Introduction
[Click at the picture to enlarge.]
The picture 
above gives you a peek inside a typical
Thai elementary school room in rural areas and a look at some of the paraphernalia that
teachers use in teaching Thai kids to read and write. We have tried to capture some
of this atmosphere and authenticity to enable you to learn to read and write Thai in an
enjoyable manner on this web site and to better understand and appreciate Thai culture and
values. We want you to have a "feel of Thailand" and its remarkable
people. The key towards achieving this is your ability to become competent in the
language, both written and spoken.
The
contains a list of resources for learning the Thai system of writing. The first five
items provide practice in visual and audio discrimination of the pronunciation and the
names of consonants, vowels, the 20 "ai-mai muan words", tone
marks, and numerals.
For students interested in the historical development of Thai writing, images
of the earliest writing--that of King Ram Khamhaeng--are presented. You will also benefit
by seeing the Thai consonants arranged by
alphabetic order and shape.
You can also access pages of programmed text to teach you how to use a
Thai-English dictionary. Most students would agree that the one-page tone chart that shows
the relationship between syllable type and written and spokenThai is the most useful guide
there is in learning to read Thai syllables. Print out a copy to use when you are
reading from printed materials or signs.
Exercises in reading Thai signs,
presentation of Thai currency,
and a selection of different types of Thai restaurant menus allow you to learn to
read some practical items from authentic materials. There is a series of illustrated
Thai recipes that leads you through the procedural discourse of how to cook. Another
segment takes you to a Thai garden and a discussion of how to plant different vegetables
in a Thai garden.
Another practical set of reading materials centers around a collection of Thai maps and Thai proverbs. Should you want to
type in Thai, you can print out a map of the Thai
keyboard.
Finally, there is a link to
interactive beginning reading Thai in the form of a Thai primer
that portrays the life of a young school girl named Maanii, her family, pets, and
friends. It too has a menu of choices that will show you how the Thai writing
system works step-by-step and some basic grammatical structures as well. Many Thai
values and customs that are inculcated in Thai school children permeate the pages and thus
provide a direct and authentic appreciation of Thai culture.
Back to Thai Homepage....
Last modified: 03/04/08