Should I Learn The Characters?

[iGlen]

Or will it just distract me

Sorry I dont know the correct name for the characters thai's use in writing but I guess it would help if i knew them just think it will mean it takes me longer to learn

And If i should is there any correlation between characters in thai and english?

[eefoo]

Or will it just distract me

Sorry I dont know the correct name for the characters thai's use in writing but I guess it would help if i knew them just think it will mean it takes me longer to learn

And If i should is there any correlation between characters in thai and english?

Personally I found it a lot easier to learn once I had decided to learn the Thai script as well. It makes looking words up in a dictionary so much easier. There are so many different forms of transliteration that you can never get to the pronounciation of a word with them, much less get the tone right. The added bonus as well is that your vocabluary increases so much faster if you can read - you see words everywhere on signs and notices and adverts. (Plus, you don't walk in to the wrong toilet!!)

If you are serious about wanting to learn Thai, I'd say it is at least a definite advantage to be able to read it; probably even essential.

Edit to add: There is no correlation between Thai script characters and Roman letters

Edited July 14, 2007 by eefoo

[qualtrough]

I think you are better off learning the Thai writing system right from the get go rather than wasting time learning some phonetic or romanization system. Why learn a language only to be an illiterate?

[Johpa]

I think you are better off learning the Thai writing system right from the get go rather than wasting time learning some phonetic or romanization system. Why learn a language only to be an illiterate?

My old school Thai professor at my university thought it was better to start with a phonetic transliteration system in order to more easily understand the phonetic aspects that were different than in English, e.g. long vs short vowels and glottal stops. That being said, he transitioned us to Thai script before the beginning of the third trimester and we used the rather precise AUA transliteration system.

[billzant]

Dear iGlen,

How are you?

I am not very far with learning the language. My biggest problem at the beginning was the differenet texts which transliterated the different vowels in different ways. This problem showed itself in the blank faces when I quoted, I thought correctly, from the phrase book. After a while I found a series of books which has the transliterations and the words in Thai, and a dictionary written the same way. I am now able to look up in the dictionary and say the word and usually be understood.

I am also beginning to learn the Thai script, and any words I say using the Thai script are understood - if I read the script correctly - not always the case.

For me the breakthrough away from blank faces was knowing how to say the transliteration, but as I said I am not very far along.

Hope you are keeping well,

All the Best

Bill Z

[khun_j]

hi,

yes - do learn to read. i´m about 75 % now and it does help a _lot_. the vowels are the worst ;o)))

and you will love some of the thai translations - lift is still lif(t), some shop names are put in thenglish. only reading those signs is an perfect exercise!

you do know the manee website (learn to read with manee?). it helped me a lot before i came here.

you can do it, keep going

[meadish_sweetball]

I think you are better off learning the Thai writing system right from the get go rather than wasting time learning some phonetic or romanization system. Why learn a language only to be an illiterate?

My old school Thai professor at my university thought it was better to start with a phonetic transliteration system in order to more easily understand the phonetic aspects that were different than in English, e.g. long vs short vowels and glottal stops. That being said, he transitioned us to Thai script before the beginning of the third trimester and we used the rather precise AUA transliteration system.

I learned the same way, so perhaps I am biased because of this. But the phonetic distinctions are very important, and a good transcription system, such as the AUA system or Haas system will show these phonetic differences more elegantly than the Thai spelling itself once you have mastered it. These transcription systems are 100% consistent and an excellent guide to pronunciation... once mastered.

The negatives: It will take extra time to master a transcription system, and it can typically not be used to communicate with anyone, apart from other foreign Thai learners as well as Thai linguists who have learned it in order to present their theses to the international scientific community.

If you hate the thought of spending extra time on learning transcription, then don't.

But if you want to get a deeper than usual understanding of the phonetics of Thai, and like the thought of learning a number of concepts and terms that can be applied to other languages you choose to study in the future as well, then do.

Just learning the Thai script can be sufficient, but make sure you understand which features are important...

For example:

- understand that every single syllable in Thai has either a long vowel or a short vowel sound, and that the difference is crucial to clear pronunciation

- there is a difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, and also a difference between ป and บ ( ไป should not sound like ใบ, and ป้า should not sound like บ้า) as well as ต and ด...

- treat every sound in Thai as new and separated from the sounds in your own language (the nearest sound you can produce (from your native language or perhaps from another language you can speak) is usually not good enough if you want to make yourself understood with ease in Thai.

[RedQualia]

I waited a long time to learn the Thai alphabet, somehow thinking that transliteration was good enough to get by, and that I would "understand it better." What an idiot I was...

The Thai alphabet is a foreign alphabet, but it's only an alphabet! I mean, this isn't Chinese, for example... You don't need to memorize 3,000 symbols. Far, far fewer. Each character has a sound, and you can actually read this stuff. I don't always know what I'm reading, of course! My vocabulary remains somewhat limited, and I am often "font challenged."

I am nonetheless making my way through a Thai book I have here. Slow going, 'cause I need to learn soooo much. Which is to say, I must be learning.

[sfokevin]

Here is an excellent resource if you want to learn and hear the alphabet (click on the letters!)...

http://www.learningthai.com/thailetters.html

[aitch]

Hello,

The one book that has really helped me is 'The Thai System of Writing' by Mary Haas.

Cost me about $12 US. Don't be fooled by the size (it was pretty intimidating on my 1st read). It does include some font and shorthand examples which can be useful down the road (see previous post - fonts can be really frustrating). I got the basics down and then some with this one book.

Aitch

[mangkorn]

Or will it just distract me

Sorry I dont know the correct name for the characters thai's use in writing but I guess it would help if i knew them just think it will mean it takes me longer to learn

And If i should is there any correlation between characters in thai and english?

Maybe the first thing you should do is to stop thinking of them as "characters" and consider them to be "letters," just as say about the English alphabet. They are one and the same.

Chinese has characters; Thai has letters. Perhaps that will help make it less intimidating when approaching the study of the alphabet (and it is intimidating, at first).

I followed a similar path to Meadish, because I began learning on my own and I wanted to get a lot of vocabulary down pat first, and I didn't know where to begin with the Thai alphabet. A good transcription system can be very helpful, if it is clear about the distinction betwen long and short vowels, and if the phonetics used to represent all of the Thai vowels are clear and consistent.

That said, I accept the argument that one should start learning the alphabet straight away.

But whether it is sooner or later, you do have to learn it.

[eefoo]

But whether it is sooner or later, you do have to learn it.

Seconded

[gampaan]

Absolutely learn the alphabet.....how could you ever learn English without ever learning the alphabet ??? You'll be glad you did, and it is basically phonetic, not hard to learn with a bit of patience and practice. You'll then need a bigger vocabulary since you can read things but not know what you are reading, so it also helps you learn more words.

[genggwaa]

If you can read Thai then not only does it become a lot easier to learn Thai, it also means that you start to pick up the language just by being out and about - from the Thai signs and notices.

The transliteration systems are woefully inadequate and will very quickly become a hindrance to further learning of Thai. There's a great 'romantic novel' called Practical Situational Thai that consists of everyday Thai conversations in a real context. But it's all in phonetics and so almost impossible to read.

Worse, the entirely contrived system becomes ingrained in your mind, making it very difficult to unlearn in the future.

Check out www.learnthaionline.com and download (and perhaps even purchase ) the ebook Read Thai in a Day.

It uses a visual system of cartoons to associate the shape of the letter with its sound.

A kgatheuy Carrying a Cactus.

And instead of having to remember a complicated system of classes and tones, all you have to remember is whether the letter is a boy, girl of kgatheuy. Which you do implicitly because of the cartoon image. Each gender has certain personality characteristics that help you to figure out the tones.

After going through the program, the website has a Thai Signs section for browsing signs and notices in Thai. This is an ideal way of picking up a practical, everyday vocabulary - albeit the somewhat formal Thai vocabulary used for official notices and newspapers.

Nevertheless, I have found it very useful in gaining a greater appreciation of Thai culture and of life in Thailand.

[seonai]

It's lots of fun learning Thai characters