First Step:

Learn the 9 Middle Class Consonants

The application on this page shows you information about the Thai middle class consonants. You must learn the consonant names, the corresponding English letter sound they produce, and that they are in the group called Middle Class.

The spelling of a Thai word is what determines the tone, and consonant class is the first thing you need to be able to identify.

About the Consonants:

There are two words that make up the name of every Thai consonant. The first word is the sound, formed into a syllable with the vowel sound aw. The second word is the thing that it is named after.

The first consonant of the Thai alphabet is named gaw gài. Gaw is its sound, said with mid tone, and gài is the Thai word for chicken. The word gài is said with low tone.

The silent consonant:

อ (aw àang) is a special character that's a consonant and also a vowel. It is used at the beginning of syllables that begin with a vowel sound, without an initial consonant sound. It is used as a vowel when it is not in the initial position, and also appears as part of other vowels . This can be confusing, so for now just focus on learning its name, and that it is in the middle class group.