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

Collins Thai/English Phrasebook

With over 2,000 “survival” phrases and 10,000 words the Thai-English-Thai Collins Phrasebook & Dictionary will meet all your language needs and will make your trips more comfortable and fun.

There must be several dozen phrasebooks by now for people who are learning Thai. Some are made by enthusiasts while others are the product of seasoned professionals. This recent release is produced by Europe's top bilingual dictionary publisher. It is called Thai-English-Thai Collins Phrasebook & Dictionary and is an app that works beautifully on both the iPhone and iPad. The present price is $12.99. What is interesting is that it can be used just as well for Thais learning English as it is for foreigners learning Thai. The front menu can easily be switched so that all the categories show Thai headings. Click on one of these to get a list of sub-categories (above right), and then click a gain for a list of phrases (below left). Finally, click on the phrase to get the audio page (below right). As you can see, you get the option to hear the phrase in either English or Thai. Both recordings are of a high quality and they have used native speakers.

The number of survival phrases is certainly impressive. And it is also good that they have a built in dictionary if you want to hear single words. However, it is the kind of application that has been done for a world market and then adapted with local translations. This means that you will get phrases such as "Do you think it is going to snow?" Another problem is that there aren't any tips for what words to use for male and female speakers. They use the female "chan" all the time for each phrase. If it is a Thai person learning English then it is perfect. However, I am finding that many of the phrases spoken by the female native speaker to be too fast. I remember what it was like when I first got here. A beginner will not be able to catch all of the words in a long phrase. So, it is more aimed at someone who has been here for a while and are already used to Thai sounds. If you are learning Thai and your girlfriend/boyfriend is learning English, then you might get your money's worth out of it.

As usual, follow me on Twitter for the latest news of price drops with these apps. Often the price only goes down for 24 hours so you have to be quick.