Tone listening
Press play and listen to one Thai word. Then pick the tone you heard. The word stays hidden until you answer, and then you see the letters that lead to that tone.
This page needs sound.
Play it as often as you like.
Which tone do you hear?
How to listen
Listen to where the pitch of the voice goes, not to the sounds of the letters. Three of the tones are level: mid, low and high. Two move: falling drops and rising climbs. The shapes on the buttons are typical and simplified. Speakers differ, and the high tone is changing: older speakers keep it level, and younger speakers often rise on it.
After each answer you see the word and how its spelling leads to the tone. That is the link between what you hear and the rules of the tone chart. To work a tone out from the spelling first, use the tone drill. The classes of the letters are on the alphabet chart.
The clips are made by a synthesised voice, so a person may say the same word a little differently. The page checks the tone you choose, not your speech.
The words here are a sample: those of the tone chart and of the first two lessons. The course adds the words of lessons 3 to 18.