Thai language

1. The polite particle

Thai sentences end with a politeness word that depends on your own gender, not the listener's. Men say ครับ (kráp), women say ค่ะ (kâ). Add it to almost everything — it turns a blunt phrase into a courteous one. In the list below it is left off to save space; add it yourself.

2. Tones decide meaning

Thai has five tones — mid, low, falling, high, rising. Mǎi with a rising tone is a question marker; mâi with a falling tone means "not"; mái means "new"; mài means "burn". Say a phrase flat and you will often still be understood from context, but the tone marks in the pronunciation column are worth copying.

3. Bulgarian speakers have one real advantage and one real trap

The advantage: Bulgarian has no vowel reduction problem with ъ, which is very close to the Thai ʉ/ə sound that English speakers struggle with. The trap: Bulgarian question intonation rises at the end of a sentence, and in Thai that rise will change the word. Ask questions with the question word (ไหม mǎi), not with your voice.