kwilco

As far as I know, the MG name came with the company. BMW own the brand name Rover which was used under licence by the now defunct MG Rover, the UK company.

Don't forget that MG stood for Morris Garages and never really built there own cars, they modified Morrises.

The Britsh MG sales company still clsim to have design input on new MG models, but whether or not that is just for the UK market or not I don't know. Like all motor manufacturers, MG is multinational and itself relies on a British history to enhance sales. As you can see from this thread, Chinese brands encounter a lot of nationalist resistance in many markets. However this was aldo the case for Japsnese and then Koean cars ... One thing you can be sure of is that no way will this stop China from being the dominant sector of the motor industry within a few years. Stories of poor reliability and quality will prove to be apochryphal.

Most large foreign companies in Thsilsnd have similar arrangements with their parent companies. The arrangement allows companies to avoid punitive import taxes and increasingly the vehicles change from TKDs to having large quantities of components manufactured in Thailand. The company's range of models aetc is totally Chinese.

"Necessary" is not the word I'd use. But when you see a non-speaker, you think "there's a guy who doesn't know what he's missing out on.

QED

I notice the OP say "DID you try" as he's given up. I've never stopped. What find so infuriating is that those who can't/ won't speak Thai are the sane oeople who have the arrogance to engage in racist Thsi bashing. Yet they have no idea what they are saying.

Actually you age is not the mai factor in learning a language. Most people are lazy to some degree or other. But there are many who have the most pathetic excuses for not not learning. "It's not spoken any where out side Thailand" "I don't need it" It shows an attitude that looks down on Thailand and Thai people. In reality it highlights the shortcomings and bigotries of those people.

The arrogance of people who stay in a foreign country and say they don't need to learn the language. And then think they still have the authority to post extensively about the place!

I lived in a small coastal town. I worked in industry and had to learn Thai for day to day communication. I rarely spoke to westerners from one day to the next and mist if them weren't English speakers. I was living in Thailand and spoke Thai as my first line of communication.

Context..... you dhould be able to work it out if you're any good at languages.

People learn in different ways and even have to learn how to learn. Thinking your way of learning is the only way just shows what you haven't learned. There are of course some people who are there own worst enemies and just don't have the inate skills.. I have had to develop language courses for adults of various nationalities and some are so easy it's a breeze. The 2 worst nationalities? The Spanish and the Americans.

PS the consonant on chicken and egg is different.

We used to spend a lot of time exchanging tongue twisters and tone exercises. If I attempted to say that, they would immediately recognise the phrase and show me the tones. I would usually get that sort of thing right after a while. Try the 'new wood burns well doesn't it.?" one, that is the most common. There are also some very rude ones. If you want to get an idea how tones can go wrong, try changing stress on English words. Even though the word is correct the meaning becomes unfathomable. Thai is a non stress language. That is another reason Westerners have difficulty with it....they keep putting stress into the words and using tones for questions by raising the tone at the end of a sentence....Thais don't do that.

There is the expat theory of linguistics. So long as you repeat word in English loud enough, they will eventually understand.

I think it's worth bearing in mind that those who are better at learning g a language also learn the history and culture of that country. It helps you make sense of things.

People are very bad at self assessing their language proficiency level (even in their own tongue!). There are proper ways of doing it and various scales available. 0 – No Proficiency. At this lowest level, there is basically no knowledge of the language. ... 1 – Elementary Proficiency. ... 2 – Limited Working Proficiency. ... 3 – Professional Working Proficiency. ... 4 – Full Professional Proficiency. ... 5 – Native / Bilingual Proficiency. This is a scale for the workplace. In Thailand they are fond of judging their English scores in TOIEC, IELTS and TOEFL. TOEIC however turned out to be corrupt . Anyone can go to a Language school and get an idea of their level. Beginner Elementary Pre-intermediate Intermediate Post-Intermediate Advanced Or Starter Elementary Conversational Fluent Bi-lingual. All these have pretty definite criteria.

Context is usually enough. My colleagues would sometimes correct the tone. They are normally too "kreng jai" to do so but I keep asking them and then some will comply

I think you have problems. Many foreigners who don't speak Thai come up with all sorts of bizarre excuses usually trying to denigrate the language. They also are the same people who call for immigrants to their own home country to speak their language. You're even trying to make these people speak English.. Yes it's his choice and what a sad choice to make. If you live ìn a country, you really should make an effort to learn the language. His son spoke some English. Do what? Why would he need to learn English? It's a separate issue....he is going to school in Thailand. His father wasn't English and the boy was Thai...he went to Thai school and lived in Thailand.

I can't remember why I went to eat at the house, but it certainly wasn't because of the guy. I'm oretty sure the woman had something to do with work. I was in Thailand talking to a Thai person in Thai....if her lumark of a husband couldn't be arsed to learn the lingo.... its not his problem, he couldn't even communicate with his son. How sad can you get.

It is so sad when I meet sone expat who is married to a Thai woman and it becomes apparent that he can hardly speak a word of Thai even though he's been in the country for years. What do they do all day? Just sit around and drink with their expat mates telling each other how stupid Thai people are? I remember a few years back going to some guys house for a meal. I spent quite a lot of time talking to his wife who had cooked a fantastic meal. ( he had his own chicken and chips). Then his son who was about 10 or so, quietly said to me. "How come you can speak Thai and my Dad can't?". I didn't know where to put myself.

I have shown a lot of time teaching adults languages and training people to teach. One think I've always told my teachers is that before they can teach a kanguage they have to teach their students how to learn or study. They have forgotten how to or never knew.

Thank you for that review of all the Thai language schools in Thailand.

Yes OK now you CAN. but I believe it is technically not permitted. The result is damage to the environment. To walk through firest is an activity that requires planning and research so as not to disturb or interfer with flora and fauna...or fragment habitat.

These are the people I'm most successful with. Time and again I hear them say "phut Thai geng". Quite often as a warning to their friends to be careful what they say in front of me. I have to say I find it very flattering. I like learning languages. I think even with a limited knowledge one can make oneself inderstood. It requires a special logic...a form of lateral thinking. If you don't know the exact words then you need to think round it and find a way of expressing your self using the terms you do know..... for instance, if in English you didn't know "chair" you might say "4 legs to sit on". I think language involves mimicry. I see foreigners speaking Thai without any effort to sound Thai. They will say,"I can't do the tones" but they don't do the accent either. My best "other" language is French. The high point there was when working in France, someone asked me where I came from....in France; he thought I was French!