Thai Language Program only $19.95

Learning Thai

Thai Drills are recorded first for listening, then for familiarization through repetition, and finally for participation. During the participation step, when the student performs the required manipulation, his utterances are confirmed on the audio immediately following the space provided for his participation.

Thai Drills are generally in two groups in any unit: a) variation drills on pattern sentences, which provide opportunities for the student to develop flexibility in the use of patterns already memorized, and b) grammar drills, which are intended to provide practice for the student in the operation of the patterns explained in the immediately preceding grammar notes.

The purpose of the Thai Language Program is to acquaint you with the significant features of the Thai sound system. 'Significant' , as used here refers to those features which distinguish words; for example, in English the words sit and set are distinguished only by the quality of the two vowels) therefore, we can say that vowel quality is significant in English (i.e. if you say sit instead of set, you may be misunderstood.) It is, therefore, important that you learn to hear and produce vowel quality. On the other hand, it doesn't matter whether you pronounce the vowel in hit long or short. You may find it a little harder to understand a Southerner who pronounces hit with a slightly longer vowel than you do, but you will not confuse it with heat, which has different vowel quality. We can see then that vowel quality is significant, but vowel length isn't in English.

The significant features of the Thai sound system referred to here relate to contrasts in pitch contour, length of vowels and diphthongs, aspiration of consonants, and syllable prominence.

In addition to the sound features referred to, you will be taught to read and write the special phonetic transcription which is used in the Thai Basic Course.

About the Thai Language

Thai, formerly called "Siamese" is a member of the Tai family of languages which are spoken by an estimated 70 million people dispersed over a wide area of Asia, from northern Vietnam to northern India.

Thai, with nearly 50 million first-language speakers, is the most important language in the Tai family, which also includes Lao, Shan, and some 15 million speakers in southwestern China. Despite common structural features, even closely related Thai languages are often mutually unintelligible because of phonological and lexical differences. Thai speakers were once thought to have originated from China and migrated southwards, but today the border area between northern Vietnam and China's Guangxi province is regarded as a more likely origin.

Thai is the national language of Thailand. Distinct regional dialects of Thai are spoken in the north, northeast, and south of the country, but the language of the Central Region is regarded as the standard and is used both in schools and for official purposes throughout the country.

Thai is a tonal language, with the meaing of each syllable determined by the pitch at which it is pronounced. Standard Thai has five tones - mid, low, high, rising and falling. Thai has no noun or verb inflections. Thai has a complex pronoun system, which reflects gender, age, social status, the formality of the situation and the degree of intimacy between speakers. Much of the original Thai lexicon is monsyllabic.

Thai differs radically from English and other European languages in being a tone language. In tone languages the meaning of a syllable is determined by the pitch at which it is pronounced. The Thai sound system also includes a small number of consonant and vowel sounds which have no close equivalent in English.