How I Taught Myself to Read Thai
As many of you know I began reading Thai long after I was speaking it. Even though I had a good vocabulary I had never seen these words written before. After learning the alphabet, I worked on a way that helped me to deconstruct Thai sentences, analyze the written vocabulary, and then reconstruct the sentences and interpret their meanings.
Since reading Thai is a very popular language activity we thought that we would share the method I used to teach myself reading. In fact, I still use it almost daily to try and improve my reading and vocabulary.
I find that using the computer to practice reading has made things much easier than before. I get my Thai sentences online, use a word processor as a work area, and have easy access to dictionaries and apps.
I have broken each exercise into various steps. Large problems are easiest to solve when we break them down and solve a series of smaller ones.
First we need to find a real Thai sentence to work on. All the following sentences in our exercises have been taken from recent Thai online newspaper stories.
Question: What if you run into a sentence that’s too difficult to figure out?
Suggestion: Get a native speaker to help you out. There will be idioms and slang that we just won’t be able to decipher (especially in Thai newspaper headlines) and we’ll need help. But I would work on it by myself first by working through each step in this method.
In the first exercise we will walk you through each step with examples. In later exercises you can try out this method on your own. When you have done so and come up with your solution we will then give you a solution, probably different from yours, that we came up with.
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Contents
- How I Taught Myself to Read Thai
- Reading & Vocabulary Building: Exercise 1
- Reading & Vocabulary Building: Exercise 2
- Reading & Vocabulary Building: Exercise 3
- Writing Aerobics
- What to Read Next
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Reading & Vocabulary Building: Exercise 1
The newspaper article shows a file picture of Kim Jung Un. The complete article with the picture is here: เกาหลีเหนือจับนักท่องเที่ยวอเมริกันรายใหม่ (no longer live).
The Thai sentence is: รัฐบาลเกาหลีเหนือเผยการจับกุมนักท่องเที่ยวอเมริกันรายใหม่
Listen to the sentence: here
Step 1: Copy Thai Sentence
First take the sentence, copy it (Ctrl/command c) and paste it into a Word document (Ctrl/command v). At this time you can enlarge the characters to make it easier to work with. Like this.
รัฐบาลเกาหลีเหนือเผยการจับกุมนักท่องเที่ยวอเมริกันรายใหม่
Step 2: Separate Words
The sentence into words separated by spaces for easier reading. We posted one method of finding where one word ends and another begins in Does Written Thai Need Spaces. To make reading the Thai script even easier, put a marker as well as a space between the words.Deconstruct
รัฐบาล | เกาหลี | เหนือ | เผย | การจับกุม | นักท่องเที่ยว | อเมริกัน | ราย | ใหม่
Step 3: Underline Words You Don’t Know.
Find and underline the vocabulary you aren’t familiar with. Each person will probably have a different number of words to underline depending on your vocabulary and reading level. Below is one person’s result.
รัฐบาล | เกาหลี | เหนือ | เผย | การจับกุม | นักท่องเที่ยว | อเมริกัน | ราย | ใหม่
Step 4: Write English Translations for Words You Do Know
Under the Thai sentence write the words that you already know. This will give you an initial idea of what the sentence is saying.
รัฐบาล | เกาหลี | เหนือ | เผย | การจับกุม | นักท่องเที่ยว | อเมริกัน | ราย | ใหม่
Government | Korea | north | | | | tourist | American | | new, again
Step 5: Look Up New Words
Do a PC, tablet, or smart phone search in a dictionary app or an online dictionary of the underlined words (Double click on the word. Ctrl/command c to copy it. Go to the dictionary. Ctrl/command v to paste it in the search window. Hit Enter.
Note: When looking up words you may find multiple meanings. By Step 4, from the context you already know the meaning that best fits.
เผย: to disclose
การจับกุม: to arrest
ราย: an individual (can also be used as a classifier for people)
Side Note: การจับกุม can be a tricky one to figure out. When dropping the complete phrase, รัฐบาลเกาหลีเหนือเผยการจับกุมนักท่องเที่ยวอเมริกันรายใหม่รัฐบาลเกาหลีเหนือเผยการจับกุมนักท่องเที่ยวอเมริกันรายใหม่, into online dictionaries, you’ll discover that จับกุม is ‘arrest’, but การ has several meanings. Put in front of a noun or verb, การ forms noun derivatives.
On its own you’ll come across task/work/job. But if you get creative and look for ‘arrest’ in the Talking Thai-English Thai Dictionary, you’ll find การจับกุม [n]. None of the online dictionaries I searched through had that combo so do check in more than one dictionary when searching for words.
Step 6: Add English Translations for the Words You Just Looked Up
รัฐบาล | เกาหลี | เหนือ | เผย | การจับกุม | นักท่องเที่ยว | อเมริกัน | ราย | ใหม่
Government | Korea | North | disclose | arrest | tourist | American | individual | new, again
Step 7: Reconstruct and Interpret
Now try and put all this together into a complete thought that flows like a native speaker would say. Add the grammar you think is appropriate.
Reconstruct the Thai sentence by deleting all the spaces and read it again, this time with an understanding of the sentence’s meaning.
รัฐบาลเกาหลีเหนือเผยการจับกุมนักท่องเที่ยวอเมริกันรายใหม่
The government of North Korea has disclosed that it has arrested another American tourist.
Save the word document and go back to it as often as you wish until you can recognize the words that you didn’t know before.
You may also copy the looked up words and keep them in a running list for your own vocabulary studies. We’ll put a list of the new words for Lesson 1 at the end.
Reading & Vocabulary Building: Exercise 2
The newspaper article shows a file picture of rain showers. The complete article with picture is here: อุตุชี้เหนือ-อีสานฝนตกหนัก+กทม.มีเมฆมากโอกาสมีฝนตก+ร้อยละ+60 (no longer live).
The Thai sentence is: พยากรณ์อากาศประเทศไทย ระบุภาคเหนือ-อีสาน เกิดฝนตกหนักในหลายพื้นที่
Listen to the sentence: here
Now work on the sentence by yourself first and when you have found your solution take a look at our solution below.
Step 1: Copy Thai sentence.
Step 2: Separate words.
Step 3: Underline words you don’t know.
Step 4: Write English translations for words you do know.
Step 5: Look up new words.
Step 6: Add English translations for the words you just looked up.
Step 7: Reconstruct and interpret.
Here is one solution below.
Step 1: Copy Thai sentence.
พยากรณ์อากาศประเทศไทย ระบุภาคเหนือ-อีสาน เกิดฝนตกหนักในหลายพื้นที่
Step 2: Separate words.
พยากรณ์ | อากาศ | ประเทศไทย | ระบุ | ภาค | เหนือ – | อีสาน | เกิด | ฝนตก | หนัก | ในห | ลาย | พื้นที่
Step 3: Underline words you don’t know.
พยากรณ์ | อากาศ | ประเทศไทย | ระบุ | ภาค | เหนือ – | อีสาน | เกิด | ฝนตก | หนัก | ในห | ลาย | พื้นที่
Step 4: Write English translations for words you do know.
พยากรณ์ | อากาศ | ประเทศไทย | ระบุ | ภาค | เหนือ – | อีสาน | เกิด | ฝนตก | หนัก | ในห | ลาย | พื้นที่
| weather | Thailand | | | north | Issan | | rain | heavy | in | many |
Step 5: Look up new words.
พยากรณ์: predict, forecast
ระบุ: to detail, specify
ภาค: region
เกิด: to happen
พื้นที่: area
Step 6: Add English translations for the words you just looked up.
พยากรณ์ | อากาศ | ประเทศไทย | ระบุ | ภาค | เหนือ – อีสาน | เกิด | ฝนตก | หนัก | ในห | ลาย | พื้นที่
forecast | weather | Thailand | specify | region | north | Issan | happen | rain | heavy | in | many | area
Step 7: Reconstruct and interpret.
พยากรณ์อากาศประเทศไทย ระบุภาคเหนือ-อีสาน เกิดฝนตกหนักในหลายพื้นที่
The weather forecast for the North and Issan regions of Thailand specifies heavy rains in many areas.
Reading & Vocabulary Building: Exercise 3
The newspaper article shows a picture of two elephants kicking a football. The complete article with picture is here: วังช้าง+แล+เพนียด+ร่วมสนุกเกาะกระแสฟุตบอลโลก+2014 (no longer live).
The Thai sentence is: วังช้างแลเพนียดร่วมสนุกเกาะกระแสฟุตบอลโลก 2014
Listen to the sentence: here
Now work on the sentence by yourself first. When you have found your solution take a look at our solution.
Step 1: Copy Thai sentence.
Step 2: Separate words.
Step 3: Underline words you don’t know.
Step 4: Write English translations for words you do know.
Step 5: Look up new words.
Step 6: Add English translations for the words you just looked up.
Step 7: Reconstruct and interpret.
Below is one solution.
Step 1: Copy Thai sentence.
วังช้างแลเพนียดร่วมสนุกเกาะกระแสฟุตบอลโลก 2014
Step 2: Separate words.
วัง | ช้าง | แล | เพนียด | ร่วม | สนุก | เกาะ |กระแส | ฟุตบอล | โลก | 2014
Step 3: Underline words you don’t know.
วัง | ช้าง | แล | เพนียด | ร่วม | สนุก | เกาะ | กระแส | ฟุตบอล | โลก | 2014
Step 4: Write English translations for words you do know.
วัง | ช้าง | แล | เพนียด | ร่วม | สนุก | เกาะ กระแส| ฟุตบอล | โลก | 2014
elephant | and | | | fun | football | world | 2014
Step 5: Look up new words.
วัง: palace
เพนียด: elephant corral
ร่วม: join with
เกาะ: to cling to
กระแส: current, tide
Step 6: Add English translations for the words you just looked up.
วัง | ช้าง | แล | เพนียด | ร่วม | สนุก | เกาะ | กระแส | ฟุตบอล | โลก | 2014
palace | elephant | and | elephant corral | join with | fun | cling to | tide | football | world | 2014
Step 7: Reconstruct and interpret.
วังช้างแลเพนียดร่วมสนุกเกาะกระแสฟุตบอลโลก 2014
Elephants and friends join in the fun of Football World Cup 2014.
Interpretation Notes:
วัง ช้าง แล เพนียด seems to be a made-up phrase. We could interpret it as “The elephants and their keepers (friends)”.
ร่วม สนุก เกาะ กระแส sounds a bit idiomatic (ร่วม สนุก – “get together for some fun”; เกาะ กระแส “go with the tide”) so we can come up with something like “join in the fun”.
Sometimes reading a foreign language takes a lot of guess work and puzzle solving. And since this is our own interpretation we can go ahead and just disregard words and phrases that confuse us if they aren’t integral to the meaning. This is the basic difference between translation and interpretation.
Vocabulary List:
- เผย: to disclose
- จับกุม: to arrest
- ราย: an individual (can be used as a classifier for people)
- พยากรณ์: predict, forecast
- ระบุ: to detail, specify
- ภาค: region
- เกิด: to happen
- พื้นที่: area
- วัง: palace
- เพนียด: elephant corral
- ร่วม: join with
- เกาะ: to cling to
- กระแส: current, tide
Reading Workout
Reading is often referred to as a “passive” language skill. What they mean by that is that when you are reading you aren’t really doing much except opening your eyes and letting stuff enter into your brain. But I am one of those kinds of learners that has to “do” something for it to sink in.
So I looked for a way to make reading a little more active. So I thought, why not turn a reading activity into a translation/interpretation exercise. Instead of just reading for information, I could try to write in English what I had just read in Thai. It would force me to really know what I was reading, and at the same time pick up lots of new vocabulary. Definitely not a passive activity.
Translating can be done at any reading level from simple children’s stories to newspapers and magazines, from simple phrases to complete articles, and maybe even books. Here is how I do it.
- I do everything on the computer now and even though I love real books that you can hold, this exercise is best done in the digital ether.
- I find something at my target reading level on the Internet. For me that’s Thai newspapers. My favorite is The Daily News since they have less of the political news and more of the fun tabloid type news (I just read a story about a Thai beauty queen reporting to police that her boyfriend slapped her upside her head, perforating her eardrum. The guy who did it is now in big trouble. Good for him. But I digress.)
- I find a story I like and copy it and then paste it into a Word document.
- I enhance the font so that it is large enough for comfortable reading.
- I then look over the article/story and look for words I don’t know, at the same time trying to understand the basics of what’s going on. When I come across a word I don’t know I underline it.
- I take the underlined words and paste them into an online or software dictionary to get their English meaning. If you use a dictionary with recordings you’ll also be able to hear the correct Thai pronunciation.
- I paste the English translation right next to the underlined Thai word. Often words have more than one meaning, so try to choose the meaning that works for the reading you are working on.
- Now I read with the idea of really trying to understand, using the translated new words to get me over some confusing humps.
- The hard part comes when I try to write in English what I have been reading in Thai. It is best to take small sections at a time. Just type the English right after the Thai.
- I then copy the underlined Thai words with their translations and paste them into another document which I study later – my Translation Word List.
You’ll find that when you try to put something you have just read in Thai into English (or whatever language you are translating into) things that at first seemed very confusing will begin to clear up and like a cloud lifting, you’ll know what’s going on. That’s the plan anyhow. Show your translation to a Thai speaker who knows English and see what they think.
I do this exercise once a day. I hope my Thai reading is improving but I do know that with all these mental calisthenics I’m doing I’m at least holding off senility for a while.
Here’s a sample from a translation exercise I just did. In order to add additional examples I’ve highlighted more new vocabulary words than I normally would; it’s actually “interpretation” and not true “translation”.
Thai:
โดยแพทย์แจ้งว่าเยื่อแก้วหูด้านซ้ายฉีกขาดเป็นรู ต้องใช้เวลารักษาประมาณ 2-3 สัปดาห์
Beginning the exercise:
โดย แพทย์ (doctor) แจ้ง (inform) ว่า เยื่อ (tissue) แก้วหู (ear drum) ด้านซ้าย ฉีกขาด (tear) เป็น รู (hole) ต้องใช้เวลา รักษา (heal) ประมาณ (approximately) 2-3 สัปดาห์
English translation:
The doctor informed her that the tissue in her left eardrum was torn leaving it perforated and it would take about 2 – 3 weeks to heal.
Writing Aerobics
(Full disclosure: I cheat when I “write” in Thai)
When I was in third grade I failed “penmanship”. And when I took the New York State Regents English Exam in high school I left the spelling section blank, getting a zero on that part. Writing and spelling are not my strengths, in English and definitely not in Thai. So any writing that I do in either language is seriously hard labor.
But thank god for computers and spell checkers. And now I give thanks to online and software dictionaries and virtual keyboards, because that is how I “write” in Thai.
As you can tell by my posts I probably write in Thai more than most people. If you’re a perfectionist, please forgive my disclosure.
- I think of what I have to write in Thai. Let’s say I want to say, “The doctor said her eardrum was torn?
- I know how to say it in Thai but now I need to write it so I take each word and plug it into a dictionary. Then I find the Thai word and paste it into my document.
Example:
Doctor: หมอ
Say: ว่า
Eardrum: แก้วหู
Her: ของเธอ
Tear: ขาด
Put it all together and voila, you have “written”: หมอว่าแก้วหูของเธอขาด.
An added benefit is that there are never any spelling errors (it took exactly 2 minutes 30 seconds to complete).
Now let’s say you really want to “type” something in Thai. No need to learn the Thai keyboard or get special Thai fonts. Just do a Google search for “online Thai keyboard” and all you need to do is use the mouse and click and voila, you are “typing” in Thai (hopefully you know how to spell). Then just cut the completed Thai word out and paste it into your document.
I hope these exercises pumped you up some, making your Thai language muscles stronger. I’m tired from all this working out so will go for a nap. Enjoy the workouts.
What to Read Next
- How to Learn Thai Language for Beginners
- How to Ask WH Questions in Thai?
- Basic Thai Phrases for Everyday Use
- A List of 3000 Most Common Thai Words
- Free Useful Thai Vocabularies and Phrases with PDF Download
- Advanced Thai Vocabulary: Weather and Disaster Words
- Basic Thai Vocabularies: How to Read Number, Money, Phone Number, and House Number in Thai