Thai Partners Teaching The Language.

[Harcourt]

This may technically belong in the language forum, but I'm guessing that many who frequent the general forum don't neccessarily frequent the language forum, but would find this interesting....looking for a range of opinions here....maybe a consensus and maybe some hope for the exasperated student!

Or maybe it's time to give up.

Does the Thai language, as taught to Thai children, have a science to it? For example, on a simple level, does the concept of verbs, nouns, adjectives, tense, participles etc exist, and if so, is that "science" adopted from Western linguistic science? Do the concepts of linguistics predate Western influence?

Why I ask is because my GF is intelligent, Uni degree, speaks English well (actually puts me to shame on English language theory when she starts talking about "past imperfect...." (for example), but she struggles to be able to explain the logic (or the lack thereof) of her own vernacular.

Is Thai a "rote learnt" language or is there a degree of logic to it?

[toybits]

She learned Thai in her own (native) language and it is not easy for her to explain it in Thai. She could probably explain it to you in Thai. We learn English in much the same way.

You seem to have a very condescending attitude towards the way Thai is taught. I hope my impression about your post is incorrect.

[Harcourt]

She learned Thai in her own (native) language and it is not easy for her to explain it in Thai. She could probably explain it to you in Thai. We learn English in much the same way.

You seem to have a very condescending attitude towards the way Thai is taught. I hope my impression about your post is incorrect.

I am far from an attitude of condescension! I am merely ignorant about the way Thai is taught, thus my question.

My question arises because if my GF has a question about English, as long as the theory is not toooooo deep, I am able to explain why we say or spell it in english in a particular way. (Lets not get into the vast illogic of English just now, for the sake of this discussion, please accept that there are a number of "rules" and logical progressions in english theory...the use of prefixes and suffixes for example follow general rule of thumb guidlines.) She grasps what I explain, because she has learnt english from a "scientific" angle.

Etymology is a good example of a sub-branch of linguistic science. When my GF asks why do we say, "oval" for the cricket ground, I can explain about the shape, and the root of the word....and all of a sudden she see's the linguist connection to ovary....and then some time later, can deduce the meaning of "ovulation" in the context of what she was reading. There is a logical progression that she can follow and reach reasonable conclusions.

On the other hand, if I ask a question of her about Thai, this intelligent woman can just say, "This is it, this is how it is, there is no reason for it, it just IS."

My OP is to try to find out if there IS a degree of logic that I can hope to fathom, or do I resign myself to learning parrot fashion?

[TerryLH]

Oval (cricket field = ovary = ovulation

What's logical about that?

Thai is generally taught by repetition (rote).

[Harcourt]

Oval (cricket field = ovary = ovulation

What's logical about that?

Thai is generally taught by repetition (rote).

Your opinion that Thai is learnt by repetition is one that I am interested to hear. I wonder what the consensus is.

Etymology. The connection between words. "Oval" refers to the shape, "ovoid" from Latin....ovis (whatever), ovum, egg..... never mind, the example was made up and is not important to the discussion.

[bobbin]

You are misusing your resource.

There are numerous reasonably good books about learning Thai. Buy one and enlist her help in oral drills. Let the book explain the the concepts.

Then use your improving language skills with her as much as she will allow.

[RickBradford]

Oval (cricket field = ovary = ovulation

What's logical about that?

All derive from Latin 'ovus', egg.....

Edited July 13, 2009 by RickBradford

[caf]

This may technically belong in the language forum, but I'm guessing that many who frequent the general forum don't neccessarily frequent the language forum, but would find this interesting....looking for a range of opinions here....maybe a consensus and maybe some hope for the exasperated student!

Or maybe it's time to give up.

Does the Thai language, as taught to Thai children, have a science to it? For example, on a simple level, does the concept of verbs, nouns, adjectives, tense, participles etc exist, and if so, is that "science" adopted from Western linguistic science? Do the concepts of linguistics predate Western influence?

Why I ask is because my GF is intelligent, Uni degree, speaks English well (actually puts me to shame on English language theory when she starts talking about "past imperfect...." (for example), but she struggles to be able to explain the logic (or the lack thereof) of her own vernacular.

Is Thai a "rote learnt" language or is there a degree of logic to it?

We tend to learn a foreign language - at first anyway - by learning rules and seeing some sort of logic

We learn our mother tongue - at first anyway - by copying what we hear and read. As we all did as children. At that time we did not think of rules or see any logic in our language.

That is why your gf can not explain thai to you. Use some good books and learn with her together.

I have found most english speakers here can be understood ( it's their native language! ) but can't explain well to thais learning english, which is unfair on them as they copy their mistakes.

I have seen thai's write that the cat drinks it's milk their on the mat. !!

[scorecard]

So your allowed to struggle to explain english but she's not allowed to struggle to expalian Thai.

[mahtin]

All derive from Latin 'ovus', egg.....

Noun

ōvum (genitive ōvī); n, second declension

1. egg
   

Doesn't seem to have changed since I did O level

Edited July 13, 2009 by mahtin

[CosmicSurfer]

Your problem is in applying the Western concept of the Search for Logic to a Thai situation...

Your GF can't give you a logical explanation because she was never taught the concept of logic in school...

My wife who is also University educated and has a management position in her company also didn't understand the concept of logic at all.. I even asked her what the Thai word was.. she had no idea!

Just look around you at everyday life, the political situation, the corruption, the education system... The Wide Staircases on Narrow sidewalks... The Bike path running down the sidewalk on Sukhumvit... everything...

And now ask yourself.....

"Where is the Logic?"

The answer... It doesn't exist... just not Thai style.

Spock was NOT a Thai!

CS

[Harcourt]

Your problem is in applying the Western concept of the Search for Logic to a Thai situation...

"Where is the Logic?"

The answer... It doesn't exist... just not Thai style.

Spock was NOT a Thai!

CS

. Ok.

[a2396]

From my time living here and my quite limited knowledge of Thai language, it would seem there are considerable differences between English & Thai. There are many English words where there is no direct equivalent in Thai and sometimes would take a Thai a sentence or two to explain one English word. In my amateur opinion, Thai is not a language of precision, compared to English. This, coupled with a long-standing cultural tradition (in Thailand) of not speaking directly, makes for many situations where the exact meaning or intention is not clear. Rationality? That's another issue.

[sanook2me]

Your problem is in applying the Western concept of the Search for Logic to a Thai situation...

Your GF can't give you a logical explanation because she was never taught the concept of logic in school...

My wife who is also University educated and has a management position in her company also didn't understand the concept of logic at all.. I even asked her what the Thai word was.. she had no idea!

Just look around you at everyday life, the political situation, the corruption, the education system... The Wide Staircases on Narrow sidewalks... The Bike path running down the sidewalk on Sukhumvit... everything...

And now ask yourself.....

"Where is the Logic?"

The answer... It doesn't exist... just not Thai style.

Spock was NOT a Thai!

CS

Tell your g/f she has "logic" make she understands you are now telling her in Thai she has logic ie..."yooouuuuu logik"

Its quite funny reading your post because the English word logic when pronounced in Thai may explain some of your issues

[CosmicSurfer]

Your problem is in applying the Western concept of the Search for Logic to a Thai situation...

Your GF can't give you a logical explanation because she was never taught the concept of logic in school...

My wife who is also University educated and has a management position in her company also didn't understand the concept of logic at all.. I even asked her what the Thai word was.. she had no idea!

Just look around you at everyday life, the political situation, the corruption, the education system... The Wide Staircases on Narrow sidewalks... The Bike path running down the sidewalk on Sukhumvit... everything...

And now ask yourself.....

"Where is the Logic?"

The answer... It doesn't exist... just not Thai style.

Spock was NOT a Thai!

CS

Tell your g/f she has "logic" make she understands you are now telling her in Thai she has logic ie..."yooouuuuu logik"

Its quite funny reading your post because the English word logic when pronounced in Thai may explain some of your issues

My Girlfriend is MY WIFE, and she speaks English fairly well.. and works on using correct English pronounciation.. Not Thai mispronounciations.. She have a University degree and is a manager in her Company.... and she clearly did not understand the Concept of "Logic"... There was no misinturpretation or Thai-Engish mixup involved.

BTW... any English Teacher.. or teacher of any other subject as long as they are farang, can attest to the lack of logic in the Thai education system and Classrooms.

CS

Edited July 14, 2009 by CosmicSurfer

[sanook2me]

Your problem is in applying the Western concept of the Search for Logic to a Thai situation...

Your GF can't give you a logical explanation because she was never taught the concept of logic in school...

My wife who is also University educated and has a management position in her company also didn't understand the concept of logic at all.. I even asked her what the Thai word was.. she had no idea!

Just look around you at everyday life, the political situation, the corruption, the education system... The Wide Staircases on Narrow sidewalks... The Bike path running down the sidewalk on Sukhumvit... everything...

And now ask yourself.....

"Where is the Logic?"

The answer... It doesn't exist... just not Thai style.

Spock was NOT a Thai!

CS

Tell your g/f she has "logic" make she understands you are now telling her in Thai she has logic ie..."yooouuuuu logik"

Its quite funny reading your post because the English word logic when pronounced in Thai may explain some of your issues

My Girlfriend is MY WIFE, and she speaks English fairly well.. and works on using correct English pronounciation.. Not Thai mispronounciations.. She have a University degree and is a manager in her Company.... and she clearly did not understand the Concept of "Logic"... There was no misinturpretation or Thai-Engish mixup involved.

BTW... any English Teacher.. or teacher of any other subject as long as they are farang, can attest to the lack of logic in the Thai education system and Classrooms.

CS

J O K E = Joke

stick end wrong.....

The only mixup here is your understanding of my post..

in a jokey/funny/humorous way tell your wife she has logik... but the she must understand the logik is Thai not English...

Anyway if you and your manager of a Company and University educated wife don't get it no problems... i'm sure you are well suited and have lots of fun together....

[Harcourt]

So your allowed to struggle to explain english but she's not allowed to struggle to expalian Thai.

Of course she's allowed......my point is that she doesn't seem to be equiped with the basic theory of her own language, as most Westerners have been in school.

I don't know whether she's a lousy teacher or if there IS no Thai language theory for her to try to explain something.

She learnt english with all it's rules and theory, and thus it is easier for her to comprehend my explanations when given in theoretical terms.

...as Caf mentioned, "....We tend to learn a foreign language - at first anyway - by learning rules and seeing some sort of logic

We learn our mother tongue - at first anyway - by copying what we hear and read. As we all did as children. At that time we did not think of rules or see any logic in our language.

That is why your gf can not explain thai to you. ...." This makes sense to me.

I suppose what I was asking, is whether Thai has a structure.

I posted because I imagine that there are many people that try to learn from their spouses instead of formally....and are they running into the same frustrations.

Looking at the language forums, the experts there discuss Thai amongst themselves in terms of "transitive verbs", or "past imperfect".....but they are using Westerm "science".

There's alot of good answers here and I have gained an insight...thanks.

[singa-traz]

Google: Thai Grammar

In comparison to English and other European languages, there is very little in the way of fixed rules in Thai grammar. There's no definite or indefinite articles, no verb conjugations, no noun declensions, no object pronouns, and past and future tenses are often indicated only by context, or with the words "already" or "will" tacked on. If words aren't needed to make sense in the sentence, then they're often omitted. This may make it seem quite simple, but the lack of structure can end up making understanding sentences more difficult than others with stricter grammar rules.

Sometime, before you can learn something, you need to unlearn another one ...

The conclusion: having a University degree does not mean you are a linguist or a good teacher.

[SoftWater]

I think the OP contained an interesting question, but I'm worried about the misconceptions flying around in some of the replies.

I can answer some of these questions cos my kids go to Thai school, so yes, I can assure you that Thai's learn Thai systematically. They use concepts of noun, verb, adjective and so on (word forms, or parts of speech as they used to be called). they learn about word groups (phrases) and clauses, too.

If you want to know how Thai is learned, and you want to improve your own Thai, dump all those foreigner 'learn thai' books and go to the schoolkids section in a SE-ED or other thai bookstore and get the books they use for teaching thai to thais. (I've talked about this at length in the 'Let's get ready...its the government P6 exam' thread in the Thai language forum)

There's a couple of misconceptions here:

1. Thai is not logical - false. It is a systematic and rule-governed language, far more so than English. However, the complexities of Thai do not so much revolve around word form as they do in English, but around collocations and register. English has many roots (Latin and German to name the two most influential), Thai does too (Pali, Sanskrit, Khmer). It' s not that its not systematic, it's just that it's different.

2. Thai is not as accurate - false. I'm forever hearing this nonsense, which only shows ignorance of the language. Look at the myriad number of words Thais have for different family relations compared to the paltry few we have in English., The complaint that Thai is not accurate is like an Eskimo saying 'cor, English is not very accurate, they only have one word for snow whereas we have 32.' A language reflects the interests and activities of its culture, and if you want to talk about Thai culture accurately forget English. If you want to talk about English culture accurately, forget Thai. A lot of technical words in Thai are borrowed from English because the technology came from outside Thailand. That's got nothing to do with accuracy, its just etymology.

So why can't Thais explain their language to you? Try this - can you explain to your wife in English the difference between 'will' and 'shall' - probably not. Can you explain in THAI why we say 'If she were any more beautiful, my eyes would pop' instead of 'If she was...' - Can you explain that in THAI? Because effectivey you're trying to ask your wife to explain a difficult concept in a second language. That' s not easy. You probably can't do it it in English, let alone in Thai.

So C'mon! Don't complain that your educated wife is not a linguist. Presumably you married her for other reasons rather than to save on school tuition fees!

[sanook2me]

I think the OP contained an interesting question, but I'm worried about the misconceptions flying around in some of the replies.

If you want to know how Thai is learned, and you want to improve your own Thai, dump all those foreigner 'learn thai' books and go to the schoolkids section in a SE-ED or other thai bookstore and get the books they use for teaching thai to thais. (I've talked about this at length in the 'Let's get ready...its the government P6 exam' thread in the Thai language forum)

I have learnt this valuable lesson. The books are so much cheaper and now i have found books which tell stores with Thai script and the English version too. Therefore i get to read the Thai and can read the English to get the gist and learn new words.

15 baht from central the last one..full colour.... similar the the little comic books the teenagers like to read.

another one is nameebooks kiddy.....

lots of interesting stories and printed with Thai and English making it more fun than the language books...which i have done to death....

[caf]

So your allowed to struggle to explain english but she's not allowed to struggle to expalian Thai.

Of course she's allowed......my point is that she doesn't seem to be equiped with the basic theory of her own language, as most Westerners have been in school.

I don't know whether she's a lousy teacher or if there IS no Thai language theory for her to try to explain something.

She learnt english with all it's rules and theory, and thus it is easier for her to comprehend my explanations when given in theoretical terms.

...as Caf mentioned, "....We tend to learn a foreign language - at first anyway - by learning rules and seeing some sort of logic

We learn our mother tongue - at first anyway - by copying what we hear and read. As we all did as children. At that time we did not think of rules or see any logic in our language.

That is why your gf can not explain thai to you. ...." This makes sense to me.

I suppose what I was asking, is whether Thai has a structure.

I posted because I imagine that there are many people that try to learn from their spouses instead of formally....and are they running into the same frustrations.

Looking at the language forums, the experts there discuss Thai amongst themselves in terms of "transitive verbs", or "past imperfect".....but they are using Westerm "science".

There's alot of good answers here and I have gained an insight...thanks.

Softwater has made some valid points - though he has spoilt his post by being so pompous.

Rather than look for rules or logic ( and there are some in Thai) make lists of phrases with your wife and enjoy learning together.

From what you say she may enjoy understanding, say, the difference between:

I shall drown and no-one will save me .......... and

I will drown and no-one shall save me

She can probably think of a few similar examples in Thai. The point I'm making is that she can teach you without talking grammar all the time. It's more fun that way anyway.

I made a skit of the expressions in italics above which went down well with Thais - and I used no grammar or attempts at creating any sort of rulem or logic.

[TAWP]

Buy one and enlist her help in oral drills.

Oh, I think he already does that, if you know what I mean. *nudge-nudge*

[Tod Daniels]

Realize most thais who learn english in grade school and even the ones who subsequently go on to further studies have a far better knowledge in the "rules" of the english language than most english language native speakers.

This "learn the rules first" approach adds to thais reticence in initially starting to speak english. They run thru all the possible rules for something they want to say to make sure they are not 'breaking a rule'.

After attending thai language classes in several grade schools in Bangkok and up country; I can say without a doubt thais learn by rote; repeat, drill, repeat, drill, etc. There is NO question answer period in either their english classes or their thai language classes. It is copy the information off the black-board, repeat after me, and that's about it. Given the students already speak thai the emphasis in the thai language class is of course more on reading, writing, proper sentence structure and clear pronunciation. The only draw back with how thais teach thai and english is; it is neither a conducive environment for questions nor is it one that promotes any degree of critical thinking.

I am not saying this is a bad way to learn; as I bought all the books from thai grade school, and if they are used in conjunction with a native speaker, even one who is NOT a teacher, it is a valid way to learn the language.

In the language school I used to attend the class was constantly interrupted by foreign students wanting to know "why" something was the way it is in thai. I finally took the teachers aside during a break and told them to ask the student this question; "Why in english do you pronounce the words home-come and tomb-comb differently?" Of course the student always answered, “That's just the way it is."; to which the teachers would reply, "That's how it is in thai too, deal with it." It was usually enough of a put off to get them to shut up so we could get back to the lesson, and if they really had an enquiring mind they could research it further on their own time.

I concur with 'softwater' (as well as the other poster’s observation about his pompous tone); Purchasing the thai language grammar books from SE-ED or the government book store is a good idea and I have many different levels of them myself.

However it is good; ONLY in conjunction with a native thai speaker (who also has the patience to get your pronunciation clear and help your reading skills develop). It is about as worthless as tits on a bull if you don't have someone to go thru the books with you. Initially a foreigner trying to learn this language would NEVER be able to make heads or tails out of even the ชั้นอนุบาล (Kindergarten/Pre-school) book, nor would you have any idea how to correctly pronounce the material.

One book I found interesting, is one called; "Everyday Thai For Beginners" by Wiworn Kesavatana Dohrs (ISBN; 978-974-9575-97-0). It is only in thai-english and there is no phonemic transcription (karaoke), so you must read thai first. With that being said; the degree of thai language structure it provides is quite good, as is the c/d with the drills.

Edited July 14, 2009 by tod-daniels

[scorecard]

From my time living here and my quite limited knowledge of Thai language, it would seem there are considerable differences between English & Thai. There are many English words where there is no direct equivalent in Thai and sometimes would take a Thai a sentence or two to explain one English word. In my amateur opinion, Thai is not a language of precision, compared to English. This, coupled with a long-standing cultural tradition (in Thailand) of not speaking directly, makes for many situations where the exact meaning or intention is not clear. Rationality? That's another issue.

Let's be fair. Two examples:

1. Many Thai engineers (who speak good English) say they would rather explain some thing which is complex and where exact details are important, in English.

2. On the other hand many Thais would say that Thai language has a lot more words for human emotions and human feelings compared to English.

[scorecard]

She learned Thai in her own (native) language and it is not easy for her to explain it in Thai. She could probably explain it to you in Thai. We learn English in much the same way.

You seem to have a very condescending attitude towards the way Thai is taught. I hope my impression about your post is incorrect.

I am far from an attitude of condescension! I am merely ignorant about the way Thai is taught, thus my question.

My question arises because if my GF has a question about English, as long as the theory is not toooooo deep, I am able to explain why we say or spell it in english in a particular way. (Lets not get into the vast illogic of English just now, for the sake of this discussion, please accept that there are a number of "rules" and logical progressions in english theory...the use of prefixes and suffixes for example follow general rule of thumb guidlines.) She grasps what I explain, because she has learnt english from a "scientific" angle.

Etymology is a good example of a sub-branch of linguistic science. When my GF asks why do we say, "oval" for the cricket ground, I can explain about the shape, and the root of the word....and all of a sudden she see's the linguist connection to ovary....and then some time later, can deduce the meaning of "ovulation" in the context of what she was reading. There is a logical progression that she can follow and reach reasonable conclusions.

On the other hand, if I ask a question of her about Thai, this intelligent woman can just say, "This is it, this is how it is, there is no reason for it, it just IS."

My OP is to try to find out if there IS a degree of logic that I can hope to fathom, or do I resign myself to learning parrot fashion?

Well here's another twist of how some Thais are 'forced' to try to learn English:

My son is at Thai university. His english is very advanced from his long-term immersion in the language and he's taken many additional professional classes in Bkk and in Singapore to try to improve his English just a little more.

He often brings his student friends home and 99% of them can't speak one word of English, most even struggle with simple numbers.

At his university all students must attend English class, my son included.

His English teacher is a 20 year old Thai girl who can't speak English. For every class she produces a handout with simple sentences on it and the students repeat the sentences over and over. Asking the teacher questions is not allowed.

The lessons are not progressive in any way, there has never been any foundations (e.g. learn all the questions words and how to use them - why, where, when etc).

Additionally, the handouts contain numerous mistakes including no punctuation marks. Examples:

- He am 18 year old

- What time yesterday will you go school

Further, end of course examinations are based solely on these handouts, so my son must make sure he remembers the incorrect sentences.

When this teacher first started my son tried to carefully, away from other students, point out the mistakes. He was told instantly that he was wrong, she was right because she has an undergraduate degree and he doesn't, and that he was very rude to question a teacher, and at the end of the course he got an F.

[SoftWater]

Thanks for the comments on my pompous tone - 'fraid you'll just have to live with it or skip my posts - it's just the way I write.

I feel for the kid who has to dumb down his English to save the face of the teacher. I've seen similar - but not as extreme - cases where I work, where the Thai ajarns refuse to accept comments from foreign staff on how to improve their material, and worse, Thai examiners marking kids work as wrong simply because the kid uses a construction the teacher doesn't know, or sometimes because the answer key is incorrect but the teacher hasn't got the ability to work it out.

Another area of concern is the national Uni entrance exams, the old A-Net/O-Net now called the GAT test. These are shockingly bad, with some questions utter nonsense. Bearing in mind that 250,000 kids are expected to take the next one this month, you'd think that someone would check with a native speaker first, right? Well, they do - the trouble is they don't listen or accept the advice they're given. That's not an assumption, its inside knowledge. What I don't know is why they don't accept the advice they're given - is it just pride or what? Any other possible explanations anyone can think of?

Edited July 14, 2009 by SoftWater

[Harcourt]

Wow...so cool....there are some wonderfully thoughtfull and insightfull replies coming in . Thanks so much Softwater, Scorecard, Tod Daniels and Caf.

There is hope for me yet in learning Thai....and of course I acknowledge that I may be a lousy student.....hard to teach an old dog new trick.

[Harcourt]

Thanks for the comments on my pompous tone - 'fraid you'll just have to live with it or skip my posts - it's just the way I write.

I feel for the kid who has to dumb down his English to save the face of the teacher. I've seen similar - but not as extreme - cases where I work, where the Thai ajarns refuse to accept comments from foreign staff on how to improve their material, and worse, Thai examiners marking kids work as wrong simply because the kid uses a construction the teacher doesn't know, or sometimes because the answer key is incorrect but the teacher hasn't got the ability to work it out.

Another area of concern is the national Uni entrance exams, the old A-Net/O-Net now called the GAT test. These are shockingly bad, with some questions utter nonsense. Bearing in mind that 250,000 kids are expected to take the next one this month, you'd think that someone would check with a native speaker first, right? Well, they do - the trouble is they don't listen or accept the advice they're given. That's not an assumption, its inside knowledge. What I don't know is why they don't accept the advice they're given - is it just pride or what? Any other possible explanations anyone can think of?

I didn't get any feeling of pomposity out of what you wrote...but never mind.

Digressing a bit to what you wrote quoted above: Firstly I think it is extremely unfortunate that some officials take saving face above accuracy in education.....and secondly, isn't that the reason, saving face?

[SoftWater]

I didn't get any feeling of pomposity out of what you wrote...but never mind.

Digressing a bit to what you wrote quoted above: Firstly I think it is extremely unfortunate that some officials take saving face above accuracy in education.....and secondly, isn't that the reason, saving face?

Thanks for the support - I had not intention of being pompous (but then does anyone ever??), but some people can read things in a different way to how they're intended. More than one person commented on it, so I just wanted to be clear any pomposity on my part was purely unintentional.

anyway, yeah, I guess you're right...pride, saving face = same thing. I just find it hard to believe even after many years of living here that people would put their pride before the accuracy of their work (especially in the case of GAT when SO many people will see it); after all, won't they lose MORE face by not accepting corrections and letting the whole world see what a gaff they've made?

I guess it's just one of those 'thailand enigmas'...

Edited July 14, 2009 by SoftWater

[villagefarang]

If you have the basics of sounds and tones then stop overanalyzing and relating things to English and logic. Learn what Thais say in given situations rather than translate your English thoughts into Thai. Practical and familiar situations provide better motivation than theory. In the end you have to think and speak as the Thais do or you will not be understood anyway. How many times have we seen a farang trying to use literal translation from English, with the end result being unintelligible? Just chill-out and have fun with it and let your GF help with your abominable pronunciation but otherwise give her a break with the theory stuff.