[Beginner version] You too will be able to read! Learn how to read Thai with Koh Kai

Hello, this is Macchan.

Thai pronunciation is difficult to learn to a native level, but the grammar is simple.

Therefore, it is not difficult to learn conversation at the level of greetings if you remember the pronunciation of the words. However, when it comes to reading and writing Thai characters, it's a different story.
For example, what are the words below? (Hint: Speaking of typical Thai dishes)

ต้มยำกุ้ง

↑This is the Thai name for ``Tom Yum Kung,'' a spicy and sour soup with shrimp.
You can't read the creeping characters you've never seen before, right?

I felt the same way until 3 months ago.

Learning to read unknown characters that you have never seen or touched before may seem like a tremendous struggle, but if you try, you will be able to read them. Speaking from my personal experience, I would like to tell you about my method of studying Thai (reading) and some tips.

No matter what, learn from Ko Kai first!

Source: From Travel Pointing Phrasebook Thai

↑Please see this image.

This is a table that summarizes the consonants of the Thai word "Koh Kai". There are a total of 44 consonants in Thai.



If you're wondering, "Huh? There are 50 sounds in Japanese, right? Is Thai language surprisingly flexible?" I'll say it again. This is just a consonant. There are many different types of vowels. Thai is different from Japanese because there are many patterns of characters that are written differently even though they have the same pronunciation. For example, the consonant that corresponds to "S" in English is

"ซ ส ษ ศ"

There are also four.

There are also many letters that have very similar shapes.
For example, "ช ซ" or "ต ค ด" .
"ค ด" is still difficult to write with this font size.
How about this?

"คด"

I feel like my heart is about to break at this point.
However, suddenly mastering all 44 consonants is impossible and reckless.

The first step in learning to read Thai is to "memorize characters that don't look alike."

Let's learn from unique characters that are not similar!

Many of the 44 consonants have similar shapes.

However, there are some characters that have shapes that are not similar to others. for example

"ก ย า ง ร"

Of course, they are still unfamiliar, but these characters are relatively easy for beginners to remember in the sense that they are not easily confused with other characters.

By the way, there is a very common word that is made up of just these letters.

「ยา」

This is pronounced "ya". "ย" corresponds to "Y" and "า" corresponds to "A". means medicine in Thai . You often see
"ยา" on the streets of Thailand

Do you know the menthol snuff medicine called "Yadom"?

It's that "Ya" part. "Dom" means to smell, so it's just that. This "ยา" (medicine) is also the first Thai word I learned to read. Although it was a word consisting of only two letters, I was certainly able to read it. This joy of being able to read is very important to continue studying. Please look for this sign when you go to Thailand.

Let's memorize the letters that represent the meaning.

Next, let's memorize letters that are easy to remember based on their shapes.
Do these Thai letters look like some kind of shape?

「ก」

I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought it looked like a bird's beak.

This character is "ko" which stands for "K". ``Koh Kai'' literally means ``Kho'' (K) of the word ``gai'', which means chicken in Thai. It's the "gai" part of everyone's favorite "Tom Kha Gai" and "Khao Man Gai".

The “ก” in “gai”, which means chicken, looks just like a bird! Now you can remember “ก” (ko)!

What about this other character?

「ง」

Doesn't it look like a snake...?

It's a bit painful lol. This is the character "ง" which represents the snake "ngu".

Hey, it looks like a snake, right? This character has a unique reading and is used to pronounce "●●ng".

Everyone's favorite "Chang Beer" is famous for its elephant symbol.
It corresponds to the ``ng'' of ``ช้าง Chang'', which

means elephant in Thai Now you can also memorize “ง”!

Wait a minute, I also saw the "า" in the elephant "ช้าง Chang(gu)" somewhere.

that's right. It's the "ah" part of the medicine "ยา (ya)" that came out earlier! Now you won't forget "า(ah)" anymore. Although this is a simple process, let's start with the easiest things to remember and get them into your head little by little.

Let's suppress frequently used words while traveling!

Frequently used words may vary from person to person, but one word that everyone has a chance to encounter is the Thai currency unit, the baht. This is how Baht is written in Thai:

「บาท」

The "า" in the middle was "ah".

The first character "บ" corresponds to "B", and the last "ท" corresponds to "T". Now, ``It's pronounced as Baht.'' When you see a number that might be a price at a Thai shop or product, try looking for a three-letter Thai word. You should probably be able to find this "บาท" (baht).

summary

The Thai script was supposed to be a sloppy script that I had never seen before, but I think it has started to feel a little familiar.

Let's review the characters that appeared this time again.

ยา (medicine)
ไ ก่ (chicken)
ช้ าง (elephant)
บาท (baht) If I could remember this, I would be able to suppress 6 of the 44 consonants.

It's a slow step, but if you get used to the letters one by one, you'll definitely be able to read them. Next time, I would like to introduce how to study reading words and sentences after you can read letters.