This is the exact course that we have been using since 1975 with much updated material. Now available on CD as well. This is the course developed and funded by the US Foreign Service Institute to train diplomats, service personal, military and business leaders for Thailand service. It is simply put, considered the best and most exhaustive Thai Language course available today. Many students of Thai classical arts and culture including Traditional Thai Medicine and Thai Massage are spending longer terms and more exhaustive study. The Thai Gov't requires basic Thai Langauge profeciency to enroll in many programs. This course may meet or exceed some of those requirements. But one thing is for certain... having the language skills as evidenced by these courses is invaluable to having a rich and rewarding experience and better interactions with Thai people. It's a fact, the better you spak and comprehend the language the more safe and satisfying your experience will be. Plan ahead and start your Thai Language training today. (Please note: custom orders may take 3 to 4 weeks to deliver.)
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Volume I: Offered on 12 Audio Cassettes or Compact Discs with Textbook.
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I. Overview of the Thai Basic Course
The Thai Basic Course teaches the national spoken language in the dialect of educated speakers of Bangkok and Central Thailand. It starts with a programmed introduction to Thai phonology to acquaint you with the significant features of the language's sound system. When writing, the Thais use a complex system based on Sanskrit, but in the course a special phonetic transcription is used which will help you read and write more easily.
ITTA has reprinted these books into a more convenient spiral binding that lays flat for easy use; we have also re-mastered the tapes for quality and convenience. Please see below for a brief description of the courses offered; for more information. If you have additional questions about our courses, or wholesale inquiries, please e-mail us at itta@core.com (Please note: custom orders may take 4 to 5 weeks to deliver.)
II. Preface
The ITTA/ FSI Thai Basic Course, Volumes I , provides introductory materials modern spoken Thai for the student who wants to learn to speak and understand the language used by an estimated people in Thailand.
The programmed introduction to Thai phonology which occupies the first 25 pages of Volume I is the work of Warren G. Yates chairman of the Department of East Asian Languages at the Foreign Service Institute. Dr. Yates and Absorn Tryon, Thai language instructor at FSI, are co-authors of the 40 lessons comprising the core of the course.
In the early stages of the project Richard B Noss, then chairman of the FSI Department of East Asian Languages made valuable suggestions. The authors have made extensive use of Dr. Noss's Thai Reference Grammar in the preparation of these volumes, and users will find that they are often referred to it for fuller explanations.
Mr. Prapas Kanchanandul contributed drills and assisted in matters of Thai language usage. Mrs. Tryon re-read the entire text of both volumes in Thailand in late 1969 and suggested changes to make the materials current.
Mrs. Phongchan Nabangchang collected and organized the items in the glossaries which appear at the end of each lesson and the comprehensive glossary for both volumes which appears at the end of Volume I. Irma C. Ponce typed the camera copy of the entire text while Miss Chotchai Kombhu, Mr. Prasert Crupiti and Mr. Thaworn Simpeivat assisted in proofreading, having previously participated in the classroom trials of the new materials in pre-publication form. Thai language textual material was tape recorded in the FSI Language Laboratory under the direction of Gary Alley with technical assistance from Jose M. Ramirez and Arthur Young.
The Foreign Service Institute gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the U.S. Office of Education which has made the preparation and publication of these volumes possible.
III. Introduction
This is the first volume of a three-volume course designed to teach Standard Thai. Standard Thai is the national spoken language of Thailand and is the dialect of educated speakers of Bangkok and Central Thailand. Standard Thai in spoken and written form is known to some extent by nearly all Thais. There are approximately 66 million speakers.
The materials contained in the first two volumes consist of the following
Not included in the text but considered to be an integral part of the course are a series of tapes consisting of taped portions of the text and other supplementary materials.
These materials were designed to be used in a course of instruction where the main focus is on teaching the student to speak and understood Thai. This is not to say that reading and writing should be ignored, but that additional materials would be required for that purpose. Basic to the approach recommended by the authors of this text are the following tenets:
1) In the classroom only Thai should be spoken.
2) The teacher should be either a native speaker of Thai, or a non-native with excellent control of the language.
3) Every effort should be made to make the instruction both in and out of class approximate 'real' use of the language.
4) The use of audio-visual devices of all kinds (charts, films, objects, etc.) is encouraged, but they must be used in such a way as to function as an integrated part of the instruction and not just as an interesting appendage.
5) Language learning is a largely a function of the student's interest, motivation, and application; therefore, every effort should be made to interest and motivate him to make the requisite effort to learn the language. Next to the student, the language teacher is the most important element in the learning process, it is, therefore, imperative that the teacher not be restricted to following slavishly any particular course of study. With this in mind we encourage Thai language instructors to look upon this text and the accompanying tapes as useful devices which may be modified as required and should in no sense be thought of as the sole or even the main instruments for teaching Thai.
IV. Course Layout (Vol. 1)
1. Basic Dialog
There is a basic dialog at the beginning of each lesson. It consists of a limited number of exchanges between two or sometimes more persons. It represents a somewhat modified version of a real dialog, since hesitation phenomena, false starts, and other features regularly occurring in real speech have been eliminated. It does present what two educated Thai speakers might say in a given situation if they were being particularly careful to avoid the features referred to above.
If the student has memorized the dialogs, he or she will have a store of language that is readily available when needed (assuming they are in a situation comparable to that of a particular dialog). It is therefore suggested that a significant amount of time be spent for this purpose.
2. Notes
There are three kinds of notes in this text: notes on the dialog, vocabulary notes, and grammar notes. Notes on the dialog present some information that is useful for understanding the dialog, and is often cultural in content and import. Vocabulary notes are used to explain the meaning of a word in somewhat greater depth than is included in the lesson glossary. Grammar notes provide a general understanding of Thai grammar. They are written in such a manner as to be useful to even the most linguistically unsophisticated learner.
3. Drills
The drills in this textbook are for the purpose of providing an opportunity for the student to isolate a particular feature of the language (grammatical or semantic) and to practice it in a limited context until he understands well how to use it and can say it with acceptable fluency and pronunciation. It should be clearly understood that drills of any kind are simply devices for practice having a particular focus and with a limited objective, and as such they do not represent real communication in language no matter how cleverly they are arranged.
All this is not to say that drills do not have a place in language teaching. It is probable that a certain number of drills are very helpful if not absolutely indispensable in learning to speaking language well. Various kinds of drill (substitution, transformation, etc.) are found in this textbook. In most cases it is obvious from the format of the drill what procedure (substitution of an item in a sentence, rearrangement of a sentence, expansion of a sentence or phrase, etc.) is called for. In those instances where it might not be clear special instructions are provided.
4. Exercises
Exercises (as the term is used in this textbook) are distinguishable from drills mainly by the type of response they elicit. Drills are designed to elicit one particular response and any other response (even if it is correct in form and meaning) is unacceptable; whereas, the only requirement in an exercise is that the response conform logically with the original request (i.e. if you are asked where a certain building is, you don't respond with a description of it instead).
The exercises in any particular lesson in this text have two basic purposes: to provide (1) a setting in which communication of a restricted kind can take place and (2) if an instructor is part of the course, it provides a means for the instructor to test the ability of the students to use the material in the lesson in more realistic situations.
The exercises in the lessons are an especially important part of the lesson and should be done at the end of the lesson. If you are unable to perform well, you should review any parts of the lesson that seem necessary for successful completion of those tasks. In no case should one go to the next lesson until they can do the exercises easily, rapidly, and correctly.
5. Lesson and Text Glossaries
At the end of each lesson there is a list of all words occurring for the first time in that lesson and at the end of the volume there is a complete list of words in the first volume. All entries are listed in alphabetical order (English alphabet) and are written in a phonemic transcription using Roman letters. With each noun is its unit classifier. A limited number of the more useful noun and verb compounds are included. Two examples are given below: moo (khon) doctor (medical) khâw paj to enter (away from the speaker) khâw maa to enter (towards the speaker)
6. Recorded Material
Besides the recordings which form a major part of the Programmed Introduction to Thai Phonology, there are recordings of various kinds that accompany each lesson. The dialogs and most of the essential drills are recorded on the lesson tapes; however, they are recorded in such a manner as not to be an exact duplicate of the way in which the drill will be conducted in class, since the purpose of the recordings is to supplement not replace classroom work. Special pronunciation drills and remarks are included on the tapes.
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