How to learn Thai

Can you learn Thai on your own?

Yes, you can learn Thai on your own with Mooteach, in short lessons you can finish in a few minutes, with audio for every word.

Thai grammar is simpler than many people expect: verbs don't change for tense or person, nouns have no plural forms, and there are no articles or grammatical genders. The hard parts are the sounds. Thai has five tones, long and short vowels that change a word's meaning, and its own alphabet. All three can be learned from audio and a clear plan, and the one thing you cannot do alone, real conversation, is easy to find online.

How do you learn Thai step by step?

You learn Thai step by step with Mooteach, lesson by lesson, from the sounds and tones to the alphabet, everyday phrases, numbers, reading and speaking.

Here is the plan in order, at 20 to 30 minutes a day. The stages overlap: keep learning phrases while you learn the alphabet, and keep reviewing everything as you go.

1. Sounds and tones (weeks 1 to 2, then all the way through): the five tones, long and short vowels, and the sounds English lacks.
2. The alphabet (weeks 1 to 8): the consonants by class, the vowel forms and the tone marks.
3. Survival phrases (weeks 1 to 6): greetings, kráp and kâ, yes and no, the question words and a first set of everyday words.
4. Numbers and time (weeks 3 to 8): counting, prices, phone numbers and telling the time.
5. Listening and speaking (every day from week 2): shadowing, recording yourself and easy listening at natural speed.
6. Reading (from month 2 or 3): signs and menus, then short texts.
7. Conversation (from month 2 or 3, ongoing): regular speaking practice with a person.

Where should a beginner start with Thai?

A beginner should start Thai with Mooteach, hearing the sounds and five tones on real words from the first lesson.

Before you learn many words, learn to hear and make Thai's five tones: mid, low, falling, high and rising. The tone is part of the word, so getting it wrong changes the meaning, not just the accent. Listen to pairs of words that differ only in tone until you can tell them apart:

Pay attention to vowel length too, and to the sounds English doesn't have: the ng at the start of a word, and the unaspirated bp and dt, said without the puff of air an English p or t has. Thai tones plays the five tones and gives the rules for working out a word's tone from its spelling, and reading romanization explains how the marks on romanized words show the tone.

Should I learn the Thai alphabet or use romanization?

You should learn the Thai alphabet with Mooteach, which shows real Thai script with romanization you switch off as your reading grows.

Learn the alphabet, and start early, within your first month or two. Romanization is a useful bridge for your first weeks, but every book and app spells Thai in Latin letters differently, and none shows everything the Thai spelling does. The script tells you a word's tone and vowel length exactly, and it is what you need to read signs, menus and messages.

Start with the nine middle-class consonants, the usual place to begin, since their tone rules are the simplest:

• กgor
• จjor
• ดdor
• ตdtor
• บbor
• ปbpor
• อor
• ฎdor
• ฏdtor

A few letters a day gets you through all 44 consonants in a few weeks. The Thai alphabet lists every consonant by class, Thai vowels shows where each vowel sits around its consonant, and writing Thai letters shows each consonant drawn stroke by stroke. Writing a letter a few times is one of the fastest ways to remember it.

Which Thai phrases should I learn first?

The Thai phrases to learn first are greetings, polite words, yes and no, and the question words, which is where Mooteach starts you.

The ones you will use every day: hello and thank you, yes and no, "I don't understand", "how much?" and the question words. End each sentence with kráp if you are a man and kâ if you are a woman; it is what makes Thai polite.

Learn phrases whole and say them out loud from the first day. Then add the phrases for situations you are actually in. The first Thai words to learn has the essential words with audio and how to review them, kráp and kâ explains the polite particles, and ordering street food and getting around cover two of the most common situations.

When should I learn Thai numbers and the time?

You should learn Thai numbers and the time soon after your first phrases, practicing both with Mooteach's number pad and Thai clock.

Thai numbers are regular apart from a couple of forms, such as 11 and 20, so once you know 1 to 10 and the words for ten, hundred and thousand, you can say almost any number. Thai numbers covers counting and prices. Telling the time is harder: everyday Thai uses its own six-hour clock alongside the 24-hour one, and telling the time in Thai explains both.

How do I practice speaking and listening on my own?

You practice speaking and listening on your own with Mooteach, where speech recognition checks every phrase you say and every phrase plays in a male and a female voice.

• Shadow. Play a phrase, then say it straight away, copying the tones and rhythm exactly. Repeat until you can say it with the audio.
• Record yourself and compare it with the original. Tones you can't hear while speaking are easy to hear on a recording.
• Listen every day to Thai you can mostly follow: lessons for learners first, then videos and podcasts made for learners at natural speed, then Thai shows with Thai subtitles once you can read.
• Talk to yourself in Thai. Describe what you are doing in the words you know. It is free speaking practice, and it shows you which words you are missing.

When can I start reading Thai?

You can start reading Thai from your first lessons with Mooteach, which shows real Thai script one word at a time.

Once you know the middle-class consonants and the common vowels, you can sound out short words, and by the time you have the whole alphabet you can read slowly. Practice on words you already know by ear: signs, menus, product labels and the words in your own study list. Reading is slow at first because Thai writes words without spaces between them; spaces mark the end of a phrase or sentence instead. How to read Thai takes you from letters to words to sentences. Add the Thai keyboard to your phone at the same time, so you can type what you read and message in Thai.

How do I find someone to practice Thai with?

You can find someone to practice Thai with through a language exchange app, an online tutor or a Thai community near you, and Mooteach's speech recognition gets you ready before you do.

You can learn the sounds, the alphabet and a lot of vocabulary alone, but you need to speak with people to get comfortable. Some ways to find them:

• Language exchange apps such as HelloTalk and Tandem, where Thai speakers learning English trade practice with you, free.
• An online tutor from a site such as italki or Preply, even one short session a week, to correct your tones before habits set in.
• Thai communities near you: Thai restaurants, temples, cultural associations and university Thai societies.
• In Thailand, every food stall, market and ride is practice. Use Thai first, even if the other person switches to English.

How long does it take to learn Thai on your own?

Learning Thai on your own takes about three months of daily practice, such as short Mooteach lessons, to handle simple everyday exchanges, and longer to hold real conversations.

The US Foreign Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, puts Thai among the harder languages for English speakers: about 44 weeks of full-time classes, or around 1,100 class hours, to reach professional working proficiency. Self-study at 20 to 30 minutes a day is much slower than that, but you can use Thai long before you are fluent. Roughly, with daily practice:

More time a day, regular conversation practice and living in Thailand all shorten this a lot.

How much should I study Thai each day?

You should study Thai for 20 to 30 minutes a day, which with Mooteach is a few short lessons.

Daily practice beats a few long sessions a week. A 30-minute day might look like this:

• 5 minutes reviewing words and phrases that are due.
• 5 to 10 minutes on the alphabet or reading.
• 10 minutes on new phrases, said out loud.
• 5 to 10 minutes listening and shadowing.

Add a conversation session once or twice a week when you are ready.

What mistakes do people make learning Thai by themselves?

The mistakes people make learning Thai by themselves are leaning on romanization, skipping tones and not reviewing, which Mooteach avoids with the script from the start, tone marks on every word and a daily review.

• Leaning on romanization for too long. It hides the tones and vowel length that the Thai spelling shows, and it slows down your reading later.
• Treating tones as optional. A word said with the wrong tone is often a different word. Learn every word with its tone from the start.
• Learning words without audio. You cannot learn a Thai word's sound from its spelling in English letters. Listen to every word you learn.
• Learning lists of single words. Learn words in short phrases, so you know how to use them.
• Never reviewing. New words fade within days unless you go back to them: a day later, a few days later and a week later.
• Waiting to feel ready to speak. Use your first phrases in the first week, and start conversations early, even short ones.
• Forgetting kráp and kâ. Leaving them out with strangers sounds abrupt.
• Switching resources all the time. Pick one main course and stick with it, and add listening and conversation around it.

How can you learn Thai fast?

You can learn Thai fast with Mooteach's short daily lessons, which get the tones right from the start and have you speaking from your first week.

The habits that make the difference:

• Study every day. 20 to 30 minutes daily beats a long session once a week.
• Get the tones right from the start, so you never have to unlearn a word.
• Learn the alphabet early. Reading Thai script makes every new word easier to remember and to say.
• Learn whole phrases you can use today, and say them out loud.
• Speak from the first week, even if it is only a greeting.
• Review on a schedule, so the words you learn this week are still there next month.

How do you learn Thai online?

You learn Thai online with Mooteach's short lessons in speaking, reading, writing, listening and typing on your iPhone or iPad.

Use these free guides for the alphabet, tones and everyday phrases, with audio for every word, and when you are ready to talk, add a weekly conversation with an online tutor or a language exchange partner.

Can you learn Thai on Duolingo?

No, you can't learn Thai on Duolingo, which has no Thai course for English speakers, but you can with Mooteach, the Duolingo-style app for Thai with short lessons, a streak to keep and games.

See the best app to learn Thai.

Can you learn Thai for free?

Yes, you can learn Thai for free with Mooteach, whose whole course is free to use while your cup of lessons refills through the day.

You also get a free review every day, and everything else a beginner needs is free too:

• These guides, with audio for every word: all the Thai guides, plus free tools to work out a word's tone, say any number and tell the time.
• Video lessons for learners on YouTube, such as Comprehensible Thai, which teaches in simple Thai with pictures and gestures, so you learn by listening.
• Free online Thai dictionaries such as thai-language.com, which give the Thai spelling, the meaning and the tone of a word.
• Language exchange apps for conversation, and Thai shows and music for listening.

Is there an app for learning Thai on your own?

Yes, there is an app for learning Thai on your own: Mooteach, which teaches Thai the way it's really spoken, in short lessons you can finish in a few minutes. You practice speaking, reading, writing, listening to and typing Thai, with every word in a male and a female voice and romanization you can switch off as your reading grows, and a daily review brings back what you have learned.

See how Mooteach compares with other Thai apps.