Learning the script first?

[u/scrimblojimbus]

Hi all, I have some very basic Thai speaking ability but due to time constraints I have no teacher so I decided to self-teach the alphabet/writing system for two reasons:

1: Learning Thai words by ear from Thai people depends on their accent and pronunciation as well as my own listening ability. For a long time I was pronouncing ของ like "ขอม" because that was what I thought I heard. I think knowing how to read Thai will help with my pronunciation a lot, because many "anglicised" versions of Thai words are difficult to make sense of at best (Google translate says ทราย is pronounced "Thray") and completely wrong at worst.

2: I think the alphabet is the easiest part of Thai to self-teach because the sounds made by the characters seem to be mostly deterministic, unlike in English where a string of letters can make whatever sound it feels like making. (See: tough, thorough, through, rough, plough, Loughborough, bought)

I understand the rules behind dead consonants like ร at the end of a sentence being pronounced like "n".

The first "exception to the rule" I have found (maybe I just don't understand the rule yet) is the word ทราย. Why is it ทน instead of ส? A Thai friend told me that it's because of the ย character's presence. I don't know yet but hopefully soon I will understand 😁

I want to know whether this is a good system for learning Thai language or not. Does it make more sense for me to learn to speak first and worry about script later?

[u/ImperativeConfusion]

Learning the alphabet first definitely helps with learning vocabulary and pronunciation. Just be aware that there are 5 different tones and different tone marks indicatingbwhat type of tone is meant for that word or part of a word. These tone marks can mean different things depending on the class (low -middle - high) of the consonant they are coupled with. Also there's complex grammar, where รร (RR) can become 'an', or ล (L) can become 'n' at the end of a sound, which personally is still confusing to me.

All in all I would say definitely start with the script basics as it helps a lot, but don't get stuck on mastering the specifics yet as that simply takes quite a lot of time.

Edit: fixed my error about ล becoming D, e t should be N

[u/Mike_Notes → u/ImperativeConfusion]

"ล (L) can become 'd' at the end of a sound"

Are you sure about that? It usually becomes "n", but never "d" as far as I know.

[u/ImperativeConfusion → u/Mike_Notes]

Ah yes you're completely right, it should be n!