Thai/Adding vocabulary with word association
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[edit] Learn by association
Here are some Thai words that sound something like English words, and so can be easy to remember. It helps if you create a vivid image in your mind connecting the meaning of the word with the sound. Concentrate on it for a few seconds, and test yourself or at least revise it later on, to fix it in your memory. It may help if you use stories.
Some of the associations presented are slightly 'off the wall'. Some have a lavatorial humor to them. This is not intended to offend. For me such things make the learning 'more fun' ( mor fun = DENTIST ).
This will give you a head start, but you still need to learn pronunciation and tones.
[edit] Notes on spelling
These are given in romanised spelling, but it is recommended that you learn to read and write Thai using Thai characters.
There is no official standard way to write Thai in Roman characters. Pronouncing Thai correctly can be a challenge. As in most languages pronunciations vary regionally. One of the most common confusions arises, because many Thais find it difficult to pronounce the 'R' sound and pronounce 'L' instead. This page tries to present actual English words which sound as close as possible to how the Thai word sounds.
Most dictionaries and language courses provide some very contrived 'Romanised' spellings. These are groups of Roman characters, which are supposed to represent a Thai sound. Since these groups of Roman characters often don't appear as real English words anyway, the student is still left trying to puzzle out how they should sound ( hence the great value of taped conversations which accompany some language courses ).
[edit] Suggested associations
These are only suggestions - take what works for you, and make new ones, as long as it works.
| English Word | Thai Word | In Thai Sounds Like | Typical Dictionary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crazy | บ้า | Bar / Bah | Ba |
| Noodles (*1) | บะหมี่ | Barmy | Ba Mee |
| Pig / Pork | หมู | Moo | Moo |
| Chicken | ไก่ | Guy | Gai |
| Crab | ปู | Poo | Pu / Bpoo |
| Vegetable | ผัก | Pack | Pak |
| Mushroom | เห็ด | Head | Het |
| Onion | หัวหอม | Warm | Hua hom |
| Chili | พริก | Prick | Phrik |
| Hot (spicy) | เผ็ด | Pet | Phet |
| Cool | เย็น | Yen | Yen |
| Cold | หนาว | Now | Nao |
| Excrement | ขี้ | Key | |
| Hair | ผม | Pom | Phom |
| Ear | หู | Who | Hu |
| Eye | ตา | Tar | Taa |
| Eyebrow | คิ้ว | Queue | Kiu |
| Mouth | ปาก | Bark | Pak |
| Tooth | ฟัน | Fun | Fun |
| Doctor | หมอ | More | Mor |
| Dentist | หมอฟัน | More fun | Mor fun |
| Finger | นิ้ว | New | Niu |
| Arm | แขน | Can | Khaen |
| Back | หลัง | Lung | Lang |
| Leg | ขา | Car | Kha |
| Armpit | Chocolate (*2) | ||
| Drive | ขับ | Cup | Khap |
| Car | รถ | Rot | Rot |
| Traffic Jam | รถติด | Rot Tit | Rot Dtit |
| Go | ไป | Bye | Bai / Pai |
| Go away | Bye, Bye (*3) | ||
| Come | มา | Ma | Ma |
| Here | นี่ | Knee | Ni |
| Come here | มานี่ | Money | Ma ni |
| Dog | หมา | Ma | Ma |
| Horse | ม้า | Ma | Ma |
| Ghost | ผี | Pee | Pi |
| Day | วัน | One | Wun / Wan |
| Two | สอง | Song | Song / Sorng |
| Four | สี่ | See | Si |
| Five | ห้า | Ha | Ha |
| Seven | เจ็ด | Jet | Chet |
| Eight | แปด | Bet | Bhet / Paet |
| Ten | สิบ | Sip | Sip |
| Many / Much | มาก | Muck (*3) | Muk / Maak |
| Colour | สี | See | Si |
| White | สีขาว | See Cow | Si Khao |
| Black | สีดำ | See Dumb | Si Dam / si Dum |
| Pink | สีชมพู | See Shampoo | Si Chomphu |
| Blue (light blue) | สีฟ้า | See Far | Si Fa |
| Rice | ข้าว | Cow | Khao |
| Fried Rice | ข้าวผัด | Cow Pat | Khao Phat |
| Sweet Corn | ข้าวโพด | Cow Pot | Khao Phoht |
| Bean | ถั่ว | Tour | Thua |
| He / She / They | เขา | Cow | Khao |
| Cigarette | บุหรี่ | Bully | Buri |
| Ash Tray | ที่เขี่ยบุหรี่ | Tikka Bully | Thi Khia Buri |
| Cigarette Lighter | ไฟแช็ก | Fire Check | Fai Chaek |
| Don't / Not | ไม่ | My | Mai |
| Know | รู้ | Loo | Ru |
| Bad Smell / Stink | เหม็น | Men | Men / Menh |
| Lemon / Lime | มะนาว | Man Now | Manao |
| Scorpion | แมงป่อง | Man Pong | Mang Pong |
| Frog | กบ | Cop | Kop / Kopf |
| Bird | นก | Knock | Nok |
| Leaf | ใบ | Buy | Bai |
| Lane | ซอย | Soy | Soi |
| House | บ้าน | Barn | Baan |
| Village | หมู่บ้าน | Moo Barn | Moo Baan |
| Hotel | โรงแรม | Wrong Room (*4) | Rong Raem |
| Shop | ร้าน | Ran | Raan |
| Mountain | ภูเขา | Poo Cow | Poo Kao |
| Who | ใคร | Cry | Krai |
| Gold | ทอง | Tong | Torng |
| Straight Ahead | ตรงไป | Tong Pie | Torng Bpai |
| Meet | พบกัน | Pop Gun | Pop Gun |
| See | เห็น | Hen | Hen |
| Watch (as in TV) | ดู | Do | Doo |
| Beach | ชายหาด | Shy Heart | Shai Hart |
| Sand | ทราย | Sigh | Sai |
| Powder / Flour | แป้ง | Bang | Bpairng / Paeng |
(*1) Ba Mee are egg noodles, as opposed to plain noodles, which are called Kwae Teow among other things.
(*2) In reality the Thai for armpit sounds more like Chuckerlair, but until you get used to the nuances of Thai, it will sound much like chocolate with the 't' slightly softened. Chocolate is also easier to remember than chuckerlair.
(*3) Some Thai words are repeated for emphasis. So for example if 'go' is 'bye', then 'go away' is 'bye, bye'. Usually this is not an unfriendly 'go away', but if the person you are with is trying to get you to get a move on, they may say 'bye, bye'. note I have put a comma between the first bye and second bye, this is because there is a slight pause between them. Also the word for 'many' is 'muck', if there are really a lot, then a Thai may say 'muck muck'.
(*4) I will admit that the 'Room' bit of 'Wrong Room' is stretching it a bit, but it is easy to remember as a start point for learning, and who knows how to pronounce 'Raem' anyway, if they've never heard it spoken.
[edit] Use stories
Making up little stories can help you remember the words. At first this takes a little thought, but later becomes second nature, especially where the association has a touch of humor to it.
Here are some examples of the kind of story you can make up to help you remember.
'His old CAR was beginning to ROT'.
'She decided to exercise her LEGS, instead of taking the CAR'.
'There was no need to order them to "COME HERE", they came as soon as they saw the MONEY'.
'The Chinese love to BET, their lucky number is EIGHT'.
'You can SEE FAR when the sky is BLUE'.
The pronunciations are approximate and it takes practice to get them right. Although dictionaries show both 'DOG' and HORSE' as sounding like 'MA', they are in fact pronounced differently (different tones), hence the Thais know which one is being referred to.
[edit] Remembering tones
Tones are often difficult to learn for Westerners. There are several ways to help remember the tones:
- If it's too difficult, try your best but don't worry too much. Context will help people understand which meaning you intend.
- With constant practice and exposure to the language you may start to imitate the tones subconsciously.
- If you have trouble remembering which tone has which meaning, you might like to try using visualisation - imagine the thing high in the air, or falling or rising, or eye level (medium) depending on the tone.
Suggested images:
| Thai word & tone | Image (meaning in bold) |
|---|---|
| glai (falling tone) | Visualise a model plane. The plane glai (glides) down to crash near my feet. |
| glai (medium tone) | The plane glai (glides) far away from me at eye level. |
[edit] See also
- Writing lessons plan - includes a list of words that sound similar to English.
