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I cannot read the Thai "modern" letter fonts compared to the more classical Thai letter fonts like the ones used in schools to learn to read and write Thai


Tchooptip

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Hello every one, two years ago I was discouraged to go on with my learning to read Thai because I was incapable to recognize too many letters in some adverts for instance,

In Tesco Lotus I could read almost every words written in small letters under most products, but almost nothing in the many adverts everywhere in the store, because written with other letter fonts I could hardly recognize,  some of those letters looking almost like  our own alphabet it was frustrating,  so do someone have advice for a book I could buy? or a website because the young Thai children probably have the same difficulties to recognize those letters compared to the letters they've just learned at school? Now that I decided to resume my learning, I have the same problem again, any advice welcome ????

 

 

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If you are talking about the "artistic" lettering that occurs sometimes, the bit of it I have seen is usually done on a minimal basis, first letter only, followed by regular lettering... I saw one the other day that I did not even know it was a letter... I doubt there is any book as I think the letters you are talking about are stylised by individual artists.. 

 

stick with it w/the understanding that you will not get 100% 

 

Though I know i will never be truly fluent, I do get better as I go along...  

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14 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

If you are talking about the "artistic" lettering that occurs sometimes, the bit of it I have seen is usually done on a minimal basis, first letter only, followed by regular lettering... I saw one the other day that I did not even know it was a letter... I doubt there is any book as I think the letters you are talking about are stylised by individual artists.. 

 

stick with it w/the understanding that you will not get 100% 

 

Though I know i will never be truly fluent, I do get better as I go along...  

 

Maybe means this sort of thing.

1158951271_Tesco_Lotus__-_2021-01-04_21_37_59.png.6a1cb4901646ecad7a31beb05c93d38d.png

From Tesco Lotus website.

Edited by chickenslegs
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2 hours ago, Tchooptip said:

Hello every one, two years ago I was discouraged to go on with my learning to read Thai because I was incapable to recognize too many letters in some adverts for instance,

In Tesco Lotus I could read almost every words written in small letters under most products, but almost nothing in the many adverts everywhere in the store, because written with other letter fonts I could hardly recognize,  some of those letters looking almost like  our own alphabet it was frustrating,  so do someone have advice for a book I could buy? or a website because the young Thai children probably have the same difficulties to recognize those letters compared to the letters they've just learned at school? Now that I decided to resume my learning, I have the same problem again, any advice welcome ????

 

 

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You mean this, right?

 

Modern font and traditional font in Thai | Thai Language Learning Blog  "SANUKMAAK.com"

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48 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

You mean this, right?

 

Modern font and traditional font in Thai | Thai Language Learning Blog  "SANUKMAAK.com"

Yes!  I have the same problem as the OP.  I went on a week-long intensive reading course, and I can read the top (grey) fonts, but on the last day we were shown the modern (red) fonts, and I realised I couldn't read most of them, and the tricks I'd used to remember the sounds didn't work either.

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22 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

op  - - I think the best comparison might be what we find as block letters in English, then being shown script... 

 

Exactly! Having developed a number of Thai websites, I can say that there are a number of fonts that are exceptionally easy for me to read, and others that are very difficult to almost impossible. I also find the fonts used in the newspaper headlines here difficult to read. There is no simple approach to the problem, other than to expose yourself to increasingly more abstract fonts. Eventually, you will begin to recognize the letters more and more.

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It's a bit premature, but I developed some alphabet flashcards for a soon-to-be-released update of my website.  They're accessible at the link below.  AFAIK, they work fine, but the "Help" page needs more work.

 

The flashcards cover the individual consonants, and then vowels & diphthongs.  The latter uses real words.  By clicking on the "Options" button you can choose the typeface used.  "Modern" uses the type of typeface the OP is interested in.  (Other options include "Handwriting" and "Indic".)

 

 

http://thai-notes.com/games/alphabetcards.html

 

p.s. Any feedback would be appreciated.  I'd like to fix any problems before they're officially released.

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Graphic artists are the curse of 8 year olds the world over. Long time ago now but I can well remember struggling with advertising signs and the like when I was reading Noddy books easily.

Never mind, it keeps me alert and curious.

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I came across this info about eight or nine years ago (hence "14 new" at the time), and saved it.

Do all these fonts seem clear to others? For me they are easier to read than the older 'cursive' fonts:

 

 

14 new Thai government approved standard fonts - in the public domain:

กขชวยบอปคabc 38pt baijam 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt chakra petch 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt charm of AU 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt charmonman5 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt fah kwang 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt K2D July8 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt Kodchasal 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt KoHo 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt Krub 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt MaliGrade6 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt Niramit AS 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt Sarabun New 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt Sarabun PSK 12pt

กขชวยบอปค abc 38pt srisakadi 12pt

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When you are familiar with Thailand you will be able to guess the words. Often it is easy to recognize the letters yet still not get the words because you don't know enough Thai. Look at the handwriting in the recent "text" in a passport post. If you were not familiar with  สิ้นสุด you would not see it. เช่า is very clear but ที่? you need to know that it must be พัก but some people will not know ที่พัก. 
The Tesco sign in this topic is fun too but for a different reason. The font is clear enough and the meaning can be guessed but what English mantra is being translated?

I suggest: ตามคำเรียกร้องของมหาชน eg."following requests of crowd"  By popular demand  ตัดและตรึงราคาอีก cut and fixed prices more= we have maintained our low prices. 

Knowing this the next sign you see in odd font you see should be easier to read. 

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19 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

 

Maybe means this sort of thing.

1158951271_Tesco_Lotus__-_2021-01-04_21_37_59.png.6a1cb4901646ecad7a31beb05c93d38d.png

From Tesco Lotus website.

yes those ones,  have many like that on Lazada too. , when I know a word it is easier to read it, but with longer sentences some times it is almost impossible, but I do not put pressure on me any more, 

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The very rounded, modernized, stylized ones can be quite difficult. They got rid of all the traditional little circles and curves that make the letters distinctive, and oversimplified them.

 

These are the ones most common on big, advertising signs (not govt signs), logos, and menus. It appears that thick English lettering was their influence in this. Of these, off the top of my head are:

 

ป becomes a U

ร becomes an S

ล and ส become an A

(You've prob heard of the many new, American farangs happy to see the "USA" laundry detergent ????)

ท becomes an N

น becomes a u

ม becomes a backwards, upside down u

ข becomes a V

อ becomes a backwards G

พ becomes a W

ญ becomes a y with an extra curve in front of it

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21 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

I hate such:

Samurai.gif

 

From a collection of 62 different font styles:

http://www.thai-language.com/ref/typographical-styles?page=38

 

This is a case in point, on first looking at this, เป็น is instantly recognizable then สุดประเสริจ leads me to recognize the way that ษ is differentiated from ย in มนุษย์  there is no way that I can read it all in spite of being able to find many other words วิชา กว่า  ย่า ฟูงสัตว์ พัฒนา etc. my Thai is not advanced enough to understand it.  Although I could research it more the stumbling blocks are in ฯ which is not a font problem but a familiarity problem. 
So I "asked a friend" and discover that there are font problems I didn't look closely enough  ฯ is the second component of ฤา meaning หรือ! .   จะ๊ ๆ จ๋ะ ๆ Has no ฯ either. 
I am told that it is poetic and means that we are not wild animals and shouldn't be killing one another so it seems that my task is to now work out how it says that. Thanks for posting.

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On 1/5/2021 at 7:11 PM, Vietem said:

The sans serif fonts (if that is what they are called) take away the key signifiers in identifying the letters.

 

They don't.  The issue is that foreigner learners are taught to look for the initial loops of the letters.  Once these are reduced (or removed completely) foreign learners struggle.  Native learners use other characteristics to identify letters, such as the height of the central ^ in letters such as  and , or whether the "neck" is open or closed, as in  and .

 

Doug Cooper's paper (attached to the previous post) is a good guide to these other characteristics.

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