Ysaan Institute: Learn Online Courses in Thai & English

LivingHour.org is pleased to announce the establishment of the Ysaan Institute, a cyber learning center for students, scholars, and teachers in Thailand and surrounding countries. Our mission is to enhance the curriculums of schools and universities with unique online educational materials which can be integrated easily with existing courses of studies.

We are currently accepting proposals from university instructors who would like Ysaan Institute to host their courses, tests, quizzes, readings, videos, audio books, or other educational materials. We are particularly interested in proposals from university teachers involved in the fields of sustainable development, eco-travel, green living, community-level entrepreneurship, and the Thai, Isaan, and English languages.

Affordable digitalization services will be offered by the Ysaan Institute to those instructors who need help placing their educational material in a digital format which can be offered online.

We are currently working on several projects, the first two of which are the Science Scholars English Reading Certificate (SSERC) program and the Life Scholars English Reading Certificate (LSERC) program. Both programs take ESL learners slowly and systematically from a 3rd grade English reading level to the college level over a period of 30 weeks (two academic terms), with quizzes and English passages of 100 words, 250 words, and 500 words. To learn more please click on the following link:

Ysaan Institute (http://moodle.livinghour.org)

If you are a university or college instructor with a proposal (or if have any special request for learning materials), please contact us at: living(at)livinghour.org.

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.

English-Isaan (Isan) Dictionary

Here at LivingHour.org we have several new Thai language books and eBooks in the works, in addition to our new Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary & Thai Language Learning Tool. One such book is the first handy English-Isaan Dictionary. Isaan (sometimes spelled Isan, Isarn, or Esarn) is the name for the Northeast region of Thailand. Home to over 20 million Thais, it is the largest region of Thailand. While few Western and Asian tourists ever make it up to this part of Thailand, more foreign retirees are finding the Isaan area a quiet, simple, and beautiful place in which to settle down.

The Isaan people share much in common with their Laos neighbors, who are separated from Thailand’s northeast by the Mekong River. The Lao influence can be found in the culture, food, and of course the language–the Isaan dialect being quite similar to Lao. While Isaan sometimes has the reputation of not being the most beautiful place in Thailand, many areas are quite lush with forests, mountains, lakes, and rivers. Especially nice is the cool season, which in Isaan is actually quite cool compared to Bangkok and central Thailand.

Although the Isaan people do learn Thai while in school, the Isaan language is what is always spoken at home and among friends. So, if you are thinking of settling down in an Isaan province such as Buriram, Kalasin, Khon Kaen, Loei, Nong Khai, Sakon Nakhon, or Udon Thani (to name a few), our new Isaan Dictionary will be a valuable tool in helping you make friends with your Isaan neighbors. Even if your Thai language skills are quite good, learning some Isaan is always appreciated by the locals.

So, stay tuned for the release of our handy English-Isaan Dictionary. Although Isaan does not have a written form, we are transcribing the words into Thai script as well as a Romanized transliteration. We hope to have it released within the next couple months.

In the meantime you can add 100s of Thai words to your working vocabulary in only a week’s time by picking up the our English loanword (cognate) dictionary and learning tool for only $8.99 (print) and $3.99 (ebook). Click on the following to learn more: The Original Thai-English Cognate Dictionary.