We built the Thai app we couldn’t find
It started at a dinner table, with a lot of smiling and nodding, and no idea what anyone was saying.
How Ravela happened
The dinner table
Euan moved to Thailand and gained a Thai family through his partner. Everyone around the table spoke Thai, and none of them were teachers. Smiling and nodding got old fast, so he started weekly lessons with Pook to change that.
Six days between lessons
Each lesson moved him forward. The question was what to do with the rest of the week. Reading notes back was never going to work for him. He needed to practise out loud, every day, and know whether he was getting it right. The apps he tried rewarded tapping the right box. None of them could hear his tones.
Teacher meets tech
Pook knew how Thai should be taught. Euan knew how to build. They started Ravela together as co-founders: Pook designs the lessons and checks every word of Thai, Euan builds the app around them.
Why tones came first
In Thai, the same syllable said at a different pitch is a different word. maa said level means “come”. Pushed up high it means “horse”. Dipped and lifted it means “dog”. The hard part is that your own ear isn’t a reliable judge while you learn, because you hear what you meant to say, not what came out. So the first thing we wanted was a way to see your voice.
Building the Pronunciation Lab
We recorded native Thai speakers, Pook included, saying words in each of the five tones, and turned their voices into a reference line with a band around it: the range that still sounds right to a Thai ear. The Lab calibrates to your own voice first, so a deep voice and a high voice are measured on the same shape. Then you record a word and your pitch line is drawn straight over the native one.
Feedback in plain words
There’s no pass or fail. The Lab shows how much of your word landed inside the native band, and tells you what to change: start higher, drop further, hold it level. You see the difference on day one, not year one.
Hundreds of words, sorted by tone
The Lab grew from five test words to hundreds of practice words, organised by tone. The tones you keep missing collect in your tone pile so you can drill them, ear-training games teach you to hear the difference, and whenever you want a Thai ear on a recording, you can send it to Pook.
Ravela today
A complete way to learn Thai on its own: 600+ lessons designed by Pook, audio on every word, the Pronunciation Lab, an AI tutor for conversation practice, real-world missions and spaced review, from your first word through to reading Thai script. You don’t need private lessons to make real progress. If you’d like a teacher as well, Pook teaches 1-to-1, and the app keeps you speaking between sessions.
Two co-founders, one app
Euan
Learning Thai himself, and building the tools he wanted between lessons. Looks after the tech, the product and everything that makes Ravela run.
Pook
The teaching heart of Ravela. Designed the lessons, checks the Thai before anything goes live, and teaches around 300 lessons a month, including private 1-to-1s. Meet Pook →
Why “Ravela”?
Speak · Learn · Connect. Language isn’t about streaks or points. It’s about being able to sit at that dinner table and actually join in. Everything in Ravela points at that one moment: the first time real Thai comes out of your mouth and someone understands you.
Come and speak Thai with us
Built by a learner and a teacher, for learners. Your first สวัสดี is one tap away.
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