Learn Thai

8/11/2019 Learn Thai

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60 minutes to learn the Thai Alphabet!

The Original & Best book, for learning the thai alphabet in record time

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About the Thai Alphabet

There are 44 consonants in the Thai alphabet, and 32 vowels. However, some of these vowels are just long

and short versions of each other, so it is actually only necessary to learn around 20 different vowel shapes!

Thai Tones

Thai words are broken up into syllables, and each syllable has a distinct tone.

The five tones in Thai are as follows:

1. Low (said in the lower part of your voice's register)

2. Middle (said in the middle part of your register)

3. High (said in the higher part - as if you are calling someone at a distance)

4. Falling (like the word no , when saying oh no if you are disappointed)

5. Rising (like the tone used, when asking someone if they are coming along: coming? )

How consonants affect the syllable's Tone?

Thai consonants are broken into 3 groups or classes: called low, middle and high for convenience. These

names don't mean that the syllable will be low, middle or high tone - the names of these groups might as well

as be 1,2 and 3 - it's just a way of separating the consonants into three groups.

The reason you need to know the class, is because the class affects how the syllable is pronounced, so when

you learn the thai consonant, you will have to recall its sound and its class.

The rules for determining the tone of a syllable are given in the Tones Section, at the end of the book, but we'll

give a quick example here, to give you an idea of why you must learn the classes:

Example 1:



When a High Class consonant with the sound s , is followed by a dead-sound (ie a sound that ends quickly),

like at or ad , then the tone of the syllable is Low.

Example 2:

When a High Class consonant with the sound s , is followed by an open sound (a sound that endures longer,like a long vowel or a nasal sound like n or m that kind of hums on), then the Tone of the syllable is a Rising

Tone!

Seems complicated, but there is a memory technique to remember these rules in seconds, in the final chapter,

that deals with the tones.

For now just be aware that you'll need to remember the class as well as the sounds of the thai letters - easy

really, with the special technique you'll learn about in the next section.

Introduction to the consonantsFor now, lets just concentrate on learning the sound of each letter, and its class.

Certain Thai letters also have different sounds, depending on whether the letter appears at the start or end of

the syllable.

So in summary, when you look at a Thai Letter, you must be able to recall three things:

1. its sound when its at the start of a syllable

2. its sound at the end of a syllable

3. its class.

The memory Technique

The memory technique which we'll use to learn the alphabet, is best illustrated with an example.

Take a look at the thai letter below on the left, and notice how it resembles the image to the right:

=Chariot Traveller



The similarity is high-lighted, by the dashed red-line in the image.

The picture resembles a Chariot with a Traveller onboard, driving through a High Mountainous Terrain.

This image encodes all the information that you need to recall, when looking at this Thai letter.

1. Its sound is Ch (chariot), when at the start of a syllable

2. Its sound is T (traveller), when at the end of a syllable

3. Its class is High, symbolised by the high mountainous terrain in the background

Memorising the Classes

To help you memorise the classes, we represent the three different classes, with different backgrounds:

1. High class consonants have a mountainous background

2. Middle class consonants have an urban background

3. Low class consoants have a sea level, sea-side background - simple and logical!

How it works in Practice:

1. You look at the Thai letter and automatically think of the image.

2. The easy-to-remember title will spring to mind and tell you the sounds.

2. The image's background will tell you the class (low, middle, high)

Easy and remarkably effective!

About Memorisation:The key to memorisation is to get a foot-hold on what you are trying to remember. The thai alphabet is

something you've never seen before, and is pretty alien, so the best way to get your head around it, is to find

things that it resembles, and create connections with what you know.

This book has done that already for you, so you have an automatic connection for every letter, shaving months

off the learning process.

Concentrating on the letters

Concentrate on how the letter resembles the image, and how the image's title encodes the sounds of the thai

letter.



Visualise the situation in your mind until you clearly see the resemblances. Remember that the background will

encode the consonant's class.

There are some explanatory notes to the right of each image, which should only be necessary the first time you

look at the image.

So the next time you see the Thai character, just think of the image that the letter resembles. The title and

background will spring to mind without effort. Then you'll automatically know the letter's sounds, and class!

How to approach the learning process

Visualise each image in your mind, and then move on to the next one - don't sweat or worry about it.

Don't overly tax yourself, instead just spend 20 to 30 minutes looking at some images, and then take a break

for around 10 mintues. Come back and cover up the images, and try to remember the image, title and

background, from looking at the thai letter.

Don't worry about not memorising it perfectly first time off - just get an idea of things.

Revision

Move on, and try some new images, or take a break until the next day.The key to remembering though, is to

repeat your exposure to the images often, until you remember them.

An example of a revision schedule would be something like this:

Practice and revise the images 10 minutes after the first exposure.

And then, 1 day after the first session, a couple of days after, a week after, a month after etc.

The images are like a scaffolding that will help you to build your memory of the letters, and will fall away after,

as your mind automatically recognises the sounds and class of the letters.

Low Class Consonants

The 24 Low Class Consonants are grouped together in the following pages. In each of the images, there is a

seaside (low-level) background, to help you to recall that you are looking at a low class consonant.

=Training

Somebody Training with a dumbell down at Venice Beach!

So the sound is T.



=Chained Tree

The shape resembles:

the image of a person Chained to a Tree, at the beach.

So the sound is Ch when its at the start of a syllable, and T at the end of a syllable.

=Chart Teacher


the image of a Chart and a Teacher, explaining marine life.

So the sound is Ch when its at the start of a syllable, and T at the end of a syllable.

=Tanning

(note: we won't repeat the words the shape resembles from here on)

A man sitting on a deck chair Tanning, and looking out across the ocean.

So the sound is T.



=Kwai

A man standing by the bridge over the river Kwai.

So the sound is K.

=Finished Picking

Somebody Finished Picking coconuts, near the sea.

So the sound is F at the start of a syllable and P at the end of a syllable.

=Hat

Somebody taking off their hat, before going swimming.

So the sound is H.

=Kart



Somebody's hand guiding along a Kart with icecreams at the beach.

So the sound is K.

=Lamb Nourished

A Lamb being Nourished, at the beach.

So the sound is L at the start of a syllable and N at the end of a syllable.

=Lawn Neat

Somebody mowing the Lawn Neatly, with the ocean rolling behind them.

So the sound is L at the start of a syllable and N at the end of a syllable.

=Moped

A Moped Driving downhill on a costal road.

So the sound is M.



=Nesting

A bird Nesting comfortably in the sun at the beach.

So the sound is N.

=Nurse

A Nurse helping someone that has come out of the water.

So the sound is N.

=Pants

A Pants lying on the beach, after someone popped in for a swim.

So the sound is P.

=Pistol

A Pistol that was thrown into the sea.



So the sound is P.

=Rainy November

Somebody walking along the strand with an umbrella, on a Rainy November.

So the sound is R at the start of a syllable and N at the end of a syllable.

=Swan Tail

A Swan and its large graceful Tail, gliding along by the shore.

So the sound is S at the start of a syllable and T at the end of a syllable.

=Tiger

A Tiger down by the sea, tethered to a pole, trying to pull away from it.

So the sound is T.

=Tongue

A large Tongue lapping at the water down at the beach!



So the sound is T.

=Whale Ocean

A Whale swimming in the Ocean.

So the sound is W at the start of a syllable and O at the end of a syllable.

(when it appears at the end it's often after the letter a , so the combination ao will sound like the ao in Laos.)

=Yacht Iceberg

A Yacht moving towards an Iceberg.

So the sound is Y at the start of a syllable and I at the end of a syllable.

=Yoked Neddy

A Yoked donkey called Neddy, taking seaweed from the beach.

So the sound is Y at the start of a syllable and N at the end of a syllable.



=Angling

A person angling in the sea.

So the sound is Ng.

=Karate

Somebody practicing Karate on the beach.

So the sound is K.

Middle Class Consonants

The 9 Middle Class Consonants are presented on the following pages. The images, have an urban (mid-level)background of grey, and pink neon, to help you to recall that you are looking at a middle class consonant.

=Beer-Pitcher

A Beer-Pitcher on a table in a town-square.

So the sound is like a strong B, represented usually as Bp.

(note: we use the hyphenated word, to represent the bp. Look at this as a one word title, ie same sound

whether at the start or end of a syllable)



=Bin Pollution

A Bin and some more Pollution beside it on the street.

So the sound is B at the start of a syllable and P at the end of a syllable.

=Door Trader

A Door Trader, stepping into a house.

So the sound is D at the start of a syllable and T at the end of a syllable.

=Ghost Kids

Ghost Kids walking along the street in a ghost town.

So the sound is G at the start of a syllable and K at the end of a syllable.

=Jaws Tyrannosaurus



The Jaws of a Tyrannosaurus making for a car.

So the sound is J at the start of a syllable and T at the end of a syllable.

=Dinner Time

A bird on a tree, looking at a fish in a suburban pond and thinking to himself: Dinner Time.

So the sound is D at the start of a syllable and T at the end of a syllable.

=Dental-Test

A dental-test on a tooth, in the town.

The sound is often represented as Dt, and sounds like a strong D.

=

Awning

Somebody standing under a street Awning.

So the sound is Aw.



=Dressing-Toddler

A person Dressing a Toddler in a house.

So the sound is like a strong "d" sound, usually represented as "dt". In this book we use a hyphenated word to

help you remember this.

High Class Consonants

The 11 High Class Consonants are presented on the following pages. The images have a moutainous (high-

lying) background, to help you to recall that you are looking at a high class consonant.

=False Peak

A person on a Peak, that he discovers to be a False-Peak, when he sees the next peak up ahead!

So the sound is F at the start of a syllable and P at the end of a syllable.

=Horns

A cow's Horns, with the moutain pastures behind.

So the sound is H.



=Kuwait

The flame on an oil tower in Kuwait, with mountains behind.

So the sound is K.

=Peak

Somebody after reaching a mountain Peak.

So the sound is P.

=Smoke Turnoff

Somebody who finds Smoke a Turnoff, compared to the moutain air.


=Swing Training



A person concentraing on their Swing Training in the moutains.


=Tractor

A Tractor getting stuck on the mountains, and the mud flying up off the front wheels.

So the sound is T.

=Trekker

Somebody Trekking across the mountains.

So the sound is T.

=Storm Thunderbolt

A person in a moutain Storm, being struck by a Thunderbolt.




Memorising the Position

You'll begin to automatically remember the positioning of thai vowels, by seeing them in sentences.

However to give you a head start, we've included a background in each image, that encodes the position of thevowel.

Vowels occuring:

1. Before other letters: Early morning background, like the before part of the day.

2. After other letters: Night-time background, like the after part of the day.

3. On top of other letters. We use the moutainous background to remind you of a High Location

4. Below other letters: the seaside background, to help your recall that it's a Low Location.

5. around other letters (Multiple-symbol vowels, that sandwich other letters ): We use the pink urban

background, to remind you that the other letters are in the middle location.

The Automatic Vowel

Note: if two consonants appear beside each other, the following vowel sound is automatically inserted

between the two letters:

o, like the "o" sound in other.

=Arch


An Archway

So the sound is Ah.

The night-time Background (after part of the day), will help you remember that it occurs after other letters.

=Attack (or shorten)


Someone Attacking with boxing gloves.



So the sound is A.


-----------------------

It's also used after other vowels to shorten their sound.

=Ammo

Ammo leaving a hunter's rifle.

So the sound is Am.


=Aid

An Aid drop from a plane.

So the sound is like ai in aid, or é in French. Its represented as E usually.

The morning-time background, will help you remember that it occurs after other letters.

=Eyeglasses

Eyeglasses.



So the sound is like eye. (Represented usually as ai.)

The morning-time Background (before part of the day), will help you remember that it occurs before other

letters.

=Eyeglass

An Eyeglass.

So the sound is like eye, represented usually as ai.


letters.

=Athlete

Athlete's legs.

So the sound is A in Athlete, represented usually as ae.


letters.

=Opener

An Opener for bottles.

So the sound is O in opener, represented usually as oh.




letters.

=Piano

A lady singing by a piano, with musical notes coming out!

So the sound is like ia in Piano.

These letters occur around a thai consonant:

=Owl

An owl, sitting on a tree branch.

So the sound is like ow in owl. Usually represented as ao (like Laos).

These letters occur around a thai consonant.

=

Earth



Moutainy background => on top of other letters.

=Eagle

An eagle's claw.

So the sound is ee (like the e sound in eagle, represented usually as ee).


=Eek!

A little creature saying eek! when it sees the eagle's claw.

So the sound is ee! (Same sound as ea in eagle, but shorter.)




=Acrobat

An acrobat flying through the air.

So the sound is a.


=Oo-ah

A diver jumping into a pool. Imagine the crowd chanting OOh AAh!

So the sound is ooah.

Night-time + moutain background => above and after other letters.

=

Boot

A boot.



So the sound is oo, like the oo sound in boot.

Sea-side background => low => below other letters.

(=> means "that implies")

=Short Boot

A short boot.

So the sound is a short oo, like the oo sound in boot, said quickly.

Sea-side background => low => below other letters.

Thai Numbers

The 10 numbers are shown below. The background of these images doesn't have any special meaning.

=1

This is the Thai symbol for 1.


Somebody whos just won first place.



=2



A camel, with 2 humps, lapping up some water from a pool.

=3



The number 3 tilted onto its side.

=

4This is the Thai symbol for 4.


An ornate version of the number 4.

=



5



The Five fingers on your hand, holding a skipping rope.

=6



The number 6, with a little bit missing.

=7



A ship anchored at the dock, getting ready to go out on the (High) Seven Seas.

=8



A cat playing with an hour-glass (which resembles the number 8).



=9



Somebody pushing the number 9 onto its side.

=0


The shape is more or less the same, hence the mirror reflection!

Tone Marks

The following tone marks determine the tone of the syllable, when they are present.

=High Tone

This shape resembles:

An anchored ship heading out onto the High (Seven) Seas.

When this symbol appears above a syllable, its pronounced with a High Tone.



=Rising Tone

This shape resembles:

A plane Rising off the runway.

When this symbol appears above a syllable, its pronounced with a Rising Tone.

=Falling, Falling, High

Memory Aid:

The Mai-Toh, resembles Batman and his flowing Cape, as he launches himself off of a building!

-When he is up High (in the presence of high consonants), he is still Falling!

-At the mid level, he is also falling.

-But when he gets down low, he takes the High Moral ground, amongst the inhabitants of Gotham City!

Rules:

The Rules for this symbol (the Mai-Toh) are:

Mai-Toh + a High Class Consonant => Falling Tone

Mai-Toh + a Middle Class Consonant =>Falling Tone

Mai-Toh + a Low Class Consonant =>High Tone



=Low, Low, Falling

Memory Aid:

The Mai-Ek, resembles an Empty Cone, balanced upside down.

-When High consonants jump into it, they end up in the Low Section of the Cone.

-When Mid consonants jump into it, they will also drop into the Low Section of the Cone.

-However when a Low consonant jumps, he'll miss the opening of the cone, and continue Falling into a hole in

the ground!

Rules:

The Rules for this symbol, (the Mai-Ek) are:

Mai-Ek + a High Class Consonant => Low Tone.

Mai-Ek + a Middle Class Consonant =>Low Tone.

Mai-Ek + a Low Class Consonant =>Falling Tone.

Other Symbols

The following symbols are sometimes found in Thai sentences, and it's useful to be able to recognise them.

=Redupication

The symbol resembles:

Someone taking a bow, as the crowd call "Encore" (ie repeat)

When this symbol follows a word, the word is repeated. An example would be the word dek. If dek is

written down, it's read as if the word were written twice - so it's read as "dek dek".



=Shorten

This symbol resembles:

A cat making a short leap.

When this symbol appears above a vowel, the sound of the vowel is shortened.

=Contraction/Abbreviation

This symbol resembles:A person Contracting their biceps.

The symbol occurs after an abbreviation. For example, KL the abbreviation for Kuala Lumpur, would appear

as KL

(if it were a thai word!)

The Tone Rules:

Now that you know the consonants, and their classes, the tone rules are easy to determine with the following

set of rules.

The tone of the syllable is decided by the following factors:

Situation 1: Tone Marks (if present)

Situation 2: The Consonant Class and Syllable Type

Situation 1 - Tone Marks

The tone marks over-ride all the other factors. So when there is a certain tone-mark present, you can easily

determine the tone of the syllable - as outlined in the tone marks section.

Situation 2 - Consonant Class & Syllable Type



Consonant Class:

You're already familiar with the classification into three groups: low, middle and high.

Syllable Type:

The syllable type fits into one of two types: extendable or abrupt.

Abrupt = A syllable with a short sound.

An abrupt syllable essentially means that the syllable ends quickly, and the sound does not continue or

"extend".

Examples of syllables with sounds that finish "abruptly" include those that end in "d", "t", "b" and "p" - such as

"bat", "bap", "dot" etc. Other examples include syllables that end in short vowels like "a", "i" etc - examples are

"ja", "dte" etc.

Extendable = Syllables with long sounds

Extendable sounds, on the other hand, tend to "last longer" or "hum on".Such sounds include long vowel sounds and syllables ending in sounds that tend to "hum on", like "m" and "n".

Examples of "extendable" syllables are: ban, bah, dam, doo etc.

Putting them together: Class + Syllable Type

Now you'll see how these combine, to form a set of rules, used to determine the tones:

Firstly we'll give you an example in a certain format, and explain it. Then we'll list all the other rules.

So this is: A Middle Class Consonant + Extendable Syllable

According to the rules that we'll list:

Middle Class + Extendable = Middle Tone

How to remember the rules

Using the above example, we'll demonstrate how this is easily remembered.

Let the letter "M" stand for "Middle" (middle class consonant) and the letter "E" Stand for "Extendable"

Now Middle Class + Extendable = Middle Tone

can be simplified to:

M + E = M, or MEM (ie middle +extendable = middle tone)

So to remember that a middle class consonant, in an "extendable syllable", leads to a "middle tone", you can

just recall the little formula: MEM. Or to make it easier, think of the word "memory", as the first three letters

of memory, are MEM!!

You can see how we're gradually leading to something simpler, that can easily be memorised.

What about the other classes ?



Now that you know the format, the rest of the tone rules will be presented, along with a word in brackets that

will enable you to remember the rules without effort!

The Tone Rules:

Middle Class + Extendable = Middle Tone (MEM or memory)Middle Class + Abrupt = Low Tone (MAL or mall)

High Class + Extendable = Rising Tone (HER or her)

High Class + Abrupt = Low Tone (HAL or hall)

Low Class + Extendable = Middle Tone (LEM or lemon)

Low Class + Abrupt Syllable: there is an extra step in deciding the tone, when you are dealing with Low

Class consonants, in an Abrupt Syllable - you must also take into account the type of vowel in the syllable:

Long vowel, or short vowel.

So this is what we have:

Low Class + Abrupt Syllable + Long Vowel = Falling Tone

On the other hand, if the vowel sound is short, the "equation" is as follows:

Low Class + Abrupt Syllable + Short vowel = High Tone

So reducing this to a more compact expression, we are left with the following two rules:

Low (L) + Abrupt (A) + Short (S) = High (H)..........ie (LASH or lash)

and:

Low (L) + Abrupt (A) + Long (L) = Falling (LALF)

So now we have covered all the tone rules. Check out the summary of all the rules below, along with a shortlist of words that effectively encapsulate the entire set of rules!

Summary of Tone Rules:

Middle Class+ Extendable = Middle Tone (memory)

Middle Class + Abrupt = Low Tone (mall)

High Class + Extendable = Rising Tone (her)

High Class + Abrupt = Low Tone (hall)

Low Class + Extendable = Middle Tone (lemon)

Low Class + Abrupt + Short Vowel = High Tone (lash)

Low Class + Abrupt + Long Vowel = Falling (lalf)



Or simply:

mall, memory

her, hall

lemon, lash, lalf

Putting the Tone Rules into Practice

Now when you look at a thai word, you will first ask yourself:

1. What's the consonant class?

2. What is the syllable type?

(3. If these are "low class" and "abrupt", then you must also check if the length of the vowel sound: Long or

Short.)

Then just use the simple set of words above, to determine the tone (mall, memory, her, hall, lemon, lash, lalf).

At first, it'll take some time, to decide what the tone is. But with practice, just from looking at signs and

writing, you'll be able to tell the tones automatically!

Notes about the terminology used:

We use the terminology abrupt and extendable here, to explain the two different types of syllables.

Different books use different words - below is a list of some:

Abrupt: Also known as "a closed" or "dead" syllable.

Extendable: Also known as "an open" or "live" syllable.

Summary Pages

Low Class Consonants



Middle Class Consonants



High Class Consonants

Thai Vowels



Numbers:



Tone Marks:

Other Symbols:

Tone Rules:

Middle Class+ Extendable = Middle Tone (memory)

Middle + Abrupt = Low Tone (mall)



High Class + Extendable = Rising Tone (her)

High Class + Abrupt = Low Tone (hall)

Low Class + Extendable = Middle Tone (lemon)

Low Class + Abrupt + Short Vowel = High Tone (lash)

Low Class + Abrupt + Long Vowel = Falling (lalf)

Congratulations on learning the Thai Alphabet, and on taking your most important step in learning Thai! We

hope that you enjoyed the book, and wish you the very best in discovering Thailand and her wonderful

people!

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