Learn about the top five Thai mistakes to avoid
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Thai Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn the top 5 Thai pronunciation mistakes to avoid. |
| These are common mistakes that Thai learners tend to make. |
| So pay close attention and make sure that you don't make these same mistakes too. |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| CAN'T DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN ROLLED Ror-Ruuea (ร) AND UNROLLED Lor-Ling (ล) |
| Many learners cannot differentiate their Thai Rs and Ls, mainly because they cannot produce the rolled R sound. You cannot use the English R from 'right', to approximate the Thai R either. Instead, the English R will be rendered like an L sound. Essentially making it no different as to whether you're saying 'right' or 'light' to Thai speakers. |
| If you can't contrast the sounds clearly, you might mistakenly say the word for 'stealing' |
| ลัก stealing |
| instead of the word for 'love' in Thai. |
| รัก love |
| As you can see, it's crucial that you do not make this mistake. |
| To correct this problem, you'll have to learn the proper way to pronounce the rolled R sound in Thai. |
| But don't worry, stick with us, and we'll teach you the trick to pronouncing this sound in lesson 6. |
| RELEASING FINAL CONSONANTS |
| Unlike some languages such as English, all final consonants in Thai are unreleased. |
| Take the previous example for love. |
| รัก love |
| Do you notice how air in the final K sound is not expelled? This is true for *all* final consonants in Thai words. |
| If an English speaker were to attempt to say this however, they would tend to say something like 'ruck'. It's a natural habit to release the final consonant sound. |
| In order to pronounce this word properly however, you want to stop just as the back of the tongue contacts the roof of the mouth. *Never* release the air of final consonants in Thai words. |
| MISPRONOUNCING The NGAAW-NGUU SOUND (ง) |
| ง |
| This is a really common sound in Thai, so it's important that you can pronounce it correctly. This sound exists in English too, it's simply the NG sound in words like 'sing' or 'ring'. Unlike English however, this sound can exist at the *start* of a word in Thai. |
| Practice by first saying 'sing' and then bouncing off of the word. Next, say the word 'sing' internally in your mind. Do not pronounce the SI sound, but *do* pronounce the NG sound. Gradually, try to isolate the NG sound by itself. |
| We'll cover this sound in more detail in lesson 4. |
| MISPRONOUNCING PHAAW-PHAAN and BPAAW-BPLAA and SOUND (พ and ป) |
| These are two P like sounds. |
| พ |
| ป |
| The first is like the P in 'pan', while the second, is like the P in 'span'. English does not differentiate between these two P sounds, but Thai does. The first P sounds like a traditional English P that you would recognize. The second P is trickier, sounding like a soft B sound. It is *not* the same as the B sound however, which is much harder. |
| This P sound is said without aspiration. Meaning, you should not release a burst of air when pronouncing this sound. |
| Place your hand over your mouth, and compare the words 'pan' and 'span'. Note how there is a burst of air in the first P, but none in the second. |
| We'll take another look at these sounds in more detail in lesson 5. |
| USING THE WRONG TONE |
| Thai is a tonal language. Tone is just as important as spelling in Thai, as it can be used to distinguish the meaning of one word from another. |
| Thai is comprised of 5 tones in total, i.e. middle, low, falling, high, and rising tones. |
| Mai ไม(middle) - Mile, |
| Mai ใหม่ (low) - New, |
| Mai ไม่/ไหม้ (rising) - Not or Burning , |
| Mai ไม้ (high) - Wood or question word when asking, |
| Mai ไหม - silk. |
| There are no shortcuts to learning Thai tones. The only way is to practice speaking and listening to Thai regularly. Imitating words in different tones, like the one in this example, is a very useful way to practice. We'll teach you all you need to know about Thai tones in lesson 8. |
| Now you know the top 5 Thai pronunciation mistakes to avoid. |
| Try to be careful so that you don't commit these same mistakes. |
| In the next lesson, we'll start learning Thai vowel sounds. |
| What's your biggest challenge with Thai pronunciation? Is it one of these top 5 mistakes? |
| Let us know in the comments. |
| Stick with us and you'll overcome it quickly! |
| See you in the next Ultimate Thai Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
Comments
HideWhat's your biggest challenge with Thai pronunciation? Is it one of these top 5 mistakes?
Hi keith,
Thank you. Practice more, mistake make you lean. If you can not learn then copy the sound from a native speaker around you or from social media that you can listen to. Don't give up นะคะ 👍
สวัสดีค่ะ
ปริษา Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
I WANT TO SPEAK THAI CORRECTLY. THE TONES GET ME ALL THE TIME. I'M EITHER NOT ENOUGH OR TO MUCH
Hello Khun Birthday Cat,
Thank you. In case of steal someone love we used "ขโมย หัวใจ kà-mooi hǔua-jai kǎawng kun steal your heart" instead of ลัก lák.Hope that’s helpful. Please let me know if you have any future questions. I will be glad to help.
Have a good day.
ปริษา Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
It's funny how "steal" and "love" can be so similar. You can play with words and say "I steal your love" 😈❤️️
Hello David,
Thank you. Did you study our Thai alphabet made easy video series? If not please check them out. https://www.thaipod101.com/lesson-library/thai-alphabet-made-easy/
Please check them out. Let me know if you have question. I will be glad to help.
Have a good day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
When reading a word in Thai script, how do you know which tone to use?
Hello Elizabeth,
Thank you for comment. Can you rolling "r" sound? Any technique you would like to share with everyone here? Please check them out. Let me know if you have question. I will be glad to help.
Have a good day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
Rolling sounds
Hello Taz,
Thank you for comment. Yes, I understand your obstracle. Our Thai alphabet made easy lesson can help you out. Please check them out. Let me know if you have question. I will be glad to help.
Have a good day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
Mastering the tones is my biggest challenge, also recognizing the tones when my Thai friends speak.
Hello Kenn,
Thank you for your comment. Practice by roll your tongue to touch the palate and blow air out, let the tip of your tongue flowfollowing an air. Then say examples words we're provided. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I will be glad to help.
Have a nice day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
I still can not figure out how to roll my R's in Thai. Will all the Thai R's have the rolling R sound? Like รั ร and ระ ?
Hello Michael,
Thank you for comment. Listen to more and try to copy would be a good idea. Good thing is that we kind of drop it in daily conversation. Hope that helps. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I will be glad to help.
Have a nice day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
being from Boston the letter 'R ; is extremely difficult
in thai this could be more difficult
what would be a better way to pronounce this in thai
Hello Alex,
Thank you for sharing. We're welcome. Hope that helps. Please feel free to let me know if you have questions. I will be glad to helps.
Have a nice day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
Learning not exhale with "B", I'm practicing, and it's tricky, but great to know. I find it easy to roll my "r" because of German language, as they trill "r".
Hello Jackie,
Thank you for comment. You can keep practice and find chance to talk to Thai person, so you can have them correct you. If you are a premium plus member I can send you audio and check your audio of how you sound as well. Hope that helps. Please feel free to let me know if you have questions. I will be glad to help.
Have a nice day.
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
Still can't pronounce ร correctly 😅😅😅, when I try to say รถบัส, others won't understand😭😭😭
สวัสดีค่ะ Megha,
ขอบคุณค่ะ เรายินดีเสมอค่ะ มีอะไรถามได้นะคะ
สวัสดีค่ะ
Parisa
Team ThaiPod101.com
ขอบคุณมากคะ 🙏🙏🙏