Cracking Thai Fundamentals: A Thai Operating System for your Mind

A really superb book. I've been trying to learn Thai with limited success for about 10 years and reading this book made a lot of things 'click' into place. The author clearly has a lot of enthusiasm for the Thai language and it does rub off and motivate you to learn.This is not a book to buy to learn Thai per se (as in to build Thai vocabulary - certainly not if you are just looking for a holiday phrasebook), but if you are serious about learning Thai, this is a must read, to give you the right foundation and approach.To get the most out of it, you probably need to also subscribe for the online course - but the book on its own is self-contained, so that is just an optional extra.

An excellent book. An English first language speaker who is starting out on Thai has a number of challenges to face. There are the old chestnuts about tones, orthography etc. But also there are the more complex issues like thinking about the real meanings of words and concepts. Stu takes all these back to basics and helps set the brain into Thai learning mode. Essential reading for those just about to start learning, but there is stuff in there for an upper intermediate learner as well. It is the book I wish I had read a few years ago. Tones are not now just sound patterns to imitate badly but by understanding why and how they are produced they become a natural byproduct of the throats movements. Great Book!

Learning the Thai language is not a direct translation of English words to Thai words. Unlike many Thai books, this will help you with the nuances that can make Thai so difficult to learn to speak fluently. The "Floobenflahter" Analogy referred to in the book is a great example of this.Really useful to me as a type of resource I could not find elsewhere from someone who knows their stuff, so worth the price.

This book has some really useful insights into the Thai language and some good advice for learning and speaking Thai correctly. Especially helpfully is the thinking in meanings chapter and the section on the thai vowels however to get the most out of the book it is best accompanied with the online version.The reason for only giving four Stars is that the book is riddled with inconsistencies like missing exercises, typos and in at least one instance Contradictions, therefore the book is in desperate need of editing. Over all the content mostly out ways this.It has been 5 years since this book was released the author knows about the many errors it contains. I think it is about time it gets a new edition.I found what I thought to be a really accurate review of this book on goodreads.com which goes into a bit more detail and I found this really helpful to me because it confirmed what I was experiencing while studying this book.

Brilliant book. Just what I was looking for. I really appreciate this innovative approach to learning Thai. It's important to know how a language should feel and this book lets you get inside the language - to have a real relationship with Thai. It's really good. Also wanted to say that I'm amazed by the speed with which I received this book. I paid for fast shipping and I live in Finland. I ordered the book on the 21st of April and received it the next day. Quite amazing.

After reading the review here I purchased this book and concur it is an excellent purchase. It will help you understand how the language works and is not just another parrot repeat this sentence book.

Not a book that will help much in learning the language, it seems to be for learning about the language from a linguistic perspective. There may be some useful sections such as the part about thinking in meanings, I was expecting a section on grammar and was disappointed to find it lacked any information on the subject.The book itself is relatively well written, I can't really fault it but it's not very clear what the book includes before purchase. An expensive and lengthy book that did not help me much in my efforts to learn Thai.

Great book, does exactly what its says it will

Cons: First off, yes this book could have used a little "fine touch" editing, from a few sentence rewrites to a little better organization. Also note that this is not, and is not meant to be, your only Thai learner's book. You still need a more traditional source of some sort, along with vocal lessons. Other than that...Pros: This book delivers. It is an explosion of information on Thai and related eastern languages. The author will have you rethinking your native language, its pronunciation, and its orthography (spelling) in order to soften you up to learning Thai for what it really is, and not just trying to translate in your head.I speak three western languages but only one natively. I have significantly improved my non-native western languages by reading this book! And I'm not even half way done! The "lessons learned" are just so universal: Think about how a language really works and stop worrying so much about translation.There is no magic shortcut to learning a language. But this book can expand your horizons and enjoyment of the process enough to make it feel like a shortcut. I mean, who cares if the path is long if the scenery is really nice?Some who have been taught will less traditional approaches in the first place may find the book to be a little less enlightening. But I come from an old-school grammar and drill background, and I think anyone with that kind of background will agree on how much this book's "meta grammar" and practical prioritization can really help.You probably should look up Stuart Jay Raj's YouTube channel, etc., but I have not felt like the book "really goes with an online course". It stands well on its own.

I've been learning Thai for more than a year, and yet I found a lot of value in this book. A must read if you learn thai and not only want to speak it.

pretty much what you would expect from a self published book from an author whose ego is too big to hire an editor

I have very mixed feelings about this book. Some sections are pure genius. I found Chapter 2, which shows how simple Thai words are used in multiple ways to give new meaning, very useful. I only wish he had offered a dozen more examples for practice.Much of the rest of the book seems awfully padded to me, with more linguistic theory than an average language dunce like me needs. I don't think the steep price makes this a good value. I might or might not buy it again--feeling quite ambivalent about my purchase. I know Stuart Jay Raj is doing wonderful work teaching this very challenging language and I want to support that, but, as I say, mixed feelings about this particular book.

Per chi , come me, è interessato allo studio " serio" del Thai , sicuramente è un libro da avere!Tratta l'approccio alla lingua da molti punti di vista , anche molto inusuali ma profondi . Senza scindere la lingua dal suo contesto: storico, mentale e culturale.Molto interessante anche per chi , non interessato direttamente al Thai, studia le lingue in generale.Da non perdere.