How can a beginner learn Thai?

4–6 minutes

To answer this question we have to start from your own goal, what is your goal? Do you want to be able to speak Thai or do you want to be able to read Thai as well?

If you are not interested to learn Thai consonants and its complex rules yet, then you can consider to learn speaking and listening as your first step as it will get you to speak Thai right away.

Thai transliteration

We cannot deny that to learn Thai in transliteration can be confusing sometimes as there are many ways around it. Some people and especially those who are fluent in Thai recommend to learn Thai consonants and how to read Thai as well. This way you can learn the word by remembering how it looks better, speak clearer and also has a very strong base for you to learn Thai more by yourself in the future.

Learn to speak Thai

Learning and (working on remembering) how to read Thai takes quite some time as there are so many rules behind it so my recommendations is to start learning with speaking and listening course first to learn to speak Thai right away.

Learn to read Thai

When you are familiar with the language and can have some conversation already, you can start to learn reading Thai, explore more vocabularies, build more sentences, practice writing to be able to chat in Thai and be eventually equipped with all skills (speaking, listening, speaking and writing) and work on the fluency.

Consider time when learn Thai

Time also really matters. If you go to Thailand soon and want to be able to speak Thai in a short time, we need to start with a speaking and listening Thai course first. On the other hand if you have time and no rush and feel like you want to be able to read Thai for sure as you plan to live in Thailand for a long time, you can start learning on the basics how to read and write in Thai and then work on speaking skill after if you prefer this way.

Concern on learning to read Thai

My only concern is that learning how to read and write Thai is definitely harder than speaking and listening in Thai. To spend time learning all the reading rules for hours before starting to learn how to have conversation could be too overwhelming and easily to give up on the way. But of course, if you fight for it, we can manage in this way together as well.

However, people have different ways to learn and also have different goals. So, we have to really consider the conditions of each learner.

Want to learn to speak Thai: Speaking and Listening course
Want to learn to speak and read Thai: Speaking and Listening course and reading and writing in Thai (Focus on speaking and reading)
What to learn all skills in Thai: Speaking and Listening course and reading and writing in Thai (Focus on all skills)

How can a beginner learn to listen and speak Thai?

Learn useful vocabularies in daily life through important topics such as greeting in Thai, how to introduce yourself, numbers, how to order food, how to talk about places, time and tense in Thai, etc.
Learn important grammar and how to form sentences in Thai.
Work on remembering vocabularies. Use flashcards to help with remembering. It doesn’t matter only how much you learn but it really matters how much you remember.
Build sentences and practice speaking in daily life when you have chance
Build your vocabulary library and extend your conversation by using them as we call know practice makes perfect.

How can a beginner learn to write and read Thai?

Get to know Thai consonants and vowels.
Learn the tone marks and main final consonants in Thai.
Learn and work on remembering Thai consonants in each class: middle, high and low classes.
Practice reading words from each class with writing to help you remember better.
Summarize the reading rules and make it stick to your mind.
Learn the changing forms of vowels and working on the familiarity.
Learn about consonant clusters and leading consonants.
Learn about signs in Thai
Learn the final consonants group and useful words with it.
Turn theory into practice with reading signs, menus, blogs, news, etc. Practice writing dairies in Thai and chatting in Thai, etc.

Summary

From my point of view as an experienced Thai teacher, to be able to speak Thai is the most important. So I would recommend the beginner to start learning speaking and listening Thai for 20-25 hours first and then learn reading, speaking and writing for 20-25 hours.

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