‘Test 1 Match the English words with the Tha: words, od. waite a.d-rai ests 2. book b. bpaakgaa saen> 3. pen emi 4 4 this d.di-chan fatu 3. Fomaie speaker) e.nae-ti-gaa wit ___ 6». alia fnan th 7. map g.pom AN name h.chiw $6 8, what i.gra-bpao ntesi 10. bag jenangste thee k. péentii unt igdo Al ‘Translate the following into English I. kun sa-baai dii mai. ea pure & Lei 1 3. nii nangstu-pim chai mai. & vilefedurt Is lan 4. kun chiw a-rai. eo fo oes a nan peentu ru dinsas. fs ase0Te Thai for Beginners Lesson 1 Reading & Writing 27 The Thai Writing System Thai uses an alphabet of 44 consonants, 32 vowels, four tone marks and various other symbols for punctuation, numbers etc. Although there ure irregular pronunciations, That is generally phonetic. It is pronounced the way it is written. Leaming to read and write Thai from the beginning has many advantages. Due to the fact that it is phonetic, you will be reinforcing your listening and speaking skills while learning to read and write. In fact, most people find that their pronunciation is more accurale when reading Thai script. Unlike many transliteration sys- tems, il incorporates all the clements of pronunciation— including tones and vowel length. The longer you rely on transliteration, the more time you waste reinforcing a writing system that will be virtually uscless in Thailand. Furthermore, transliteration is a confusing hodgepodge with almost as many systems as there are books about Thailand Put a fittle extra effort into leaming the alphabet now! Then you can use Thai script while studying conversation, reinforcing read- ing and writing skills that will be invaluable to you in Thailand. Consonant Classes Thai consonants are divided inte three classes— high, middle and low. Since it is one of the critical factors in determin- ing a syllable’s tone. you must knaw the consonant cluss in order to correctly pronounce what you have read. The names (high, middle and low) of the consonant cla: are completely arbitrary. For example, a low consonant may gen- erate a high tone and a high consonant can generate a low tone, cle