# Putting together a 100 word list for conversation in Thai



## ZTraveler

I quickly learn a language and can communicate using only one hundred words. I have done this for French, Spanish, Lao, and Italian. I now want to do one for Thai since we are looking to relocate.

These 100 words make up 50% of conversations. Imagine how quickly one can add to this once its done. I don't sell this, it is just for my own use. I understand from my Lao studies how important the tones are, so this list won't address that as much.

Since Thai doesn't seem to use "articles" like other languages, I thought I would use the Lao list to start, but am looking for your input as to the words you deem as most important to know in conversation.

Please help. Thanks


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## Cer

How do you solve the "tonal" influence on the language.?
Thai people will absolutely not understand you if a word is spoken in the wrong tone(sometimes you cannot even hear it)

for example:I am speaking reasonable Thai but........if they ask where I live,I know already that it will be a quess if they will understand my answer (the name of the village).To explain more,I will also mention the name of the next village which they understand perfectly!


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## ZTraveler

Cer said:


> How do you solve the "tonal" influence on the language.?
> Thai people will absolutely not understand you if a word is spoken in the wrong tone(sometimes you cannot even hear it)
> 
> for example:I am speaking reasonable Thai but........if they ask where I live,I know already that it will be a quess if they will understand my answer (the name of the village).To explain more,I will also mention the name of the next village which they understand perfectly!


I understand. Having already spent a year learning Lao I recognize the importance of the tones, since the two languages are similar.

However, remember, this is an exercise for me. I take the words and phonetically write them out, with their Thai character equivalent, so that as I learn the language, I remember the character and what sound it makes (or sound combinations). The tonal part comes when I have a good grasp on the phonetic pronunciation, since I have the word formed in my mouth and now can add the tone.

It's the same as when I was learning Italian or Spanish, the diacritics above the letters used for accent came after the word formed easily in my mouth, which allowed me to add the proper accent.

One thing I didn't mention either is that I am learning the Thai alphabet at the same time, so I can see the phonetic sound made by the character, but then, when reading Thai, the tonal accents will already be in place. So I am learning to read as well.

Thanks for your input, now... do you have any word suggestions that would fit in the top 100 word list. :tongue1:


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## thai wise

.................................some word associations....................
Crazy บ้า Bar / Bah Ba 
Noodles (*1) บะหมี่ Barmy Ba Mee 
Pig / Pork หมู Moo Moo 
Chicken ไก่ Guy Gai 
Crab ปู Poo Pu / Bpoo 
Vegetable ผัก Pack Pak 
Mushroom เห็ด Head Het 
Onion หัวหอม Warm Hua hom 
Chili พริก Prick Phrik 
Hot (spicy) เผ็ด Pet Phet 
Cool เย็น Yen Yen 
Cold หนาว Now Nao 
Excrement ขี้ Key 
Hair ผม Pom Phom 
Ear หู Who Hu 
Eye ตา Tar Taa 
Eyebrow คิ้ว Queue Kiu 
Mouth ปาก Bark Pak 
Tooth ฟัน Fun Fun 
Doctor หมอ More Mor 
Dentist หมอฟัน More fun Mor fun 
Finger นิ้ว New Niu 
Arm แขน Can Khaen 
Back หลัง Lung Lang 
Leg ขา Car Kha 
Armpit รักแร้ Chocolate (*2) 
Drive ขับ Cup Khap 
Car รถ Rot Rot 
Traffic Jam รถติด Rot Tit Rot Dtit 
Go ไป Bye Bai / Pai 
Go away Bye, Bye (*3) 
Come มา Ma Ma 
Here นี่ Knee Ni 
Come here มานี่ Money Ma ni 
Dog หมา Ma Ma 
Horse ม้า Ma Ma 
Ghost ผี Pee Pi 
Day วัน One Wun / Wan 
Two สอง Song Song / Sorng 
Four สี่ See Si 
Five ห้า Ha Ha 
Seven เจ็ด Jet Chet 
Eight แปด Bet Bhet / Paet 
Ten สิบ Sip Sip 
Many / Much มาก Muck (*3) Muk / Maak 
Colour สี See Si 
White สีขาว See Cow Si Khao 
Black สีดำ See Dumb Si Dam / si Dum 
Pink สีชมพู See Shampoo Si Chomphu 
Blue (light blue) สีฟ้า See Far Si Fa 
Rice ข้าว Cow Khao 
Fried Rice ข้าวผัด Cow Pat Khao Phat 
Sweet Corn ข้าวโพด Cow Pot Khao Phoht 
Bean ถั่ว Tour Thua 
He / She / They เขา Cow Khao 
Cigarette บุหรี่ Bully Buri 
Ash Tray ที่เขี่ยบุหรี่ Tikka Bully Thi Khia Buri 
Cigarette Lighter ไฟแช็ก Fire Check Fai Chaek 
Don't / Not ไม่ My Mai 
Know รู้ Loo Ru 
Bad Smell / Stink เหม็น Men Men / Menh 
Lemon / Lime มะนาว Man Now Manao 
Scorpion แมงป่อง Man Pong Mang Pong 
Frog กบ Cop Kop / Kopf 
Bird นก Knock Nok 
Leaf ใบ Buy Bai 
Lane ซอย Soy Soi 
House บ้าน Barn Baan 
Village หมู่บ้าน Moo Barn Moo Baan 
Hotel โรงแรม Wrong Room (*4) Rong Raem 
Shop ร้าน Ran Raan 
Mountain ภูเขา Poo Cow Poo Kao 
Who ใคร Cry Krai 
Gold ทอง Tong Torng 
Straight Ahead ตรงไป Tong Pie Torng Bpai 
Meet พบกัน Pop Gun Pop Gun 
See เห็น Hen Hen 
Watch (as in TV) ดู Do Doo 
Beach ชายหาด Shy Heart Shai Hart 
Sand ทราย Sigh Sai 
Powder / Flour แป้ง Bang Bpairng / Paeng 
.......................all usefull words ...hope they help


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## Cer

I learned my Thai complete different.
*I was married with a Thai teacher for 28 years (she passed away)
*I use basic words like for example water=naahm and then I collect all other words that have to do with "naahm"
That will be in english:
water;swim;take a shower;toilet;ice ;drinkwater;

I agree that knowing the alphabet will give you info about the tone.


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## ZTraveler

thai wise said:


> .................................some word associations....................
> Crazy บ้า Bar / Bah Ba
> Noodles (*1) บะหมี่ Barmy Ba Mee
> Pig / Pork หมู Moo Moo
> .....
> .......................all usefull words ...hope they help


Thank you for this list!

It looks like you gave both the phonetic and "Thai" english spelling, which is very helpful in pronunciation. Thank you!

I can see that this will help me a great deal. If I gave you a list back, would you be willing to do the same. Only reason is that I have specific words in 100 word list that don't appear here, which are used for other languages as well.

Of course, I'll share the whole list when complete.

Thanks again!:clap2:


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## ZTraveler

Cer said:


> I learned my Thai complete different.
> *I was married with a Thai teacher for 28 years (she passed away)
> *I use basic words like for example water=naahm and then I collect all other words that have to do with "naahm"
> That will be in english:
> water;swim;take a shower;toilet;ice ;drinkwater;
> 
> I agree that knowing the alphabet will give you info about the tone.


That would be a great way to learn as well! I may do that in addition to my 100 word list. Thanks! :juggle:

I am trying to keep consistent since I have already done this for Spanish, Italian, Lao, and French. There are many ways to learn, but I have found that I can converse very quickly using just the 100 words, so I am focused.

Thanks for your reply...


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## Cattherine

ZTraveler said:


> I quickly learn a language and can communicate using only one hundred words. I have done this for French, Spanish, Lao, and Italian. I now want to do one for Thai since we are looking to relocate.
> 
> These 100 words make up 50% of conversations. Imagine how quickly one can add to this once its done. I don't sell this, it is just for my own use. I understand from my Lao studies how important the tones are, so this list won't address that as much.
> 
> Since Thai doesn't seem to use "articles" like other languages, I thought I would use the Lao list to start, but am looking for your input as to the words you deem as most important to know in conversation.
> 
> Please help. Thanks


Did you ever get your list compiled? I'm working on one at the moment as well...


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## Cattherine

ZTraveler said:


> That would be a great way to learn as well! I may do that in addition to my 100 word list. Thanks! :juggle:
> 
> I am trying to keep consistent since I have already done this for Spanish, Italian, Lao, and French. There are many ways to learn, but I have found that I can converse very quickly using just the 100 words, so I am focused.


In addition... I am very interested in picking your brain on how to get a head start into a language by using the top 100 words. So if you are open to sharing, please do.


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## ZTraveler

*100 word list is easy! Just add water...*

... or agua, eau, น้ำ, or wasser.

Just kidding. What would you like to know? The average American only uses about 169 words in his vocabulary in total. Some have a more expanded vocabulary, so we'll give them a 200 word vocabulary. So, if this applies to other languages, which it most likely does, then learning 100 of the most common would allow one to communicate and understand 50% of all conversations.

I find that it is actually more, considering the context of the situation many times allows one to know what's being talked about even when they don't know the actual translation of the word(s). Sign language even moreso since 93% of that language is facial or body gestures.

Of course, this is all my own theory, but it is based on people who go to other countries and want to quickly learn a language, like missionaries.

What would you like to know? :noidea:


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## Cattherine

ZTraveler said:


> What would you like to know? :noidea:


Everything... :-D

But mostly, your process (how you prepare, resources you use, method, etc).

I understand the reasoning behind the 100-300-500 but I've never really seen it in action. I sort of attempted it in France but the locals ran off screaming (cough cough... I guess a few bits were missing).

Question: How do you decide what the most important words are? Do you have an English list you use as a go by? European languages are dripping with the top 100-5000+. Not Thai (as you know). And I don't believe Lao has any available either. Asking on Thai forums doesn't garner much action (for Thai, this quest goes back yaks years). 

Btw: There is a top 100 list out there for Thai (I came across it yesterday) but there are too many important bits missing (just my opinion).

This is where I'm at...

While compiling a list of the top 100 Thai words one must know to get by (barely) I'm keeping simple sentences in mind. If I run across any words that can't easily be used with the other words listed, I turf them out.

My Thai top 100 list is now around 130 words and I've purposely left out categories such as weeks, months, numbers, colours, fruits, veg, etc... I'm doing it this way because I figure the bare basics come first and the categories get slotted in later, as needed. I seriously feel that room needs to be made for the top Thai specific bits (particles, classifiers, softeners, etc).

Just so you know... This is not for a product to sell. I'm writing a post about using Loci (a memory method). It's to help those desiring to learn Thai vocab from scratch (but others might get use out of it... or wander off). To do it properly, I decided that I needed a ballpark list of the top 100 Thai words (that's how I found your forum post).


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## Cattherine

ZTraveler said:


> f I gave you a list back, would you be willing to do the same. Only reason is that I have specific words in 100 word list that don't appear here, which are used for other languages as well.
> 
> Of course, I'll share the whole list when complete.
> 
> Thanks again!:clap2:


I passed over this one... apologies...

What specific words are you looking for? 

Also, do you have the Lao list handy? I'd love to see it (to compare with Thai).


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## ZTraveler

The 100 word list is not the ideal list for every language, however, a comparison of many languages will show that these basic hundred words are almost the same.

This is the base list I always use. Of course, as in your situation, one has to be careful not to get lost in the additions, as this adds much time and gets away from the focus... to learn the 100 words that will save time in getting started having conversations.

I'll see how I can get the Lao list in a format that is easy-to-understand for someone other than me. Give me a day or two...


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## Cattherine

Thank you. I'm looking forward to seeing it.


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## Cattherine

ZTraveler said:


> The 100 word list is not the ideal list for every language, however, a comparison of many languages will show that these basic hundred words are almost the same.
> 
> This is the base list I always use. Of course, as in your situation, one has to be careful not to get lost in the additions, as this adds much time and gets away from the focus... to learn the 100 words that will save time in getting started having conversations.
> 
> I'll see how I can get the Lao list in a format that is easy-to-understand for someone other than me. Give me a day or two...


Could I please get your basic English starter list as well? Or will it come with the Lao?

I had a think about what you said re: 

"as in your situation, one has to be careful not to get lost in the additions, as this adds much time and gets away from the focus"

And looking at my list, you are so right. I have no practical experience with starter lists. I created my list from the top 100 English words from Oxford + Buzan's top 100 + a Thai top 100 + my additions. 

So it's very likely that my list isn't simple enough... at the moment it includes no vocab for giving directions to a taxi driver (a must in BKK and elsewhere) and nothing for asking prices either... so a rethink is needed. Thank you


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## allanb

I think this way of simplifying things is crucial, because unless you make a start you are lost, I did this with Danish and it worked very well, however I didn't get to the basic stage in French and was completely lost.

I would add a couple "left" and "right" , which is "sigh" and "kwar" however there are many meanings to the word "sigh" depending on the tone, so instead learn the word for turn "leo" and use them both together. Leo sigh, leo kwar"

Numbers 1-10 are very important too:- nng, song , sang, see, ha, hok, jet, bad, gow, sip.

Not being able to read here is the big problem.

Just my two penneth........


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## Chiang Mai

very useful please do expand your lists and share when you can - many thanks


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## justcruizin

Last time I was in LOS, I bought a small book called Practical Thai 15th Ed. It is a great little handy read. It has the phonetic spelling as well as Thai. It consists of some really basic phrases as well as single words. The good part of the this book is if you cant say it, you can show a Thai and they can read it. It's also small enough to fit in your back pocket. Best 250Bht I spent over there.


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## Mweiga

*Tones*



allanb said:


> I think this way of simplifying things is crucial, because unless you make a start you are lost, I did this with Danish and it worked very well, however I didn't get to the basic stage in French and was completely lost.
> 
> I would add a couple "left" and "right" , which is "sigh" and "kwar" however there are many meanings to the word "sigh" depending on the tone, so instead learn the word for turn "leo" and use them both together. Leo sigh, leo kwar"
> 
> Numbers 1-10 are very important too:- nng, song , sang, see, ha, hok, jet, bad, gow, sip.
> 
> Not being able to read here is the big problem.
> 
> Just my two penneth........


Don't worry about getting the tones wrong. It takes several years of living here for the average farang to start getting even slightly competent at the 5 Thai tones and many will never cope at all , let alone even attempting them. 

The Thai ear tunes into and can differentiate word tones from birth while the farang is brought up on a flat tone language and lacks the ear - brain programming for tone diferentiation which has to be learnt - a process that becomes increasingly harder the older you become.

Thais will nearly always understand what you are trying to say from the context in which the Thai word is being used , albeit with suppressed titters as invariably you have actually said something else completely - and sometimes quite rude as well which exacerbates the titters !

Forget trying to follow tone notations found in the otherwise very useful phrasebooks - you just end up making strange noises that nobody understands. If you really want to tackle the tones then just concentrate on copying the Thais when they pronounce specific words and eventually your brain will retain the correct tone and you'll start reproducing it like a taperecorder. Otherwise be content with as wide a vocab as possible and continue to provide entertainment to the Thais with your version of their language !


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## steiner

I did not realise just how important tones are in spoken Thai until I heard a farang speaking on the tv without using hardly any tones.Understanding it was very difficult !


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