Best Way To Learn The Script?

[HalfSquat]

Hello,

I am having Thai lessons to learn to speak but would like to learn the script so I can start to read.

In a few books it says you can learn it in a few weeks which sounds a bit ambitious to me.

Where do I start?

A web/sound board would be cool with all the letter on and I click them and hear the sound - does such a thing exist?

Any other aids around to help?

Thanks.

[Absingjul]

3-4 weeks is really not too ambitious just to learn the script/class. That is only about 2 consonants and 2 vowels/diphthongs per day.

There is a soundboard for consonants:

http://www.quantumfighter.com/thai/

Edited January 23, 2010 by Absingjul

[HalfSquat]

Thanks.

So do I learn the sounds they make or the names? Or both?

[krading]

I learned using interactive cds (dvds these days) on the computer. Click on the letter and it will sound it out for you. They have memory games etc to help you learn. I suggest you check out a good book store in BKK and see what's available.

[krading]

P.S. You learn the name and the sound at the same time.

eg Gaw Gai, Kaw Kai

have fun

[DavidHouston]

3-4 weeks is really not too ambitious just to learn the script/class. That is only about 2 consonants and 2 vowels/diphthongs per day.

There is a soundboard for consonants:

http://www.quantumfighter.com/thai/

I listened to the letters on the quantumfighter site. I am wondering about the woman-speaker's accent. The pronounced sounds are very clear but I wonder if there is not a strong regional accent inherent in these sounds. Please listen especially to the pronunciation of the sounds and key words for ป, บ, ม, ศ, ห, อ, and ฮ. Is her accent identifiable?

[krading]

I would have gone along with David on this one considering the missing 'law ling' in 'paw plaa' and hazarded a guess that she is maybe from Isan but I had the missus listen and she says it's central thai.

She hasn't let me down yet.

Lately

Today

Better ask someone else.

[DavidHouston]

Let me be clear: I am not saying that the pronunciation is incorrect or does not represent Central Thai; rather, it may carry an accent which might be different than that of a "dyed-in-the-wool" native Central Thai speaker.

I would have gone along with David on this one considering the missing 'law ling' in 'paw plaa' and hazarded a guess that she is maybe from Isan but I had the missus listen and she says it's central thai.

She hasn't let me down yet.

Lately

Today

Better ask someone else.

[krading]

No, she swears the speaker is a native.

I suppose I have to believe her, she's been here a bit longer than I have.

[tgeezer]

3-4 weeks is really not too ambitious just to learn the script/class. That is only about 2 consonants and 2 vowels/diphthongs per day.

There is a soundboard for consonants:

http://www.quantumfighter.com/thai/

I listened to the letters on the quantumfighter site. I am wondering about the woman-speaker's accent. The pronounced sounds are very clear but I wonder if there is not a strong regional accent inherent in these sounds. Please listen especially to the pronunciation of the sounds and key words for ป, บ, ม, ศ, ห, อ, and ฮ. Is her accent identifiable?

I see that she says ฌ กเฌอ I heard that somewhere else recently, does anyone know why the ก is there? Otherwise it is very nice I have saved it in favourites.

[Absingjul]

กะเฌอ

It is from the alphabet song

http://learningthai.com/gorgai_poem_05.htm

[tgeezer]

กะเฌอ

It is from the alphabet song

http://learningthai.com/gorgai_poem_05.htm

I guess when its sung it needs กะ I see that ฑ นางมณโฑ has also changed to ฑ มณโฑ I wonder what else; cant look now that I am making a reply.

Edited January 23, 2010 by tgeezer

[meadish_sweetball]

For what it's worth, in the AUA reading and writing books I used to learn the Thai alphabet, the letters are referred to as ฌ กะเฌอ and ฑ มณโฑ, as they are here.

[Rikker]

In response to questions about names of the Thai consonants:

Words were first associated with consonants in the 19th century, by พระยาศรีสุนทรโวหาร (น้อย อาจารยางกูร). He was a teacher in the earliest Thai schools, and wrote many primers. He only gave names to the ambiguous consonants -- ข ขัดข้อง, ฃ อังกุษ, ค คิด, ฅ กัณฐา, ช ชื่อ, ฌ ฌาน.* It only became necessary to disambiguate which letter one was referring to after classroom teaching began to be practiced in Thailand, and the teacher needed to refer to the letters out loud.

In the 1890s กรมพระยาดำรงราชานุภาพ (Prince Damrong) was the first to assign names to all 44 characters.

The names of the consonants were only standardized in recent decades. In McFarland's 1939 Thai-English dictionary, he gives different names for some consonants, and multiple names for others, which goes to show that even 70 years ago there was no standard. For example, he gives ฟ ไฟ as the name for ฟ, and for จ both จ จาน and จ เจริญ.

กระเฌอ doesn't really mean anything; it's basically a mistake. เฌอ is from the Khmer word for "tree", and กระเชอ (often pronounced กะเชอ) is a word for a type of basket. It may have been first introduced for rhythm, but the word กะเฌอ/กระเฌอ doesn't really exist. The reason many people still say it is because they were raised with those primers, so the error is perpetuated.

As for มณโฑ and นางมณโฑ, they're just variations. Both refer to the Mandodari of Hindu mythology.

*Off-topic but interesting: กัณฐา means "neck", so-called because the last word to be spelled with ฅ before it became entirely obsolete was ฅอ "neck"; incidentally the word คน has never been systematically spelled with ฅ, this is a misconception that arose around the 1920s. Some earlier primers had showed ฅ ฅอคน, with an arrow pointing at a person's neck; then some other primers abbreviated this to ฅอคน or ฅ คน, and the misunderstanding went from there. Eventually nearly everyone forgot it was a mistake.

[MangoMungo]

3-4 weeks is really not too ambitious just to learn the script/class. That is only about 2 consonants and 2 vowels/diphthongs per day.

There is a soundboard for consonants:

[removed]

I think the creator of that soundboard is a TV member. (Bannok?)

Anyways, I find his soundboard much nicer than the Learning Thai one. (learningthai.com/thailetters.htm)

The Learning Thai soundboard voiceover guy sounds angry. Also, the woman speaker has better enunciation IMO.

[Ratsima]

I learned to read Thai script from Rosetta Stone. It was pretty worthless when it comes to spoken Thai, but after using it for a while I found I was able to read. I still don't know the Thai alphabet or pronunciation rules very well, but I can read menus, street signs, package labeling and that sort of stuff. The nice thing about it was that I didn't have to do any memorizing.

I'm now using the High Speed Thai lessons. Their sections on reading seem to be very good: High Speed Thai

(Be aware that this advice is coming from someone who's spoken Thai is dismal.)

[misterme]

I learned to read Thai using VCD Thai pop music CDs, buying a dozen or so each year before I went home for the working season.

Many of the songs will have the Thai Script, followed by some english attempt to break it into sylables. And of course you have the auditory "true" cues by listening to the singer. After a while, even someone not intentionally trying to learn Thai will notice the patterns.

Didn't seem like real studying which had me able to input for longer stretches at a time too.

[Tod Daniels]

This website was made by the Department of Non-Formal Education also with the Ministry of Education’s approval I think as it's mentioned.

http://www.teachthai.com

While you must make a user name and password, everything is free after that

I used the site to teach myself to read. Unless I am mistaken this site was developed to teach thai nationals' children who are living abroad at the various and sundry thai embassies and consulates around the world the thai language.

As it's geared towards children it uses a ‘writing brush’, a ‘book’ and a ‘girl’ to go over the thai consonants, vowels, tone marks, etc. When I started using it I took pages of notes. You can go at your own pace, repeat lessons to your hearts content.

Believe me I can read fairly proficiently now (as well as understand what I am reading ) although the thai newspaper is out of my league with the various Ministries, MP's, and government B/S, but the gossip column about the thai 'super-starz or ดารา I can understand very easily.

For a free resource it is not a bad way to start.

Hope it helps. ..

Tod

Edited January 28, 2010 by tod-daniels

[desi]

If you are good at learning languages, the resources at Sriwittayapoknam are decent.

Learning the Thai Alphabet: Thai Alphabet (a, Thai Alphabet (b , Thai Alphabet Test.

Pronunciation: Lesson One, Lesson Two, Lesson Three, Lesson Four.

I needed a crutch to start, so opted for 60Min Thai Alphabet. It helped me get around the difficulties. After that, everything fell into place.

Edited January 31, 2010 by desi