Tone pairs and triples

Now that you know all five tones, train your ear on the word sets that learners mix up most. Listen first, then repeat, then test yourself.

The famous sets

• ใกล้glâi near and ไกลglai far: mix them up and you say the opposite.
• เสือsǔea tiger, เสื่อsùea mat, เสื้อsûea shirt
• ขาวkǎao white, ข่าวkàao news, ข้าวkâao rice
• ไหมmǎi question word, ไม่mâi not, ใหม่mài new, ไม้máai wood; and ไหม้mâi (burn) sounds exactly like ไม่mâi.

A tongue twister

ไม้ใหม่ไม่ไหม้ใช่ไหมmáai mài mâi mâi châi mǎi: "New wood doesn't burn, does it?" Start slowly, one word at a time, then speed up.

Strategy

• Learn the tone as part of the word, not as decoration. The app's tone colours help.
• When you meet a new word, say it three times with the hand sign.
• Listen for the tone first, then the consonants and vowels.

How much do tones really matter?

Context sometimes saves you: ask for ขาวkǎao (white) in a restaurant and they'll still bring rice. But ใกล้glâi and ไกลglai, or สี่sìi (four) and สีsǐi (colour), cause real confusion, and good tones make everything you say easier to understand.

Typical mistake: practising tones only in single words. Once a pair feels easy, put it into a short phrase and keep the tone there too.