ฤๅ — ro ruea (long)
«ro ruea (long)» is a vowel of the Thai script, read as “long ruue”. The long partner of ฤ. For example, in the word “ฤๅษี” — hermit. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. In the alphabet it sits in the “sanskrit vowels” group.
In short
| Character | ฤๅ |
| Name | ro ruea (long) |
| Sound | long ruue |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 61st of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ฤ and ฦ.
How to type ฤๅ
- On a phone: add the Thai keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type the codes U+0E24, U+0E45 one at a time, pressing Alt+X after each.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source and, holding Option, type the codes 0E24, 0E45 in a row.
- Unicode code points: U+0E24 U+0E45. With them, the characters can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
The long partner of ฤ
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- ฤๅษีрюэсиhermit
The character in the “sanskrit vowels” group
ฤ ฤๅ ฦ ฦๅ — a consonant and a vowel packed into one sign. The first two live on in the words for "season" and "hermit". The last two only keep their place in the table, as on Thai school posters.
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «ro ruea (long)» it is “long ruue”, as in the word “ฤๅษี”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 63 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Thai character ฤๅ read?
As “long ruue” — it is a vowel of the Thai script. The long partner of ฤ. For example, in the word “ฤๅษี” — hermit.
What is the letter ฤๅ called?
Ro ruea (long). A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “ro ruea (long)” and reads as “long ruue”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.