"Starting on this page, I will be giving you some introduction lessons to reading Thai characters. Now, before I proceed, I don't want to pretend I am an expert or anything. I am still struggling with reading children's books. But, I will attempt to teach you how to read in much the same way I learned. If you haven't already, take a look at Nattawud's Thai Alphabet page."

- Richard Barrow (Sriwittayapaknam School).

LESSON 1: English words in Thai. This is the easiest way to start. Alongside each English word you will see a Flash play button. Click on it to see how a Thai student pronounces the word.

GAME	This is Gor Gai. It has a "g" sound.
This is a vowel. It has a short "eh" sound.		This is Mor Ma. It has a "m" sound.

The first thing to understand about Thai is that the vowels can be above, before, below and even all around a consonant! This may sound confusing at the moment but you will soon get used to it. In the above example, you start with the consonant which is a "g" sound. Next comes the vowel which is the first letter (don't worry about it) and finally the "m" sound. This is the Thai version of "game" which comes out closer to "gem" with a hard "g".

MENU	This is Mor Ma. It has a "m" sound.
This is a vowel. It has a short "eh" sound.		This is Nor Noo. It has a "n" sound.
	This is a vowel. It has a long "oo" sound.

The next word has the same rules. Start with the consonant which happens to be the "m" sound. Attach to this the vowel so you end up with something like "meh". Thais usually split their words up when they speak English so you should do the same here. The next consonant is the "n" sound. This time the vowel is below (honestly it will make sense later). This is the long "oo" sound. Attach it to the consonant and you will get "noo". So, for "menu", Thai people will say "meh-noo".

NUDE
This is Nor Noo. It has a "n" sound.		This is Dor Dek. It has a "d" sound.
	This is a vowel. It has a long "oo" sound.

I threw this one in just to show you that the sounds sometimes do start with the first letter! The consonant and the vowel on this one should already be familiar to you. Just end the sound with a "d". In Thai, "nude" sounds more like "nood". When I first started teaching English to Thai students, I soon noticed that they never opened their mouth for the last sound of words like "map", "cat" and even "dad". So, make sure you do the same when you speak Thai! Keep your tongue against the top of your mouth when you say the "d" sound at the end of this word.

TAPE
This is a vowel. It has a short "eh" sound.		This is Por Pla. It has a "p" sound.
	This is Tor Tahan. It has a "t" sound.

By now you should be getting used to it. Start with the consonant which is the second letter. This has a "t" sound. Attach the vowel to the consonant and you will end up with "teh". Finish with the "p" sound. Don't forget what I said before. Make sure your lips stay closed when you finish saying "tep". I want to add here, that for me "Por Pla" should really be "Bor Bla" as it is closer to a "b" than a "p". But, the official name is "Por Pla".

Ping Pong
This is a vowel. It has a short "ih" sound. This is Por Pla. It has a "p" sound.
This is Por Pla. It has a "p" sound.		This is Ngor Ngoo. It has a "ng" sound.
This is Ngor Ngoo. It has a "ng" sound. This is Or Ang. It has a "oh" sound.

The last one for this lesson demonstrates how two words are joined together. When you first start to read Thai it is a little confusing about where one word finishes and the next starts. But, after a short time it should become obvious. For the first word you have a new vowel which is above the consonant "p". Ngor Ngoo is very difficult to say when it comes at the start of a word. Luckily it is at the end here so you should have no problem saying "ping". The second part doesn't have any of the vowels though Or Ang is a bit like an English one. Again, you should easily read this one as "pong". Like I mentioned before, I find Por Pla to be a harder sound closer to a "b". So, a Thai would say something more like "bing bong".

[Go to Lesson 02]