What Is The Best Way To Read And Write Thai

[pokerkid]

First i would like to say that i almost dont speak any thai and where I live there are no thai schools.

One of my friends who speak thai well told me the best way to learn the language is by learning how to read and write first. He did it by using school books for thai children.

What would be the best way for me to learn how to read and write by myself, are there any good books for sale. I came across this website http://1steasythaialphabet.com/ is that any good?

[lonewolf99]

First I am no expert.

But...I have learnt to read the Thai Script after a fashion. Sometimes I know what it says but cannot interpret what it means. Because I do no know what the words mean.

How I did it was to make flash cards of each character. I had the Thai letter on one side and how to say it phonetically in English on the reverse side. I started with 5 in my pocket the first day.

At any spare moment of the day I would pull one out and try to recognise and say the letter. I also wrote that letter 100 times in a note book. Once I knew those 5 easily and could write them no problem I then added one letter a day and one month later I knew nearly every one of them.

I must advise you that any help you get from a Thai person might be confusing. I met people that did not know the vowels they had left school before they got to that stage !

Many cannot read and write. Especially older people in rural areas. My GF's mother cannot read or write Thai and barely speaks it. She is from Isaan.

They also badly pronounce their own language. The letter L and R are the worst. They swap these without thinking and only care about it when you get it wrong.

To learn Thai you need a Thai from central Thailand. Any one from the Isaan area, South Thailand or the far North speaks it differently and they have their own languages.

E.G. Rawn rhymes with Lawn. is how you say Hot in Thai. An Isaan person says Lawn when they speak Thai and back home in Isaan they say Hawn.....I kid you not...!!!

Another bit of advise...Thai people learn and do not ask questions like WHY ? They will not be able to explain to you why things are the way they are.

It is not in their culture to question. Especially any one in authority i.e. a teacher.

They just learn by wrote and hope it sticks. The children learn songs and rhymes to remember how it all goes together.

I have had no end of rows with my Girl Friend and now do not even mention the language or its strange quirks. One is that in many cases the last letter of a word is never spoken but has to be written. You will see a thing like a small sperm above the letters in many words. This is called Garan. I tells the reader the letter is silent.

A town called Kalasin is written in English as Kalasin. In Thai script it is looks like it should be Karasintow. But the tow bit at the end is never prounounced. But how would you or I know this ?

Surin has a strange spelling in Thai script it has a T at the end, and forget Chacheungsao.....Once you learn the Thai characters you will see what I mean...its madness.

To learn to speak the Language you need to be in Thailand and hearing it every day..and better in Bangkok rather than Udon Thani, Roi Et or Sakhon Nakhon. Once you learn enough words from the locals, I found the best language programme is Pimsleur. It helped me put sentences together. Many other CD's and books I got just taught me lists after list of words and I knew what the Thai word was for something but could not form a sentence to save myself.

Language experts say if you try to learn another Latin based one, you can get by on 600 words and 500 hours of intensive learning. But languages like Thai will take over 1500 hours and I bet actually a hellova lot more...

Age has a bearing on learning a language. The language sector of the brain shuts down after the age of 8 and everything after that is stored elsewhere.

Best of luck - you will need it.

Edited April 27, 2012 by lonewolf99

[AyG]

Learning from children's books is NOT a good way to learn to read and write Thai. The vocabulary is too wide; if a Thai child can work out the sound of a word from the letters he/she will immediately know what the word means, but a foreign learner probably won't and will be resorting to the dictionary all the time. (And using a Thai dictionary is a pretty advanced skill: the ordering of words is pretty complicated.)

It's far better to learn from material that has been specifically graded for foreign learners. It's also probably a good idea to learn to speak and listen to the language at a very early stage, possibly before you start to read and write, since that will help you learn to recognise and produce the sounds that are present in Thai, but not in your native tongue.

Probably the best way to get started since you say there's no language school near you would be to use the Thai for Beginners book and CD by Becker. The AUA series is more comprehensive, but harder to get hold of (and no CD, so you'd probably need a fair bit of assistance from a native speaker). Neither series will take you to a particularly high level. After finishing the AUA books I spent a further 15 months or so studying pretty much full time at a language school before I reached a level where I could read newspaper articles without constantly reaching for the dictionary.

[ThailandDenmark417]

I opened YouTube and saw videos of people pronouncing the whole alphabet. Start by learning the most common consonants. Then move on to the common vowels. It will all come, just practise and give it time.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: If you got an iPhone or iPad, you NEED to buy the dictionary "Talking Thai" it's the most pricy one, but it had helped me from day one. Without that I wouldn't be able to continue in the University (Thai program) like I do. Almost been an impossible task, but the dictionary and my Skype teacher had helped me A LOT!

Give me a private message or check out www.learn2speakthai.net

She's the reason why I'm able to be somehow fluent and able to read and write very well. Studied with her for around a year, before coming down to the Kingdom.

NB. This is not adversiting, just pure guideance, as this is the best way for sure!

[Delight]

This is my advise on an approach that worked for me -but may not suit everyone

Step 1 learn the Thai vowels-all of them i.e. basic vowels and diphthongs from regular charts and then trip-thongs.

Vowels are so important in any language. The beauty of the Thai vowels is that they are absolute. The sound is constant for each symbol(Unlike the English writing system where the vowels are all over the place.)

Remember that every utterance from Man ,Animals and Birds will always include a vowel sound. A consonant in isolation is unvoiced -it has no sound.

I really struggled to learn the Thai vowels . I tried every system that I could find and had some excellent teaching aids- Thai for Beginners CD ROM was about the best.

Still did not work. In the end I designed my own approach which worked.

The approach was (1)to learn to speak the LONG vowels only. I discovered that if I could speak the LONG then I automatically could speak the SHORT. This cut down on a lot of learning. (2) I analyzed the vowels from a geometric pattern perspective. With this in place it worked -again a lot of learning was reduced . You may wish to do the same.

U TUBE is a good source to learn the actual sound of the vowels. Conveniently the name of the vowel is the sound of the vowel.

If you are already an accomplished Thai speaker then you must be able to accurately pronounce the vowels. If you are a not then remember that if you find that speaking the vowels seems natural to you -then you are not speaking them correctly. At least not all of them . Some will be natural to you some will not.I spent a lot of time observing how Thai people positioned their lips ,lower jaw etc. such that they could generate a particular sound. I have never manage to find any documentation that details this . All I can say is be aware of this important issue.

Step 2 Consonants . This much harder project -not difficult technically -just the sheer volume involved

Earlier posts offered excellent advise on memorizing techniques-all that I would add is that you ignore the standard listing order. This is only for dictionary purposes. Learn them in the three groups. One group at a time.

Beware of the limitations U TUBE consonant learning.

Typical of Thai persons who post Learn Consonants on U TUBE - they present them in the same way that they were taught.

I speak with Thai people a great deal about the language -but have never met one that is aware of the 3 groups.

This concept is irrelevant for native Thai speakers.

Also there is no mention on any U TUBE clips ,that I have watched, that mention the fact the consonant sound changes dependent on its position in the syllable.

They are however excellent for learning the names of the consonants and learning to speak these names with precision.

I used Thai for Beginners as a consonant learning tool.

Step 3-Learning to the identify the tone on a syllable by syllable basis.-every syllable in Thai is tonal

Just about every book uses the same approach. They talk about 'Closed Syllables ' and Open Syllables' This ,it seems to me, makes a relatively easy topic difficult.

My view is that in the early days, the task of rationalizing the Thai tones for learning purposes, was given to a Language academic. The solution has academia written all over it.

To be fair -if it works for you -then use it.For certain it did not work for me.I developed a couple of simple charts that dealt with the whole topic. The terms closed syllables open syllables do not feature.

Good luck -you have a lot of work ahead

[cooked]

I found that 'learningthai...' was very useful, starting you off as any child would start in Thailand. The problems with 'the' phonetic system is that there are others out there, also for me, coming from a German background I tend to pronounce them differently from most Anglophones. I don't regret learning the alphabet from the beginning, theoretically there are 'only' 44 letters, 4 letters for 's' and so on, but it is all the exceptions, special rules, rising tones and so on that make it seem like a small language in itself.

By the way, there was a book fair in Vietnam recently, the Vietnamese read a lot. You ever see a Thai reading on a bus or train (above Mickey Mouse level), with a library...? I think they have the same problems that we do.

Ephraim Kishon once wrote that the Hebraic alphabet was invented to keep knowledge out of the hands of the general public, and that this is still the case today. Thai seems to have a similar function. I found Hebrew much easier than Thai.

[Shaktam]

Speak like a Thai. Cd and book. Thai for beginners also a good one. Learn to write Thai as it will give you a foundation.

[mja1906]

I speak with Thai people a great deal about the language -but have never met one that is aware of the 3 groups.

This concept is irrelevant for native Thai speakers.

Interesting.....Thai people are not aware of middle/low/hight consonant classes ? How do they know which tone to pronounce it as then?

[LawrenceN]

Interesting.....Thai people are not aware of middle/low/hight consonant classes ? How do they know which tone to pronounce it as then?

For the same reason fish aren't aware of the water. It's the environment they live in, without having to analyze it.

[koknia]

I just learned this grid 20+ years ago when I started studying a bit of Thai. I found it massively useful for learning tones.

http://blog.joshsage...teToneRules.jpg

or

http://www.its4thai.com/assets/tonerules/5.gif

Edited April 29, 2012 by koknia

[TeddyFlyfisherDavis]

First I am no expert.

But...I have learnt to read the Thai Script after a fashion. Sometimes I know what it says but cannot interpret what it means. Because I do no know what the words mean.

How I did it was to make flash cards of each character. I had the Thai letter on one side and how to say it phonetically in English on the reverse side. I started with 5 in my pocket the first day.

At any spare moment of the day I would pull one out and try to recognise and say the letter. I also wrote that letter 100 times in a note book. Once I knew those 5 easily and could write them no problem I then added one letter a day and one month later I knew nearly every one of them.

I must advise you that any help you get from a Thai person might be confusing. I met people that did not know the vowels they had left school before they got to that stage !

Many cannot read and write. Especially older people in rural areas. My GF's mother cannot read or write Thai and barely speaks it. She is from Isaan.

They also badly pronounce their own language. The letter L and R are the worst. They swap these without thinking and only care about it when you get it wrong.

To learn Thai you need a Thai from central Thailand. Any one from the Isaan area, South Thailand or the far North speaks it differently and they have their own languages.

E.G. Rawn rhymes with Lawn. is how you say Hot in Thai. An Isaan person says Lawn when they speak Thai and back home in Isaan they say Hawn.....I kid you not...!!!

Another bit of advise...Thai people learn and do not ask questions like WHY ? They will not be able to explain to you why things are the way they are.

It is not in their culture to question. Especially any one in authority i.e. a teacher.

They just learn by wrote and hope it sticks. The children learn songs and rhymes to remember how it all goes together.

I have had no end of rows with my Girl Friend and now do not even mention the language or its strange quirks. One is that in many cases the last letter of a word is never spoken but has to be written. You will see a thing like a small sperm above the letters in many words. This is called Garan. I tells the reader the letter is silent.

A town called Kalasin is written in English as Kalasin. In Thai script it is looks like it should be Karasintow. But the tow bit at the end is never prounounced. But how would you or I know this ?

Surin has a strange spelling in Thai script it has a T at the end, and forget Chacheungsao.....Once you learn the Thai characters you will see what I mean...its madness.

To learn to speak the Language you need to be in Thailand and hearing it every day..and better in Bangkok rather than Udon Thani, Roi Et or Sakhon Nakhon. Once you learn enough words from the locals, I found the best language programme is Pimsleur. It helped me put sentences together. Many other CD's and books I got just taught me lists after list of words and I knew what the Thai word was for something but could not form a sentence to save myself.

Language experts say if you try to learn another Latin based one, you can get by on 600 words and 500 hours of intensive learning. But languages like Thai will take over 1500 hours and I bet actually a hellova lot more...

Age has a bearing on learning a language. The language sector of the brain shuts down after the age of 8 and everything after that is stored elsewhere.

Best of luck - you will need it.

Agree 100%...Unless you born here, you will be a old man before you learn this language...In a fluent sense.

[poanoi]

Yes...unfortunately you'll have to build up your vocabulary, or you won't be able to out-smart it.

Structure is also different in text vs conversation, so your best bet would be to learn speaking form, if you wish to converse,

or it will sound strange/funny and in many cases impossible to understand.

[Richard W]

Interesting.....Thai people are not aware of middle/low/hight consonant classes ? How do they know which tone to pronounce it as then?

Most of a native speaker's active vocabulary is learnt by hearing, not by reading. Thais make heavy weather of finding a word's spelling from a dictionary, so I am not sure that most know the tone rules well enough. Besides, although the tone rules are taught at school, I suspect that they proceed by generalising from similar words when they don't just remember the spelling.

[koknia]

Thais learn from reading, not just speaking. The country has an adult literacy rate of 94%. How did they get there if they don't learn by reading?

Also, it's not true that it takes forever to become fluent. I know two foreigners who have become native speakers quite quickly. One guy spoke 15+ languages so it was very easy for him. I know one other who spent one year of intensive study and is completely fluent. He is on Thai TV a bit and is becoming quite well known.

[poanoi]

Make that semi-literate, very few can spell everything in this improvised text.

It will need a major overhaul by simplifying, taking away old junk no longer in use, etc, before most can spell everything

[Genericnic]

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: If you got an iPhone or iPad, you NEED to buy the dictionary "Talking Thai" it's the most pricy one, but it had helped me from day one. Without that I wouldn't be able to continue in the University (Thai program) like I do.

Highly agree. If I was limited to one app on my iPhone, this would be it.

David

[Genericnic]

Probably the best way to get started since you say there's no language school near you would be to use the Thai for Beginners book and CD by Becker. The AUA series is more comprehensive, but harder to get hold of (and no CD, so you'd probably need a fair bit of assistance from a native speaker). Neither series will take you to a particularly high level. After finishing the AUA books I spent a further 15 months or so studying pretty much full time at a language school before I reached a level where I could read newspaper articles without constantly reaching for the dictionary.

I agree about the Becker books. Her materials are all quite good.

As for the AUA materials, Cornell University Language Resource Center produced good quality CD sets for Books 1, 2, and 3. Here is a link to their page.

David

[Stjohnm]

My wife taught me the basics then I went to school to learn. Learning the written language by yourself before you can speak it is like pushing a large rock up hill. Learning to read & write early is a good idea but get to grips with at least the basics of the spoken language first.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app