Learn how to write 4 letters: ก, ด, บ and long i
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| สวัสดีค่ะ, ดิฉันปรารถนาค่ะ! Welcome to Thaipod101.com’s ตัวอักษรไทย Made Easy! |
| The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn the Thai alphabet: ตัวอักษรไทย! |
| In the last lesson we learned 3 low class consonants ง, ย and ว. Do you remember how to write them? |
| In this lesson, you’re going to learn a few middle class consonants plus a new vowel. |
| Ready to start? Then let's go! |
| The first new consonant for this lesson is ก (gaaw gài). ไก่ (gài) means "chicken". This letter actually looks a little bit like a chicken's head with its beak pointing to the left. The sound of ก as the initial consonant of a syllable is "g". It is very similar to a hard G or an unaspirated K. |
| Do you remember live syllable endings from the last lesson? Well, ก makes a dead syllable ending instead. We can call the ending sound made by ก a "K stop", because all you do is stop the sound by closing off the passage of air at the back of your throat. It is like trying to say a "k" sound but without letting any air come out of your mouth. |
| ก is one of only two Thai consonants that doesn't have a head. To write it, just start on the lower left, go up and make a sharp hook, then come down on the right side. |
| Another middle class consonant is ด (daaw dèk). เด็ก (dèk) means "child". As the initial consonant of a syllable, ด makes the sound "d" just like letter D in "diamond". ด also makes a dead sound when it's the final consonant. We can call its sound a "T stop" because you stop the sound by closing off the air in your mouth by touching your tongue near your teeth. It is like you are trying to make a "t" sound without releasing any air. You can remember the shape of ด by thinking that the bottom is pointed like a diamond. |
| We write ด with a clockwise head in the center. The line continues to make a point, and the line bends around to the right side. |
| The third consonant you'll learn today is บ (baaw bai-máai). ใบไม้ (bai-máai) means "leaf". As the initial consonant of a syllable, บ makes the sound "b" like the B in "bucket". You can also think about the shape of บ as a bucket, which might help you remember its sound. We can call its ending sound "P stop" because we shut of the flow of air by closing our lips. Try making a "p" sound without opening your lips. That's what the syllable ending sound of บ is like. |
| บ is very easy to write. It's just like ม or น without a loop at the bottom. Start with a clockwise head and then add 3 straight lines. That's it! |
| Congratulations! You now know all of the final consonant sounds in Thai. I know what you're thinking... Don't we have a lot more letters to learn? We do, but all of the remaining consonants share one of the final sounds that you've already learned. So, no more new complicated final sounds! |
| Do you remember the first tone rule we learned? It was... |
| Low class initial consonant + live ending = mid tone. |
| One example was the word นาน (naan). |
| The next tone rule is very similar, so it will be easy to remember. It is... |
| Middle class initial consonant + live ending = mid tone. |
| Let's try using the middle class consonants we learned to make some words with this rule. But first I want to show you one new vowel. |
| This is สระ อี (sà-rà ii). It is a long vowel that makes the sound "ii" like the E-E in "green". สระ อี is written above a consonant. For example, here is the word ดี (dii), which means "good". We write the consonant ด first. And then put สระ อี on top. ดี is mid tone because it has a middle class consonant with a long vowel, which gives a live ending. |
| When writing สระ อี you should start on the right side and draw a line to the left, then make a curved line above that goes back to the right. Then a short vertical line. |
| Now let's write another word. Start with ก and add สระ อา. Together, that makes กา (gaa), which means "crow". |
| กา also has a middle class consonant with a long vowel, so it's mid tone. |
| Now you try to write it. ก,า...กา |
| Here is one more word. Can you read it? |
| It's บาน (baan) which means "to bloom". |
| บาน is also mid tone. Why? |
| Well, it has an initial middle class consonant and a live ending. |
| Let's write บาน together. |
| บ, สระ อา, น...บาน |
| Now it's time for Pradthana's Points. |
| Practice recognizing Thai consonants and vowels by reading through the vocabulary lists and conversation transcripts on ThaiPod101.com. You won't recognize every letter just yet, but it's great practice for the ones you *do* know, and you can start to get familiar with the shapes of the rest. |
| Do you know the Thai word for "washing clothes"? You'll learn how to read it while adding a new tone in the next ตัวอักษรไทย Made Easy Lesson. See you there! สวัสดีค่ะ! |
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