Thai language: how fast to learn?

Thailand attracts more and more Russians every year, who go there not only as tourists, but also for permanent residence. And many migrants are wondering how to learn Thai.

Why learn the language?

Before you ask yourself how to learn Thai, you need to decide what to do. Properly setting the goal will quickly learn to speak and prevent discomfort from the language barrier. It can be:

• journey;
• business;
• migration.

How to learn a language?

If the goal is clear, then we need to begin studying the lexical minimum. This concept was introduced by the Swedish polyglot Erich Gunnemark, who believed that learning any language should be mastered:

• Lexical minimum (about 400 words);
• Phrase minimum;
• Grammatical minimum.

The same can be said about the Thai language - words and the phrase minimum need to be taught thoroughly, in order to respond without reflection and hesitation. Practice shows that a day can teach from 10 to 50 words.

Features of Thai Language

Thai has the following features:

• Words are written together, only the sentences are separated by spaces;
• In it there is no inflection, that is, there is no decline, conjugation;
• The function and meaning of the word determines its place in the sentence;
• The meaning of the word also depends directly on the tone of the voice - a word spoken in a descending or ascending tone will have a different meaning (total in Thai 5 keys - descending, ascending, low, high and neutral);
• Most of the words - borrowing from Sanskrit, Pali, Old Chinese, Chinese and English languages;
• Vocabulary is very rich - depending on the context and stylistics of speech concepts can be expressed in different words.

Proceeding from the peculiarities, it is possible to learn Thai quickly and independently of a Russian speaker, but the process will have a number of difficulties. To avoid them, you must first try to listen to Thai speech, communicate with native speakers and practice a lot. The course "Thai for Beginners" includes the development of the alphabet, the correct use of tones and the study of the lexical minimum.

Alphabet and grammar

The alphabet of the Thai language is a mixture of the alphabets of three languages - Thai, Pali and Sanskrit. Total: 76 letters, some of which have the same pronunciation.

Grammar is the framework of any language, since it allows its speakers and foreigners to understand each other. But unlike Russian, in Thai there are no word changes, and the main thing here is the correct tone setting.

Thai: verbs

The list is made on the basis of the most frequently used words in English.

List of necessary words: adjectives

Required minimum words for the tourist

Thai for tourists includes the words necessary for travel around the country. When talking, you need to add at the end of the sentence: khrap (men) and kha (women). These words are analogous to the Russian ending , take it in verbs , have lunch , etc.

• Savatdi / Lakon - Hello / Goodbye.
• Kop-kun - Thank you.
• Sabay di May - How are you?
• Чью арай - What is your name?
• Phom whose - My name is.
• Khotkot - I'm sorry.
• Die tyi thi give phop khun - I'm glad to meet you.
• Mi khrai phut pahasa angkrit (ratia) - Does anyone speak English (in Russian)?
• Neither thao paradise? - How much is?
• May pheng / Pheng maak - Inexpensive / Expensive.
• No aray - What is this?
• Tai rum let me? - Can I take a photo?
• Yu thi nai? - Where is?
• Tea / Mei tea - Yes / No.
• Naam Plao - Water.
• Kafe - Coffee.
• Cha - Tea.
• Roon - Hot.
• Ian - Cold.
• Aroi maak - Very tasty.
• May the nets - Not sharp.
• Coached a check - Please score.

If you doubt the correctness of intonation when speaking, you can use an interpreter with an audio version, which can be downloaded to your phone or tablet beforehand.

Resources for learning Thai

When learning a language, one should not bypass the achievements of modern technology. These include everything related to the Internet:

Assistants in the study of the Thai language - it's like sites devoted to grammar and vocabulary, as well as sites with music and films.

• Channels on Youtube - the query in the search yields hundreds of answers for those wishing to learn Thai through user channels. But there are only a few leaders. Among them is a little girl Eve, who will teach the alphabet. On the next channel, you can go from the letters to the conversation and dialogues. On the channel of the teacher of the Siam Sunrise school you can learn to read in Thai in just 6 hours - 18 lessons of 20 minutes each. Instructor Anatoly Borets promises to teach speaking without accent with the correct setting of tones.

• Public and groups in social networks is another good way to learn Thai. Plus publicity is that here you can share knowledge or, conversely, learn new things from other people learning the language. One of the popular public places in the VC is called "Thai Language", which offers materials on Thai, films, links and music in the original.

• Apps on your phone and tablet. Learning a language is hard to imagine without digital materials, such as audio, video and vocabulary. Therefore, developers do not slumber and create programs that facilitate the study of the Thai language. IPhone owners can download the L-Lingo application, which allows learning the language through pictures and audio with pronunciation from native speakers. Test success is possible through tests. For owners of phones based on the "Android" OS, the application "Thai with Nemo" - 100 phrases, dictionary, phrase book and recording studio for pronunciation will allow you to learn the Thai language without problems.

There are many ways to learn a language. The main thing is to choose what is convenient for you and, after developing a plan, to follow it on a daily basis.