For most native English-speakers, learning Thai presents unique challenges, since it is a tonal language and may almost seem more like singing than speaking. Practicing with, listening to, or imitating a native speaker is key in learning the rhythm of this language.
There are five tones in spoken Thai: a low, middle, high, falling and rising tone. The meaning of a word changes depending on the tone. The five tone markers affect the meaning of words. For example, "pa" may mean "the throw," "aunt" or "forest," depending on its tone.
The length of vowels largely depends on the particular word spoken. There are no inflections in Thai to indicate a question, a request, a suggestion or a command, so word order is essential in order to convey a speaker's voice or mood.
Men and women speaking Thai often use different phrases specific to their gender. A novice speaker should be aware of these forms when practicing the language. When referring to themselves, women will use the word "chan," while men will use "phom" as the equivalent of "I." Some young boys and men will incorporate feminine words into their speech when they want to express respect, and so it is not uncommon to hear "chan" used by young boys, although it is rarely said by men. Men can use feminine forms when communicating respect to an elder or superior. For saying "yes," men will often say "khrap" while women will say "kha." When conveying politeness, men will add the "khrap" sound to the end of their sentences, while women will add a "kha" sound to their sentences. For instance, the word for "hello" or "hi" is "sawatdee," but would become "sawatdee khrap" when said by men and "sawatdee kha" when said by women. Similarly, "kharb koon" means "thank you," and would become "kharb koon kha" when said by a women and "kharb koon khrap" when said by a man.
The Thai alphabet originates from the Khmer script. Khmer is the official language of Cambodia. The alphabet consists of 44 consonants and 32 vowels, plus five tone markers, which appear over the word. There are 21 initial sounds, which appear at the beginning of words, and eight final sounds, which appear at the end of words.