Why do Thais only understand words pronounced and intoned perfectly?

[Richard W]

On 2/29/2020 at 11:36 AM, BigStar said:

Note that Suvarnabhumi Airport (ท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ) has now been incorporated into Brit English as Swampy. HUH? Apparently your strict rules aren’t widely shared.????

You do realise, don't you, that the name Swampy really comes from Cobra Swamp, the translation of the original name of the airport's location?

[liddelljohn]

the problem is you must have  the correct tone , correct gender , correct  classifier & denominator ,, most Thai words have 5 meanings depending on tone , but some have up to 13  meanings  if you add in the other 3 variables ....

 

I know the theory of Thai language and i have studied it for 20 years but Im still only 60-70%    acccurate  on speaking   but 90%  on listening ,, oh and add in Lao Dialect or Royal Dialect etc  and its even more difficult ,, German, Spanish , Japanese , English  all easy peasy compared to Thai .

[EricTh]

20 hours ago, liddelljohn said:

 

 

I know the theory of Thai language and i have studied it for 20 years but Im still only 60-70%    acccurate  on speaking   but 90%  on listening ,, oh and add in Lao Dialect or Royal Dialect etc  and its even more difficult ,, German, Spanish , Japanese , English  all easy peasy compared to Thai .

 

German, Spanish, English are all Indo-European languages with similar grammar, cognates and pronunciation. So of course, it is easier for one European to learn another eg. wunderbar (German) versus wonderful (English)

 

Thai is much easier for native Chinese and Vietnamese speakers who are also tonal speakers. I have some Chinese classmates before and they speak perfect Thai tones and much better pronunciation than native English speakers. Whereas both Chinese and Thai speakers struggle with English pronunciation and grammar.

 

It really depends on how similar two languages are.

[Nyezhov]

8 hours ago, EricTh said:

It really depends on how similar two languages are.

If the speaker speaks slowly, I am getting to the point where I can understand Thai. I can even correctly pronounce some words.

 

Khmer? OMG. Its like mumbled Thai. Horrible.

[EricTh]

1 hour ago, Nyezhov said:

If the speaker speaks slowly, I am getting to the point where I can understand Thai. I can even correctly pronounce some words.

 

Khmer? OMG. Its like mumbled Thai. Horrible.

 

It is unnatural for people to speak too slowly so don't expect most people to do that.

 

Khmer is a non-tonal language and easier to speak and learn than Thai or Chinese.

 

[BigStar]

On 3/8/2020 at 9:44 PM, Richard W said:

You do realise, don't you, that the name Swampy really comes from Cobra Swamp, the translation of the original name of the airport's location?

You do realize, don't you, that I'm talking not about the original name of the airport's location but about the name of the airport? Its current name, and in only in relation to KhaoYai's stated policy (BS, actually) of strictly using Thai names for Thai places, even as he demands his wife use English pronunciation for the Thai name of a Thai company. (Can't make this stuff up.) Now KhaoYai can't even pronounce "Koh Chang," let alone "Suvarnabhumi." So in fact he calls it either "Swampy" (Brit English for ท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ, however derived) or "airport," maybe "big airport" in a pinch. ????

[MayPutThai]

On 2/25/2020 at 11:16 PM, sirineou said:

If that was the case no one would understand a word I say. My thai is limited and I am sure by pronunciation and syntax is atrocious but I don't have any problem being understood at a basic level from context.

telephone communications are difficult because visual cues ad a very important  additional component to communication. IMO. 

It is not only valid for English. Don't think they have no dialect in Thai. And even with the same dialect, my impression is that they misunderstand themselves frequently in Thai language.