• Talking to the bank teller
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Introduction
The eleven lessons in Easy Thai contain everything the self-study learner needs for a quick, functional grasp of daily communicative Thai, without having to spend time attending language school or investing in expensive textbooks for formal study.
Each chapter focuses on a practical situation the visitor to Thailand may experience, through the character of Jim, an American who is visiting Thailand to study. As you follow Jim’s adventures you’ll learn how to communicate in a variety of realistic scenarios— from introducing yourself to friends and colleagues and ordering food at a restaurant to asking for help with health problems and carrying out simple transactions at the bank.
Key language for each new topic is introduced through a dialogue that presents new words and phrases in context. The dialogues are followed by a breakdown of key sentence patterns, simple grammar explanations, lists of related phrases and vocabulary, and practice exercises. An answer key for the practice exercises is provided at the back of the book. The accompanying audio contains recordings of all key dialogues, words, and phrases by native Thai speakers, so that you can practice correct pronunciation. A detailed pronunciation guide and information about the Thai script is also included on pages 8–11.
Along with cultural notes in every chapter, and an appendix containing glossaries of useful vocabulary, this book has everything you need to not only survive in Thailand but to enjoy interacting with the Thai people you meet and develop rewarding relationships. Happy traveling!
Jintana Rattanakhemakorn
The Thai Script
The Thai alphabet was created in 1283 by King Ramkhamhaeng and was probably derived from the Old Khmer alphabet. Thai has an alphabetic script with a few distinctive features – it has no spaces between words as well as no small and capital forms like the Roman alphabet. Each unit of the alphabetic script represents a sound.
In this book, you are primarily learning conversational Thai, but Thai script is included so that you can start to become familiar with the language in its written form. In this introductory section you will find guidelines for the correct pronunciation of each Thai vowel and consonant. Throughout the book, each time a Thai word or phrase is used, romanized pronunciation is included, using the sounds below.
The simplified set of instructions that follow will help the beginner in Thai, working alone, to achieve level of pronunciation sufficient for basic daily communication.
Thai Consonants
There are 44 consonant characters in Thai representing 20 consonant sounds. The following listing follows Thai alphabetical order. Of these 44 consonants, the two underlined are obsolete.
ก ข ฃ ค ฅ ฆ ง จ ฉ ช ซ ฌ ญ ฎ ฏ ฐ ฑ ฒ ณ ด ต ถ ท ธ
น บ ป ผ ฝ พ ฟ ภ ม ย ร ล ว ศ ษ ส ห ฬ อ ฮ
| Consonant sound | Consonant form (Thai word) | Sounds like |
| k | กิน kin | g as in go |
| kh | ขา khǎa | k as in kind |
| ng | งู ngou | ng as in singing |
| j | จาน jaan | j as in jet |
| ch | ฉัน chǎn | ch as in chat |
| s | ซื้อ súe | s as in sun |
| y | ยา yaa | y as in you |
| d | เดิน doen | d as in do |
| t | เต้น tên | t as in stop |
| th | ไทย thai | t as in teach |
| n | น้ำ nám | n as in nine |
| b | บาน bâan | b as in boy |
| p | ไป pai | p as in spot |
| ph | พ่อ phâw | p as in pan |
| f | ฟัน fan | f as in fun |
| m | แมว maew | m as in man |
| r | เรียน rian | r as in rat |
| l | ลอง lawng | l as in let |
| w | วัด wát | as in win |
| h | หิว hǐw | h as in hand |
Stop ending
When these consonants appear at the end of a word, they are not voiced aloud.
| Consonant sound | Consonant form (Thai word) | Sounds like |
| k | จาก jàak | g as in bag |
| t |