Chatroom Lowers Thais Proficiency In Using Thai

[george]

Online chatroom lowers teenagers’ proficiency in using Thai: Academic

BANGKOK: -- Chatting via online chatroom and reading too much translated foreign books may lower teenagers’ proficiency in using Thai, said Dr. Trisin Boonkajorn, director of Thai Studies Institute, Chulalongkorn University.

She mentioned that teenagers’ trend in using isolated words in cyber communication may lower their ability in expressing thoughts in full and correct Thai sentences.

“I have heard lots of complaints from my academic fellows that many graduates can not write in Thai so well these days”,Dr. Trisin told TNA.

This is probably due to unusual pattern in conveying messages via internet that affect the way teenagers organize and express their thoughts.

Reading too much translated foreign books may result in incorrect usage of Thai language, as well as listening to modern Thai pop songs that encourage wrong pronunciation.

“Many singers tend to pronounce Thai words as if they are speaking English. For example, the Thai alphabet “Sor” is wrongly pronounced like “S” sound in English,"she added.

In a bid to promote correct usage of Thai language among Thais to mark the National Thai Language day today, Dr.Trisin urged Thais to use their national language properly, citing Chuan Leekpai, Thailand’s ex-Prime Minister and Abhisit Vejjajiva, deputy leader of the opposition Democrat Party as model politicians who can communicate in perfect Thai. Thongchai Mcintyre or “Byrd”, Thai famous pop singer also won much praise for his Thai proficiency

-- TNA 2004-07-29

[meadish_sweetball]

This problem is being noticed in Sweden as well. I think most small languages have some problems adapting to the quickening pace of development within the IT sector - it is simply not possible to invent and 'market' new "proper" translations for all the myriad expressions that arise from this field.

In Sweden, the language proficiency problem makes itself most felt in that kids have a harder time applying proper punctuation, or do not apply it at all. The overuse of exclamation signs and question marks may be seen as a problem too??!!?!?!??!??!?!??

Anyhow, a certain amount of change to language must be accepted. Language is constantly created and renewed in order to fit society - if it weren't, we would have no problems with reading texts from the fourteenth century. As it is, even a novel just one hundred years old may contain expressions we have never met in our daily lives as native speakers.

No harm in them promoting language awareness, though.

[Darknight]

i think it's about time thai language gets modernized. Maybe they can start to simplify their 7 characters or something for T for example to 1???

Don't see the use of 7 T's, 4 S's sounds or something at all.

I'tttsss bloody tttoucchinggg

[meadish_sweetball]

Darknight:

Don't see the use of 7 T's, 4 S's sounds or something at all.

I see what you are saying - and the system could of course be improved. The Lao writing system was improved, which makes it easier to learn than the Thai system.

But there are many things to consider when you change a writing system - one is that the more you simplify the new system, the more difficult you will make it for the new generations who have only learned the new system, to access literature which uses the old system.

Then you are stuck with a culture transfer problem, and few cultures are very keen on that. If older books are to be accessible, they have to be "translated" into the new system... and that will take a LOT of time .

Zi Inglish spelling sistem, and ze French, is also in niid ev riform, but wen yoo prepose it, pipl tend to not tak yoo veri siriesli.

There IS an actual need for multiple letters to represent the same sound in the present Thai system - these letters partly serve to determine the tone of the syllable, together with the tone markers.

[Richard W]

I see what you are saying - and the system could of course be improved. The Lao writing system was improved, which makes it easier to learn than the Thai system.

Then you are stuck with a culture transfer problem, and few cultures are very keen on that. If older books are to be accessible, they have to be "translated" into the new system... and that will take a LOT of time .

How do Laotians write Pali?

Zi Inglish spelling sistem, and ze French, is also in niid ev riform, but wen yoo prepose it, pipl tend to not tak yoo veri siriesli.

And it's not easy when major accents are unreconcilable!

[Richard W]

i think it's about time thai language gets modernized. Maybe they can start to simplify their 7 characters or something for T for example to 1???

Don't see the use of 7 T's, 4 S's sounds or something at all.

The retroflex consonants (ฎ ฏ ฐ ฑ ฒ ณ) were abolished during Marshall Phibul's rule, but were subsequently restored. I don't know whether ษ was included.

As I think Meadish Sweetball said, Thai writing systems tend to use consonants in pairs, one high class and one low class. The Lanna alphabet (and indeed the new Tai Lue alphabet) makes good use of each and every one of ต ถ ท ธ. (The Northern sounds are t th t th, not the Siamese t th th th.) A bit like Khmer, the Lanna alphabet uses ฑ instead of the 'new' (i.e. less than one thousand years old) letter ด. The new Tai Lue has created a new low class consonant from it.

(For simplicity, I took the liberty of treating ด rather than ต as the new consonant.)