When visiting a foreign country it is always a good idea to learn some words. You probably won't need to use much if you stick to the main tourist destinations. However, the Thai people you encounter will be impressed for sure if you try and use a little Thai with them. Before you start, I need to warn you that Thai is a tonal language so unless you "sing" the word in exactly the right way, you probably won't be understood. That's why learning Thai from a phrase book and some websites are, more often than not, a waste of time. It's always better to learn face to face with a native Thai speaker, which is why we set up "Thai Conversation" and this page on our Krua Lime website.

 

Just to get you started, here are a few language tips:

 

Whenever you speak the Thai language, you should end the sentence with the word khrab if you're a man and kha if you're a woman. You should say it after sawasdee (the traditional Thai greeting which means Hello, or Hi) and khob koon (Thank you). Sometimes we use khrab and kha for "yes". If you hear Thai people talk on the phone you might hear them say only "khrab khrab khrab" all the time.

 

If you want to speak Thai you should listen to the way Thai people speak English, because they will do it in a Thai accent! For example, they will tend to drop the letter at the end of the words: "important" will sound like "importan", "most" will sound like "mose", etc.

 

Thai people will also break the word up - for example, "sport" will become "sa-port", "summer" will become "sum-mer" and in this case Thai people will make the last part louder.

 

One of the most difficult things about speaking Thai is the tones because there are 5 tones to remember. These are low, middle, high, falling and rising. If you say it in the wrong tone, the word will have a different meaning.

 

There are some Thai words that most foreigners get wrong. For example, most people say "Ko Samui" for the islands. The word "island" should be pronounced with a short "Goh" sound. The popular Thai beer "Singha" is called "singer" by most foreigners. Really, you should say "beer sing"! One final example - "Siam Square" in Bangkok should be pronounced "Sa-yaam".

 

Vowel length is very important when you speak Thai. If you make the sound of a word longer you might change the meaning! 

 

It is very difficult to write Thai words using English letters. I think it is much better if you try and learn the Thai alphabet - it's not as difficult as it sounds, and you can do this in Premium lessons with me.

 

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