Thai lessons: the full curriculum

54 short lessons, in five phases. Each one is a single idea with the Thai shown rather than described, and most take four to eight minutes to read. Start at the top if you are new; jump to the phase you are stuck in if you are not.

Looking for a plain-English explainer instead? Read the Thai learning guides, or open the reference tools.

Phase 1: The Writing System

What a Thai syllable is made of, all 44 consonants, the three classes, the five tones, and where vowels sit around a consonant.

  • Syllable Anatomy

    What a Thai syllable is made of — initial consonant, vowel, tone, final consonant (4 views).

    5 min

  • The Full Thai Alphabet

    All 44 consonants by class with vowel patterns reference.

    8 min

  • Consonant Classes

    The 3 consonant classes (mid, high, low), their tone rules, and interactive tabs.

    6 min

  • The Five Thai Tones

    Animated pitch curves for all 5 tones — clickable and audible.

    5 min

  • Vowel Placement

    How Thai vowels appear before, after, above, below, and around consonants.

    5 min

  • Word Reading Stepper

    5-step stepper through reading ข้าว — consonant, vowel, tone mark, final, pronounce.

    4 min

  • Short vs Long Vowels

    Minimal pair side-by-sides showing how vowel length changes meaning.

    4 min

  • Final Consonant Groups

    The 8 final sounds — sonorant vs stopped — and how they affect tone and meaning.

    5 min

Phase 2: Survival Spoken Thai

The Thai you need in the first weeks — polite particles, numbers, time, directions, questions, and how to repair a conversation that has gone wrong.

  • Aspirated Pairs Drill

    ป/พ ต/ท ก/ข จ/ช side-by-side with the tissue test drill.

    5 min

  • Polite Particles

    ครับ/ค่ะ/นะ/สิ — gender rules, register stacking, and when to use each.

    5 min

  • Numbers & Counting

    Thai digits, counting system, classifier structure, and special numbers.

    6 min

  • Time Expressions

    6-period Thai clock, planet-named days, relative time, and tense markers.

    6 min

  • Repair Phrases

    Say again, slower, didn't understand — the survival toolkit for conversations.

    4 min

  • Compliments & Small Talk

    Shared-context openers and one modest response to a compliment.

    4 min

  • Directions

    Straight, left, and right commands plus near, far, and ahead for short routes.

    5 min

  • Question Words

    8 Thai question words, their positions in sentences, and the key insight.

    5 min

  • Particles in Dialog

    Context-bounded uses of นะ, สิ, and ล่ะ, plus one reviewed นะ/สิ contrast.

    4 min

  • Sentence Structure

    Thai vs English word order with color-coded blocks.

    5 min

  • Negation Patterns

    ไม่, ไม่ได้, อย่า, ยัง...ไม่ — each with examples and usage rules.

    5 min

  • Modal Verbs

    อยาก, ต้อง, ควร, and ห้าม before actions, plus three position-dependent uses of ได้.

    5 min

  • Sentence Connectors

    Because, but, if, and-then, even-though — linking ideas in Thai.

    5 min

  • Classifiers Quiz

    Interactive quiz on Thai classifiers with score tracking.

    5 min

  • Reading Without Spaces

    How to find word boundaries in unsegmented Thai text.

    5 min

  • How to Shadow Thai

    The shadowing technique — listen, echo, and build natural Thai rhythm.

    5 min

Phase 3: Grammar Foundations

How tone is determined from spelling, how Thai sentences are built, and the vocabulary machinery — clusters, word families, the core 100.

  • Tone Determination Flowchart

    Interactive decision tree for determining the correct tone of any syllable.

    6 min

  • Silent ห Tone Raiser

    How a silent leading ห or อ lends the syllable its own consonant class — the nine ห-led letters, plus the four อย words.

    4 min

  • Verb Serialization

    Thai verb chains vs English prepositions — 3 patterns with examples.

    5 min

  • Sentence Builder

    Five core sentence patterns shown as reusable message slots.

    6 min

  • Comparison & Degree

    กว่า, ที่สุด, and เท่ากัน with one three-step degree scale.

    4 min

  • Word Family Roots

    6 familiar roots (น้ำ, บ้าน, ใจ, คน, มือ, ทำ) anchoring reviewed compounds.

    6 min

  • Core 100 Vocabulary

    A 16-word map of four jobs inside the Core 100; recall continues in Memory Builder.

    8 min

  • Consonant Clusters

    กร, กล, กว, ขว, คร, ปล, พร, ตร — with example words.

    5 min

  • Final Consonant Drill

    Sonorant vs stopped finals with production notes.

    5 min

Phase 4: Vocabulary by Domain

Words grouped by the places you will use them: restaurants, markets, transport, the kitchen, the home, health, and work.

Phase 5: Culture & Deeper Fluency

Etiquette, kinship, festivals, register, texting, proverbs, and the colloquial Thai that textbooks leave out.

  • Wai Etiquette

    4 wai levels: monk, elder, peer, returning — hand height rules.

    4 min

  • Body Language Rules

    Six respectful defaults covering head, feet, shoes, handovers, stepping, and smiles.

    4 min

  • Color Meanings & Day Colors

    Seven day-color associations plus bounded royal and mourning context.

    4 min

  • ใจ Compound Emotions

    The ใจ (heart/mind) compound system — 8 whole-word cards with ใจ before or after the other piece.

    5 min

  • Kinship Terms

    Grandparents by parental side, aunts and uncles by age and side, and พี่/น้อง by relative age.

    5 min

  • Thai Festivals & Buddhist Observances

    Six named observances and festival periods, with a warning that lunar dates vary by year.

    5 min

  • Temple Etiquette

    7 vocabulary items and 4 behavior rules for visiting Thai temples.

    4 min

  • Thai Proverbs

    6 common proverbs with literal translation and cultural meaning.

    5 min

  • Register Ladder

    Five register rungs for eating vocabulary plus one polite-everyday payoff.

    5 min

  • Digital Thai & Texting

    555 laughter, stretched or repeated spellings, and contextual LINE stickers.

    4 min

  • Drama & Colloquial Speech

    Colloquial patterns not in textbooks — pronoun shifts, contractions.

    5 min

  • Loanword Patterns

    Three reviewed loanwords illustrating Thai adaptation tendencies, not conversion rules.

    4 min

  • Learner Roadmap

    4-stage journey with observable evidence and one next-practice decision.

    5 min

Or let the plan decide

Ten minutes a day, built around what you are actually weakest at — lessons included, in the order they are useful to you.

See Today's Plan