Pronunciation of English loan words in the Thai language

[sicky]

I expect we're all aware that Thai language contains a wide variety of English loan words, but that they aren't pronounced in a way which is understandable to English speakers.

 

For example, the word รีวิว does not sound anything like 'Review'.  It actually says Ree-wee-ewe.  This doesn't necessarily appear to be a limitation of their vocal ability to pronounce the word, as I'm sure that with some effort they could say 'review' with a 'v', but rather that they are limited by the deficiency of the Thai alphabet to represent the sounds.  Another example (and there are numerous) is the word เดอะ which sounds painful to the ear.  Why not at least use เทอะ ?

 

Is this sort of thing making it more difficult for Thais to learn English to a satisfactory level?

[jak2002003]

Yes, its similar to the English loan words used by Americans speaking English... they spell they differently and also when they say them they often add or remove syllables.

 

These loan words, in Thailand, are nothing to do with them learning the English language.  They are words they had adopted and changed into their own language for words they did not have in the past.  Welsh also does the same with English words for things like microwave and factory.. theses words did not exist in Welsh in the past as these things did not exist.  Again, the pronunciation and spelling is changed... but that does not make it difficult for Welsh people to learn English.  

[1FinickyOne]

They do their best to find a way to write it in Thai and then THai spelling & pronunciation takes over.... tylenol becomes tylenon etc etc... it can actually help to learn Thai... 

[tgeezer]

There are some oddities too. Take ‘v’ in วิภาวดี a word which should present no problem; transcribed as ‘vipawadi’ . This is probably a loan word. Should we say Vipawadi if reading English or Wipawadi because we know the Thai version?


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[carlyai]

I expect we're all aware that Thai language contains a wide variety of English loan words, but that they aren't pronounced in a way which is understandable to English speakers.
 
For example, the word รีวิว does not sound anything like 'Review'.  It actually says Ree-wee-ewe.  This doesn't necessarily appear to be a limitation of their vocal ability to pronounce the word, as I'm sure that with some effort they could say 'review' with a 'v', but rather that they are limited by the deficiency of the Thai alphabet to represent the sounds.  Another example (and there are numerous) is the word เดอะ which sounds painful to the ear.  Why not at least use เทอะ ?
 
Is this sort of thing making it more difficult for Thais to learn English to a satisfactory level?

I don't see any first language, hindering the learning of a second or third language.

It's just that learning a language and not acquiring a language is very difficult and takes heaps of commitment and practice.

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