Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

สวัสดีค่ะ, ดิฉันปรารถนาค่ะ! Welcome to Thaipod101.com’s ตัวอักษรไทย Made Easy!
The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn the Thai alphabet: ตัวอักษรไทย!
In the last lesson you learned the letters ช and ซ plus a pair of short vowels. Do you remember how to write them all?
In this lesson, you’re going to learn a pair of consonants, a pair of vowels, and a new tone rule. Ready to start? Then let's go!
The two new consonants for this lesson are both low class consonants. Can you list the other low class consonants that we learned? They are ม, น, ง, ย, ว, ช, and ซ.
The first new consonant for this lesson is พ (phaaw phaan). The word พาน (phaan) means a type of round tray that is used for making offerings. The sound of พ as the initial consonant of a syllable is "ph" like the P in "panda". You should feel air coming out of your mouth when you make this sound. As a final consonant, พ makes a dead sound as a "P stop" by closing your lips. พ looks much like the letter W or an upside down letter M.
Grab your pen, and let's practice writing it together. Down-up, down-up. พ See, it's easy!
The next letter looks almost the same.
This is ฟ (faaw fan). 'Fan' is the Thai word for 'tooth'. And as you can see, the only difference is that ฟ has the last line sticking out higher than the rest of the letter. The sound of ฟ as an initial consonant of a syllable is "f" like the F in "family". But as a final consonant, ฟ *also* makes a dead P-stop sound.
Let's write it together. Start with the head. Go down-up, down-up. And extend the last line higher.
You know that ฟัน (fan) means "tooth", and you already know all the letters to write it.
But do you know what tone ฟัน is?
That's right! It's mid tone because it has a low class consonant with a live ending.
Start with ฟ, add ไม้หันอากาศ above, then น. ฟัน
Ok! Now let's learn a new pair of vowels: สระ อุ (sà-rà ù) and สระ อู (sà-rà uu). They both make the sound "u" like the Os in "boot". The difference is สระ อุ (sà-rà ù) is short and สระ อู (sà-rà uu) is long.
Let's practice writing these two new vowels together. สระ อุ
สระ อู
These two vowels are written under a consonant. Like in the word ดู (duu), "to watch". This word has a mid tone.
ด, สระ อู... ดู
Here is the word ชุด (chút), which means a "set" or "outfit". . สระ อุ is just a little circle with a line coming down.
What's the tone of ชุด? It's a low class consonant with a dead syllable and a short vowel. That makes it high tone.
Okay, now you write it! Start with ช, then สระ อุ, and ด...ชุด
You've done a lot of writing today! Now let's move onto a new tone rule.
Low class initial consonant + dead syllable with a long vowel = falling tone.
Do you know how to say "very" in Thai? It's the word มาก (mâak), and it is said with a falling tone because of this rule.
A falling tone begins with a relatively high pitch that drops sharply. Listen carefully: มาก. Let's see how to write this word.
ม, สระ อา, ก... มาก
So, ม is a low class consonant. ก makes the ending dead, and สระ อา is a long vowel. According to the tone rule you just learned, it's a falling tone.
Let's try one more word...
พูด (phûut) is the verb "to speak".
Here again, we have low class, with a dead ending, and a long vowel. So พูด is also falling tone.
Okay, one last word to write for this lesson! พ, สระ อู, ด... พูด
Now it's time for Pradthana's Points.
Flashcards are a great way to practice reading. You can make a set of cards using all the the words you've learned so far. Put just the Thai script on one side, and have the reading and meaning written on the other. Make sure to include the tones too, so that you get used to reading the tone based on the spelling of the word.
Thai has more vowel sounds than English, and in the next ตัวอักษรไทย Made Easy Lesson you'll learn how to write a Thai vowel that the English alphabet just can't do justice to. See you there! สวัสดีค่ะ!

Comments

Hide