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The Read Thai in a Day ebook has a free section that explains the tone rules in a very easy way.
You have to know whether the consonant is boy, girl or ladyboy. This is imprinted in your brain by working through the ebook.
Here are the new rules in brief. They are a little contrived, but the method works!
Firstly, has it got a tone mark? Tone marks are like trump cards: they override the 'normal' rules.
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1. Is it the dagger?
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Boys and girls lie dead on the ground when stabbed (low tone).
But ladyboys (who are melodramatic in character) just enjoy using a plastic dagger and pretending to die, so they simply fall down theatrically.
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2. Is it the surfer?
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Boys and girls tend to be good at sports in general and can easily surf down a wave (falling tone).
But ladyboys are gauche and clumsy by comparison. The wave throws them up into the air (high tone).
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3. Is it the bowtie?
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People (boys actually) who wear bowties enjoy being in upper class society (high tone).
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4. Is it the cross on the flag?
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People (boys actually) always take a flag with them when climbing up a difficult mountain (rising tone).
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If there is no tone mark then there are two things to consider about the syllable:
1. Does it sing? In other words, does the sound continue, as in "far" or "ring" or "hum"?
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Girls always swell up with emotion when they listen to young children sing (rising).
Boys and ladyboys find this intensely boring (flat/mid-tone) and would rather be watching the soccer on TV.
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2. Does the sound die suddenly? In other words, does the sound stop, as in "shop", "feet", or "pizza"?
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Boys and girls die pretty quickly if they take drugs at a disco; and end up dead on the ground (low tone).
Ladyboys have a slight tolerance to drugs, so a thin ladyboy (i.e. a short sound, like "foot") will turn into a ghost and sail up to heaven (high tone).
A fat ladyboy (i.e. a longer sound, like "feet") will take a little longer to react to an overdose and will slowly fall down.
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So all that is required is to know whether a consonant is boy, girl or ladyboy. That is covered in the ebook or alphabet guide.
The other exceptions and irregularities can also be remembered by creating a scenario based on the personalities of the different genders. These are also covered in the ebook.
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