Update 07-10-2024 Sadly this app is no longer available, and therefore there is no longer an elegant solution to the Thai keyboard on Android. Sigh. The standard Android keyboards such as Android Keyboard (AOSP) and Gboard do not display all the Thai characters. Instead, half the Thai characters are not visible until the shift key ... Read more
This article is about Thai keyboard layouts for desktop and laptop computers, which have a hardware and software component. This does not deal with virtual or soft keyboards or mobile device layouts.
Thai Keyboard Layouts are generally something Thai speakers and Thai language learners have little problem with because of a de facto standard, although there are three specific standards, in practice (along with ISO and ANSI layouts).
Confucius' Analects - Introductory Essay Emerging several millennia ago, Confucius' Analects are aphorisms and short dialogues between Confucius and other masters and students. Some of these are historical figures, while regarding others there is ambiguity, and many recede, like Confucius, into legendary status. Regardless of historical authorship, the work has exerted a profound effect on ... Read more
The second edition of the Thai Alphabet Cards is underway, and we've revamped the Tone Graphs, among other elements.
One challenge for using Thai script on a computer is that Thai characters are more vertical than roman alphabet characters. If one is mixing roman and Thai characters in a document, the Thai characters tend to be much smaller (and therefore illegible if the roman characters are optimized for space and legibility). The reason for this is that Thai characters, along with vowel markers, tone marks, and the silent marker can stack above and below a character, which means they are generally much taller than Roman (Latin) and other alphabet systems.
INCOMPLETE - WORK IN PROGRESS It is common for those learning Thai to run across transcription of spoken Thai into systems other than the Thai script. At first, one would think that there would be a single correct transcription, for example based on the International Phonetical Association (IPA) that would accurately capture all the sounds ... Read more
While Speech Perception Research is a large and dynamic area of study, some recent findings can be summarized in a way that helps us better approach second language learning and teaching.
Thai languages, or languages in Thailand, are many and diverse. Scholars generally use the term Tai to refer to a larger language family which ranges across much of Mainland Southeast Asia and what is now Southern China. The main point is that there is ongoing research, different ideas, and not full agreement, on how to distinguish which languages are related to each other and which are siblings and which are parent languages.
Comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between two languages is an effective tactic for second language learners. Direct cognitive awareness of those differences, while engaging in recognition and production of the differences, is more effective than indirect trial and error. Instruction and exercises that highlight these differences are important for mastery.
Teaching English as a Foreign Language, one would think that the most simplistic formulations of what teaching is, devoid of real content, are the actual work of the teacher. Any belief to the contrary contradicts pretty much all of the standard TEFL, CELTA, and TESOL certificate courses. Yes, these courses do teach something, but that ... Read more