-meet

*The word wâh (ว่า) can also mean say/tell

angry adj. – โกรธ – gròt
I’m angry because there is no co-operation in this place.
ผม โกรธ เพราะ ที่นี่ ไม่ มี ความร่วมมือ สักนิด
Phǒm gròt práw thêe-nêe mâi mee khwahm-rûam-meu* sàk-nít.
lit. I angry because here not have cooperation* even a little

The word khwahm (ความ) is a prefix added to a verb or adjective to form an abstract noun. In this case, it is added to the verb cooperate rûam-meu (ร่วมมือ), which literally means join-hand, to form cooperation.

bitch (complain) v. – บ่น – bòn
Are you gonna keep bitchin’?
แก จะ บ่น ไป เรื่อย ป่ะ เนี่ย
Gae jà bòn bpai rêuay bpà* nîa
lit. you will go bitch always (question) (emph.)

*The word bpà (ป่ะ) is an informal question particle used in or not questions. It is commonly used by young Thais.

bored adj. – เบื่อ – bèua
What do you mean, you’re bored?
หมายความ ว่า ไง คุณ เบื่อ
Măi-khwahm wâh ngai khun bèua?
lit. means* that how you bored

*means (หมายความ) = măi (หมาย) mean/intend + khwahm (ความ) meaning/sense

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Add 100s of easy Thai words to your working vocabulary in a week’s time with our Original Thai-English Language Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool.

Buy the PDF eBook version for only $3.99

Buy the Print Book from our Bookstore for $8.99

Or pick up the eBook edition for your Palm Pilot, Sony Reader, Nook, iPhone, or other portable device by clicking on the following link:

Purchase: Thai-English Cognate Dictionary

Learning Easy Thai Top 40 Series Launched

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new learning Thai language series titled the Easy Thai Top 40™. The first edition of this series is Colloquial Language and Expressions, and includes 40 popular colloquial Thai expressions along with related Thai language notes.

In the coming weeks, we will be offering a wide variety of other “top 40″ Thai language eBooks, including a spin off series titled Easy Isaan Top 40™. All books in this series will cost only 99 cents. In addition, we will soon be offering accompanying Thai language audio books for this series for only 99 cents per book.

The following is an excerpt and two sample entries from the Easy Thai Top 40: Colloquial Language Expressions. Please check back with us regularly for new additions to the series, as we expect to add new eBooks and audio books every week or two.

Welcome to the Easy Thai Top 40: Colloquial Language Expressions, the first offering in a series of mini-eBooks aimed at helping Thai language learners acquire colloquial Thai in the quickest time. Inspired by the fact that foreign language students learn faster when related knowledge is clustered together in easy accessible chunks, the Easy Thai Top 40 series minimizes the time you spend learning Thai and maximizes the results.

In the Colloquial Language Expressions edition, you will learn 40 popular expressions in the Thai language, many of which are not included in other books or Thai language websites. These expressions will quickly help you down the path of speaking more like a native Thai and less like a Thai dictionary or phrasebook. The 40 Thai expressions included here are based on our ten years of living and working with both professional Thais and rural folks in the provinces of Thailand.

Daily expressions can be tricky but they are important to learn when studying any language, especially so with the Thai language. All too often, Thai-English language teachers and authors get tripped up by either the nuances of the Thai phrase or the English equivalent. These teachers thus provide translations that are not quite accurate. For example, many people have translated the English expression “No Way!” into Thai as “mâi mee thahng” (not have way). Because they have translated the English expression literally, they have missed the nuance, which is that “No Way!” is used to show shock and surprise. One correct equivalent expression in Thai would be “Dtòk-jai leuy ná nîa!”, which incorporates the Thai word for shocked, followed by three Thai particles.

In this edition of the Easy Thai Top 40™, you’ll learn how to use such Thai particles correctly. Organized by the equivalent English expression, each colloquial Thai entry is written phonetically and in the Thai script. This is followed by a literal English translation of the expression and a Thai language note covering such areas as particle usage, pronouns, root words, and similar sounding words.

SAMPLE

Busted!
Jàp dâi láeo (จับ ได้ แล้ว)
lit. caught can already

*The word jàp (จับ) is used when someone is caught doing something wrong, as well as to refer to when someone is arrested.

Cheer up!
Râh-ruhng* khâo wái! (ร่าเริง เข้า ไว้)
lit. cheerful enter keep

râh-ruhng (ร่าเริง) cheerful = râh (ร่า) joyfully + ruhng (เริง) lively

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Free Thai Language Lesson: Easy Thai Top 40

LivingHour.org would like to thank all the Thai language students and tourists of Thailand who have been purchasing the paperback and ebook versions of The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary and Learning Tool since its recent release.

If you have purchased a copy, please email your receipt of payment to us at: living (at) livinghour.org. And we will send you a free copy of the first Thai language lesson in our Easy Thai Top 40 series: Colloquial Language Expressions.

New customers can take advantage of our free offer too. If you have yet to purchase your copy of our Thai-English cognate dictionary (which is loaded with colloquial Thai sample sentences and Thai language tips), simply purchase today the PDF version of the Thai-English Cognate Dictionary for only $3.99.

Click on the following “Buy Now” button, which will take you to our secure PayPal shopping cart provided by e-junkie. After purchasing your copy, we will send you a free copy of the colloquial Thai language expressions mini-ebook too.

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Here are a couple samples from the easy Thai language books that you will be getting:

The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary & Learning Tool

bill n. – บิล – bin
Excuse me! We’ll take the bill now.
น้อง เช็คบิล ด้วย นะ
Náwng*, chék-bin dûay ná.
lit. young person, check-bill (polite) (soften)

*In restaurants you can call the attention of your waiter/waitress with the word náwng (น้อง), which is how an older person commonly addresses a young person. It is not to be used though if the server is clearly older than you.

Easy Thai Top 40: Colloquial Language Expressions

I’m just looking.
Doo cheuy cheuy.* (ดู เฉยๆ)
lit. look indifferent indifferent

*This is the expression to use with a salesperson when you don’t want to be bothered.

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