Win the TOP Reading Thai Alphabet iPhone App

Win the Top Reading Thai iPhone App

This article was originally posted on WomenLearnThai.com.

"*" indicates required fields

Get your FREE Thailand Cheat Sheet ​by entering your email below. The ​Sheet, based on ​our experience with living and working in ​Thailand for 10+ years, shows you how to ​save time and money and ​gives you the tools the thrive in Thailand.

Here we go… the third Thai language draw…

Apologies for this post going late. Yesterday I showed interest when asked if I wanted to take photos of the flooding in Thailand (where else?) Well, seems the main flooding was not in Bangkok. Surprised? Me too. So even though we departed at 9am sharp, after scrambling around all day and more (coming later) I did not make it home until late late late. Hence, this late post.

WLT’s first draw was a beautiful boxed set from David Smyth: Complete Thai: Teach Yourself Thai. Kaewmala (Thai Women Talks) drew a number out of a beautiful bowl, and Ajarn Pasa (Tweet Yourself Thai) matched the drawn number to a name and announced the winner.

The second draw included two copies of the fabulous Thai-English English-Thai Software Dictionary from Chris Pirazzi and Benjawan Poomsan Becker. Amy Praphantanathorn (Expat Women in Thailand – no longer online) took photos of her son drawing two numbers, and Talen (Thailand Land of Smiles – no longer online) announced the winners. For a smile, read Todd’s THANXS!!

And for the third free giveaway? It just so happens to be the best ever reading Thai iPhone app. Two, actually.

Reviewing the Reading Thai iPhone app…

For a bit of a background… Just this week I interviewed Successful Thai Language Learner, Ryan Zander. If you are studying with ThaiPod101.com, then you’ll be familiar with his voice. I first heard about Ryan when purchasing his excellent iPhone app, Reading Thai.

Advertisement

And as you know, I usually write bulk reviews – iPhone apps: Thai Alphabet and Vocabulary – but I’m making an exception as this app covers most everything on my wish list for learning the Thai alphabet, with loads of extras folded in.

In my mini-review of the original version of the Reading Thai app, I covered the basics:

Reading ThaiReadingReading ThaiReading Thai
Price: US$4.99 | £2.99
Author: Nagaraja Rivers
Date: 27 Sept 2010
Version: 1.1
Internet connection required: No
Word count: Alphabet + 350 words
Thai script: Yes
Tone tips: Yes
Zoom: Not needed
Sound: Yes
Quiz: No

The other alphabet apps are lacking in some way but this one has most everything needed: Consonants, vowels, numbers, tone marks and punctuation, tone rules, letter combination rules, and multi-syllable rules. It has a clean design with easy to use nav, and the sound is clear and loud (the sound in some apps cannot be heard over background noise).

And now on to the extended review…

Navigation throughout the site is logical. The left and right arrows take you backwards and forwards. The speech bubbles are… sound. Easy.

Reading ThaiReading Thai consonants

Consonants:
The Thai consonants come in three classes: middle, high, and low. On the consonant home page Ryan denotes the classes by colour: blue (middle), purple (high), and green (low). The colour scheme helps to remind you of the class (important).

As you see in the graphic to the right, you are given the consonant in large letters, directly below is the Thai name, directly under that is the transliteration, under the photo is the English translation, and under that (if you have not been paying attention) is the class (middle, high, low). At the very bottom in white text is the syllable start and ending sounds (if any).

Reading ThaiReading Thai vowels

Vowels:
Being placed in front, behind, over and below consonants, learning Thai vowels can really frazzle your brain. Totally. And what about all those rules?

In the app, the vowels are pared with their long and short versions (when applicable), and when not you get single vowels. If needed, special rules are noted for each vowel.

If you are just learning to read Thai this section is a powerful cheat sheet. Ok, depending on what level you are at, they all are. But I wanted to mention it here as vowels won first prize as my personal bugbear. Lucky you, this app is coming to your rescue.

Reading ThaiReading Thai vowels

Numbers:
Thai numbers are simple. So much so that if you click into the secret, you can memorise the symbols in about ten minutes. For learning the pronunciation and how each number is spelt there are no secrets so unless you are a genius, so you’ll need to listen over and over like the rest of us. And that’s where this app comes in handy.

As I have more space here (it’s a coding with graphics thing), I’m going to point you to 60 Minutes Thai Alphabet for the secret to learning to read Thai numbers in ten minutes. A method for learning the Thai alphabet is included too. And no, this is not and ad nor I do not get anything back by the mention. Same as the Reading Thai app, I seriously like 60 Minutes Alphabet.

Reading ThaiReading Thai vowels

Tone marks and pronunciation:

In Thai there are four tone marks and four pronunciation symbols, so this is one intensive section.

The dotted circle denote where the tone marks are found above the offending letter. At the bottom of each screen are further instructions, colour coded.

For instance, with ไม้โท you are told which combinations gives you what class: high = falling tone (purple), middle = falling tone (blue), low = high tone (green). See?

Reading ThaiReading Thai vowels

Tone rules:

Tones. Yeah. Suckie stuff. So you might as well jump off that bridge. Like, right now.

But in reality, what you really need is a cheat sheet iPhone app like this. Why? Because no one expects you to be able to suck this kind of stuff into your head asap. It’s a gradual thing.

On this app, when you choose a selection from the list, you are given the rules. The rule pages are colour coded as above: blue (middle class), purple (high class), and green (low class). Because with Thai, it’s all about class. When you make your way through the rules, more colours come into it. Vowels are red, tone markers are white, and and and as it’s getting late on a Friday evening, I’ll have to ask Ryan for the rest.

If you’ve made it this far, letter combination rules and multi-syllable rules will just have to be a best kept secret for those aiming to buy the app. Heh.

And now for the serious draw stuff…

Same as the two draws before, the comments you leave below matter. You can comment as many times as you like, but only comments that add to the conversation get counted.

Snap (Learning Thai In Chiang Mai) and Scott (Scott Earle) are doing the honours. Snap will do the bowl, and Scott will come in with the winners. Thanks you two!

Draw basics: The draw will be open from now until Tuesday 3pm Bangkok time. As soon as the clock stops I will throw the comments into a spread sheet, twiddle them a bit to add random numbers, and then send the count to Snap and the spread sheet with names to Scott. Snap (not having any names) will write the numbers on papers, fold the papers, and throw all into a bowl. After picking two papers, Snap will announce the two numbers. Scott, after reading the numbers, will then match the numbers to the names on his spread sheet. Simple. Yeah. Whew.

18 thoughts on “Win the TOP Reading Thai Alphabet iPhone App”

  1. I have a humble request for anyone who downloaded my app to take just a minute to leave an honest review or star rating on the iTunes App Store so others will know if it is any good for Thai learners.

    ขอบคุณครับ
    Ryan

    Reply
  2. Yes. Congratulations to both of the winners. I really hope that you can get some good use out of the app!

    Reply
  3. For such an amazing iPhone app I’m surprised at the lack of takers. And since there are only two, then there is no need to bring out Snap’s bowl (I’ll save that for another time). Congrats Greg and Megan! Your codes are on the way 🙂

    Reply
  4. Megan, This app will be brilliant for where ever. It’s one I wish that I had when I first started and ran into something that confused me, or I couldn’t remember. Btw – congrats on your new job! Exciting stuff 🙂

    Ualan, no worries. I’ve done that before as well (forgot to make sure the sound is on). These phones can be sneaky that way.

    Reply
  5. Please disregard the bug report in my previous post! The App is perfectly working!
    I love the clear and graphical presentation of the 3 consonnant classes.
    This app is a must have!

    Reply
  6. Great app. I have it already as is was free for the first days after publication.
    Just having some trouble with the version just published.
    On my iphone 3g w ios 4.1 no more hangs on the word list but all sounds are gone
    The developper is very ready to help. I am sure it will solved quickly!
    Great app
    Pls do not join me in the draw this time

    Reply
  7. Oooh, I could really use this, as I’m not going to be able to take classes anymore for awhile.

    Work! Already cramping my style and I haven’t even started yet!

    Reply
  8. Greg, if you do win this app, you’ll get a lot of use out of it. When you run into an iffy problem reading, just whip this app out and dial it up.

    PS: It’s coded in, and I have not forgotten… (life has been a bit squashy lately 🙂

    Reply
  9. Hopefully I can add this app to my repertoire so that Cat can stop asking me to be on her “Mediocre Thai Language Learners” list and start asking me to be on her “Successful Thai Language Learners” list. 😛

    Reply
  10. Morning Talen 😀 it really is a great app, yes? There is a good chunk of information throughout so I can see people keeping this app by their side while they read.

    The only thing I see missing is the ability to test yourself with a quiz.

    Reply
  11. Oh almost forgot the lists of words such as days of the week, months, buildings and such really come in handy as well. I have been having a problem remembering some months and buildings and this will really help. The female voice speaking all the words, consonants and vowels is a damn good thing too.

    Reply
  12. well, I couldn’t wait…it looked too good and I just had to have it now.

    I have to say I’m pretty impressed with it…been playing with it for about 20 minutes and it will definitely help me with my studies. It’s definitely not a comprehensive guide but it will definitely get you going in the right direction and it’s very well laid out.

    Damn Cat…I guess I took myself out of the running on this one 🙂

    Reply
  13. Cat, as you well know I am learning to read and write Thai…I have an iPhone AND I WANT THIS APP!

    Seriously this is one app that looks seriously well laid out and would definitely come in handy in so many ways. The vowels don’t bug me to much as they are fairly straight forward but some of the rules can get irritating after a while and a cheat sheet would be awesome.

    I’ll be back to comment more in a bit!

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Ryan Zander Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.