The 5 Best Tips To Speak Thai Fluently — Improve Thai Skills

Ling Learn Languages
5 min readOct 6, 2021

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Original blog post: https://ling-app.com/linglive/speak-thai/

The Thai language is a tonal language. If you wanna learn Thai, speak Thai with native speakers — one of the best tips for learning the language of other countries.

Thai (also known as Siamese) is a tonal language and the native language of Thailand. There are several dialects of Thai, including Isan, and Thai is related to Shan and Lao. However, the Thai government and schools use standard Thai. Thai sentence structure is alphabetic, which originated from Indic scripts. When learning to speak Thai, it is crucial to speak Thai aloud because the change in pitch determines the difference between one vocabulary and the next.

Spoken language is usually the first weakness of all Thai language learners. The reason is apparent: when language learners first start learning a second language, they usually start with reading. So, if you spend most of the time reading instead of speaking, your speaking skills cannot grow. Feel free to use Ling Live to improve your spoken language skills to learn Thai online with native Thai speakers. You will do better at the things you focus on.

5 Best Tips To Speak Thai Fluently

If you want to improve your speaking ability, you need to spend more learning time on speaking. Here are five best tips to help you get started:

1. Read Aloud

In order to speak Thai, it is vital to start with the basic words and phrases. If you are listening to Thai language lessons and reading Thai script, please read aloud. Then for learning Thai, re-read it and speed up the pace to improve the correct pronunciation. Do this again and again until you can speak Thai faster.

Do your best to pronounce it correctly, but don’t indulge in it. Read quickly, express emotions, and add some changes to the sentence. Reading aloud helps train the muscles of the mouth and diaphragm to produce unfamiliar sounds and words.

2. Be Prepared In Advance

As you may know from experience, most language learners have nothing to say. However, if you prepare your lines in advance, you will not be confused in the conversation. It will not only benefit you learn how to say these words, but it will also help you learn how to say them in the correct context.

If you have ever been to Thailand, you must know how to get around on your own. You need to know how to say basic phrases and know when they are said to you. An excellent way to prepare yourself before any Thai conversation is to learn common conversation questions and answers.

3. Shadow Or Repeat The Thai Phrases You Hear

Shadows are a handy tool that can improve fluency, accent, and the ability to be understood. Shadows help create all the neural connections in your brain to generate these words and sentences accurately and quickly.

In addition, shadows help to develop muscle memory in all body parts responsible for producing these sounds. Depending on your primary language and target language, there are likely to be many sounds that your mouth is not used to. For example, you can perform shadow processing while watching movies or TV shows or listening to music.

4. Review Or Practice Again And Again

It is the key to perfection, and we cannot emphasize it enough. Most language learners do not review! If you review your Thai lesson or dialogues and repeat lines, you will speak Thai better, faster, and more confidently.

Dialogues with native speakers are the whole point of learning a new language, and it is also an actual test of fluency. Therefore, you can get benefits by hiring a certified good teacher who is always ready to teach you how to speak Thai as your native language.

5. Don’t Be Afraid To Make Mistakes!

Don’t be afraid to talk to people. Thai people are actually very welcoming and appreciate you learning their language. Also, it makes it easier for you to learn and makes you feel like a part of their community. Improve your pronunciation and develop your fluency through face-to-face conversations with a professional native Thai teacher.

You will be surprised how many new language learners try to avoid talking! The more you speak, the faster you learn. So, speak Thai whenever you have a chance: ordering a coffee, buying, or asking for directions.

Pro Tip To Speaking Thai Like A Native Speaker

Thai, like Vietnamese and Chinese, is a tonal language (low tone, high tone, etc.). It means that the same word can have completely different meanings, depending on its pronunciation. Therefore, please try to avoid speaking hesitantly and slowly, as this will distort the tone of the word and make it more difficult for you to understand.

Final Words

Learning the Thai language is the best window into this beautiful, unique, and exciting Thai culture. Being a part of the community is the best thing you can do, and learning the language is essential to achieving this goal.

You need to improve your fluency with conversational Thai lessons online with a native Thai speaker to speak Thai fluently. Moreover, you can speak Thai confidently like a native speaker by attending an online course.

Ling Live from Simya Solutions will be the perfect partner resource to use with everything you have listed to hone your listening and speaking practice already before coming to Thailand. Improve your pronunciation and develop your fluency through face-to-face conversations with professional native Thai teachers.

My last word and advice are not to rely solely on these resources. It would be best to speak Thai with the locals every day to practice what you have learned and read.

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Ling Learn Languages
Ling Learn Languages

Written by Ling Learn Languages

Ling is a game-like language learning app with a pack of 60+ languages. You will learn languages in fun ways!

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