Random Letter Generator

[alant]

i am a real novice at the thai language and to be honest my brain has problems with the language learning area. iam trying to learn to read thai and havee been following books etc on the letters. my problem is i can remember them because of the sequence, just as if you would remember "c" because it came after "b". out of sequence i fall apart and it takes ages for me to remember the letter so i need a practice medium.

does anyone know of a random letter generation learning aid that pops up a letter for a short (good if user definable) time then repeats with another etc.

thanks

[meadish_sweetball]

Why not make your own flash cards?

On the front, draw the letter, on the back, write what it's called in Thai, and also include the consonant class because that is necessary to get the tone rules straight for reading.

i.e. something like this:

Front:

-----

ก

-----

Back:

ก ไก่

Class: กลาง (mid)

When I studied, I also made consonant and vowel posters and pinned them up in strategic places in my house.

I would make one poster with all the LOW consonants, one poster with all the MID consonants, and one poster with all the HIGH consonants, and one poster with all the vowels.

I pinned such posters near my bed, in the bathroom, on the fridge and on the inside of the front door.

Both the drawing and arranging of such a chart, and spending a little time going through it every time you pass it, will help you memorize them.

[MKAsok]

You might also find this useful if you have an ipod.

[alant]

thanks all, i have a feeling that the house will soon look like a primary school with thai words and letters pinned everywhere to prompt the brain.

[rgs2001uk]

Following on from MSs comments and learning method which is similair to the way I learned.

It took me about 3 to 4 months to learn the alphabet and vowels, I started by learning 4 consonants and two vowels each week.

I would write out each consonant about 20 times and as I was writing I would say to my self the name of the consonant and its class, eg Gor Gai, mid class,this I would repeat each time I wrote the consonant.

I also bought 2 or 3 of those Thai alphabet posters and positioned them in the house, one on the wall in front of me above the computer screen, one behind the bathroom door and a fold up one I carried with me.

I also found the best random letter generator to be car number plates, whether sitting on the bus, in a taxi or sitting at the side of the road I would look at the car number plates and repeat to myself the consonant and its class.

I dont know if it matters or not, but I couldnt repeat in order the Thai alphabet from gor gai to nok hook, but what I found helped me to remember the rough order was when I was looking for words in a dictionary.

My house also had the look of a primary school with loads of little yellow stickers on for example the fridge door and the Thai word for what it was, tuyen for example or pratuu for door, thankfully they have fallen away and not been replaced as I know the the names of the common appliances, try writing out the word for a toaster, jeez the memories.

I understand everyone learns different ways and I have heard of so called shortcuts, to be honest I have never heard of a shortcut that works, at times its frustrating boring and repetative, but thats the only method that worked for me.

[alant]

thanks, i too look at numberplates and it shows up my deficiency well as often the car has gone before i have worked it all out! but i am getting better and now trying to incorporate vowels into my learning (what are vowels?).

i find it interesting that it is becoming more rewarding to try to work out simple words from the letters than the fustration of say the rossetta stone programme which i found ok for speaking but now trying to do for the written word is very different.

many thanks for help

alant

[meadish_sweetball]

What are vowels?

The basic definition is a sound pronounced with your vocal tract open so there is no build-up of air pressure above the glottis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottis ).

Most consonant sounds, as a contrast, have some type of constriction or closure in the vocal tract.

If you say 'aaaah' that is a typical vowel sound. Now change into 'eeeeeeeee'. Note that what both these sounds have in common is that you do not block or constrict your mouth with your tongue in any way.

The difference between different vowel sounds lies in how your tongue is positioned inside the mouth, how you form your lips, and how open your mouth is.

More info on vowels and consonants here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonant

[klons]

Why not make your own flash cards?

On the front, draw the letter, on the back, write what it's called in Thai, and also include the consonant class because that is necessary to get the tone rules straight for reading.

i.e. something like this:

Front:

-----

ก

-----

Back:

ก ไก่

Class: กลาง (mid)

When I studied, I also made consonant and vowel posters and pinned them up in strategic places in my house.

I would make one poster with all the LOW consonants, one poster with all the MID consonants, and one poster with all the HIGH consonants, and one poster with all the vowels.

I pinned such posters near my bed, in the bathroom, on the fridge and on the inside of the front door.

Both the drawing and arranging of such a chart, and spending a little time going through it every time you pass it, will help you memorize them.

Here is a set of flash cards.

http://bangkokmac.com/thai/Consonants.html

[desi]

does anyone know of a random letter generation learning aid that pops up a letter for a short (good if user definable) time then repeats with another etc.

thanks

One of the decent SRS programs will do just that. Scroll down on this page for a list.

BYKI does not have the Thai alphabet that I know of (and I'm too lazy to look ;-), but if you buy the program (it's cheap) you can input the alphabet and set it to quiz you. It is very easy to set up. I wrote a brief post on how BYKI works here.

And like others have mentioned, using flashcards will do.

60 Minutes Thai is great (it is how I learned the Thai alphabet)

And to get the consonant sounds in your head, one of TVs members created a Thai consonant soundboard.

Learning to sing the Thai alphabet poem helps too.

And then there is Langhub.

Learn Thai Podcasts has more than a few posts on the Thai alphabet.

Slice-of-thai.com has wonderfully designed flash cards you can print out on your home computer.

Buy Thai books has an excellent set of flash cards (includes English, whereas the Thai made versions don't).

There is a dedicated post for reading Thai here.

There are many more free options here (you just have to poke around).

Edited June 11, 2009 by desi

[alant]

my thanks for all of this, brill!