An elementary handbook of the Siamese Thai language PDF book 1906

IN this book, an attempt has been made for the first time, to set forth in English, a method of acquiring a practical working knowledge of the Siamese language. This method is one that the author has found by practical experience to be one, which can be successfully followed by the majority of learners. Hitherto those who have tried to acquire the language from a native teacher, have labored under two great disadvantages. firstly that so very few Siamese teachers have sufficient knowledge of English to enable them to make explanations in necessary detail, and, secondly that they use a method, which although suitable for teaching the siamese language to a Siamese child, is one which is hard of comprehension by a foreigner.The author trusts that this book will remove these disadvantages by giving the rules and explanations, and by indicating an applicable method.The real work therefore of the Siamese teacher, is in the earlier part of the book, to teach the learner the correct pronunciation, and, in the latter part, to help him to translate English into good Siamese. In the earlier exercises Nos. 26 to 38 for translation into English, the Siamese is not very idiomatic. This has been purposely arranged so as not to give the learner too many difficulties to deal with at first.It is useful for the learner to compare these sentences with the same sentences rendered into strictly idiomatic Siamese, in a small book entitled " Exercises for Translation" by the same author. Siamese is distinctly a difficult language, especially as regards the correct pronunciation, on which the meanings of the majority of words so vitally depends. A word of caution is therefore necessary to would-be learners, and especially to those who imagine they can " pick up" a smattering of the language in a few weeks by trying to learn words or sentences in a parrot-like fashion from romanized versions which are invariably most misleading. To try to do this is merely an absolute waste of time, money and frequently of temper also.