Thai Language Acquisition

Thailand has festivals almost every other week, and the country loves celebrating. Thai people will always find a reason to dance, share delicious food, and get together in order to party. Loy Krathong is one of the biggest celebrations of them all. 

Thai language has 44 letters, 32 vowels, 4 tone marks and various other symbols for pronunciation. Thai consonants are divided into three classes; Middle class, High class and Low class. Today we will talk about middle class consonants.

Middle class consonants in Thai we call อักษรกลาง. There are nine letters in middle class consonants.

First  is (ก)   gaw gai,   gaw is the spelling sound and gai is the name of a letter

Second  is (จ)  jaw is the spelling sound and Jahn is the name of a letter

Third  is  (ด)   daw dek, daw is the spelling sound and dek is the name of a letter.

Fourth  is  (ฎ)   daw chah dah, daw is the spelling sound and chah dah is the name of a letter. 

Fifth  is (ต)  dtaw dtow,  dtaw is the spelling sound and dtow is the name of a letter. 

Sixth  is (ฏ) dtaw bpah dtahk,  dtaw is the spelling sound and bpah dtahk is the name of a letter. 

In Thai language, daw chah dah and dtaw bpha dtahk  are rare letters we do not use often but we use for specific words. 

Seventh  is (บ) baw bai maai, baw is the spelling sound and bai maai is the name of a letter. 

Eighth  is (ป) bpaw bplah, bpaw is the spelling sound and bplah is the name of a letter. 

ninht is (อ) aw aang, aw (o) is the spelling sound and can be (oo) a vowel.  Aang is the name of a letter. 

This is how Thai students practice to remember middle class consonants

gai(ก) jik(จ) dek(ด,ฎ) dtaai(ต,ฏ) bon(บ) bpak(ป) oong(อ)

and this is how my class practice to remember

gaw (ก) Jaw  (๋จ) daw (ด,ฎ)  dtaw (ต,ฏ) baw (บ) pbaw (ป) aw (อ)

October 13, 2016 is the day of the death of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The Great, which brought a deep sadness to several Thai people throughout the country and abroad. Time has passed from the day when the Thai people had the greatest loss.This October 13  is the anniversary of His Majesty the King’s death. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej is still remembered in the hearts of all Thai people. With his compassion, our  students will share the feeling "Why do the Thai people love their king so much?"

Welcome to Thai Language Acquisition podcast. American Pacific International School. In this quarter we learned about customs and traditions for the Emergent level. We use communication for key concepts, purpose and structure for related concepts and  Personal and cultural expression in Global context. According to the Statement of inquiry, The dos and don'ts in Thailand are similar or different in different cultures in different countries.The purpose of communication is to create an understanding of Thai traditions by using the organizational structures, patterns and elements of language to communicate with people who are travelling in Thailand.

Today we will learn 10 Things you shouldn't do in Thailand. We know Thailand is the land of Smiles. Thailand was a country with unique cultures and traditions that you’re probably unfamiliar with. Thai people are very forgiving. However, that doesn’t mean that you can be careless and do as you wish here. In our class we learn about do and don’t in Thailand. Today we have a guest speaker to share about 10 things You Should Never Do in Thailand.

Thank you oscar. This is very helpful for foreigners to learn how to be respectful and avoid trouble while travelling in Thailand.

Mother’s Day is a highly special occasion celebrated across the globe for honoring mothers and their love for their children. In Thailand Mother’s Day is celebrated on , August 12th,  Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s birthday. It’s a national holiday in Thailand.

Schools in Thailand typically host a Mother’s Day ceremony. On the special day, mothers come to their child’s school and each child kneels at his or her mother’s feet, paying respect to mom for all that she has done for them. It’s very common to see mothers wiping tears from their eyes and many children doing the same in this joyous and proud moment. A traditional Mother’s Day gift in Thailand is jasmine- a flower that resembles motherhood. Calleddok maliin Thai.

We should thank our mothers for being the constant support and guide for what we are today. Let us make this day memorable for the love of life, the Mother. With this, I would like to take an opportunity to thank mothers all around the world  for everything she has ever done for us. Thank you for your attention. Please enjoy Thai language and cultural study.

This course continues the development of oral, aural, reading and writing skills. The students’ competency in the language is near proficiency. They answer and provide information on the phone and use some colloquial expressions. They use polite expressions for making requests, asking pardon, asking for permission and thanking people. They use polite gestures and appropriate language related to social status, age and contexts. They identify the main points of messages, dialogues, stories and news with supporting details. They learn to describe feelings and express opinions with reasons. They participate actively in learning activities and class discussions. They provide detailed descriptions and give instructions in a logical manner. They read and understand a variety of short written instructions, public signs, basic information on product labels, short paragraphs and simple stories. They write simple sentences and short paragraphs about familiar topics. They produce extended responses and narrate experiences coherently, and use information from various sources to write a paragraph.

They learn parts of speech, including nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, classifiers, prepositions, conjunctions, transitions, and compound and complex sentences..

The students’ competency in the language is further strengthened by engaging in simple conversations, expressing feelings and opinions, asking for information using “5Wh” and “Y/N” questions, and responding with statements or negative statements using polite ending particles. They use polite expressions for making requests, asking pardon, asking for permission and thanking people. They explain and talk about their needs and wants. They use polite gestures and appropriate language related to social status, age and contexts. They handle basic phone situations. They orally describe objects, events, places and people using familiar vocabulary. They listen to the stories and identify the main points. They read and understand short texts, and write simple sentences about the texts.

They learn parts of speech, including nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, simple classifiers, prepositions and compound sentences using conjunctions: and/but/or/because. They distinguish four to five different tones.

While the emphasis on basic language skills and vocabulary development is

continued, the students’ competency in the language is further developed. They engage in

short dialogues, using “Wh” and “Y/N” questions, and respond with short statements/negative statements, and make oral presentations using polite ending particles. They express themselves using pronouns and vocabulary that are appropriate for social status, age and contexts. They use polite expressions for making requests, asking pardon, asking for permission and thanking people. They orally describe people, places and objects with short phrases, expressing feelings and opinions. They read sight words and public signs and write simple words, short phrases and Thai numbers.

In addition, students learn parts of speech, including nouns, pronouns, verbs adjectives, adverbs, simple classifiers, prepositions and conjunctions, including and/but/or/because. They also learn to recognize three different tones

The emphasis is placed on the acquisition of basic language skills: listening, speaking

and vocabulary development. Students learn to follow and respond to instructions. They

ask Yes No questions, and answer with phrases, short statements and negative statements

using polite ending particles. They use polite expressions for making requests, asking pardon

and thanking people. They use pronouns and vocabulary that are appropriate for adults and

peers at school. The students are encouraged to use the target language through a variety

of language activities. For reading and writing, they learn to write the letters of their own names, some Thai numbers and basic simple words. They also read and recognize common

public signs.

They understand and participate in cultural activities in school and outside. They learn parts of speech, such as nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, simple classifiers, prepositions and conjunctions, including and/but. They use polite gestures and ending particles. They learn to recognize two different tones.