The Almighty Five Tones in Thai Lesson (click on the words)

The biggest problem for us foreigners who learn Thai is that we are not used to phonetic languages. In many Asian languages a word that is spoken with a different pronunciation can have a different meaning. In this episode we focus on the five different tones that are used in the Thai language. As an example we use the word “mai”.

Here are the different meanings and uses of the word:

The word mai:

  • is used to form other words if you say it with a middle tone
  • means “new” if you say it with a low tone
  • means “no” if you say it with a falling tone
  • is used at the end of a sentence to make it a question if you say it with a high tone
  • means “silk” if you say it with a rising tone

We also have a podcast lesson for this that I will post tomorrow together with some more updates regarding the site and premium content.

 
icon for podpress  Learn to speak the five tones in Thai: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (Right Click & Save Target As)

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