How to Speak Thai and Be Understood
Basic Rules and Techniques for Tones in Thai Language
Nov 22, 2008
So you’ve decided to learn Thai. Congratulations! Although it’s true that almost everyone you encounter in places like Bangkok’s Siam Center or Banglampoo speaks English, once you get off the beaten path in The Land of Smiles some Thai language will prove useful. People often like to hear a foreigner speak it and will readily compliment him for his efforts. But it can be hard to make yourself understood without some training.
Tones in the Thai Language
Thai is a tonal language. This means that the tone uttered will designate the word in addition to the combination of vowels and consonants. There are five tones in Thai: middle, low, falling, high, and rising. You should always, always pronounce a word in Thai with the same exact intonation. Do not deviate! Not an easy feat for many native English speakers, for instance, who use intonation for emotional emphasis or for forming questions.
Practicing Tones
Benjawan Poomsan Becker’s Thai for Beginners [Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Printing House, 2006] includes a guide to tones and the pronunciation of vowels and consonants before embarking on chapter one. The distinction between the five tones is emphasized and the learner is encouraged to listen to and produce the sounds. The CDs are essential to the program. Practice repeatedly, using the CDs with and without the accompanying text.
Thai Script
The Thai writing system contains 44 consonants and more than 17 vowels as well as tone marks! If you plan on studying Thai for any length of time, however, it would be wise to start learning the alphabet immediately. The consonants are divided into three different classes. The tone of a syllable is dependent upon the class of the initial consonant, the accompanying vowel, and the final sound (sonorant or final stop, if a consonant). Confused? Read on...
Transliteration
Trying to write – and read – Thai using the Roman alphabet is complicated. For this reason, no one seems to have agreed on one unique system. It’s hard to pronounce words correctly when reading transliteration. Thankfully, in addition to Poomsan Becker’s book and CD program, there are some good sites online that include audio samples. Thai-language.com has a bilingual dictionary with sound, and at Learningthai.com there’s a lesson called “Learn Tones” which includes audio.
Thai TV and Music
Even if you’re in Thailand, it’s useful to spend time watching TV and listening to music to familiarize yourself with the sounds of the language. Siamtv.org is a portal to dozens of Thai TV stations. Every Thai music video is karaoke, with the words below either in Thai script, transliterated Roman letters, or both. You can watch videos at YouTube. Pumpuang Duangjan is highly recommended.
Increasing your awareness of tones and practicing them will make your spoken Thai more understandable to the native speaker. Repeating exercises will give you the ability to distinguish between the five tones, and to produce them yourself. And Thai TV, films, and music will reinforce this skill. It is important to remember that in Thai, a change in tone can mean a drastic change in meaning – sometimes with humorous or embarrassing results!
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