Thais unable to pronounce your name?

[Lemonlime]

Hi, has anyone experienced this kind of thing 

 

Their names are so long but when it comes to English names they are like...

unless if it is like Mary, Ellie etc super short names the rest seems like what the to them (Magdalena, Dorothea,Larissa etc) 

oh I am a woman so the examples are all girl names 

 

So, better find a short name? 

 

[beachproperty]

My name is Randy......Landy is the Thai version

[NCC1701A]

i have learned that they are all going to mispronounce my name in the same way. so i just think that is my name now  and go with it.

[Jamesanderson]

My name is James. Anyone can pronounce my name easily.

[Vacuum]

15 minutes ago, Lemonlime said:

So, better find a short name? 

I have a friend named Sven, all Thais pronounce it as 'seven'.

[BritManToo]

I am Jim and my girlfriend is Koy.

Thais don't have any problem pronouncing our names, but for some reason they always snigger.

[bluesofa]

6 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

i have learned that they are all going to mispronounce my name in the same way. so i just think that is my name now  and go with it.

Do they remember the digits correctly - or do you end up with a wrong number?

[Psimbo]

How do 'they' get on with Lemonlime? 

[KhunBENQ]

2 minutes ago, Jamesanderson said:

My name is James. Anyone can pronounce my name easily.

And I simply don't believe that. An end "s" spoken properly by an average Thai person?

No way.

 

If one has some basic insight to Thai language you won't be surprised that many foreign

words/names can't be pronounced by Thai people properly.

 

Give them "Zbigniew Brzezinski" as a test

[1FinickyOne]

32 minutes ago, Lemonlime said:

Their names are so long

Most Thai have a very short 3 letter nickname - nit, noy , lek, gai, etc... and mispronunciation and strangling of English, just for us, to show they are trying, well, isn't that part of the cultural charm?

 

my favorite was Reginald - shortened to "Wretch"

 

viva la difference!!

[villagefarang]

When western words or names are written in Thai, they end up being pronounced based on Thai language rules.  If you speak Thai it is very easy to understand why they pronounce our words the way they do.

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, kenk24 said:

Most Thai have a very short 3 letter nickname - nit, noy , lek, gai, etc... and mispronunciation and strangling of English, just for us, to show they are trying, well, isn't that part of the cultural charm?

my favorite was Reginald - shortened to "Wretch"

viva la difference!!

He wasn't an alcoholic with regular hangovers was he?

[KhunBENQ]

A simple rule:

if your name ends with a consonant which is different from the following:

k, m, n, ng, p, t

then Thai people will have trouble pronouncing this.

Mt first name ends with "s", last name with "er".

Maximum disaster 

"s" becomes "t" and "er" something like an umlaut-o.

Edited May 6, 2019 by KhunBENQ

[Dmaxdan]

Many Thais seem to pronounce my name as Salmon. In fact I've been asked many times why I was named after a fish.

[Youlike]

My name is You you...fallang.

[Old Croc]

For some reason Thais pronounce my name with an extended eeeeee sound on the end.

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, Dmaxdan said:

Many Thais seem to pronounce my name as Salmon. In fact I've been asked many times why I was named after a fish.

Probably they mistook you for a mafia boss - the codfather.

[Kwasaki]

My name is now Dellic my last name has an 's' on the end so that's left off and my wife can say our names but family can't.

Thais from Bkk and many Thai people living in the south can say our names.

[TSF]

My name is Keith, which Thais cannot pronounce correctly and end up calling me Mr. Key (Mr. Shit) usually followed by snicker snicker....so years ago I became Bob, and Thais have no problem at all in pronouncing Bob.

[Tarteso]

My name JAVIER,

 

but for Thais; 5 (HA) BEER

 

Easy and funny ..for them.

 

 

[Justgrazing]

Yes know what you mean .. We get it all the time .. I'm often referred to as Just Glazing which can be a problem when more than two of you look the same .. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Justgrazing
Sp

[CharlieH]

For years I thought my name in thai was "hansum" ????

 

OP, how well can you say their Thai name ? Because I have difficulty with Thai names as I probably would with many Chinese or Japanese names etc

[Puchaiyank]

Excuse me!  Have you ever noticed that Thais all have nicknames?  Because no one can pronounce their official ID card names...case in point...how do you pronounce the name of the new king?  

 

I rest my case...????

[Lacessit]

We have difficulty with Thai tones. Thais have difficulty with combined consonants.

I was listening to the adagio from Khachaturian's Spartacus in the car, and I asked my Thai GF to pronounce his name. No way, although it did prompt her to look for a durian roadside stall.

[Spidey]

11 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Excuse me!  Have you ever noticed that Thais all have nicknames?  Because no one can pronounce their official ID card names...case in point...how do you pronounce the name of the new king?  

 

I rest my case...????

I found the new king's name quite easy. Maha. However, yesterday he was bestowed a completely new name. Even my wife can't pronounce it.

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, Justgrazing said:

Yes know what you mean .. We get it all the time .. I'm often referred to as Just Glazing which can be a problem when more than two of you look the same .. 

As in Just Double Glazing?

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

For years I thought my name in thai was "hansum" ????

 

OP, how well can you say their Thai name ? Because I have difficulty with Thai names as I probably would with many Chinese or Japanese names etc

Careful, it's not always that good!

hansum: unknown term used in New Zealand that describes something in a negative light. (Said in a sarcastic tone ) oftens replaces words such as ugly,useless etc

source:  https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hansum

[Justgrazing]

4 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

 Just Double Glazing?

Yes thanks .. 

There were 3 born together the other day .. They'll be known as triple glazing .. 

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, Justgrazing said:

Yes thanks .. 

There were 3 born together the other day .. They'll be known as triple glazing .. 

Wonder which one was the biggest 'pane'?

[Justgrazing]

9 minutes ago, bluesofa said:

Wonder which one was the biggest 'pane'?

The ones with the horns ..