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Hello friends! If the title of this article suddenly seemed to you that I had doubts about the point of learning the Thai language, then you are right :) Indeed, there are things that do not motivate me to study the Thai language more seriously. Some of them I did not expect to encounter in the 21st century! If I had known this earlier, maybe I would have limited myself to “savadi-kha” and “kopkun-kha”.

But before I start criticizing, I’ll remind you and myself about the positive article written – from Russian and English. Well, now the whole truth after six months of studying :)

At first, learning Thai seemed like a necessity to me, since we live in Pattaya! But gradually the doubts became more and more, and now for me it’s just a hobby.

Challenges of learning Thai that you'll have to deal with

1. Thai alphabet

Thai has 32 vowels and 44 consonants, 4 diacritics to indicate tones and 8 more hooks for various purposes. Letter names consist of at least two words, for example: “go gay”, “may han agad”, “sara ay may malay”, etc. It turns out that you are learning not the alphabet, but the whole text!

Besides, in Thai, 70% of consonant letters have 2-3 sounds depending on the location in the word. In this regard, it is similar to Russian, but in the Russian language there are only 21 consonants and only some of them can be voiced or deafened.

And also there are invisible vowels“a” and “o” - you need to know when they appear in a word and when they don’t.

2. Pronunciation of sounds

The Thai language not only has long and short vowels, but also two variants of the letter "o" and the letter "e". But with consonants it’s a problem... There are two variants of pronunciation of the letters “t”, “k”, “p”, “d” - and even after six months of studying the language I won’t tell you how they differ.

Studying the Thai language: my tutor Titamon and I are learning Thai literacy on the site near
. Old drunk Germans walk past and interfere with our studies.

3. Key

But this is all nonsense compared to the tones. The Thai language has five tones: neutral, rising, falling, low and high. It will take more than one month until you learn to distinguish ascending from descending - which seem to be at different phonetic poles.

Mastering tones is the most important aspect learning Thai language. For example, the word "kao", pronounced in different tones, means "knee", "enter", "he" or "animal horn". And don’t try to pronounce “a” for a long time, because if you pronounce the word “kaao”, then the meanings, depending on the tones, will be “full of fish”, “news”, “rice”, “white”. And there are a lot of such words!

4. Keyboard

I have not yet been able to install the Thai language on my computer. I use the virtual keyboard. Because there are more letters than keys, they are arranged in different layouts, and it takes a long time to find the right letter. It's a small thing, but it's demotivating.

Problems of learning Thai that should not exist in the 21st century

1. Writing

I spent hundreds of baht on Thai language textbooks. But thanks to them one day)))

3. Lack of a market for teachers

To find a tutor, I scoured the most common forums of Pattaya residents on Russian And English languages, as well as several websites with advertisements for tutoring, including italki. I also looked for tutors on YouTube. There are very few offers, and those that exist start from 1000 rubles per hour! The amount is this because the few Thai language teachers have gone to America and Europe to join their husbands and even charge local rates on Skype.

I found my wonderful Titamon, which our readers fell in love with after, on Vkontakte. 1 hour of home lessons costs 500 baht. The same price for a private lesson is offered in.

4. Thais' inability to understand you

One day in Pattaya, Zhenya approached the saleswoman and ordered “gwai tiau” (a type of noodle). He said these words with the wrong tone. The saleswoman grabbed her heart and looked so horrified, as if he had cursed her for no reason. Naturally, she did not understand what he asked.

And all the students in my Thai group complain about this: and think that maybe you didn’t pronounce the word quite correctly (you’re a foreigner after all!) and meant something else. It’s easier for them to simply not understand you.

Thailand deservedly ranks first in the ranking of the most popular and adored resort countries by tourists. This is an ancient state that attracts tourists with its incredible landscapes, the world's best hotels and magnificent warm seas, as well as the Gulf of Thailand. Here you can provide yourself with a wonderful rest and recharge wonderful mood for the whole year. In order to get even more pleasure from your vacation, we suggest you use our Russian-Thai phrasebook, thanks to which you can freely communicate with the local population. It is divided into several topics.

Common phrases

Appeals

At the station

Walk around the city

In a cafe, restaurant

Emergencies

Numerals

In the shop

The main words are the words with which a conversation is started, greetings and farewells take place. This is a topic that contains the translation of words on which any conversation is based.

In a restaurant - if you get hungry, you will definitely visit a cafe or restaurant, besides, how can you relax in Thailand and not try national dishes. But before you order something, you will be wondering what ingredients are included in these dishes. This section contains translations of the words necessary for this, and other phrases that will not be superfluous when visiting a restaurant.

Questions – a topic that contains translations of the most important and frequently asked questions.

Where is)? – translation of questions that will help you find the place or establishment you are interested in.

Hotel. Complaints - if you are not satisfied with something in the hotel, open this topic and you will definitely find a translation of what exactly you did not like.

Shopping – translation of phrases that will be needed during a shopping trip.

Dating – want to make friends in Thailand? Then open this topic and choose suitable words to introduce you. Here you will definitely find where to start the conversation.

Cultural program. Where to go? What to listen to? – translation of phrases that will help you find out from local residents where it’s best to go and have fun.

Shops and consumer services– translation of store names.

Medical corner - if you feel unwell and decide to see a doctor, keep this topic at hand, all kinds of complaints are described here, by which the doctor will determine what is wrong with you.

Wishes – if you want to wish someone a good day, or a cheerful mood, in this topic you will find the necessary words.

Congratulations – would you like to congratulate your friends in Thai? Open this section and you will find congratulations for any occasion translated into Thai.

Greetings – don’t know how to say hello to a Thai person? This section will solve this problem.

Location is the translation of words that define the location of something: in, on, under, above, etc.

Sexual positions - if you decide to surprise your significant other with knowledge in intimate matters, and even by explaining the names of each position in Thai, this section will help you in this matter.

Insurance – insurance is an important component of a tourist trip. To formalize it, or resolve issues regarding it while in Thailand, use this section. Here are translations of phrases that will be useful to you.

Body, body parts - translation and pronunciation of words denoting body parts.

About love - translation of phrases that will make any person you like melt.

Transport problems - if you travel by car, a list of these words should be at your fingertips.

Toiletries - translation of the words that make up the complete hygiene set of any person.

Institutions, stations - a list of municipal institutions and stations that you may need during your vacation.

Fruits – if you want to buy fruits, it is advisable to know what they are called in Thai. Translations of many fruits are presented in this section.

Colors - pronunciation and translation of many colors and their shades, from Russian to Thai.

Numbers - every tourist must know how numbers are pronounced and translated from Russian into Thai.

Are you feeling a little nervous before traveling to Thailand and are worried that you don’t know English? Interested in questions: which official language in Thailand and how do Thais talk to foreigners? Will the locals understand you and do the Thais speak Russian or English? Just a minute of reading - and you will get answers to all these questions! You will also learn: interesting features Thai language and how to communicate easily if you don’t speak a foreign language.

Is there even an official language in Thailand?

Thai is officially recognized as the official language of the kingdom. There are more than 70 dialects throughout the state. Some of them are so changed that they are extremely remotely similar to classical, literary Thai. By the way, this is quite normal, given the impressive territories of the kingdom, its impressive history of development, the number of attempts at conquest by other countries and the massive migration.

Despite such ramifications of the official dialect, all residents of Thailand easily understand each other. Of course, when communicating with strangers, Thais try to stick to the “official” version.

Is Thai language difficult?

At first glance, it’s impossible to tell which are pictures and which are letters of the Thai alphabet. Incomprehensible squiggles, letters that look like birds, and the speech is completely reminiscent of a cat meowing in the spring. In fact, the Thai language is much simpler than Russian. It’s just that it’s completely different: the word is constructed completely differently, intonation is of great importance, and temporary meanings are constructed differently.

Do you want to show off your knowledge? Some expressions in Thai with transcription.

Will they understand me in English in Thailand? Do they speak English in Thailand?

With the growth and development of tourism, it is increasingly possible to meet a Thai who speaks English quite impressively. The meeting of such an individual can occur in the so-called tourist areas, in which everyone’s favorite Thai resorts are located. In other areas of the kingdom, English is rarely practiced.

Answering the question: Do Thais understand English language and speak it? You can answer unequivocally - yes, for the most part they are adapted for English-speaking guests. Another question is how clear will the information they want to convey be, given the global Asian accent?

Why do Thais speak with such a strange accent?

As already written earlier, the official language of Thailand belongs to a completely different language group, which has nothing in common with Indo-European. Accordingly, to pronounce words, Thais place their tongue differently oral cavity. English comes to them with great effort: heavy, incomprehensible grammar, almost unreal pronunciation, a strange, in their opinion, manner of reproducing sounds.

As a result, most often we can meet a Thai who speaks passable English, but does it with a terrible, difficult to understand Asian accent. From the experience of tourists, it can be noted that over time this nuance becomes familiar, their English speech easier to perceive.

We are talking about a typical case. Of course, there are Thais who know languages ​​at the native level.

Russian language in Thailand: do Thais speak Russian?

Along with English, Russian for a Thai is an explosive mixture of letters and sounds. But, despite this, many traders memorize certain phrases and, at any opportunity, “throw” them into the crowd, in the hope of getting a Russian, generous buyer.

Knowledge of Russian for a Thai is more of a myth than a reality. The most that Asian residents can please is hastily memorized words or phrases.

How to speak in Thailand if you don’t know the language at all

Ready to move from theory to practice? Fortunately, in the age of technology, you can easily communicate in any language in the world with just one device in your pocket - a modern smartphone.

Are you in a situation where you simply need to convey information in any language other than Russian? Use Google voice translator.

How it works?

You can write down a sentence in Russian online, by voice. The program will translate your speech and display it in the specified language, for example, Thai. For convenience, you can download any application and use it offline. Or use the online service from Google by asking “ voice translator online."

How to Read and Understand Signs in Thai

Another assistant that will brighten up your stay in Thailand is a photo translator.

How does it help?

By turning on the camera on your smartphone, when you point at any sign, pointer, or just foreign word, the online translation is displayed on the device screen.

Installing such a program in advance will not only allow you to understand what is written on the signs of establishments, but also to understand the Thai menu, which is extremely rarely translated into Russian.

Some more warnings and useful information regarding the language in Thailand

1. You should not raise your voice in an attempt to convey information to your interlocutor. If a Thai does not understand Russian, even at higher decibels he will not understand it. Thais are very peace-loving people. Any loud behavior may be regarded as an insult or an attempt to attack.
2. When communicating with the police, if you have violated something, use online translator. Be resourceful. The thing is that Thai police like to “take a little more” from someone who doesn’t speak any language at all. foreign language. By the way, “agreeing on the spot” with any policeman is a common thing in Thailand. To avoid any fines and misunderstandings, we recommend that you refer to the section on country laws and fines.
3. If a Thai speaks English, but you don’t understand anything, don’t be shy and ask him to speak a little slower. Often, in conversation, Thais switch to a kind of “Taiglish” - a mixture of English and Thai. All this, seasoned with a terrible accent, sounds extremely incomprehensible.

Don't be afraid to come to Thailand even if you don't speak a word of English. If you need to contact the locals, most of them will help, even if they don’t understand you. They will try to explain themselves on their fingers, call friends who speak your language.

Feel free to use auxiliary programs, translate menus and ask for information again if you misunderstood something. And remember, in any awkward situation - smile!

I am not a professional linguist, but I already speak English fluently, I understand a lot of words in Thai, I can even say a couple of phrases... for those interested, I also speak German :) So, my opinion will be from the philistine side, that I I hear it every day and how it all can be interpreted. Perhaps I will be wrong about something...

Thai compared to English and Russian is very Difficult language for studying. But I want to note that it’s a little easier for us (the Russian-speaking population) to teach it than for the Americans. At least because of the many matching sounds like “Y”. Not every European can move his jaw to make this sound. But we can. And yet, the Thai language is very difficult. As the smart books say, Thai is a tonal language.

Let me explain. The entire accent of the language is based on correct placement tones (emphasis) in words. It happens that words that sound the same, but are actually pronounced with different tonal variations, have completely different meanings.

Thai language textbooks for foreigners give this interesting example:

- May may may may may. — As we see in writing, all the words are the same (in Thai writing, all words are naturally different), but when pronounced, some have an ascending stress, some a descending one, some have an even tone, and others have a subverted accent.

As a result, such a sentence uttered by a Thai will be translated as “The new forest is burning, right?” Those. you need to remember not only what the word “May” means, but also its correct emphasis. Those who know German can make an analogy with memorization definite articles to nouns (Der, Die, Das).

To put it very roughly, almost all words in the Thai language have analogues in sound, but with a slight tonal deviation, such as castle and castle, and accordingly have different meanings.

This is the whole problem. Personally, I have no hearing. My wife often tries to teach me some Thai words, but to no avail. And all because of this damn tone.

Or another example. The word “banana” in Thai sounds like “kluay”, BUT this “L” in the word should be pronounced as quietly as possible, in fact not pronounced, but it should be there. I do not know how to explain it. The trick is that if you pronounce it purely “kuai”, then it will turn out to be “hui”. It’s not a dick, not a pussy, but a rough form of pronunciation of a man’s penis. Drivers often swear, “Oh, fuck you, where are you turning? Don’t you see I’m the first to run the red light!”

...don’t forget to talk about traffic rules...
(although it’s hard to tell, they don’t have traffic rules, the police fine all foreigners in a row, bitches, kuai every first policeman, fuck him in the ass).

I took a break from the language. He's complicated...

Not only is it complex, but the language is also dull and poor. The Thais made themselves an alphabet with 44 letters so that they could fucking pronounce one word with different tones. And to come up with different words - that’s a lot of memorization! And so “kluay and kuay, learn the difference” and fuck off to the market.

Even the latest degenerate in Russia to say “I’m going to take a shower” can leave the meaning of the phrase, but use a lot different words and word forms.

— I'm going to take a shower
- I'm going to wash myself
- I’ll go take a swim
— I would like to wash myself
- Take a shower
- Take a bath
- Cool off with some water

Well, I’m not the last degenerate from Russia, I found 6 different phrases to warn my beloved that I’m shitting and I stink, as a result of which I’m going to take a shower.
This is not the case in Thai. The main phrase here will be “Take a shower”, it can only be diluted with the pronoun I, We, You, Dog, neighbor (I hate my neighbor, that’s why he is in lower case, and Dog is in capital).

— I'm taking a shower
— You take a shower
— Is the dog taking a shower yet?
— The dog doesn’t take a shower!

Scarce! Very scarce!

Every morning I hear the same phrase, or rather a set of standard phrases that begin not with “Good morning”, but with “Take a shower” or “Are you taking a shower yet?”

The next morning phrase is “Are you hungry?”, and then “We are very, very late.” So I go hungry, eat lunch or have work in the morning... brrrr...

When I began to understand what and how the Thais were talking about... it would be better if I didn’t understand them. The same phrases, absolutely no variety! This is very difficult to explain and understand to a Russian person. With our cases, tenses, persons in verbs and endings. In Thai everything is simple: “I take a shower”, “I am”, “I drive a car”.

A rigid structure in the sentence helps them avoid confusion as to what exactly they are doing: “driving the car” or “the car driving them.” Almost like in English.

Noun + verb + ... what's going on there? Something is going on there.
I + drive + car.

A Russian person can say “I drive a car,” but in Thai it will be the same phrase “I drive a car.”

Since I am married to a Thai woman, sometimes I want to caress her in Thai, in the sense of saying something nice. But they only have “TiRak”, i.e. favorite All.
“Beloved, dear, sweetheart, sun, fish, bunny, bird, bring me toilet paper, otherwise I’ve done everything here,” any person who knows Russian can say.

In Thai: “Tirak, bring paper.” I make dirt." Even somehow the emotions are not the same. Well, I did it and did it. Well, it's dirty. Here's a paper for you... After the Russian phrase, I immediately want to add “Oh, you motherfucker, such an asshole!” and then move on to the animated chatter of two lovers about the degree of filthiness of the toilet.

Despite the fact that Thailand is very small... by the way, the Thais consider their country huge. When I told them that we can fly for 7 hours by plane just across Russia or travel for a WHOLE WEEK by train from one region to another - they couldn’t even imagine it... The Thais...
So, despite the fact that this is a small country, there are several dialects. I am personally familiar with three: standard Thai, which is taught by foreigners, northern and southern.

The southern one differs from the standard one only in the length of the syllables; they stretch them out.

I had a girlfriend, she came from the south of Thailand, and she said that upon arrival no one here understood her, that no one could understand her conversation. I asked for examples. I quote with translation:

— Hello (standard Thai)
— Prieeeeee (southern Thai)

The emotions are the same, but the differences are in the length of the sounds. I asked her to repeat this example again because I didn't understand the difference the first time. For me it sounded like “Hello” and “Hello.” What's the difference? Where is the misunderstanding that she encountered? If I were learning Thai, I would understand her perfectly, despite the differences in accents.

By the way, I already said that the Thais do not give any language concessions to foreigners, then I realized that they do not give them to their own people who speak a different Thai language.

Those. for example, if a foreigner tells me in very broken Russian “Piriveet!” I will understand! Because 1) he is a foreigner and I make him an indulgence in the language 2) based on intonation, situation and other parameters, I can conclude that he said hello and “Hello” and “Piriveet” were not so far from each other.

If I say “I want a banana” at a Thai market, they won’t understand me. This is the best case scenario. Or they might get offended, punch you in the neck and/or rape you... That’s why I don’t buy bananas at the markets.

Northern Thai is a little different from typical Thai. There are actually some words that are different. And it sounds like “village dogs barking.” This is understandable: the north is a poor part of the country, there are a lot of uneducated individuals there who come to Pattaya to conquer the heights in the Go-Go business.

The differences between Northern Thai and Standard Thai are the same as between Russian and Ukrainian. It seems like there are words that are consonant, there are identical words, and there are completely different ones. But in general, it is not possible to understand what they are saying.

I have already begun to distinguish when my wife (she is also from the north) is talking on the phone to someone from the north or from a richer area. Это знаете, как ниггеры разговаривают, у нее даже повадки такие же получаются и голос повышается, ведь надо ж через огороды орать. You can communicate with Bangkok Thais quietly, softly, pleasantly, I would even say.

(c) Vladimir Borozenets. Copying material.

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I recently started learning Thai. Still, when you live in a foreign country and don’t understand a word, you feel like a deaf-mute idiot.

It is often discussed on many websites and forums that learning the Thai language is almost impossible. Either you learned it since childhood, or you won’t master it anymore. This is because in this language there are 5 tonalities, that is, the same word has 5 absolutely, absolutely different meanings. And it seems almost impossible for our ears to assimilate and at least distinguish so many pronunciation options. However, many people teach, and within a year they begin to understand quite well what the Thais are saying. Alas, it is much more difficult to speak clearly ourselves. To be understood, you must initially learn the word along with its tonality.

I decided that I won’t go to the course yet. It’s still difficult to imagine that I will learn the alphabet from scribbles. Thai text is written from left to right without spaces between words, punctuation marks or capital letters. It contains 44 letters for consonants (although there are 28 consonant sounds themselves), 24 signs for vowels and diphthongs, and 4 tone change signs (each of which, in addition, has its own meaning, depending on the class of the consonant). Consonants are written horizontally from left to right, while vowels are written above, below, to the left or to the right of the corresponding consonant. All in all, a nightmare.

I had another idea - to learn the language the way children learn. After all, a child doesn’t first learn letters and how words are written? He hears phrases in everyday speech, associates words with objects, actions, and sensations. The child learns by communicating. So I went this way. When I decided to take a massage course, already in the first hour I realized that just lying there was terribly boring. And she began asking the masseuse different phrases and words. For some things, her general knowledge of English was enough (and she has it better than mine), she poked her fingers at some objects, and explained some things as best she could, with her hands, with gestures, as far as my imagination was enough. It turned out that I asked for a phrase, and then lay there and calmly digested it during the massage. Here you get an individual “lesson”; a sentence or word can be repeated many times until it works, and then repeat as much as you want to yourself. If you forget, ask again immediately. Even if you spend 10-15 minutes on memorization and repetition, which is not a little, because at home you will never be able to devote so much time to memorizing one word or sentence, then hour-hour 15 times of massage you can remember 4-5 phrases at least!!! Moreover, I really liked the Thai language. Unlike ours, where one word can contain ten letters, here the words are mostly literally one syllable, rarely two. Although sometimes there are those that are pronounced as whole sentences. But in this case, we are simply looking for simpler synonyms. Moreover, it is very easy for me to remember them, because some associations arise with each one. For example, I want something like “thin.” I immediately remember - “everyone wants to be thin”, thin - I want it. And I understand - “kotay”. Who is the most understanding? Cat! KOTAY understands everything...) I don't... mei ru. I immediately remember mail ru)

I don’t start my studies with the phrases “Mom washed the frame” or the alphabet. I don’t learn the stories “My Homeland”; I try to ask for those words and phrases that I will need in a store, on the street, when making acquaintances, or if I get lost.

Of course, I don’t know how correct my pronunciation is. And I suspect that a lot of what I say is completely wrong. But I can train right there, in the nearest shop, and see whether they understand me or not.
The best part is that I can already distinguish some words in a conversation (or I think I can))) and even managed to say a couple of phrases to an unfamiliar Thai and they understood me. It seems to me that if it doesn’t work out like we have in Russia with English, when everyone has been learning for years but can’t speak, this is exactly how it should be taught - in life, on the street, with neighbors, or simply by poking at an unfamiliar fruit or thing and asking name from any nearby Thai. And by the way, as soon as I started learning the language, they began to treat me completely differently. Because the Thais treat very well those who do not seek to bring their broom into someone else’s hut, creating national autonomies in the regions, but respect their culture, and, having chosen Thailand as their place of life, learn the language of the local residents.

Love the country, and it will love you back!

By the way, more than 25 million people speak Thai, so it might come in handy! However, there are four recognized dialects in Thailand, Northern, Northeastern, Central and Southern, although the most common is still Central.

When coming to Thailand, try to master at least basic phrases, this will endear you to the locals. Don’t be shy about asking them to correct you; don’t be afraid of ridicule; rather, you will receive a more respectful attitude in return. When addressing Thais, always add the prefix Kap or Kaa, it does not depend on the gender of the person you are addressing, but on yours. That is, a man should always say kraap, and a woman should always say kah. This prefix indicates your good manners and respect for your interlocutor.

When contacting a Thai, find out their names. However, most likely full name They won’t tell you, they’re afraid of something like the evil eye. So women will most likely call themselves “Si”, “Su” and so on. Before a name, when treating a person with respect, both men and women are addressed with the prefix khun.

Basic words and phrases in Thai, found on websites for learning Thai:

Hello - SAVAT DI KHRAP(KHA)

Goodbye - LA: KO:N KHRAP(KHA)

Thank you - KHO:P KHUN KHRAP(KHA) Thanks a lot khop khun maak

How are you? How are you? - KHUN SABA:Y DI:MAI KHRAP(KHA)

How much does it cost?- RA:KHA: THAURAI KHRAP(KHA)

I don't want - PHOM (CHAN) MAY AU KHRAP (KHA)

Sorry - KHO: THO:D KHRAP(KHA)

I don't understand - PHOM (CHAN) MAI KHAU TAY KHRAP (KHA)

Good luck - CHO:K DI: KHRAP(KHA)

mai dee – bad, no good

dee maak – very good

bai cha cha – drive slowly

bai rew rew ​​- drive fast

trong bai - straight

liew sai – to the left

liew kwaar - to the right

pood thai mai dai – I don’t speak Thai

…yoo thi nai? - where is..?

prung nee - tomorrow

wan nee – today