Does this work on a phone?

Yes, in any modern browser that can use the microphone. Chrome and Edge give the most reliable pitch detection, Safari works but is less consistent. You will be asked for microphone permission the first time.

Is my recording sent anywhere?

No. The analysis runs entirely in your browser with the Web Audio API. The audio is never uploaded, never stored, and no speech recognition service sees it.

Why does it sometimes say it cannot tell?

Mid, low and high tones are all level tones. They differ only in where they sit in your voice range, and a single recording cannot establish your habitual pitch. Rather than call a correct low tone wrong, the page reports that it is unclear.

How long before I can hear the difference?

Most learners start telling falling from rising within a week of daily listening, because those two move in opposite directions. The three level tones take longer, often a month or more, because the difference is where they sit rather than how they move.

Do I need to read Thai script to get tones right?

Eventually, yes. Romanisation with tone marks will carry you through your first few hundred words, but the tone of a written word is predictable from the script itself, and no romanisation system tells you the consonant class. That is why learners who skip the script hit a ceiling.

Does a good score mean my pronunciation is correct?

No. This measures the shape of your pitch and nothing else. Your vowel length, your consonants and your aspiration could all be wrong while the contour is right. Treat it as one signal out of several, not as a verdict.

Free tone trainer

Thai tone practice: speak, and see your own pitch

Thai tone practice works best when you can see what you actually said. Say one of the five words below into your microphone, and this page draws your pitch line next to a native speaker's.

This compares pitch contours, which is not the same as judging your pronunciation. Mid, low and high tones are all level and differ only in where they sit in your voice, so when one recording cannot settle that, the page says it is unclear rather than guessing. Nothing is uploaded and no speech recognition is involved.

What decides a Thai tone

A Thai tone is not something you memorise per word. It follows from three things read together: the class of the first consonant (low, mid or high), whether the vowel is long or short and how the syllable ends, and any tone mark written above it. Once those three click, you can read the tone off the page for a word you have never seen before. That is the single biggest shift in learning Thai, and it is why the script is worth the effort.

One syllable, five words

This is why tones are not a detail. The same syllable, said on five different pitches, is five unrelated words. Play them one after another and the difference stops being abstract.

khaa

Mid tone คา khaa stuck
Low tone ข่า khàa galangal
Falling tone ข้า khâa servant (archaic)
Rising tone ขา khǎa leg
High tone ค้า kháa trade

maa

Mid tone มา maa come
Low tone หม่า màa aunt (Sino-Thai; tone-example /maa/)
Falling tone ม่า mâa widow (archaic; tone-example /maa/)
Rising tone หมา mǎa dog
High tone ม้า máa horse

mai

Low tone ใหม่ mài new
Falling tone ไม่ mâi not
Rising tone ไหม mǎi question particle (yes/no)
High tone มั้ย mái right? (casual spelling of ไหม)

Every recording here is a native speaker, not a synthesiser.

Mid tone ทำ tham do / make