Speaking Thai - is it necessary these days for an expat ?

[transam]

4 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Seems like an oldies bashing thread to me.....look at me, I'm fluent and have been here fraction of the time you have. Wow, aren't you good.

Yes, we were due one................

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, mancub said:

I made it a priority to learn years ago essentially because I hated the idea of being one of those who converse in childlike language and need someone to hold my hand everywhere. 

Unless your partner speaks your language fluently you are only going to get half the story at best...a source of great frustration for many.

I don't pretend to have integrated here but I'm happier in the knowledge that I can have a decent conversation 

No need to converse with Thais at all, they have nothing to say that I have an interest in hearing.

 

Simple commerce can be done using photos on my smart phone.

 

As for my partner, everything a woman says is to manipulate and extort money. Best not to be too chatty with them.

[BangkokReady]

4 hours ago, The Cobra said:

But nope, they're still stuck in English-only mode, like they've got some kind of linguistic force field keeping Thai at bay.

Is it laziness? Stubbornness?

 

Opportunity cost.

[Kimshaka]

I do not want to talk to my fellow countrymen why do I want to talk to anyone here?  Not everyone is talkative.  My spouse and I are fine together.  But living in a place where there are three different languages being spoken it is quite hard to pick up one dialect.  I do watch my mates who speak it quite fluently and most Thai's are put off by it.  

[jvs]

Watching some youtube videos i saw some UK guys making content and asking questions

to Thai people in Thai language and the locals did not understand one word until it was asked again in English.

Thais (or anyone) do not understand Thai language when spoken with a thick accent from another

country.

Talking louder also does not help.

It is difficult for older people in general to learn Thai because we were not used to listening to tones.

Fluent Thai with a bad accent sounds horrible!

How is my Thai?I can go out alone shopping and i come back with something i might be able to use.

Doing ok.

[Lacessit]

I would not say I am fluent in Thai. However, I do find it useful to be able to communicate, such as if I have a flat tyre, I can explain the problem.

 

Some time ago, I played golf with three expats, none of whom had any Thai. I was able to ascertain the green fees, caddie fees and tips. Which was handy, as none of the golf course personnel spoke a word of English.

[Mike Lister]

47 minutes ago, transam said:

Yes, we were due one................

You, were due one.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

You, were due one.

No, we were due one, not seen a Thai lingo thread for a while now.........🤭

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

I can vouch for Bob's statement, his written and spoken Thai is of a very high standard.

Do you mean you have actually spoken and written to Bob in Thai and that you are qualified to asses his proficiency?

[Mike Lister]

1 minute ago, scottiejohn said:

Do you mean you have actually spoken and written to Bob in Thai and that you are qualified to asses his proficiency?

Whilst working as a Moderator, yes, an issue arose that required us to communicate with a third party issue in Thai.

[noobexpat]

2 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Do you mean you have actually spoken and written to Bob in Thai and that you are qualified to asses his proficiency?

 

A fair scoop of irony in you (of all people) asking that question!

[KannikaP]

52 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

As for my partner, everything a woman says is to manipulate and extort money. Best not to be too chatty with them.

You sad 4..k!

[scottiejohn]

Just now, Mike Lister said:

Whilst working as a Moderator, yes, an issue arose that required us to communicate with a third party issue in Thai.

Why would two native English speakers communicate with each other on an English language only forum (outside Thai parts) in both written and spoken Thai?

Moderator or not!

[KannikaP]

Been here 13 years, can speak the odd word and understand the same.

It can't be too difficult to learn as my 3 year old grandson jabbers on in Thai, and now in English.

[Mike Lister]

Just now, scottiejohn said:

Why would two native English speakers communicate with each other on an English language only forum (outside Thai parts) in both written and spoken Thai?

Moderator or not!

As I said, it involved a third party, I think that's all that needs to be said on this matter and that privacy should be respected.

[scottiejohn]

9 minutes ago, noobexpat said:

 

A fair scoop of irony in you (of all people) asking that question!

Please explain/expand on your comment as I do not understand either part of it!

Edited April 8 by scottiejohn

[noobexpat]

1 minute ago, scottiejohn said:

Please explain/expand on your comment as I do not understand!

 

Exactly!!

[scottiejohn]

Just now, noobexpat said:

 

Exactly!!

Where is your explanations regarding my question regarding your incomprehensible previous post?

 

[scottiejohn]

10 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

As I said, it involved a third party, I think that's all that needs to be said on this matter and that privacy should be respected.

A "cop out" answer with no substance!

 

[ABCDBKK]

My view is the ones who live in Thailand and can speak Thai have it much easier when it comes to dealing with many aspects of daily life.
 

The ones who can't speak more than Taxi-Thai then struggle a lot and deal with their own fair share of frustrations, misunderstandings and miscommunications. The strugglers often then blame the locals for incompetence when in fact it's their own inability to communicate in the local language that is the inherent problem. 
 

The reasons many foreigners don't learn the language? The feel they don't need it, they aren't interested, they are lazy, they don't care, they have bad memories, they don't like learning new things, they are embarrassed to try, they believe everyone else should speak English, who knows. But the reasons are probably endless.
 

I think it makes more sense to focus on the downsides to not learning the local language in a foreign country where you are a long time resident and where proficiency of English in the country in general is pretty low. 

[Mike Lister]

Just now, scottiejohn said:

A "cop out" answer with no substance!

 

It's all you're going to get so enjoy it best you can. If roles were reversed, you would demand privacy, I know this. 

 

No more posts from me in this matter, if you're so bored and got nothing better to do, go ahead and knock yourselves out.

[Bangel72]

Translation apps are coming along nicely, a few years and we'll be all star trekked up if we need to communicate.

 

I suspect a lot of people will still turn it off though,  a lot of conversations are just ramblings or the difference in logic just triggers people so the feeling is probably best not to understand.

 

If people feel the need they will no doubt learn, a business need perhaps, a friendship need. For a lot of people though languages can be tough and that's a factor.

 

In most case you do not need a lot of the language to get by, being polite and being respectful likely trump language barriers anyway.

 

Consider sign language, have you learned that, if so how many variations do you know? 

 

If not, why not?, its likely similar reasons for any spoken language as well.

 

[Gecko123]

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

can vouch for Bob's statement, his written and spoken Thai is of a very high standard.

I'll confess that I was flabbergasted by your testimonial as well, as Bob Smith's on line persona of being a heavy drinker, and harboring anti-social attitudes towards Thai people does not fit my profile of someone who is likely to have achieved a high level of proficiency in Thai. I too would like to hear more details of the nature of the interaction, and to know what your qualifications to access his proficiency are.

[Mike Lister]

1 minute ago, Gecko123 said:

I'll confess that I was flabbergasted by your testimonial as well, as Bob Smith's on line persona of being a heavy drinker, and harboring anti-social attitudes towards Thai people does not fit my profile of someone who is likely to have achieved a high level of proficiency in Thai. I too would like to hear more details of the nature of the interaction, and to know what your qualifications to access his proficiency are.

I'd like to win the lottery but that's not going to happen either!

[Gecko123]

3 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

I'd like to win the lottery but that's not going to happen either!

Should be no problem describing the complexity and nature of the translation help provided, and there should be absolutely no problem backing up your qualifications to make the assessment you made.

[Mike Lister]

Just now, Gecko123 said:

Should be no problem describing the complexity and nature of the translation help provided, and there should be absolutely no problem backing up your qualifications to make the assessment you made.

Nice weather we're having at present.

[scottiejohn]

7 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

I'll confess that I was flabbergasted by your testimonial as well, as Bob Smith's on line persona of being a heavy drinker, and harboring anti-social attitudes towards Thai people does not fit my profile of someone who is likely to have achieved a high level of proficiency in Thai. I too would like to hear more details of the nature of the interaction, and to know what your qualifications to access his proficiency are.

As I said earlier I would love to know how (not what was discussed - not interested) a two posters can have both a written and verbal discussion on AN with a third party in Thai and certify the competency of the other party without disclosing how it happened and what their competency to make that statement is?

 

Edited April 8 by scottiejohn

[Gecko123]

21 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Nice weather we're having at present.

Cute. But you're the one whose credibility is in question.

Edited April 8 by Gecko123

[noobexpat]

1 minute ago, Gecko123 said:

Cute. But you're the one who's credibility is in question.

 

No, i can verify to the nice weather too.

[Mike Lister]

The Spanish Inquisition can continue in my absence, enjoy yourselves.