Speaking Bad English

[PaulUSA302]

This past October when I was in Thailand. I made some friends with some first time travelers. We met in Phuket and happen to fly back to Bangkok on the same flight and shared a Taxi to our separate hotels.

During the time in the Taxi, I was giving advise and answering their many questions. As it turned out through talking, they were from New Jersey and I am from Delaware and our states neighbor each other..... We had no problem when talking but they did ask me.... "Why are you talking with broken English? It is so funny that you are talking to us as if English is our second language" (They they laughed a little).

I explained that I am so use to talking that way while in Thailand that it is difficult to turn it off....

Also when I am talking with Thia's who were educated in English speaking lands, they will remind me that I can talk to them in regular English.

[nidge]

I do it all the time too. At home the locals speak very poor English, (just like my very poor Thai), and when i go to work i am communicating with Chinese guys that have extremely limited English. They appreciate my Thaiglish as it is easy for them to undersatand but when i talk to any English, (as a first language), people they must think i'm a muppet!

[JimsKnight]

For me, if I hear a native english speaker 'baby talking' it can be irritating. When they do it to their own language speakers it sounds ludicrous.

A dutch guy I knew did this all the time when he spoke the language. I'm like 'Learn to speak Thai!' to him but still he talks daftlish to the locals

Some people just get the switch a bit stuck I guess

[pointofview]

This past October when I was in Thailand. I made some friends with some first time travelers. We met in Phuket and happen to fly back to Bangkok on the same flight and shared a Taxi to our separate hotels.

During the time in the Taxi, I was giving advise and answering their many questions. As it turned out through talking, they were from New Jersey and I am from Delaware and our states neighbor each other..... We had no problem when talking but they did ask me.... "Why are you talking with broken English? It is so funny that you are talking to us as if English is our second language" (They they laughed a little).

I explained that I am so use to talking that way while in Thailand that it is difficult to turn it off....

Also when I am talking with Thia's who were educated in English speaking lands, they will remind me that I can talk to them in regular English.

I find i have to do it when in the USA - people always ask me what language i am speaking. When i say english they look confused!

[sonnyJ]

I'm sure it's easy for everyone to slip in to it but as soon as I found myself doing it I'll try to correct it immediately. I am not 1st language English speaker so I try to improve my English as much as possible. Speaking pidgin English to Thais does more bad for them than good on my opinion so I try to speak as normally as I am able, they might even learn something new. If they never learn new words how can they improve?

[nidge]

I'm sure it's easy for everyone to slip in to it but as soon as I found myself doing it I'll try to correct it immediately. I am not 1st language English speaker so I try to improve my English as much as possible. Speaking pidgin English to Thais does more bad for them than good on my opinion so I try to speak as normally as I am able, they might even learn something new. If they never learn new words how can they improve?

I have an american friend who is an engineer. Most of the time when he talks to his wife he uses the same language he would when at work. Most of the words go straight over her head. Rather than her saying she does not understand she just nods her head and acts as if she understood. You cannot learn new words if you fail to understand any of the sentence.

[sonnyJ]

I'm sure it's easy for everyone to slip in to it but as soon as I found myself doing it I'll try to correct it immediately. I am not 1st language English speaker so I try to improve my English as much as possible. Speaking pidgin English to Thais does more bad for them than good on my opinion so I try to speak as normally as I am able, they might even learn something new. If they never learn new words how can they improve?

I have an american friend who is an engineer. Most of the time when he talks to his wife he uses the same language he would when at work. Most of the words go straight over her head. Rather than her saying she does not understand she just nods her head and acts as if she understood. You cannot learn new words if you fail to understand any of the sentence.

If there is no will to learn it's almost impossible. Ofcourse a complicated word you can guess is not probably understood needs an explanation. Learning a language is slow but not difficult process.

[sbk]

I don't speak broken English with Thai people so no, I don't speak broken English with foreigners either.

Just to add, my husband, who is fluent in English, is generally quite offended by people who speak to him in broken English, he feels that they are being patronizing and condescending, so it might be best to just learn to speak slowly and clearly instead of speaking pidgin.

[PaulUSA302]

I'm sure it's easy for everyone to slip in to it but as soon as I found myself doing it I'll try to correct it immediately. I am not 1st language English speaker so I try to improve my English as much as possible. Speaking pidgin English to Thais does more bad for them than good on my opinion so I try to speak as normally as I am able, they might even learn something new. If they never learn new words how can they improve?

As a very short time visitor, we don't think much on improving their English. We are just happy they can understand some words.... So we cut out the words that are not necessary and try to communicate in a way that they understand so that they can make the sale or transaction and move onto the next customer.

On a hot day how would you like to be stuck behind a guy ordering a cold drink with fully proper and or verbose English to the point that the vendor does not understand... That is when one of 3 things would happen. Another Thai would step-in and help, the customer behind you would step-in and assist or the vendor will simply either by-pass them or make them a drink that they think they want by a guess.

Often us visitors try to do as much as possible... Go to Mall, then go to Weekend Market and hope we can find a particular shop and our way back to the subway or sky-train station... Traffic will be bad now and we have to get back to meet our group for dinner..... Find a internet cafe.... make sure we have unwrinkled clothes to change into then to the shower and get ready to go out for the night..... Don't forget that we will be stopped and engaged in conversation by a friendly Thai...... Our time is limited... We have to use the "Bad English"...... Forgive us.....

[Jingthing]

Paul, it happens. Like anything else, you can train yourself to turn the Thaiglish off and on. I also make a conscious effort to try to speak proper English to Thais when they might be able to understand, as I think it is bad to "model" this bad English.

[PaulUSA302]

Paul, it happens. Like anything else, you can train yourself to turn the Thaiglish off and on. I also make a conscious effort to try to speak proper English to Thais when they might be able to understand, as I think it is bad to "model" this bad English.

I think you are the first person to reply by using my name "Paul" and I was kinda shocked and wondered if you knew me from another message board until I scrolled up and saw my screen name had Paul in it LOL

I am not able to turn it on and off so easy. Sometimes I have to speak broken English to some of my friends here and then when I am with another friend of the same country (but speaks very good English)... I continue in my broken English until they ask me why am I talking like that.... (I tell them why and they always seem to understand).

One of my friends From China met a friend of mine from Jakarta. My friend from China speaks perfect English and often makes what I assume to be harmless fun of others who make mistakes in their English.... Like when my friend from Jakarta asked about going to Olympic City... What they wanted to say was that they wanted to go to Atlantic City. My Chinese friend could not stop giggling.

Edited December 27, 2007 by PaulUSA302

[britmaveric]

Tinglish - can be fun and intoxicating. Mind you a bit embarrassing once you get back to the west and you still use it.

[PaulUSA302]

Tinglish - can be fun and intoxicating. Mind you a bit embarrassing once you get back to the west and you still use it.

What is funny is that when I went to visit my brother in Georgia many years ago, I had to call information to get his phone number so that I would not have to dig it out of my luggage.

I called information and spoke very clear with my northern accent (No accent)... "I would like to have the telephone number for Stanly Steamer (Not his real name) in Kingsland Georgia. She asked me to repeat the name and I did. She again asked me to repeat the name and I did and she told me she could not understand me and we ended the call.

I called information again and got the same result and hung-up the phone.

Then I heard on the intercom a woman paging a person and I thought that with her heavy accent she should speak clearer and just at that moment I got an IDEA!

I called information again and used my best imitation of a southern accent and said "I lye ta have da telephone numa for Stanla Stema in Kingslan Georg'a" and she said... "Hold for the number please." And that is how I got my brothers number. LOL

[hullmonkey1]

Tinglish - can be fun and intoxicating. Mind you a bit embarrassing once you get back to the west and you still use it.

I live in Thailand and have worked in asia for a long time now so I try to keep it simple,speak slower and avoid using long words both in my private and professional life. I am not being patronising, a lot of the people I have worked with are very intelligent and highly educated.

The problem is when I get back to the uk I find that my vocabulary is stunted. My kids even ask "why are you talking like that dad"

some of the typicaly hard to drop sayings:

Many many......A large amount

same same....very similar

Ali baba...thieving sod

All of the above are instantly understood in all of the places I have worked, but in the UK they make you sound like a <deleted>

[PeaceBlondie]

I can't see that any English teacher is answering this thread, unless toptuan beats me to it. You learn as a teacher that the best way non-native speakers pick up English is to hear it spoken properly. My boyfriend was fairly fluent when we first met, and in these four years I've just kept speaking almost perfect English to him. Even the Thai teachers of English learn from native teachers, but you can't correct them publicly.

Same with your own kids. My daughter called the refrigerator "fido" at age two, but we kept pronouncing the entire five syllables correctly. She was saying "refriador" by her third birthday. Actually, that's correct in Spanish!

[Rango]

its even rougher for me to quit saying "alai nah?" when i get back to farang-land.

of couse living in Singapore only compounds the difficulty. They speak english so well, it has become its own language

Edited December 27, 2007 by Rango

[NamKAheng]

I witness a heated argument between a American and a British speaker in a bar in Phuket, the argument started with the American asking the British guy why he was speaking broken english with Thai people to that the British guy was explaining that he was doing that to make himself uderstand more easily to that the American guy was saying that if he was doing that the Thai people would never learn to speak good english. The conversation heat up when the British guy said to the American guy that he should understand very well the broken english since they were already speaking broken english in USA.

So good english for some is broken english to the ears of other.

This kind of broken english is use around the world so people can understand each other particularly from non native english speakers. A name was given to that kind of broken english spoken in Thailand, globish, a word coming from global and english and you can find a lot of web sites in many languages about globish, also books an researchs on the subject. But for me I call it Thaiglish when I am in Thailand.

Bare with me while reading this, english is not my native language.

[canuckamuck]

There is a difference between speaking English with your full vocabulary and speaking with Basic English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_English

I try to use the most simplified vocabulary I can without breaking grammatical rules. Because I spend so much time with ESL people in an English speaking environment, I can almost always tell when the words are too complicated in a conversation. When I watch a movie with my wife I can tell which parts she will get lost on, and I often give her a more basic summary, if she is missing crucial dialogue.

There is no problem with speaking correctly, if you have an idea of what words people are most likely to understand. Figures of speech or colloquialisms are completely useless, but it takes years for people to stop using them.

[jcgodber]

My favorite is ----

Why for you kick my dog ? He bark you?

[MrBrad]

There is a difference between speaking English with your full vocabulary and speaking with Basic English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_English

I try to use the most simplified vocabulary I can without breaking grammatical rules. Because I spend so much time with ESL people in an English speaking environment, I can almost always tell when the words are too complicated in a conversation. When I watch a movie with my wife I can tell which parts she will get lost on, and I often give her a more basic summary, if she is missing crucial dialogue.

There is no problem with speaking correctly, if you have an idea of what words people are most likely to understand. Figures of speech or colloquialisms are completely useless, but it takes years for people to stop using them.

Having a degree in English as a Foreign Language, I, too, would agree with refraining from using broken, ungrammatical English. Tarzan-talk only promotes more of the same. When communicating in English with Thai friends it's always Basic English.

[NamKAheng]

Canuckamuck tell me do you really have a Tim Horton in Siracha?

Should be a good idea instead of Mr Donuts

Edited December 28, 2007 by NamKAheng

[JetsetBkk]

During the time in the Taxi, I was giving advise...

No you weren't. You were giving "advice".

Pedants unite!

[onzestan]

OK here we go again.

I strongly believe that it is far less important to speak correctly, than getting yourself understood.

Communication is the goal, not correct vocabulary.

Anyway languages are barriers (Genesis chapter 11) and insisting on using them correctly is nothing but

arrogance, and in a way demeaning to your counterpart.

My 2 cents, and it's OK to have at me, I'm getting used to it, oh and BTW I'm not native english.

onzestan

[canuckamuck]

Canuckamuck tell me do you really have a Tim Horton in Siracha?

Should be a good idea instead of Mr Donuts

Sure I am there right now using the WiFi, had nice coffee and a toasted chicken club and I will grab some Timbits on the way out.

[h90]

This past October when I was in Thailand. I made some friends with some first time travelers. We met in Phuket and happen to fly back to Bangkok on the same flight and shared a Taxi to our separate hotels.

During the time in the Taxi, I was giving advise and answering their many questions. As it turned out through talking, they were from New Jersey and I am from Delaware and our states neighbor each other..... We had no problem when talking but they did ask me.... "Why are you talking with broken English? It is so funny that you are talking to us as if English is our second language" (They they laughed a little).

I explained that I am so use to talking that way while in Thailand that it is difficult to turn it off....

Also when I am talking with Thia's who were educated in English speaking lands, they will remind me that I can talk to them in regular English.

Me you same same.......

[PhilHarries]

I don't speak pidgin English to expats, well not so's I notice, but sometimes I'll look at something and say mai khaw chai or suchlike. I have spoken Thai to Filipinos, Malaysians and now Vietnamese - funnily enough they don't understand me. I wonder if a Thai would? Probably not.

When I worked in Thailand I was chief engineer over a section of expats and Thais. The Thais had varying levels of competence in English. When I was describing what was required of the task in hand I'd use regular English just as I'd speak to a Brit but slower. During this I'd watch for the non-verbal clues of miscomprehension. The frown, the glances at other members of the group, the fiddling with the pen etc. Then I'd ask them did they understand and, if there was any doubt, I'd repeat myself, not in pidgin, but simplified English with no verb tenses nor plurals. Seemed to work most of the time but it was of prime importance that they fully understood what was required technically and contractually. One of the engineers eventually went on to an assignment at the company's Madrid office and she did rather well and learnt to get by in Spanish.

[NamKAheng]

Canuckamuck tell me do you really have a Tim Horton in Siracha?

Should be a good idea instead of Mr Donuts

Sure I am there right now using the WiFi, had nice coffee and a toasted chicken club and I will grab some Timbits on the way out.

Do you put Siracha sauce on your toasted chicken club?

[canuckamuck]

Canuckamuck tell me do you really have a Tim Horton in Siracha?

Should be a good idea instead of Mr Donuts

Sure I am there right now using the WiFi, had nice coffee and a toasted chicken club and I will grab some Timbits on the way out.

Do you put Siracha sauce on your toasted chicken club?

Well sometimes, but I have to bring my own

[Chang_paarp]

One of the more frustrating times I had dealing with people who did not understand what I said was at McDonalds in California . I mistakenly assumed the staff could speak English. Wrong . As I did not want a set menu combination, but a burger and a drink it was difficult, until I learned to join the line in front of the black girl.

As to Thinglish, I try to speak correct English at first and then try a more simple sentence structure. I try to avoid pidgin but will use it as a last resort if it gets the communication happening. I will butcher Thai in a vain attempt to communicate but this only adds to the confusion.

[PeaceBlondie]

One of the more frustrating times I had dealing with people who did not understand what I said was at McDonalds in California . I mistakenly assumed the staff could speak English. Wrong . As I did not want a set menu combination, but a burger and a drink it was difficult, until I learned to join the line in front of the black girl.

It's a matter of context. We went into the McDonald's in New Chinatown in Houston, where they had the menu in English and Chinese. With my native Chinese friend standing next to me, I told the (Black) manager that 'hamburger' was misspelled in Chinese! Just a joke. The next day, still in Chinatown, we went to a totally Chinese supermarket to buy lunch, and the food counter was staffed by an old Chinese couple and a Mexican! I ordered in Spanish and was served cheerfully.

Back on topic. Speak simple English to non-native speakers, and try not to use too many irregular verbs except in the present tense. As someone said, if you didn't communicate, try pidgin. Try ordering key words. I got a bus ticket today by key words: "3 January, Krungthep, VIP, last bus."