FREE Thai Language Learning Resources…
Here it is, the mother of all FREE Thai resources: Free Thai courses, ebooks, audio books, songs, dictionaries, audio files, videos, podcasts, YouTube channels, alphabet lessons, grammar lessons, cheat sheets, flashcards, typing tutors, keyboards, games, quizzes, study aids, iOS apps (iPhone, iPad, iPod), radio, tv, newspapers, spoken Thai, written Thai… and more.
In case you are looking for a good way to learn Thai online, you can check out Thaipod101. Although it’s not free, it’s cheap and effective. ExpatDen readers also get 25% off on all courses using this link.
NOTE: The Broken Link Checker plugin has been added to WLT to combat wonky links. And while I have cleaned them up (dead links, links going to smut sites, etc) I do need your help.
Please, if you come across a site that’s been taken over contact me and I’ll fix it.
Free Online Thai Courses…
Learn Thai from a White Guy
After entering your email, you get five free Thai lessons to help you start learning to read Thai.
ThaiPod101
A list of free Thai vocabulary.
Ling
A free mobile application for learning Thai.
Book2 English – Thai For Beginners: A Book In 2 Languages
The online files for the book, Book2 English – Thai For Beginners.
Department of Non-Formal Education – Ministry of Education, Thailand
Animated course teaching the basics of Thai. Reading, writing, grammar.
Everyday Thai Language school: Learning materials
Online flashcards, quizzes, lessons created from the FSI materials, sound included.
FSI Thai Basic Course
Thai language course developed by the Foreign Service Institute. Pdf and mp3 downloads.
FSI Thai Basic Course
Workbook, Reading and Translation Exercises, Lessons 1-80
FSI Thai: Live Lingua Project
FSI Thai materials for self-study or with a teacher.
Foreign Service Institute Thai Language Course
Updated FSI Thai materials hosted on thai-notes.com (a work in progress).
FSI: Noss Thai Grammar
A greatly revised and expanded version of his dissertation, ‘An Outline of Siamese Grammar’.
GLOSS online language lessons
Reading and listening lessons taken from articles, TV, radio, etc.
karn.tv
Educational materials for kids.
Kruao.com: Thai Teaching Media (Total 1,826 videos and counting)
Huge resource of Thai teaching materials that includes Thai, Math, English, Science, Social Studies and Computer.
Langhub.com
The lessons are written for English-speaking expats living in Thailand, travelers to Thailand, those doing business in Thailand, and those who are simply learning the language. Mp3 audio and mp4 video downloads.
Lingopolo.com
A 100% aural based series of flashcards which automatically adjust to your level.
Loecsen: Learn Thai
Learn 400 words and phrases (in 40 languages). Mp3 and Pdf downloads (not free: 4.75 €). Loecsen is also on smartphone.
iOS app: Loecsen – Audio travel phrasebook
Android: Loecsen – Audio PhraseBook
Peacecorps.gov:
Peace Corps Thai Course (basic introduction to Thai language in 13 lessons), Peace Corps Central-E-Saan Thai Dictionary, Peace Corps Central Southern Thai Dictionary, Northern-Central Thai Dictionary. Pdfs and mp3 downloads.
Thai Basic Reader
This is a fabulous course. I don’t know how I missed adding it until now because I reviewed it here: Free Online Thai Readers.
inter.mua.go.th: Thai Language Textbook for Foreigner
Free Online Thai Mini Lessons…
elearning with Sriwittayapaknam School
Thai only. If you can’t read the Thai script, click on the icons.
Learn Thai Language
400 + short lessons sponsored by Thai Language Hut
Learn Thai with Oliver
Thai flashcards, exercises and games.
Learn to read Thai Tutorials
By Phil at Phil.UK.Net.
slice-of-thai.com
Excellent resource with Thai consonant / vowel flashcards, printable flashcards for the Thai consonants and vowels, consonant shape learning aid, chart of the 44 Thai consonants arranged by similar shape, voice viewer, the five tones of the Thai language, the consonant sounds of Thai, the vowel sounds of Thai, pronunciation guide systems for Thai.
Speak Real Thai
Lessons cover greetings, how to wai, how to make a suggestion politely, giving a snappy retort, how much money to give a beggar, dialects.
ThaiARC
Thai alphabet and phrases (with sound). Articles on the Thai language.
Thai Language Hut
200+ YouTube videos created by Thai Language Hut.
Thai Language Survival Kit
Developed by the U.S. Defense Language Institute – includes audio and pdf downloads.
ThaiSmile: Let’s Try Thai Language
World Nomads – Free Travellers Language Guide
Thai iPod language guide. Thai language guide app for iPhone & iPod touch. Pdf and Mp3 downloads.
Thai Language Cheat Sheets and Free Downloads…
WLT Review: Thai Language Cheat Sheets
Thai Consonant Map – Phonetic Map of the Human Mouth (Pdf download 948 kb)
Thai Consonant Sounds cheat sheet (Pdf download 41 kb)
Tod Daniel’s cheat sheet to study the initial and ending sounds of the Thai alphabet. (Thanks Tod)
Thai Language Cheat Sheet A4 (Pdf download 124 kb)
Thai Language Cheat Sheet Letter (Pdf download 124 kb)
This intensive and well-researched cheat sheet includes classes, tone marks, clusters, symbols, final consonants and more (beginners will need keep a grammar book handy). English, transliteration and Thai script (thanks NguuMuu).
Thai script card, 1000 Word List, and the Book of Remembrance
Ben Crowder from Riverglen Press has three downloads on his site. The last two are for the religious minded, the Thai script card is for everyone.
Thai Script Guidebook
Written by Veradej Wisetjarkhun, this is a wonderful cheat sheet to learn the Thai alphabet and tones.
Thai Building Terms (Excel download 38 kb)
This handy sheet covers ceilings, foundations and footings, windows and doors, electricity and bathrooms (thanks Andy).
English-Thai housing/shop rental contract
Download a free, bilingual English-Thai housing/shop rental contract to use to rent from a Thai landlord.
Thai consonant and vowel flashcard
From slice-of-thai.com, these flash cards solve the transliteration dilemma by leaving the choice up to you.
Free Thai Lessons from Pay Sites…
EuroTalk – Learn Thai for FREE
This is an online taster of what to expect from EuroTalk products.
ITS4Thai
Conversation course (400 Thai words with sentences), 5 lesson vocabulary course (50 Thai words), and the first 3 lessons free for their Thai script course. Online course.
L-lingo
L-Lingo Thai uses content from their language learning application, L-Ceps Personaltrainer Thai.
Thai Language Hut
Thai exercises, phrases and vocab at Learn Thai Free.
Learn Thai Podcasts
Blog style Thai Language lessons with video and audio. Pdf, mp3 audio and mp4 video downloads.
Thai Flashcards
Using a flashcard system, you can go with either a free or premium account.
Top Thai Language Learning Websites…
thai-language.com
Internet resource for learning the Thai language: Lessons, forums, dictionary with an excellent search criteria, and Thai language reference.
Richard Barrow’s sites will go here as soon as they are in operation again.
Google Books…
WLT Review: Google Books: Thai Learning Resources
The resources for Google Books grew too large for this page so I’ve moved them to a dedicated post on WLT.
An Elementary Hand-book of the Siamese Language
This book is online in full (out of copyright) By Basil Osborn Cartwright (1906).
English-Thai Thai-English Dictionaries…
WLT Review: Thai Translation: Google Translation & Thai Dictionaries
Bab.la: English-Thai Dictionary
Includes translations, synonyms, usage examples and questions asked in the forum. Search via word or via letter. There are many more dictionaries (scroll down on the page).
English to Thai Dictionary Online
Contains more than 83,000 English words and phrases translated into Thai. Community forum with live chat, online Thai keyboard.
Glosbe: English Thai Dictionary online
Glosbe has translations and examples of usage.
Lingopolo English-Thai audio dictionary
A small dictionary with recordings of all words.
Longdo
A serious English-Thai, Japanese-Thai, German-Thai, French-Thai dictionary.
Royal Institute Dictionary
Official dictionary of the Thai language.
Royal Institute Dictionary: iOS app
Royal Institute Dictionary: Android app
Royal Institute Read and Write: iOS app
Royal Institute Read and Write: Android app
SEAlang Library Thai Dictionary Resources
Based on data developed by the Mary Haas Thai Dictionary Project.
SiamDic.com
Thai – English Dictionary Online.
thai2english.com
Handy dictionary with a whole lot more as it’s designed to assist in learning the Thai language, as well as translating from Thai to English.
thai-language.com Dictionary
Dictionary of over 36001 Thai words and phrases with English definitions, and 13146 audio clips.
TNC: Thai National Corpus
Database of 14m words from books, newspapers, legal and other sources with part-of-speech tagging for comparing word usage.
English-Thai Thai-English Dictionary Software Downloads…
Tamilcube.com: English-Thai Thai-English
This is a single search dictionary (one word, not sentences)
Google Translate
Google Translate for Thai-English and English-Thai.
Picture dictionary
This is quite the helpful dictionary (and there is no transliteration to get in your way).
Thai-language.com: Dictionary
Online dictionary at one of the best language sites on the internet. You can search via single word or sentence.
You Translate
Community driven translation for all languages.
Thai Alphabet and Numbers…
Memrise: Thai Alphabet Crash Course
MThai: Learn How to Write Thai Consonants
MThai: Learn How to Write Thai Numbers
ThaiStyle: Thai Letters & Pronunciation Guide
Alphabet poster
Vintage Thai alphabet poster at pinterest.com.
Thai Tones and Pronunciation…
Thai pronunciation guide – Forvo
Crowdsourcing site where you can add words (record and upload), pronounce, listen & learn.
Thai Language YouTube Channels…
Adam Bradshaw
His shows are for Thais learning English but they are fantastic for those learning Thai as well.
Blog: Ajarn Adam TV
ALGworld’s YouTube Channel
You can also get the ALG videos on the site at: Learn Thai Language Videos
Automatic Language Growth (ALG), is a language learning method. Ditto with AUA in Bangkok.
Andrew Biggs’ Tongue Thai’d (40 lessons)
CultureTalk Video Interviews
Interviews with people of many different ages and walks of life – most include transcripts.
Gwindarr’s YouTube Channel
The scripts for this channel can be found at Learn Thai from a White Guy.
Langhub’s YouTube channel
Mp3 audio and mp4 video files for learners of the Thai language.
Learn Thai Podcasts YouTube channel
The free podcasts from Learn Thai Podcast.
Luke Bruder Bauer’s YouTube channel
Paiboon Publishing’s YouTube channel
The YouTube home of Benjawan Poomsan Becker (Thai for Beginners, Thai for Intermediate, etc…)
SpokeDark TV
Thai comedy YouTube channel.
Stuart Jay Raj’s YouTube Channel
Polyglot Stu from Behind the Curtain. While there, be sure to check out his new Thai TV Show เหนือชั้น 1000 แปลก.
thaiguysabu’s YouTube channel
Thai-American John makes his way through learning the Thai language. It’s a learning process as he doesn’t get it quite right in the beginning.
vincentvandervaere’s YouTube channel
So far he has How to Read Thai Part 1 and How to Read Thai Part 2.
Jacky Niere from Germany: Thai using German and English
Khon Thai Chai Yo: Thai for French speakers
Ponyothai2 channel: Thai for French speakers
Ruedi Seiler using Thai, English and German
Thai Language YouTube Channels: Thai Teachers and Thai Schools…
Ekkijaney: A Thai Teacher who teaches Thai and also English
I Want to Learn Thai from Teacher Bo
Learn Thai with Ying and Paula
Lily Brand (Thai Ladyboy) Teaching English
Quite fun – had a huge following (25k).
Pick Up Thai’s YouTube Channel
More lessons can be found on her website: Pick Up Thai
My Thai Language School: Thai for English speakers
Siam Utk’s Channel: Learning Thai
Speak Thai with teacher Noi Naa
StilloKay: Teacher Metalizza Kay
Wat San Fran School: Watch, listen, read along
Msc Thai Language Videos…
Google Doc: Thai TV shows (and other videos)
This is a growing list of Thai TV shows compiled by Josh from Sweet and Coolbeanss.
Fairy Tales in Thai
A cute channel of fairy tales that’ve been translated into Thai.
Kor Bua: How to Speak Thai – 1
Thai Alphabet Cartoon
Translated into English by WLT at Thai Alphabet Cartoon (taking out most of the rude parts ;-).
ThaiStyle: Thai Letters & Pronunciation Guide
TED-Ed Thai
A Thai version of TED (some with subtitles).
Webcorp: Linguist’s Search Engine
Examples of words in sentences (some good, some not so good).
Thai Acronyms and Abbreviations…
ภาคผนวก:รายชื่ออักษรย่อในภาษาไทย
Thai wiki project with Thai acronyms and abbreviations.
Thai Videos with Subtitles…
Crunchyroll.com
Do a search for ‘Thai’ to find the videos.
Thai Subtitles
Crowdsourced subtitles website.
Online Thai Radio and TV Stations…
BBCthai.com
The BBC in Thai.
Thai Radio
Mister Kwai’s list of online Thai radio stations.
Online Thai Audio…
ThaiARC: Thai Language Audio Resource Center
Various styles of Thai speech: royal speeches, academic lectures, oral literature. Thai script and audio.
Thai Listening and Reading…
Self Study Thai
Using articles from VOA (Voice of America) Self Study Thai has Thai audio, transcripts, English translations and flashcards.
Thai Recordings
Five minute audio clips with transcripts covering a variety of topics for intermediate learners of Thai.
WLT Review: Thairecordings.com: Audio Clips for Intermediate Learners
Thai Music and Language Learning Sites…
Learn Thai from Songs
Practice reading seven songs. Each song is accompanied by culture notes, grammar notes and explanation.
Online Thai Readers, Thai Books…
WLT Review:Thai-English Readers with Mp3s
WLT: Download 12 FREE Manee Books
There are several sites to download the Manee books – I’ve created one on Dropbox.
dungtrin.com
Thai Literature audio books. Pdf and mp3s downloads.
Faylicity
English language poems with Thai translations
WLT: FREE Downloads: Gla and Geo (there is life after Manee)
Fungdham: Local Fables
Listen online or download the audio files (my Mac doesn’t recognise the plugin).
Resources on Thai word origin and usage.
Rikker from Thai 101 points us to these online jewels for the advanced Thai reader.
SEAlang Lab: Just Read
The motherload of online Thai-English reading. Sounds are lacking for whole paragraphs, but when you click on individual words the search takes you to a dictionary with sound and video. Be sure to check out the SEAlang Archives while you are there.
Thai Fiction in Translation
Translated modern Thai literature, by Marcel Barang.
Thai Reader Project
By the University of Wisconsin at Madison. There are two readers with 76 lessons. Volume I is for beginners up to high readers, Volume II is for intermediate to advanced readers. Includes pdf downloads
And don’t forget the Thai Language Wikipedia
Reading a foreign language is usually more interesting when reading a subject you enjoy.
The Thai Bible
This Biblica translation of the Bible is for the Thai language, which is primarily used in Thailand. This translation uses a semi-formal language style and applies a mixed translation philosophy. It is translated from the biblical languages and the New Testament was completed in 1999.
Typing in Thai Software and Online Keyboards…
WLT Review: Thai Typing Tutors: aTypeTrainer4Mac
aTypeTrainer4Mac
A fantastic multilingual typing tutor for the Mac.
Fast Fingers Typing Test
Improve your Thai typing speed and share your results with friends.
Mister Kwai – Virtual Thai Keyboard
Note: check out the Thai-English-Thai dictionary (editable), along with the quiz generator (uses the dictionary).
Thai Keyboard Tutor
A simple Thai keyboard tutor made in Game Maker Studio 2.0 – Windows.
Thai Typing Tutor Game
By Josh Sager, hosted on thai-language.com.
Visual Thai Keyboard
If your keyboard does not support typing in Thai, the Virtual Thai keyboard can help.
Thai Fonts…
f0nt.com
Free Thai fonts to download.
Free Thai Font Collection
Free and open source Thai fonts hosted by lanna.io.
lannainnovation/thai-font-collection
Downloadable Free Thai fonts and their licenses.
Language Forums with Thai Learners…
How To Learn Any Language: Forum
Online polyglot community for self teaching many languages; Thai included. Be sure to check out Learn Any Language Wiki (gleaned from how-to-learn-any-language.com).
thai-language.com Message Board
Forum for thai-language.com.
Thai Visa Thai Language Forum
A decent mix of beginning to advanced Thai learners.
Online Language Exchange Partners with Thai Learners…
Conversation Exchange
Through ConversationExchange.com you can have three types of language exchange: Face to face conversation, correspondence (pen-pal), text and voice chat.
expatriates.com
International language exchange.
HelloTalk
A language exchange group, HelloTalk also has free iOS and Android apps.
italki.com
A social network and online resource for learning foreign languages.
Lang-8
You write in the language you are studying, native speakers correct your entries, you correct theirs.
Learn to Speak Thai
Language exchange via email, text chat and voice chat.
Shared talk
Language exchange community.
The MIXXER
A language exchange community for everyone.
Verbal Planet
Verbalplanet.com is a an online language learning platform that brings language teachers and students together using Skype internet telephony.
VoxSwap: Crunchbase
The social network for learning languages.
About the Thai Language…
60 Minutes to Learn the Thai Alphabet
Brief overview of the Thai language (consonants, vowels, reading, writing, etc) in the left nav.
Royal Thai General System of Transcription
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Royal Thai Consulate General
Basic sentences using Thai script and transliteration.
Omniglot: Thai language, alphabet and pronunciation
An outline of the Thai language.
Thai language
Outline of the Thai language from the ESL Teachers Board.
Msc Thai Language Resources…
Clay’s Kitchen: Thai Food Glossary
Food normally used in Thai cooking. Photos, transliteration and Thai script.
horhook.com
Children’s site with animation. I need to poke around more…
Learning Thai Affirmations: Thai Sex Talk for Valentine’s Day
A sexy learning Thai affirmation download from Kaewmala.
Plant Names
Multilingual, multi-script plant name database.
Rhinospike: Foreign Language Audio on Demand
RhinoSpike is a language learning tool that connects you with native speakers to exchange foreign language audio files. Get foreign language text read aloud for you by a native speaker.
Thai Vocabulary
2107 Thai words with their language source (where applicable).
TruePlookpanya
Free online Thai tests – read Maarten Tummers review here: Test Your Might: Online Thai Language Proficiency Tests.
WikiBooks: Thai/Adding vocabulary with word association
A growing list of Thai words that are similar to English words.
WikiBooks: Thai/Writing lessons plan
Same concept as above, only with Thai letters (Quote: the goal is to introduce letters one by one so as not to overwhelm the student).
Thai Language
Thai characters, writing in Thai, vowels, tones, grammar and spelling. Includes sound.
Wikipedia: Farang
Origins of farang.
Wikipedia: Thai alphabet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wikipedia: Thai phrasebook
From Wikitravel.
Wikipedia: Thai proverbs
From Wikiquote.
Wikipedia: Thai six-hour clock
SRS (Flash Cards) Software…
WLT Review: Byki Thai Language Course – Note: they are no longer updating this software.
Anki
A friendly, intelligent spaced learning system. For Windows, Mac and Linux.
Pauker – Flash Card Learning
Uses a combination of ultra-shortterm, shortterm, and longterm memory. You can use it to learn all the things efficiently you never want to forget, like vocabulary, capitals, important dates, etc. For Windows, Mac, Linux and more.
ProVoc
Free vocabulary trainer for Mac OS X.
The Mnemosyne Project
A sophisticated flash-card tool to optimize your learning process, as well as a research project into the nature of long-term memory. For Windows, Mac and Linux.
SRS (Flashcards) Resources…
English-Thai Vocabulary Quizzes
Quizzes to help you learn and review vocabulary.
L-Lingo’s Anki Common Thai Word Flashcards
Thai 1000 Common Words (incl. Audio, Phonetics, Examples).
Using Word lists
Advice on using words lists.
Articles on Learning Thai…
Learning Thai with a Palm Pilot, a PC and a `kroo’
…and a compulsive, obsessive personality.
Rules for Transcribing English Words (into Thai)
The Royal Institute has recognized the importance of adopting foreign words such as names and specialized scientific terms into the Thai language.
Speak Thai in 10 Days
How to be conversational in Thai (hmmm…)
Thai Culture in Language
By Peansiri Vongvipanond, presented to a workshop of teachers of social science organized by the University of New Orleans.
Non English Resources…
Lire et Ecrire le Thaï
Free ebook to learn how to read the Thai alphabet.
Sites and Resources No Longer Online…
Some of these sites are offline temporarily, others are permanently gone from the internet. If interested, I have some of the downloadable materials.
youreadthai.com: You Read Thai
For intermediate Thai students who aim to improving their reading. Also provides insights into Thai culture.
thaiaua.yhoonchamlong.net: Learning Thai 101 with unit exercises
Learn the Thai writing system via the AUA Thai Course Reading Book. Produced by the Thai Language Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Includes pdfs and sound.
soas.ac.uk: Teaching Thai Tone Rules — Walaiporn Tantitkanangkul (aka Uan)
This is an excellent resource for learning the tone rules (no longer online but I have it
Thai Dictionary in Excel
It’s no longer online but if you want it just contact me. There are 13 files, from 2000 to 22000 words. The languages in the spreadsheet are: Thai, transliteration, English, and Japanese.
Teachthai.com (offline but sometimes Thai gov sites come back)
Interactive Thai language e-Learning course covering the basics of Thai. Flash based, includes sound. Hosted by the Department of Non-formal Education, Ministry of Education, Thailand.
Learning Thai the Easy Way (offline for now)
Extensive resource for learning the Thai language: Forums, Thai alphabet, Thai script, read Thai, grammar notes, listening resources, reading resources, Thai road signs, short stories, study aids, games and quizzes, exams, your name in Thai, and much much more (check out their free Thai resources page). This is also the home of Read with Manee.
Learn to Speak Like a Thai (spokenthai.com – offline for now)
Video and audio clips to help you speak like a Thai. Mp3 downloads.
learningthai.com: (offline for now)
Thai alphabet: Consonants 1 and Consonants 2 and Vowels
Thai Video Transcripts (thai101.wikispaces.com – offline for now)
Gifted from Rikker of Thai 101.
Read Thai with Manee and Friends (offline for now)
A modern Manee (Manii) reader at LearningThai.com. Included are 22 lessons with sound, a vocabulary list, flashcards, tests and more tests.
learningthai.com/thaikeyboard/: PPA Thai Keyboard (offline for now)
Virtual Thai Keyboard.
Learningthai.com: Thai Language (offline for now)
Exercises and flashcards.
Suphawut.com: Bilingual Translations Zone (no longer online – please contact me if you find it)
Translated Thai songs, poetry/poems and assorted texts.
http://www.design.in.th: Tales from Thai Childhood (no longer online)
Thai and English versions. Includes lullabies and sound (songs from Thailand). There is background music but you can opt to turn it off (it is difficult to hear the songs over the music).
http://www.lonweb.org: Languages on the Web
Daisy Stories: http://www.lonweb.org/daisy/ds-thai-nightwatch.htm: Night Watch
http://www.lonweb.org/daisy/ds-thai-littletrip.htm: A Nice Little Trip
http://www.lonweb.org/daisy/ds-thai-bookworm.htm: The Bookworm
http://www.lonweb.org/daisy/ds-thai-macbeth.htm: Daisy Macbeth
gwenael.free.fr/wattana (Assimil Thai)
Materials taken off by request from Assimil. Stay tuned for something else exciting.
Reading Thai Signs
Reading from Signs is part of a mini-grant project for Less Commonly Taught Languages at the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota.
Please contact me with free Thai language learning resources.