Why are you learning Thai language?

This would be a good time as any to figure out the reason for learning Thai language, for if you do not have a good enough reason, your efforts would simply go to waste. If you get a strong enough reason to do something, you will have a better chance at succeeding than you would if you didn't. So many times, we have heard excuses that one is too old, or one has bad memory or the lack of something. You know what? It is the lack of a good reason.

For some, the reason could be finding employment in Thailand and therefore would require some language skills, or you simply want to be able to communicate with the people living in Thailand, or you are planning to stay in Thailand for a long time. Perhaps you have been living in Thailand for ages, and you still can't speak a word of Thai. Whatever the reason, have one, as it will be the impetus to help you learn. Once you have that, we can then get about the business of learning strategies.

Give yourself a moment to figure out the why, then start the course with us. We will be with you all the journey to master the Thai language. Knowing Thai language will allow you to appreciate its rich and beautiful culture. Learning to read or write Thai may be a long process, but its rewards are tremendous. It will also help you gain more vocabulary, by being able to look up new words with the Thai-English dictionary.

(Acknowlegement: This article is adapted from the article published on Thai-language-online.com)

	Why do you need Thai courses with Thaicourses.co.uk?

HOLIDAY MAKING When visiting a foreign country it is always a good idea to learn some words. You probably won't need to use much if you stick to the main tourist destinations. ...click to see the courses	IMPRESS THAIs the Thai people you encounter will be impressed for sure if you try and use a little Thai with them. ...click to see the courses	Value for money Learning Thai on a private lesson basis does not cost you a fortune. Lesson fee starts from £5.97 ph
SING THE WORD IN THE RIGHT TUNE Before you start, I need to warn you that Thai is a tonal language so unless you "sing" the word in exactly the right way you probably won't be understood. That is why learning Thai from a phrase book and some web sites is a waste of time. ...click to see the courses	REMAIN FLUENT Many people teach themselves Thai or pick up Thai language during their stay in Thailand. Unfortunately, when they are in the UK there is no chance to use Thai so they lose the ability. That's why learning the language with our native speakers can be so useful. ...click to see the courses	IMPROVE YOUR THAI Not only can our tutors help you keep you fluent in Thai, but they can also certainly improve your language ability in a more natural and structured way. ...click to see the courses

	Overview of Thai Language

Approximately 50 million people speak Thai worldwide. It is spoken by about 85% of the population in Thailand, as well as by small groups of people in the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore. Linguists disagree on the number of Thai dialects in existence. Some linguists believe that, of the 50 million Thai speakers, a large percentage actually speak some variant of Standard Thai. The question of dialects is further complicated by the fact that Lao, the language spoken in Laos, is also called Eastern Thai; Lanna, spoken in the Thailand's northern provinces, is also called Northern Thai; and Isan, which is spoken in northeastern Thailand, is also called Northeastern Thai. Not all of these dialects are mutually comprehensible.

Thai, which is sometimes referred to as Siamese, is part of the Tai language family. The languages in this family belong to the much larger Austric language group. The origin of the Thai alphabet is debated by linguists, but it is likely that its roots spring from Southern India. Through the centuries, Mon, Khmer, Sanskrit, and Pali have all influenced the Thai language in both vocabulary and grammatical structures. More recently, Chinese and English words relating to business, commerce, and cuisine have been integrated into the language.

Formal and Informal Address in the Thai Language
English speakers will notice that there are different ways to address people to show varying degrees of respect or to acknowledge a person's social rank. For example, there are particles that can be added at the end of a sentence to indicate deference to the person being spoken to, or to communicate the speaker's opinion about what is being described.

Thai Grammar
Thai is a tonal language, which means that the same word can convey different meanings depending on the tone with which it is pronounced. There are five tones: low, high, mid-pitch, rising, and falling. Four of these tones are indicated by signs over the consonants, while the fifth is indicated by the absence of a sign. As a tonal language, Thai is devoid of inflection (such as the rising voice an English speaker might use to show that he is asking a question). Instead, mood, questions, negation, and other parts of speech are constructed by adding certain words to sentences.

In comparison to English and other European languages, there is very little in the way of fixed rules in Thai grammar. There's no definite or indefinite articles, no verb conjugations, no noun declensions, no object pronouns, and past and future tenses are often indicated only by context, or with the words "already" or "will" tacked on. If words aren't needed to make sense in the sentence, then they're often omitted. This may make it seem quite simple, but the lack of structure can end up making understanding sentences more difficult than others with stricter grammar rules.

Most Thai words are monosyllabic. More complex words generally may be formed by combining two monosyllabic words. There are, however, some polysyllabic words, especially those borrowed from Sanskrit, English, and other languages that cannot be broken down into monosyllabic components