Neeranam Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Now that my son is born I speak English in to him and Thai to my wife.My wife now only speaks Thai when around him; although sometimes she forgets. I have been told that this is the best way to help a child become bilingual. I agree. I speak ONLY English to my daughters. I used to speak Thai ony to my wife but now usually English unless it is about something important. As time goes by, I seem to be talking less to her The only Thais I allow to speak English to my daughters are bilingual 'luuk kreung' or Thais who have studied abroad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garro Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Now that my son is born I speak English in to him and Thai to my wife.My wife now only speaks Thai when around him; although sometimes she forgets. I have been told that this is the best way to help a child become bilingual. I agree. I speak ONLY English to my daughters. I used to speak Thai ony to my wife but now usually English unless it is about something important. As time goes by, I seem to be talking less to her The only Thais I allow to speak English to my daughters are bilingual 'luuk kreung' or Thais who have studied abroad. Neerenam, what age are they now and how good is their English? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Garro, they're young. One is 5 and speaks good English considering that she goes to a normal Thai school. There was the temptation to explain things in Thai but I didn't and it was harder but already feel the benefits. I make sure that I give her an English story every night and try to explain EVERY new word. She's started to say, "Daddy stop, what does that word mean'. Again I think it's important for Thai mothers to speak only Thai to their kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithson Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Now that my son is born I speak English in to him and Thai to my wife.My wife now only speaks Thai when around him; although sometimes she forgets. I have been told that this is the best way to help a child become bilingual. I agree. I speak ONLY English to my daughters. I used to speak Thai ony to my wife but now usually English unless it is about something important. As time goes by, I seem to be talking less to her The only Thais I allow to speak English to my daughters are bilingual 'luuk kreung' or Thais who have studied abroad. What happens if you catch them speaking English with someone they're not supposed to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Now that my son is born I speak English in to him and Thai to my wife.My wife now only speaks Thai when around him; although sometimes she forgets. I have been told that this is the best way to help a child become bilingual. I agree. I speak ONLY English to my daughters. I used to speak Thai ony to my wife but now usually English unless it is about something important. As time goes by, I seem to be talking less to her The only Thais I allow to speak English to my daughters are bilingual 'luuk kreung' or Thais who have studied abroad. What happens if you catch them speaking English with someone they're not supposed to? Spanked bottom, solitary confinement for a day and no dinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithson Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Garro, they're young. One is 5 and speaks good English considering that she goes to a normal Thai school. There was the temptation to explain things in Thai but I didn't and it was harder but already feel the benefits. I make sure that I give her an English story every night and try to explain EVERY new word. She's started to say, "Daddy stop, what does that word mean'.Again I think it's important for Thai mothers to speak only Thai to their kids. In schools the kids use those alphabet books that have things like "A, ant, mort, B, bird, nok" There's pics of the animals so it's completely unnecessary to have the translation, this is the start of the bad English study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Mist Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 30% English, 30% Thai and 40% crap.I am trying to get to the point of not speaking at all, that would be best IMHO. you forgot gibberish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Garro, they're young. One is 5 and speaks good English considering that she goes to a normal Thai school. There was the temptation to explain things in Thai but I didn't and it was harder but already feel the benefits. I make sure that I give her an English story every night and try to explain EVERY new word. She's started to say, "Daddy stop, what does that word mean'.Again I think it's important for Thai mothers to speak only Thai to their kids. In schools the kids use those alphabet books that have things like "A, ant, mort, B, bird, nok" There's pics of the animals so it's completely unnecessary to have the translation, this is the start of the bad English study. They're great for the teachers to learn Thai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhaoNiaw Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 (edited) The only Thais I allow to speak English to my daughters are bilingual 'luuk kreung' or Thais who have studied abroad. From a very early age, my daughter refused to respond in English to any Thai that tried to use it with her. She would either ignore them completely or just answer in Thai. I've always used Thai with the wife and English with my daughter since she was born (15 now). My wife and daughter converse in Thai. My daughter now pulls me up when I'm mispronouncing in Thai, and always enjoys her mother murdering the English language on the phone to my folks. (Fair dos to the wife though - she's picked up a lot of English just from interaction between me and my daughter, and doesn't do too badly overa 10-minute phonecall.) Edited November 10, 2007 by KhaoNiaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smeagle Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 English and Thai and a wee bit scottish comes oot HAHA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 English and Thai and a wee bit scottish comes oot HAHA lol - my daughter had explain what "breeks" and "snippie" were to her mother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garro Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 (edited) English and Thai and a wee bit scottish comes oot HAHA lol - my daughter had explain what "breeks" and "snippie" were to her mother. Does your daughter have a Scottish accent? I cannae find ma schoolbag ya barnpot. Da, the polis are here ta see ya Edited November 10, 2007 by garro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbk Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Now that my son is born I speak English in to him and Thai to my wife.My wife now only speaks Thai when around him; although sometimes she forgets. I have been told that this is the best way to help a child become bilingual. I agree. I speak ONLY English to my daughters. I used to speak Thai ony to my wife but now usually English unless it is about something important. As time goes by, I seem to be talking less to her The only Thais I allow to speak English to my daughters are bilingual 'luuk kreung' or Thais who have studied abroad. What happens if you catch them speaking English with someone they're not supposed to? Spanked bottom, solitary confinement for a day and no dinner. Pity the poor Thai person then. Imagine their surprise when their bottom gets smacked My husband and I speak English with each other. He spoke English when we met and my Thai was non-existent. Also his brother used to live right next door (for years) and so we spoke English in order to have a bit of privacy. Besides, he mumbles in Thai something terrible and I have a hard time understanding him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhaoNiaw Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 (edited) Has anybody tried English with other Thai children in the family? Our nephew lived with us for about 4 months when he was 3 years old. I tried only speaking English to him and, even though I didn't keep it up 100%, he really began to understand questions and expressions that we used a lot. Once he left, though, most of it was lost. He came back to live near us last year (he's 7 now) and I noticed there are a couple of the old things that came back quickly. "Close the door" and he doesn't hesitate. I've been trying to get him reading English through phonics but I'm not sure that it's a good idea to do this alongside "a ant mot" from school. It's like getting him to grasp a completely different system. Any thoughts? Edited November 10, 2007 by KhaoNiaw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow Boy Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 My girlfriend is Northern Thai and speaks Central and Northern Thai, she also speaks a couple of mountain dialects. She does not speak any English so the only language we speak at home (Chiang Mai) is Thai. She is very good and only uses the central dialect with me. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgruntled Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 I speak Thai 99% of the time with my wife and kid! My daughter does know a little English though. Right now the wife and kids are upcountry and I am in rotten old Bangkok. We talk on the phone everyday. My wife doesn't have a formal education in English so Thai gets to the point much more quickly. My wife tries to use some Thai with the little one. I hope to be with them soon but I am tied to BKK right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazeeboy Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 speak mostly english and a language weve made up that others dont understand .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garro Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 I speak Thai 99% of the time with my wife and kid! My daughter does know a little English though. Right now the wife and kids are upcountry and I am in rotten old Bangkok. We talk on the phone everyday. My wife doesn't have a formal education in English so Thai gets to the point much more quickly. My wife tries to use some Thai with the little one. I hope to be with them soon but I am tied to BKK right now. Does your child speak any English? Maybe your child is already grown and is fluent in both languages? Maybe you don't care if they learn English or prefer them not to learn? Maybe English isn't your first language, although your post suggests that it is. Your post has intrigued me, and I would like to hear more information. I personally would dislike the idea of my child not being fluent in both languages. I love speakng Thai, but I also feel lucky to be a native English speaker. It would also be bad for business as I teach English Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousemouse Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 I speak Thai to the ball and chain and English to my son . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scousemouse Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 English and Thai and a wee bit scottish comes oot HAHA lol - my daughter had explain what "breeks" and "snippie" were to her mother. and when my son says " dee do doh don't dee doh " , the wife hasn't got a clue . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mosha Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 My buddy back in the UK and his wife have a 15 year old son. They talked in their individual mother tongue to the boy, which proved useful. When his wife had a fall out with my friend she would refuse to talk English to him, which was a problem cos he can't speak Thai. The son was the translation service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazimus Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 I have been with my Thai girlfriend for 3 years,to help us both to stay on the ball we made a pact some time ago to speak Thai on day and English the next.It has worked for us.Her English is now perfect however my Thai can only be described as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siamshot Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Our1.8 year old best boy ever gets Thai from Mama, German from Papa, but also English from both of us as well as from friends or customers. Until now no problems, we'll see, when he starts with real sentences. Up to now he always uses the easier to pronounce words - and that are mostly Thai ones... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRay Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Our daughter is three now and she has problems to speak properly. Even I told my wife to only speak Thai with the children it was quite often a mix of Thai/English/German, all in one sentence .I only speak German to my daughter, but I don´t speak proper German to my wife. It used to be English but now it´s more Thaiglish. She´s attending school here in Germany to learn the language, but as we only see us 15mins. in the morning and about 90 mins. in the evening it´s still quicker to hear and get all the necessary info in our own created language. The daghter listens to this crap all the time and so it´s our fault. We now have an apointment with a specialist to sort that out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhaoNiaw Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Our daughter is three now and she has problems to speak properly. Even I told my wife to only speak Thai with the children it was quite often a mix of Thai/English/German, all in one sentence .I only speak German to my daughter, but I don´t speak proper German to my wife. It used to be English but now it´s more Thaiglish. She´s attending school here in Germany to learn the language, but as we only see us 15mins. in the morning and about 90 mins. in the evening it´s still quicker to hear and get all the necessary info in our own created language. The daghter listens to this crap all the time and so it´s our fault. We now have an apointment with a specialist to sort that out Keep sticking to German with your daughter. If you're in Germany and she's in school, that won't be a problem. Really try to get your wife to use only Thai with her. It doesn't matter so much what is used between you and your wife. People tend to think that being multilingual is not the norm, but in fact being monolingual is much less common. Your daughter should work out that what goes on between Mum and Dad is only used in that context. But if your wife uses the same kind of mix with your daughter as well, it will become your 'family' language and her Thai and English will suffer. The main thing is to have clear boundaries about which language is to be used in which situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mossfinn Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 Wife/Myself = English Myself/Boy = English Wife/Boy = Thai I had heard that speaking to a baby in two languages would only confuse them, having listened to the comments on here, I am glad we ignored it. Moss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eneukman Posted November 10, 2007 Share Posted November 10, 2007 My ability to speak Thai is still fairly limited, but when I can I will speak Thai. Otherwise I have to resort to English. If all else fails, I will resort to http://www.thai-language.com/dict/ Whilst good, it is not totally foolproof. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meemiathai Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 Our daughter is three now and she has problems to speak properly. Even I told my wife to only speak Thai with the children it was quite often a mix of Thai/English/German, all in one sentence .I only speak German to my daughter, but I don´t speak proper German to my wife. It used to be English but now it´s more Thaiglish. She´s attending school here in Germany to learn the language, but as we only see us 15mins. in the morning and about 90 mins. in the evening it´s still quicker to hear and get all the necessary info in our own created language. The daghter listens to this crap all the time and so it´s our fault. We now have an apointment with a specialist to sort that out Give her a break! She is not in a hurry to accomplish anything before any age, is she? She is 3 only! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaiWai Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 (edited) as we only see us 15mins. in the morning and about 90 mins. in the evening it´s still quicker to hear and get all the necessary info in our own created language. The daghter listens to this crap all the time and so it´s our fault. We now have an apointment with a specialist to sort that out That's really very interesting (I would love it if you could give some examples) and must happen quite frequently now. Your child will be fine. I do agree that you should ask your wife to be more careful with the language she uses with your daughter. She has a real chance of being genuinely bi-lingual; maybe tri-lingual. Do tell us what the specialist says. Edited November 11, 2007 by WaiWai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazer Posted November 11, 2007 Share Posted November 11, 2007 I speak a kind of Thaiglish (or more correctly ThaiLaoglish) with my wife but she goes through phases where she only wants me to speak English. She laughs at me when I use a Thai word or phrase that I've learned independently of her. I sometimes find it easier to just say the Thai or Lao phrase rather than the English phrase. "ao mai" or "ao bor" being the best examples. Sometimes at work I've started to say something to a colleague and then had to stop and start again because I've been about to use a Thai phrase rather than English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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