Do You Speak Pidgin English To The Wife / Gf?

[TheLaughingMan]

Ya I'm going to be extremely judgemental too and state that I think men speaking dumbed down english to their wives is pretty ignorant, they should be making every effort to teach her and better her life.

[TerryTibbs]

My first Thai girlfriend spoke very little English and with my limited Thai it was a nightmare for example a simple where the door key was went something like this.......Where key me? Key you? Yeah key me where? Key you there, oh key there thanks. Thankfully the girl I'm with now is fluent in English and my Thai is a little better so communication isn't such a headache!

[daoyai]

Tinglish INMO is just english spoken with Thai grammar as example no verb conjugation, adjective after the noun, mixing in Thai words and phrases when that will aid communication, I have no problem with this, what I do correct is the he, her, them, she , confusion. To speak good pigeon you need to use Thai grammar, not baby talk.

[patklang]

I have a friend whos daughter talks to everybody in pidgeon english,and she is only 5 years old,only because he speaks the same to everybody.When he comes to my house i have to tell him stop talking to my gf like a bloody idiot.

[TheLaughingMan]

I have a friend whos daughter talks to everybody in pidgeon english,and she is only 5 years old,only because he speaks the same to everybody.When he comes to my house i have to tell him stop talking to my gf like a bloody idiot.

That's just so sad, a child can easily learn a language properly, 10 times easier than an adult and he is ruining her chances by speaking dumbed down english to her. Awful.

[toybits]

Why go to such trouble when after 6 months, they have a new wifey?

Ya I'm going to be extremely judgemental too and state that I think men speaking dumbed down english to their wives is pretty ignorant, they should be making every effort to teach her and better her life.

[polecat]

I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, but what is this "pigeon" English people are going on about anyway? Is it related to the coop? Or is it just a fancier way of spelling "pidgin"? Either way, I think some of these posters tok pisin rubbish.

(Does nobody listen to SBK?)

[thithi]

i speak tinglish sometimes as a joke. My accent... dunno what people say about it.

[spysee]

My wife speaks english perfectly, she studied abroad for many years and seemed to of picked it up really fast.

She always used to ask me what this or that means. And these were words I didnt even know what they ment. She is probably better then me now

[eek]

I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, but what is this "pigeon" English people are going on about anyway? Is it related to the coop? Or is it just a fancier way of spelling "pidgin"? Either way, I think some of these posters tok pisin rubbish.

(Does nobody listen to SBK?)

Oh dam_n, i wrote pigeon! WhOops.

[Livinginexile]

Hi folks:The wife has a degree in English from Ramhamkaeng BKK, and her English is pretty good. However, when she asks me to correct her, generally I do it about half the time. Why? (thai/english speak: I don't sure.) I do know Thais talk English the same way they speak Thai, without all the extra stuff like tense. WHY do farang talk pigeon English to their gf/wives? For example: you want go here eat?..you want make love?..we go movie now..you want buy land?..when I hear other farang talk to their wife/gf in pigeon english I sometimes snicker and think they are being lazy or something else, yet I do it too sometimes. It serves no purpose except to give subtle or tacit approval to the speaker that she is speaking properly, or enabling her to continue in this vein. I am "guilty" of speaking pigeon english to my wife at times,perhaps 25 to 50 % of the time although I don't track it closely. If someone asked me why I do it, I would say partially because lovely Thai women sound so cute when they mildly chastise you and say something like "don't do like that!"

Mostly they speak Pidgin because they are looking at a short term relation. Mostly they get it too. Bloody ridiculous seeing a couple married a few years and him speaking pidgin and usually not Thai.

My wife was educated in England and there have been occasions where some idiots have come up to her and said – you from where? Etc. There’s too many farang here married to bar women and low class ones. I often wonder what they think after 5 years. I bet they regret what they thought was a good decision 5 years before.

How DARE you make such racsist asumptions like that!

Low class one you say?

Mate, the way you talk you can't get a lower class than you.

Actually low life is closer to the mark.

[Thaddeus]

(Does nobody listen to SBK?)

Mr SBK does (if he knows what's good for him )

[TheLaughingMan]

Hi folks:The wife has a degree in English from Ramhamkaeng BKK, and her English is pretty good. However, when she asks me to correct her, generally I do it about half the time. Why? (thai/english speak: I don't sure.) I do know Thais talk English the same way they speak Thai, without all the extra stuff like tense. WHY do farang talk pigeon English to their gf/wives? For example: you want go here eat?..you want make love?..we go movie now..you want buy land?..when I hear other farang talk to their wife/gf in pigeon english I sometimes snicker and think they are being lazy or something else, yet I do it too sometimes. It serves no purpose except to give subtle or tacit approval to the speaker that she is speaking properly, or enabling her to continue in this vein. I am "guilty" of speaking pigeon english to my wife at times,perhaps 25 to 50 % of the time although I don't track it closely. If someone asked me why I do it, I would say partially because lovely Thai women sound so cute when they mildly chastise you and say something like "don't do like that!"

Mostly they speak Pidgin because they are looking at a short term relation. Mostly they get it too. Bloody ridiculous seeing a couple married a few years and him speaking pidgin and usually not Thai.

My wife was educated in England and there have been occasions where some idiots have come up to her and said – you from where? Etc. There's too many farang here married to bar women and low class ones. I often wonder what they think after 5 years. I bet they regret what they thought was a good decision 5 years before.

How DARE you make such racsist asumptions like that!

Low class one you say?

Mate, the way you talk you can't get a lower class than you.

Actually low life is closer to the mark.

He said most, and its absolutely correct.

[Geekfreaklover]

You have to consider that many expats married to locals in thailand are not native English Speakers. I have, in the past, moved in circles where the female spouse of a foreigner has no idea what I am saying because I refuse to use the - 'me go home now you stay here' crap. She says - 'why I understand my husband me he from German. No understand you you from England.' - The answer - 'Because you are not speaking English. You are talking YODA, baby.'

[teacup]

Pidgin english,....tinglish or like kind

Sometimes it sounds cute, but most times it sounds retarded to me.... esp spoken by a farang who I know his native language is the english.

Whats wrong with….using real words and sentences when talking?

Edited May 29, 2009 by teacup

[sanook2me]

You have to consider that many expats married to locals in thailand are not native English Speakers. I have, in the past, moved in circles where the female spouse of a foreigner has no idea what I am saying because I refuse to use the - 'me go home now you stay here' crap. She says - 'why I understand my husband me he from German. No understand you you from England.' - The answer - 'Because you are not speaking English. You are talking YODA, baby.'

My Mrs says very similar

"You original English, cannot understand me only when angry"

Oh so thats why you get angry so often so i'll understand..got ya!

But she can pidgin all day with other pidgins but me she says "original English cannot understand talk from throat not mouth!"

Oh Pidgin is such a laugh with the mistakes and the temper tantrums when you/them cannot understand each other..I wouldn't have it any other way.. it adds a great fun challenge to each day.

Only just on telephone "home 1 oclock"

me <deleted> its 3 pm now...oh yeah Yoda Thai 1 being 7pm....

I've had fluent English speaking g/fs and its no fun at all and makes you lazy to study Thai.

[wolfmanjack]

You have to consider that many expats married to locals in thailand are not native English Speakers. I have, in the past, moved in circles where the female spouse of a foreigner has no idea what I am saying because I refuse to use the - 'me go home now you stay here' crap. She says - 'why I understand my husband me he from German. No understand you you from England.' - The answer - 'Because you are not speaking English. You are talking YODA, baby.'

My Mrs says very similar

"You original English, cannot understand me only when angry"

Oh so thats why you get angry so often so i'll understand..got ya!

But she can pidgin all day with other pidgins but me she says "original English cannot understand talk from throat not mouth!"

Oh Pidgin is such a laugh with the mistakes and the temper tantrums when you/them cannot understand each other..I wouldn't have it any other way.. it adds a great fun challenge to each day.

Only just on telephone "home 1 oclock"

me <deleted> its 3 pm now...oh yeah Yoda Thai 1 being 7pm....

I've had fluent English speaking g/fs and its no fun at all and makes you lazy to study Thai.

you are right about the wife speaking good english makes it harder to learn thai. I know about 500 thai words and i learned 99% of them in the 4 years of coming to thailand before i met my wife and the last 1% in the 10 years I have been married. I think that 1% was taught to me by my children. then again I spent the first 6 years after my first child was born pretending i did not understand any thai to make sure my kids learned english.

[ctira]

ROFL This is a cute post.

My husband NEVER talks to me that way. In fact, he always correct me if I say something wrong. And I am grateful b/c it helps improve my English.

[TheLaughingMan]

My Mrs says very similar

"You original English, cannot understand me only when angry"

Oh so thats why you get angry so often so i'll understand..got ya!

But she can pidgin all day with other pidgins but me she says "original English cannot understand talk from throat not mouth!"

Oh Pidgin is such a laugh with the mistakes and the temper tantrums when you/them cannot understand each other..I wouldn't have it any other way.. it adds a great fun challenge to each day.

Only just on telephone "home 1 oclock"

me <deleted> its 3 pm now...oh yeah Yoda Thai 1 being 7pm....

I've had fluent English speaking g/fs and its no fun at all and makes you lazy to study Thai.

This explains so much.

[SoCal]

Personally I use the spoken word, not out of pretense, but to be understood.

I speak at whatever level is required by the listener.

So, say I sound like a stupid git, retarded, condescening, etc. I really don't care.

If I wanted to teach english, then I would have chosen a different profession.

[BigSnake]

Yes because she is a CUTE little Bird.

[noahvail]

My wife's written English is nearly perfect.

But she has the problem that is so common to Thais, the habit of dropping or changing certain letters.

This all too often changes the sentance completely.

Like: R L T TH V W S...

She learned her English at Uni and before she met me did not get practice with native English speakers.

It is OK for me as I usually know what she is saying but it becomes a problem when she talks to other people that are not used to conversing with Thais.

Does anyone know of a teaching method to correct this?

It may be the way Thais speak english just mimics the way they naturally speak..This is possibly why there are so many distinct english "accents" from thai to russian,etc..in exile, be the patient teacher and correct her and lots of repetion, as practice makes more perfect.BTW..keep up the good work

Agreed. I find that there are Thai words that my wife can say perfectly with R's, S's, and so forth. I grab those words and repeat them, and ask her to say it correctly for me. Then I go for the syllable with the "offending" letter, and ask her to repeat that...and point out that she has just said the English letter perfectly well. Then we practice on a few English words. The V's are bloody hard though. She's a product of the old school here - the teacher read from books and taught the kids to read and write, but not to speak (and around this area, none of the English teachers speak all that well). So my wife has a good command of the written word, but drops the "the" almost all the time. It's understandable, since that's an article that really doesn't exist in Thai, as she tells me. I only speak "good" English around her - well, as best as an ex-US and ex-Kiwi can speak it - not only for her benefit, but for the benefit of her daughter, who is learning how NOT to pronounce certain words, and losing the "Thainess" of her spoken English, which is very basic at this point. Catch 'em young!

[tw25rw]

I use correct, if simplifed English in sms/email messages so she'll learn (with the help of a dictionary), but when I speak, it has to be Tinglish or she'll just glaze over.

[Hssl]

I've had English/American customers talk 'tingish' at me, I'm fair haired blue eyed not a hint of asian genes in me and speak with a clean home county's English accent - some people are just stupid!

If people want their other half to learn their native tounge then speak / write it corectly or forgever listen to such phrase's as "my wife me"

[timinchina]

Bloody ridiculous seeing a couple married a few years and him speaking pidgin and usually not Thai

Couldn't agree with you more. I am married to a Vietnamese but it is the same thing over here: expatriates married to local ladies speaking pidgin are total gits IMHO and one has to wonder how they can have any meaningful relationship at all.

So you speak Vietnamese?!?

[TAWP]

I don't speak pigeon English as it isn't my native language and I am proud over the level of English I possess. And my wife not only understands me but also speaks with better accent than most people here. Which might not be saying much, as most peoples accent here is purely horrid, even for many that studied abroad.

'Speaking English with Thai accent' seems to be the most common mistake natives here do.

[think_too_mut]

Hi folks:The wife has a degree in English from Ramhamkaeng BKK, and her English is pretty good. However, when she asks me to correct her, generally I do it about half the time. Why? (thai/english speak: I don't sure.) I do know Thais talk English the same way they speak Thai, without all the extra stuff like tense. WHY do farang talk pigeon English to their gf/wives? For example: you want go here eat?..you want make love?..we go movie now..you want buy land?..when I hear other farang talk to their wife/gf in pigeon english I sometimes snicker and think they are being lazy or something else, yet I do it too sometimes. It serves no purpose except to give subtle or tacit approval to the speaker that she is speaking properly, or enabling her to continue in this vein. I am "guilty" of speaking pigeon english to my wife at times,perhaps 25 to 50 % of the time although I don't track it closely. If someone asked me why I do it, I would say partially because lovely Thai women sound so cute when they mildly chastise you and say something like "don't do like that!"

That is not pidgin. That's poor standard of the school she had graduated from.

Pidgin is something else. I spent 1 year in Papua New Gunea where pidgin is an official language. They speak it in their parliament.

It has only 1200 words.

This is pidgin:

How many kristmas belong you? = how old are you

Gabamen catchin fella = policeman

Mix-max belong Jesus = helicopter

Time belong masta = colonial days

Black man, white teeth, you fight him, he cries = piano

[tw25rw]

After a while you might find yourself speaking like that all the time, though so far I don't have that pompem.

[Geekfreaklover]

Hi folks:The wife has a degree in English from Ramhamkaeng BKK, and her English is pretty good. However, when she asks me to correct her, generally I do it about half the time. Why? (thai/english speak: I don't sure.) I do know Thais talk English the same way they speak Thai, without all the extra stuff like tense. WHY do farang talk pigeon English to their gf/wives? For example: you want go here eat?..you want make love?..we go movie now..you want buy land?..when I hear other farang talk to their wife/gf in pigeon english I sometimes snicker and think they are being lazy or something else, yet I do it too sometimes. It serves no purpose except to give subtle or tacit approval to the speaker that she is speaking properly, or enabling her to continue in this vein. I am "guilty" of speaking pigeon english to my wife at times,perhaps 25 to 50 % of the time although I don't track it closely. If someone asked me why I do it, I would say partially because lovely Thai women sound so cute when they mildly chastise you and say something like "don't do like that!"

That is not pidgin. That's poor standard of the school she had graduated from.

Pidgin is something else. I spent 1 year in Papua New Gunea where pidgin is an official language. They speak it in their parliament.

It has only 1200 words.

This is pidgin:

How many kristmas belong you? = how old are you

Gabamen catchin fella = policeman

Mix-max belong Jesus = helicopter

Time belong masta = colonial days

Black man, white teeth, you fight him, he cries = piano

That is impressive, i must look for more of these phrases..

- 'Mix-max belong jesus'

Excellent.

Do you have any more?

[cognos]

You have to consider that many expats married to locals in thailand are not native English Speakers. I have, in the past, moved in circles where the female spouse of a foreigner has no idea what I am saying because I refuse to use the - 'me go home now you stay here' crap. She says - 'why I understand my husband me he from German. No understand you you from England.' - The answer - 'Because you are not speaking English. You are talking YODA, baby.'

My Mrs says very similar

"You original English, cannot understand me only when angry"

Oh so thats why you get angry so often so i'll understand..got ya!

But she can pidgin all day with other pidgins but me she says "original English cannot understand talk from throat not mouth!"

Oh Pidgin is such a laugh with the mistakes and the temper tantrums when you/them cannot understand each other..I wouldn't have it any other way.. it adds a great fun challenge to each day.

Only just on telephone "home 1 oclock"

me <deleted> its 3 pm now...oh yeah Yoda Thai 1 being 7pm....

I've had fluent English speaking g/fs and its no fun at all and makes you lazy to study Thai.

you are right about the wife speaking good english makes it harder to learn thai. I know about 500 thai words and i learned 99% of them in the 4 years of coming to thailand before i met my wife and the last 1% in the 10 years I have been married. I think that 1% was taught to me by my children. then again I spent the first 6 years after my first child was born pretending i did not understand any thai to make sure my kids learned english.

..interesting experience..I did not mention that I strive to learn Thai and speak a lot to the family and others for practice.I too know many words,and the next step is throwing together more sentences.When I have time I want to learn Thai from square one,as the kids do there with the alphabet and writing the language.My goal is one day to be at least half fluent or more in Thai. I don't think Thais speak pidgin thai to a farang. The pidgin I occasionally do I will desist from here on. As mentioned, I often do correct her, but will be consistant going forward.