Learning Vowels

[The Dan Sai Kid]

I got through the consonant alphabet pretty easily, but I'm finding the vowel alpahabet a bit harder to remember - with the consonants I could learn about 5 a day.

Is there any way to learn them that worked for you? I would love to hear some ideas.

I found the consonants so easy that this problem with the vowels is so discouraging.

Thanks (in advance)

[Jack Jones]

I would guess the reason you're having difficulty is that a majority of the consonant sounds are similar to English, whereas the vowels dfiferentiate.

Not sure I had a particualr technique but I learnt from the Becker CDs. I certainly found it easier hearing the sounds and then trying to replicate them. It went in eventually.

[Richard W]

I got through the consonant alphabet pretty easily, but I'm finding the vowel alpahabet a bit harder to remember - with the consonants I could learn about 5 a day.

Is there any way to learn them that worked for you? I would love to hear some ideas.

First learn the basic vowels. You'll notice a few families:

• อะ อั
  
• อา อำ
  
• อิ อี อึ อื
  
• อุ อู
  
• เอ แอ ไอ ใอ
  
• โอ
  

เอา seems totally arbitrary (and is - โอ is a variant of it or something very similar). The menmonic trick I use is related to the fact that English beam, dream & leaf correspond to German baum, traum and laub.

For the other compound vowels with เ, think of them as desperate attempts to render complex sounds. There is the pattern that the main purpose of ะ is to shorten vowels, but there must not be any (other) final consonant. Finally, there is maitaikhu (อ็) to shorten vowels.

[skylar]

There's a funny little song you can learn to help. I can't remember the name of it but it goes something like this: sala, nun me ku gun, siang san ku gub siang yaaw... I've made so many family members laugh when I sing it

[BKKGuitar]

You found the consonants "easy"? Hmmm... when i'm trying to read i still can't remember which of the 3 classes the consonant is!

I really recommend Thai For Beginners, by Benjawan Poomsan Becker. The book brings you through the reading system slowly and methodically. I thought it wouldn't be possible to learn to read Thai until i found that book.

[withnail]

Personally I found that after learning all the consonants and the basic vowels the easiest way to rememer more complex vowels is by learning groups of words that use those vowels.

[Mr_Dave]

I got through the consonant alphabet pretty easily, but I'm finding the vowel alpahabet a bit harder to remember

Exactly! I've been studying Thai language for 18 months now, and still struggle with the vowels ("sa-ra"). The vowels are much more difficult because many are not even close to any sounds in English.

That learning method that worked for me is the same method that was used in Thai schools a generation ago. Learn one or two vowels, then learn assorted words which use those vowels. Then move on to another vowel or two, and words that use those vowels. The specific book for this is "Learn to Read with Manee". It is out of print, but is available free on the Internet from this site: http://www.learningthai.com/books/manee/index.html

Be prepared: it's not easy. I tried CDs and Internet voice files, but didn't make much progress learning the correct vowel sounds. I attended a good language school in Bangkok for 3 months, but my vowel sounds still didn't sound "Thai". Then I hired a private tutor who coached me 5 days a week, 1-2 hours per day, for a year. Now, my vowel sounds are just, barely, sounding like they might be Thai language! So I have one more recommendation for you: "Kopiko" brand, coffee-flavoured candy, is great for the sore throats you will get from practicing the Thai vowels.

.

[Richard W]

You found the consonants "easy"? Hmmm... when i'm trying to read i still can't remember which of the 3 classes the consonant is!

Try the chart at the alternative presentation of the Thai consonants. It reminds me of the periodic table of the elements - not only a law of octets, but even ห (= H for hydrogen!) and ฮ (O.K, not quite He) not quite fitting in! It's a shame the Indians didn't put the sibilants (ศ ษ ส) in their rightful places.

[BKKGuitar]

Richard, thanks for sharing that! That was interesting. I used the Becker book, and just learned the middles (not many), then the highs (again not many, and they're easy for me for some reason), now i'm on the lows (mark mark!). Now i'm polishing my skills (not!) on signs as i travel around Bangkok...

I got through the consonant alphabet pretty easily, but I'm finding the vowel alpahabet a bit harder to remember

Exactly! I've been studying Thai language for 18 months now, and still struggle with the vowels ("sa-ra"). The vowels are much more difficult because many are not even close to any sounds in English.

That learning method that worked for me is the same method that was used in Thai schools a generation ago. Learn one or two vowels, then learn assorted words which use those vowels. Then move on to another vowel or two, and words that use those vowels. The specific book for this is "Learn to Read with Manee". It is out of print, but is available free on the Internet from this site: http://www.learningthai.com/books/manee/index.html

Be prepared: it's not easy. I tried CDs and Internet voice files, but didn't make much progress learning the correct vowel sounds. I attended a good language school in Bangkok for 3 months, but my vowel sounds still didn't sound "Thai". Then I hired a private tutor who coached me 5 days a week, 1-2 hours per day, for a year. Now, my vowel sounds are just, barely, sounding like they might be Thai language! So I have one more recommendation for you: "Kopiko" brand, coffee-flavoured candy, is great for the sore throats you will get from practicing the Thai vowels.

.

[Valjean]

I use Thai for Beginner software - they have the drills for consonants and vowels. I made myself a CD from there with both – for the vowels I had the same file repeat six times then the consonants. In my car I’d just listen and say over and over. I have a print out of all in a big type font that I can glance down at if the driving is safe (like stopped for 30 min). I work so I can say the next letter before the CD plays it and repeat to correct my pronunciation. I have a very thick skull and just need lots of drilling to get something to stick in my brain. Also to me feels like a good warm up to speaking Thai – just drilling on the fundamental sounds that make up the language. And yes my mouth is sore after 30 min of this.

[Mr_Dave]

I work so I can say the next letter before the CD plays it and repeat to correct my pronunciation. I have a very thick skull and just need lots of drilling to get something to stick in my brain.

That's a valuable technique. Thanks, Valjean, for mentioning it. I also use this method to be certain I know the consonants in order. Since I don't drive a car here, I just ask my girl friend to say any letter of the alphabet - walking along the street, going down in the lift, you get the picture. Then I say the letter before, the same letter, and the letter after. If any mistakes, she corrects me with unabashed glee at catching the farang. So, it is "sanuk" for her and good learning for me.

I also want to concur with Valjean's comment about "lots of drilling". I've studied many languages - both spoken and written-only (computer and other engineering "languages".) The difficulty of Thai is orders of magnitude above anything I've learned previously. I was not prepared for the difficulty and the length of time it is taking. Lots of drill - plus a patient tutor - is the only way I've found to learn this language.

Learning to recognize the consonants and vowels took an entire year. Included in that year was learning the tone rules and memorizing the consonant classes. One surprising difficulty is that vowels change "shape" depending on their position relative to other consonants. The tone rules were a totally unfamiliar concept to me, but with seemingly endless drill, I've memorized them.

What is still exceedingly difficult is getting the sound of Thai. My tutor and I have studied each other's voices and discussed throat movement, tongue placement, and breath. He wants to learn English as much as I want to learn Thai, so we often compare differences. The key lesson is that Thai-speakers develop different muscles in their voice apparatus than do English-speakers. Starting in middle-age to develop these muscles in my mouth and throat has been very difficult.

There is a psychological barrier, too. Many of the Thai sounds, when parsed to their simple components, sound like "baby talk" to us. My brain keeps rebelling, "Grown men don't make sounds like that!!!" Well, in Thailand they do. Learning Thai has been as much about changing my thinking as about training my throat and mouth in new ways.

Many people - here in Thailand and "back home" - have inquired what I find to keep me busy now that I am retired. Just learning Thai language is a full-time job!

.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Thanks for the advice. It's given me plenty to think about!