This article was originally posted on WomenLearnThai.com.
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The Thai for Beginners iPad iPhone iPod App: Six Apps to Win…
I just love giving away free apps. This is my second Thai for Beginners app giveaway. You can read about the first giveaway (review included) here: Thai for Beginners iPhone App: Four Apps to Win.
As you can see, I was hoping the winners would come back to share their views on the app. I even made a wee request along those lines. But, as that didn’t happen (and I really really really want to hear from you) I’m going back to my old ways. A draw.
To be included in the draw please follow these simple rules:
- You need to leave comment(s) below.
- The comment(s) need to add to the conversation.
Each relevant comment gets counted, so go ahead and leave as many as you like.
The draw will run from now to Sunday the 17th, 8pm BKK time. At that time I will number the reasonable comments and run them through a randomizer. Or a hat. We’ll see. With winners in hand I’ll then post the results. Good luck!
Thai for Beginners iPad iPhone iPod app: Version 1.6…
Trust me, it’s a useful app. If you still need convincing you can read all about it at Paiboon Publishing or scan through the Thai for Beginners iPhone iPad iPod app wrap below:
Price: US$24.99
Author: Dominique Mayrand ©2010 Benjawan Poomsan
Date: July 5, 2011
Version: 1.6
iOS: Requires iOS 3.2 or later
Internet connection required: No
Word count: 3,000+ words and phrases
Thai script: Yes
Tone tips: Yes
Zoom: Not needed
Size: 48.1 Mb
Sound: Yes, male and female
Quiz: Yes
Thai for Beginners iPhone App – Product Page: One of the most popular books for learning the Thai language is now available as an iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch app. Paiboon Publishing again sets the standard for learning the Thai language by bringing Thai for Beginners to the mobile platform.
- This app teaches you the language skills of speaking, listening and reading Thai.
- The lessons follow the format of the Thai for Beginners book, but a real Thai male and female voice speak the over 3,000 words and phrases, alternating between male and female pronunciations.
- Hear a phrase over and over until you can say it correctly. Just click on it.
- Provides examples of the five tones in Thai: low, falling, high, middle and rising tone.
- Test your ability to hear and understand Thai with the built-in interactive exercises. You can retake the exercises after studying and improve your score.
- An advanced level feature allows you to turn off the automatic spoken word so you can test your ability to read the Thai script.
- Contains many additional useful words and phrases not contained in the book.
Note: You can purchase the original book at your local bookstore (in BKK, obviously) or at Paiboon Publishing here: Thai for Beginners.
And if you are interested in the programming behind the apps, Chris Pirazzi (programmer extraordinaire at Slice of Thai and Word in the Hand) has an excellent post on the subject here: How Thai Language iPad Apps are Designed.
Good luck on the Thai for Beginners iPad iPhone iPod app draw!
Ok, it’s after 8pm on Sunday, BKK time. I’ve checked the spam folder and there are no more comments to come so that’s that. I’ll do the honours and get back to you. Good luck!
Thank you Reiner, Ole and John for your support! Very generous of you 🙂
Catherine 🙂 I would love to share x
Keith, reading those fiddly bits can be a real pain 🙂
John, I agree that she’s an ideal candidate for this app… but… she’s got two chances (here and at the coming site’s draw) and even then it’s not over… more on that later. So no need for you to lose out if you do win.
Jayne should really win this app. She’s got the best reason. How about this deal… if my name is drawn, I’ll donate the prize to Jayne. OK?
55555 Catherine reading the tiny print! I find it so hard to distinguish อี อึ อื then when you add mai eek it confuses it even more have to zoom the screen, can’t do that with paper though. Perhaps when my learning has progressed I will recognise the words better and not have to worry so much about seeing the detail
So many of you are moving to Thailand soon – that’s great!
Btw: After this draw there will be another (different app). I was gifted two different apps before I went on holiday and they have a time limit.
In addition, if you don’t win a copy of the Thai for Beginners app here, there will be another chance to win (different site). I’ll post the details on Sunday.
Good luck everyone 🙂
Jayne, I’ve met a number of Thais learning Thai. Each are determined to tackle their mother’s language. It’s interesting to hear their views and experiences so I’ve created a ‘Thais learning Thai series’ section. If you are interested in sharing please contact me.
Martyn, for learning Thai I mostly find the iPad more useful than the iPhone because I’m not getting any younger and my eyes need the larger screen. In saying that… the Thai for Beginners app is great on both because it’s seriously handy for short taxi trips. I’m so looking forward to an intermediate/advanced version!
Catherine you really are teasing me aren’t you. Another great iPhone prize draw gives me another large dose of regrets about buying my Samsung Wave mobile instead of an iPhone. Believe me when my contract finishes I’ll be grabbing the mobile that talks many different languages.
Good luck to everyone in the draw but obviously leave me out of it.
Wow, moving to Thailand next month, this would be so helpful for me and my family! My daughter went last winter, but all she can say is “elephant poop”, which I don’t expect to come up much in conversation!
Wopanese. Yes many of us did learn to read our mother tongue by “Look-see” but it is difficult to compare learning our mother tongue to learning a very different language especially one written using a very different alphabet. Firstly, when we learnt to read English (or other mother tongue) we were pretty proficient in vocabulary, grammar , sound systems etc. Starting to Learn Thai especially when learning reading and writing from the near beginning, it’s a whole new ball game. I started trying to learn from books which all had different transliteration systems which didn’t mean a thing to me. (what on earth is a double back to front C mean) I am now learning with a teacher (vis Skype) We will often spend a fair bit of time in lessons either attempting to spell a new word she has spoken or working out the pronunciation of a written word. From this analysis I learn a lot about how the language works. I have the 3 way Thai dictionary on my iPhone and on my computer. I think the provision of sound files is so very very useful when working on my own. As a relative beginner, I am still learning to hear and distinguish tones and vowel sounds.
Sorry I do waffle on
Hi I would love to have to opportunity to check out your application.
My family is moving to Thailand in 5 weeks and we have 2 ipads
If we win we can give you feedback from multiple age groups
Thank you
Please give a copy to Jayne!
Jayne, I hope you win the app to surprise your mother with spoken Thai language.
I would love to have this app! But as a student and single mother I am always using my money for bills and necessities! My mother is Thai and regretfully she did not teach me Thai when I was a little girl. I hope to surprise her by learning , I know only a few words and phrases. But it’s very difficult to find something that has a good learning structured programme.
omg! I have the book but I would love to have the app so that I can practise on the go. I don’t really have much friends to practise with me here in Singapore though. I currently have a free Thai language iPhone app but it teaches very limited words. =(
Mary, the windows software is great so I hope you upgrade your system soon – or win a copy of the i version, that’d do as well!
Wopanese, thanks for stopping by and sharing your review. I seriously like your idea of the word combos flashing. Thinking… several settings for the different speeds would be needed but it’s a great idea.
Sage, Thai is tonal so the sound files will show the tones if they are there. It takes time to get your ear recognising the tones but if you start now you’ll be ahead of the game. So listen to as much Thai as you can between now and then.
There are a ton of learning Thai resources on my site (sound included) and if you need any help finding stuff please don’t hesitate to ask.
To get you started, check out the Archives and the Learn Thai for FREE page.
Btw, congrats on coming to Thailand for a sure to be exciting year as a foreign exchange student. Good luck!
Oh and another thing do the sound files have tones? that are noticable??I am a complet beginner and im going to thailand in 25 days :O OMG so soon!!
heyyy so how many updates to these apps get??do they improve frequently??
I purchased this app for my Ipod Touch last month and use it often. Lots of great things about it: clear and crisp sound files, practical vocabulary and phrases, easy to comprehend transliteraton and accompanying Thai script. What I really wish was available is an app that would improve my Thai reading skills in a way that I can start recognizing whole words instead of painstakingly parsing each syllable. Perhaps an app where words flash on/off on the screen indivudually, then progress to several words strung together, then eventually an entire sentence. That’s certainly how we (native speakers and those who have mastered the English language) read English, isn’t it…recognizing whole words instead of picking apart each consonant, vowel, and syllable? Anyway, I highly recommend Thai for Beginners app!
I purchased the software for PC but then found out that it wouldn’t run on Windows 7 64 bit but didn’t have the heart to return it. I have heard great things about the program so would love to be able to use the app on my phone. Mary
“I need to learn Thai do you think this app will help me?”
You always make me smile.
Ta Talen 🙂
I need to learn Thai do you think this app will help me?
Good luck everyone and please if you win come back and give everyone your thoughts…this is a great app.
Reiner, no prob at all. I wanted to make a mention anyway as it’s come up already. Theo Pitsch is another one who puts a ton of work into his Thai product. IMHO, Theo’s ClickThai Vocabulary Trainer is the best so far of its kind, and his dictionary is the only one that gives Benjawan and Chris’ Talking Thai Dictionary a run for their money. So if I’m right, when the dust settles there will be at least two top Thai i companies holding their own.
Good luck! And may you have joy 🙂
Oh, Catherine, I think this was my mistake when writing in English.
It should not be expressed, that the price is too high for the app. The price is too high for me to just try out the app.
Also, the apps from Theo Pitsch have a similar price. And the market for Thai language software is small, I know.
The greater is the joy of winning this app 🙂
Hi Reiner, it is more compared to other language apps on the market. But I believe Paiboon Publishing and co are being realistic about the returns. Thai does not have a huge market like English, French, Chinese, etc. And those who don’t make money will not be around long. I could be wrong – those are just my thoughts.
Hi Catherine,
this is a valuable gift, for both the content and the price.
I had already heard about this great app, but thought it is too expensive.
Thank you for this nice draw.
Greetings from cold and wet Germany.
Reiner
Emil, I’m regretfully lazy. How’s that? 🙂
And no worries, there is need to delete or take care with your comments. I’ll go through to find the relevant comments once it’s over.
Lol. Cat you’re contradicting yourself. If you’re doing it the hard way then you can’t be lazy :).
Also this comment doesn’t add to the conversation. I’d delete it if I were you. Far be it if I increase my chances in such an underhanded manner :p
FiT, I ditto your opinion about the app. It’s nicely designed and easy to get around. Also, it’s drill drill drill with sound and we so need that.
Emil, I would have been happy to do another first-come first-serve… A pity, as first come is soooooooooo much easier (go ahead and say it – I’m lazy 😀
I started to learn Thai with the book, then as I learnt to read and write at Payap Univ Chiang Mai, I moved to Everyday Thai for beginners method, that use only Thai script, but on my iPhone/iPad, the Thai for beginners vocal course coud help me to repeat tones et to get the proper ones. Thanks anyway.
Damn! I could’ve won this one if it was first-come first serve. Lol there’s always next time.
I already own the Thai for Beginners book, and I’d posit that the big advantage the app would have is the sound files–always good when it comes to this notoriously difficult aspect of Thai (actually speaking it).
@Nida I got this app very recently and it’s great to use. I’ve tried a few of the free ones and the user interface on this is much simpler and clearer. The repetitiveness of the lessons really drill it into you, I Spent half hour with it this morning and I can now count in Thai! Well at least I think I can…
Nida, if you look in my sidebar you’ll find reviews for all sorts of iPhone apps for learning Thai.
Whoa this app is kinda expensive. I’ve been wanting to learn Thai because I go there on holiday quite often. I use an app from Eton Institute for Spanish and its pretty great so I’m waiting to see if they’ll develop one for Thai as well.
Do you have any recommendations for Thai apps that are less expensive?