Using an iPhone & iPad in Thailand Tips, App Reviews and News for the iPhone and iPad by Richard Barrow

uTalk Learning Thai

Developed by a company with 20 years of experience in language learning and over ten million customers, uTalk HD gives you the key words you need and a fast, scientific way of remembering them.

There are quite a few apps for the iPhone and iPad that have been brought out to help teach you Thai. Some are better than others. The one that I am reviewing today is called uTalk HD Thai, and although it might not be the most comprehensive, it is certainly one of the most professionally produce apps for learning Thai that I have seen for a while. It is very well designed and works perfectly on both the iPhone and the iPad and you only have to pay once. You are basically presented with nine categories: first words, food, colours, phrases, body, numbers, time, shopping and countries. They claim that there are 275 words and phrases all of which are useful in helping you to start speaking Thai quickly.

If you go into one of the categories, say food, you are then presented with a list of vocabulary words. You can either go through these in the correct order or jump to any that you like. Pictures are very important in this method of learning. You see the word in Thai and English, you see a picture of it and you also hear a native speaker reading it. You then have the option to record yourself. When you click the recording button you will hear the word first and then you have to repeat after it. You then get to hear how you say it compared to the native speaker. Each category also has three types of games. In the first game you are presented with four different pictures and you are told what each of them are in Thai. The pictures are then mixed up and you are told to pick a certain card. In the second game you are presented with four picture cards but this time you are not told the name of each one. You then have to follow the instructions to pick out the correct picture. In the last game you are presented with a certain number of picture cards for only a few seconds before they are turned over. You are then asked to pick out the cards as and when you are asked in Thai.

I have enjoyed using this well produced app for the iPhone and iPad. At $11.99 the uTalk HD Thai app might be pricier than others for teaching Thai, but the audio and visual content is certainly of a higher standard. You are also able to switch the language of instruction from English to one of 35 different languages. So, if you are German for example, you can have the menu in German instead. Sometimes the prices of apps drop down for a few days. If this happenss to this one or any other app that I have reviewed I will post the news immediately on my Twitter feed @RichardBarrow.