Hello,

I've only started to learn thai recently. I was watching a girl on youtube say two sentences that are completely different but sound exactly the same to me. The sentences are "You are so beautiful" And "You are so unlucky"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KPvkbIO21c&t=2m22s

Can you guys hear the difference? Will I be able to hear the difference in time?

Can you guys hear the difference? Will I be able to hear the difference in time?

Yes. Be patient. It's a lovely little video. Keep going over it time and again.....

Try listening to สวย versus ซวย using thai-language.com's dictionary (with sound). There is obviously a difference in the sound of the individual words......but in the two sentences, the difference is pretty difficult to detect. Don't fret the small stuff......I'd argue if you're looking a girl in the eyes and tell her she's beautiful.....even if you mispronounced the tone (ซวย versus สวย), she'll understand what you said.

I can easily hear the difference between the two words when said individually. But because I can't hear the difference when she said it in a sentence, I was wondering if she mispronounced it.

I want to know the difference out of curiosity, not because I need to use it. I am learning thai just as a hobby.

I think the sound quality doesn't help..

but there is definitely a change in the U ..

She could say that all day to me..

The difference (obviously) is between rising tone and mid tone.

Rising tone starts lower than mid tone. First try and listen for this. (It's there in the clip.) Once you've clear about the start of the tone, then focus on whether the pitch is constant or rises.

Rising tone starts lower than mid tone.

Apparently the distinguishing feature of the rising tone is now that its lowest part is lower than than that of any other tone.

If you've been brought up with a tonal language as your native language then the difference between the two tones is very apparent, but for Westerners with their non-tonal language traditions, they're often hard to distinguish, especially in normal fast speech. They're just very slight inflections.

Context is everything in understanding spoken Thai.

I can usually here the tone differences but not always, and emanating from the rather low quality speakers from my computer I was not able to hear the difference on those two specific short sentences.

The answer to the OP's question is yes. He will be able to hear the difference with practice. It may well take more practice than he expects, but if he works at it he will be able to distinguish and produce the correct tones. If he doesn't work at it, then he won't be able to distinquish the tones no matter how long he is in Thailand. There are any number of long-term expats who can demonstrate the truth of that statement.

When I began learning Thai on my own 4 years ago I had the usual difficulties with distinguishing tones. Now it's not a problem. I can hear the difference in the girl in the video's two sentences, although she doesn't make as much difference between สวย and ซวย as she does in other word pairs.

I found having an expert teacher to correct me constantly to be an indispensable part of acquiring skill in tones. It might be possible to do without, but it would be much harder and the student is more likely to give up.

I found having an expert teacher to correct me constantly to be an indispensable part of acquiring skill in tones. It might be possible to do without, but it would be much harder and the student is more likely to give up.

I've gone through a few private teachers.......before I settle on one, I always insist they be brutal with correcting my pronunciation and tones. IMO, most Thais (even teachers) are reluctant to correct a foreigner speaking Thai......just like many foreigners are reluctant to correct a Thai when he/she puts an F at the end of a word with TH.

If you want to fry your brain with tone practice, pick up the 7 book series (very cheap) that includes the one in the photo below. Practice a page or two a day with your teacher. If your teacher isn't banging her hand on the table when you make mistakes, insist that she do so.

Edited February 1, 201511 yr by kokesaat

beautiful = soo-way

unlucky = sway

beautiful = soo-way

unlucky = sway

This post is totally off the mark.

The only difference between the two words is the tone. Not the number of syllables. Not the vowel sounds. Just the tone.

beautiful = soo-way

unlucky = sway

This post is totally off the mark.

The only difference between the two words is the tone. Not the number of syllables. Not the vowel sounds. Just the tone.

Try it and see if you are understandable to a Thai!

I found having an expert teacher to correct me constantly to be an indispensable part of acquiring skill in tones. It might be possible to do without, but it would be much harder and the student is more likely to give up.

I've gone through a few private teachers.......before I settle on one, I always insist they be brutal with correcting my pronunciation and tones. IMO, most Thais (even teachers) are reluctant to correct a foreigner speaking Thai......just like many foreigners are reluctant to correct a Thai when he/she puts an F at the end of a word with TH.

If you want to fry your brain with tone practice, pick up the 7 book series (very cheap) that includes the one in the photo below. Practice a page or two a day with your teacher. If your teacher isn't banging her hand on the table when you make mistakes, insist that she do so.

I agree with Kokeaat: Here are the details about this series:

หัดอ่านภาษาไทยแบบใหม่ [Learning to Read Thai the New Way] Volumes 1-7 by ไสว สุนทร [suwai Suntorn], ISBN Volume 1: 974-90393-3-5, 50 baht; Volume 2, 974-90394-4-3, 50 baht; Volume 3, 974-90740-7-6, 60 baht; Volume 4, 974-93172-7-0, 100 baht; Volume 5, 978-974-623-778-9, 100 baht; Volume 6, 978-974-13-6198-4, 105 baht; Volume 7, 978-974-05-3290-3, 110 baht.

Publisher: บริศัท หนังสือสายน้ำ จำกัด, Bangkok telephone: 02-96-2520 or 2521 or 02-525-0374

beautiful = soo-way

unlucky = sway

This post is totally off the mark.

The only difference between the two words is the tone. Not the number of syllables. Not the vowel sounds. Just the tone.

What about sor so and sor sua?

What about sor so and sor sua?

That's how the difference in tone is marked.

Rising tone starts lower than mid tone.

Apparently the distinguishing feature of the rising tone is now that its lowest part is lower than than that of any other tone.

You just gave a great example,why most people give up learning Thai!

I think that you should try saying them not listening for what she said, she is trying to show how, with only a little less emphasis they can be confused, where confusion is likely you don't do that. I play golf: left ซ้าย sand ทราย are likely to be confused so one makes sure that they are not.

When you start speaking, every word should be separate, soon you will see that some words roll off the tongue as one word, สวยมาก is one example, but if you try to say ซวยมาก as one word your in the "wrong gear" to say มาก after ซวย.

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If you having problems with suay, just wait until you get to maa...