Every language has its common words and its rare words. Thai has about 1000 very common words, where you\u2019ll hear and\/or use each of them no less than once a week (and many several times per hour). To move from beginner to intermediate, you need to learn all 1000+ of those words. After you learn those 1000, there are yet another ~5000+ that are used several times per month \u2013 all of which need to be memorized to be an advanced learner. Native speakers know approximately 15k to 20k words, where the rarest words are used only a few times per year. To even become an advanced speaker is no simple task, of course, as learning one word per day will only result in 3650 words learned in 10 years (about 41 years to know 15k words). Daunting, eh?<\/p>\n
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As an ultra-beginner, your primary concern should be learning the first 1000 words, at least 6 a day. Learn three while eating breakfast, three while eating dinner, and review again just before sleep. At that rate you can know 15k in 7 years, and it won\u2019t interfere with your busy schedule or be hard enough to make you want to quit. Anyway, I\u2019ve compiled a starter list of the most common words you\u2019ll need to learn. The Thai spellings are included for those who are a little more advanced, and are ready to spell the most common words.<\/p>\n
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\u0e43\u0e08 jai1 heart \u2013 This word is used with tons of compound words for emotions<\/p>\n
\u0e44\u0e1b bpai1 go<\/p>\n
\u0e21\u0e32 maa1 come<\/p>\n
\u0e2a\u0e27\u0e31\u0e2a\u0e14\u0e35 sa1wat1dee1 hello\/goodbye<\/p>\n
\u0e04\u0e23\u0e31\u0e1a krap4 \u2013 this is an ending particle to make a sentence more polite<\/p>\n
\u0e04\u0e48\u0e30 kaa3\u00a0 \u2013 this is an ending particle to make a sentence more polite<\/p>\n
\u0e41\u0e25\u0e30 lae4 and<\/p>\n
\u0e41\u0e25\u0e49\u0e27 laew4 already \u2013 makes sentences past tense, or implies something has already happened<\/p>\n
\u0e17\u0e35\u0e48 tee3 place, that, at<\/p>\n
\u0e27\u0e48\u0e32 waa3 that<\/p>\n
\u0e04\u0e34\u0e14 kid4 think<\/p>\n
\u0e21\u0e32\u0e01 maak3 very<\/p>\n
\u0e44\u0e21\u0e48 mai3 no<\/p>\n
\u0e43\u0e0a\u0e48 chai3 correct<\/p>\n
\u0e41\u0e15\u0e48 dtae2 but<\/p>\n
\u0e21\u0e35 mee1 have<\/p>\n
\u0e04\u0e19 kon1 person\/people<\/p>\n
\u0e08\u0e30 ja1 will<\/p>\n
\u0e1c\u0e21 pom5 I (usually for men)<\/p>\n
\u0e09\u0e31\u0e19 chan5 I (usually for women, and young boys)<\/p>\n
\u0e01\u0e34\u0e19 gin1 eat<\/p>\n
\u0e02\u0e49\u0e32\u0e27 kao3 rice<\/p>\n
\u0e27\u0e31\u0e19 wan1 day<\/p>\n
\u0e44\u0e14\u0e49 dai3 can (can\u2019t would be \u0e44\u0e21\u0e48\u0e44\u0e14\u0e49)<\/p>\n
\u0e43\u0e2b\u0e49 hai3 give \u2013 the grammatical rules to this word are complicated, so \u2018give\u2019 is an oversimplification for now<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every language has its common words and its rare words. Thai has about 1000 very common words, where you\u2019ll hear and\/or use each of them no less than once a week (and many several times per hour). To move from beginner to intermediate, you need to learn all 1000+ of those words. After you learn…<\/p>\n