Welcome to the third volume in the Quest - Quick, Easy, Simple Thai series, and to the next step in your great adventure. If you've come via Volumes I & II then your gateway awaits; however, if you're here to just look at our phrasebook, then The Perfect Phrasebook (TPTP) is just the thing for you.
Yes, if you're on a business trip, a vacation, or travelling to Thailand for other purposes, then we have TPTP just for you. 102-pages packed with the phrases that you need, and structured in a logical way that ensures you quickly find the phrases you need, when you need them helping to avoid that all-embarrassing extended silence.
Using the same transliteration we use across our entire Quest system, it helps ensure that what you say is crystal-clear, accurate, and you always communicate with confidence.
Your Gateway Opens
However, if you actually have designs that extend beyond a mere phrasebook (such as toying with the idea of learning to speak, read and write Thai - believe me, after you've been to Thailand, you WILL want to come back) then TPTP offers you so much more than that (and, our lowly title of mere phrasebook makes us want to hold our heads in shame!).
In many Thai books, Thai font is the same size as Western fonts. However, where English letters in Times New Roman size 11 are easy enough to read, Thai text is so small, it's next to useless for a beginner to read.
Alphabet Spaghetti
I first heard of Thai script being referred to as 'alphabet spaghetti' and when you look at it, with the unfamiliar shapes, minimal punctuation, devoid of spaces, and a script so small you have to squint to read it, it's no wonder reading Thai is considered difficult for foreigners.
We Fixed It
This is what we decided needed fixing!
Please don't misunderstand us, though we appreciate that our book is excellent as 'just a phrasebook', if you approach the book in this manner then that's all it will ever be. However, we love the Thai language, we want to encourage more to learn to read Thai, and we took an entirely different approach.
It in no-way detracts from the phrases themselves, but we placed extra emphasis on the Thai script so it's easy for the untrained eye to read. Then, if at a later stage, you want to become more than a tourist or casual visitor and actually want to learn Thai, then TPTP becomes the next step in your adventure.
Gateway to Adventure
Sure, you have to go that extra mile to learn to read Thai, but once you've been to Thailand, you'll want to!
With our entire system, we take you from the absolute beginner through to reading Thai script; and, if you have The Perfect Thai Phrasebook, you've now got 100-pages of colloquial, day-to-day conversation that people actually use!
Then, of course, this mere phrasebook becomes your key that unlocks a whole new world and an entirely fresh adventure opens up for you. If you're on your first trip to Thailand, wait and see how impressed the locals are that you're trying to speak their language. Then, see their eyes widen and their hearts open as you start to read Thai.
Your guidebooks will tell you that in Thailand, respect is everything; and, as part of this, 'face' is a key cultural element. Thai's are amongst the friendliest people on the planet, so imagine the respect and treatment you will receive because you have shown them YOU'RE WILLINGNESS to learn THEIR language? Your vacation, trip, holiday has now become the trip of a lifetime.
See, we told you it's not just a phrasebook.
TPTP is the third volume in Quest - Quick, Easy, Simple Thai.
Quest - Volume I is Learning Thai Your Great Adventure.
Quest - Volume II is Memory Aids to Your Great Adventure
Quest - Volume IV is How to Read Thai
About the Author: Russ is British and a professional writer, English teacher, sailor, and scuba diving instructor. He has a BA in English Language (1st Class Honours).
Duangta is Thai and an English teacher at a Thai state school. She has a BA in English Language and an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).
Quest is their series on learning Thai; and, The Perfect Thai Phrasebook is the third book in that series. They have also created the Learn Thai Alphabet and Learn Thai Numbers web and iPad applications: It is web-based and works on the pc, Mac, iPad (2+), and Android (coming soon).
Available from http: //www.learnthaialphabet.com.
