Sometimes when I have trouble with a thai word, I ask my thai friend, teacher, etc. to write the word in thai. Then I frequently ask what tone is that. I have had many responses. Sometimes the thai native might say I do not know, more times they will repeat the word numerous times and say unconvincingly "high". I have had a few teachers who know right away and explain that you can determine the tone by the consonant group and the tone mark (I can do this myself if I have my thai language book handy; I know I shouldn't be so lazy and should memorize the consonant classes). I have had teachers who don't have a clue, they know how to pronounce the word and that's it. My question is: is it common for native speakers, who pronounce the word perfectly, to not know the what tone it is. I understand if you speak the language perfectly there should no necessity to know this, unless you are teaching thai as a foreign language. In Pau Neung (First Grade), the thai students learn the five tones by repetition. They go thru the alphabet: gau (no tone marker), gau (mai aek), gau (mai tho), gau ( mai tree), gau (mai jat-ta-wa), etc.

Thanks for the help.

Sometimes when I have trouble with a thai word, I ask my thai friend, teacher, etc. to write the word in thai. Then I frequently ask what tone is that. I have had many responses. Sometimes the thai native might say I do not know, more times they will repeat the word numerous times and say unconvincingly "high". I have had a few teachers who know right away and explain that you can determine the tone by the consonant group and the tone mark (I can do this myself if I have my thai language book handy; I know I shouldn't be so lazy and should memorize the consonant classes). I have had teachers who don't have a clue, they know how to pronounce the word and that's it. My question is: is it common for native speakers, who pronounce the word perfectly, to not know the what tone it is. I understand if you speak the language perfectly there should no necessity to know this, unless you are teaching thai as a foreign language. In Pau Neung (First Grade), the thai students learn the five tones by repetition. They go thru the alphabet: gau (no tone marker), gau (mai aek), gau (mai tho), gau ( mai tree), gau (mai jat-ta-wa), etc.

Thanks for the help.

hi mackayae,

in short, yes it is common. it's also common for native speakers to get confused about the tone rules when writing unfamiliar words (or non-words). just like in english, thai native speakers can get by nearly all the time just relying on their familiarity with the appearance of words, and never really considering the rules.

the same goes for grammar, of course - which i'm reminded of every time a thai expects me to be able to recite irregular verb lists or explain a particular grammatical feature.

all the best.

Questions about tones are to the everyday-Thai what questions about English grammar are to the everyday-American. Most of us (them) don't have a clue unless that's our specialty. I would recommend finding a Thai teacher who can explain (to you) the different tones.