Survival Thai. Jintana Rattanakhemakorn

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      Survival

      thai

      Survival

      thai

      How to communicate without

       fuss or fear INSTANTLY!

      by THOMAS LAMOSSE

       & JINTANA RATTANAKHEMAKORN

      TUTTLE Publishing

      Tokyo | Rutland, Vermont | Singapore

      CONTENTS

       Introduction

       Thai: Think Simple Sentences

       Sound system and pronunciation guide

       How a Thai sentence works

       PART 1 Getting Started

       Common Expressions and Phrases

       Common Actions and Movements

       Essential Questions Words

       Useful Phrases

       PART 2 Everyday Conversations

       Introductions

       Getting Around

       At the Hotel

       In the Taxi

       At the Restaurant

       Shopping

       At the Workplace

       PART 3 Situations, Making Plans, Sightseeing

       On the Phone

      Emergencies

      Counting

       Money and ATMs

       Telling Time

       Days of the Week

       Months of the Year

       Common Objects

       Air Travel

       Modes of Transport in Towns and Cities

       Traveling by Bus and Train

       The Weather

       PART 4 Exploring Thailand

       Public Holidays and Festivals

       Popular Tourist Destinations

       PART 5 Vocabulary List

      INTRODUCTION

      Thai: Think Simple Sentences

      Thai is unlike English in many ways. You may be afraid of Thai at first because of the tones and many odd sounds we do not have in the English language but Thai sentences are very easy.

      Most Thai people do not expect a foreigner to be able to speak Thai language. However, they are always surprised if you can say a few sentences. With a fair amount of survival phrases, you will find it a lot easier to get discount at the markets, to order food and to travel around Thailand.

      Note: Please read through the rest of this Introduction to help you understand that Thai is a tonal language and if you say a word correctly but with the wrong tone you will not be understood. You need this essential background on tones and odd character sounds in order to communicate.

      Sound system and pronunciation guide

      In this introductory section, you will find guidelines for the correct pronunciation of each Thai vowel and consonant. Throughout the book, each time a Thai word or phrase is used, romanized pronunciation is presented in parenthesis (….), and also a hyphen mark “–” is included for a syllable break within a multi-syllable word.

      THAI CONSONANTS

      There are 44 consonant characters in Thai representing 20 consonant sounds.

      THAI VOWELS

      There are 18 single vowels in Thai. Thai vowels have two “sounds”; short and long.

      1. Short vowels

      There are nine “short” vowels:

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      2. Long vowels

      Each of the short vowels above has its long counterpart:

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      Note: The letter “อ” in Thai can be pronounced a, e, i, o, or u, depending on where it appears. For example:

อ่าน àan/a/ as in at
เอ็ด èt/e/ as in egg
อิ่ม ìm/i/ as in it
อ้วน oûan/o/ as in on
อุ่น ùn/u/ as in up

      ENDING

      When these consonants appear at the end of a word, they are not voiced aloud.

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      TONES

      Thai has only five distinctive tones; mid, low, falling, high, and rising. They all carry tone marks except for mid-level tones. The pitch of a particular word changes its meaning.

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      How a Thai sentence works

      Thai grammar is very simple when compared with English or other European languages. Basic Thai word order is regular with every sentence structured by “subject-verb-object” order like English. But most Thai words are not modified or conjugated for tense, person, possession, singular or plural, gender, or subject-verb agreement. Also, determiners such as a, an,

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