Help My Missus With Her English Speaking

[VespaSeeker]

Sorry not about learning Thai but didn't know where else to post ,

My Thai missus can speak english a little and i thought she would pick up more from me but after 1 year i think her english has actually got worse , maybe my fault for dumbing down my english when talking with her and also halve talking in Thai to her .

She can read and write quiet well after studying her master degree mostly in english so can anyone give me a few tips how could help her improve her speaking , i was thinking about getting a few books but no idea what would work or where too look in BKK to get them .

Would kids books be any good ?

[alvin80]

to improve speaking, the mouth has to start saying the words..may i suggest repeating after movies..?

because as she reads, she MIGHT NOT be getting the correct pronounciation..

listening and repeating it will be much better IMHO..

[JamieP]

It's all about exposure to the language. Try and give her as many opportunities to hear English as possible, watch TV go to the movies etc. Go out into English speaking environments if possible.

Remember speaking is about communication, so don't pick up on mistakes she makes too much, don't correct her as she's speaking as this can impair confidence.

Edited March 22, 2010 by JamieP

[eric67]

If she wants to improve her english speaking skills herself, then I agree with the above comments.

However, if she's perfectly happy with her english skills, and it's mostly you who wants her to improve, then you will have to convince her first to put in the necessary time and effort.

Motivation is key, without it she (or any student for that matter) won't improve.

Edited March 22, 2010 by eric67

[VespaSeeker]

Ok so what i done is to start making lists of words for her to learn with short example sentances containing the words , i am mainly taking these from my Thai language learning books i have from Thai school and obviously changing them to english , she knows most of the words already ,its using them in proper sentances that is the problem .

We were practacing last night and i was surprised to see how well she can read and repeat the sentances ,I think the problems seems to be she shortens everything to use less words , she comes from South Thailand and the way she speaks Thai seems to be the same , -English example --- owner shop , instead of -- the owner of the shop .

I dont agree with not correcting her , i know its get frustrating sometimes for her so i dont do it all the time , i try to do it only at certain times like say when we are out driving i will say ok , proper english until we get to our destination and we will chat and i will correct her , if i do not correct she just keeps to speak in short broken sentances .

And as for the motivation yes i have told her its her who needs to want to learn ( which she does ) So i have said i will give her the words and sentances to learn and then do simple tests on the weekends when she has more free time from work .

Anyway will see how it goes , but i would still like to get some books to help if anybody can suggest where to buy in BKK and which ones would be of use .

Cheers

[marty147]

Her biggest influence will be yourself so don't use Thai, pidgin English, idioms or slang when speaking to her.

This will maximise her exposure and whilst there is some benefit in her using books, you can't beat having a native speaker on call 24-7.

Correction must be done discretely and sparingly - don't insist on her repeating everything until she is 100% correct. Instead, begin with trying to fix any grammar problems that follow a general theme eg using present tense verbs when talking about the past (Yesterday, I go to the park) or not adding 's' to plural nouns (there are some apple on the table).

As her confidence and proficiency increases then you can start on the small, nitty-gritty errors.

However, scholars and academics have been theorising for generations on the best way to acquire a second language and there is still no agreement on the 'optimum' method so give it a go and if it doesn't work, try something else.

Good luck and give her plenty of encouragement.

[chimsa]

I remember one Thai singer (a man) telling me he learnt English (mostly) from Beatles and Elton John music. Fun and repetative.

[dmax]

they arent long picking it up whilst her in uk , usually by watching cartoons etc on the box

[Yunnie]

It seems she has a decent grasp on most things but few things need to be improved and practice practice and lots of listening. Can she write a proper English sentence? Correct order and such?

You need to stop speaking in Thai to her. That has to be the first step. When you ask her to do things or tell her something, use short simple sentences structure first, so she gets use to hearing them. Once she can understand them, move on to more complex sentence structure and use conjunctions to string 2 simple sentences together and work from there.

I personally believe sentence structure is key. It gives you a formula to work with. Especially for word order. Thai and English have the opposite word order from each other depending on the words. It may be best to point that out and start working on identifying the Subject, verbs, and adjectives of simple sentences. Then compare the same sentence in Thai.

Like the sentence : (forgive me for not typing in actual Thai.. lazy to switch keyboards. lol)

My house is big. = Subject (possessive pronoun + noun) + (linking) verb + adjective

baan khaawng chan yai = Subject (noun + possessive pronoun) + adjective

Once you start isolating sentences, you start realizing what Thai doesnt use that English does. Such as linking verbs. Those would be the things you emphasize.

Then toss in adverbs.

My house is very big. - baan khaawng chan yai maak. <- notice the word order of the adverb and adjective. This is where a lot of people (learning either language) gets confused. This is why learning the sentence structure is best learned very early for second languages. Word order would be a good start. I've seen many people here in Thailand who speak great English sometimes forget word order. I personally caught my Aajaan's English sentences on our worksheets still in Thai word order.

Because then it gives you a formula to compare it to your native language, and from there plug and use. And for her, it might click faster if she has something to compare it to.

Also you must emphasize that she can not shorten English sentences like Thai language can. Shortening English makes it difficult to understand. You can not toss out linking verbs, articles and such.

Once she starts getting the hang of the simple sentences, work on prepositions, pronouns. Then work on simple compounds using conjunctions. After she gets the hang of some of those, build on the sentences she's learned by tossing in verb tenses and adjective degrees.

Okay I'm done.. I wrote like an essay there. lol I hope this helps.

And forgive me for my grammar.

[VespaSeeker]

Hi ,

Thanks for all the tips and advice , I am already getting out of the habit of talking broken english and halve Thai to her and have stopped sounding like a robot , hopefully this will also stop my friends from UK rolling around laughthing at my voice when they come over to visit .

I am still speaking a little slower than usual for her and trying to use shorter sentances but everything now is in English , her Thai TV time has been cut too hehe ( thank god ) and changed to watching English channels .

She is already starting to speak more clearly and again i am surprised at how well she actually can speak in English when she tries for a sustained period .

I think it was also just a case of breaking old bad habits that we had gotten into when talking to each other since being togethor .

So now the only problem left to solve is , how do i improve my Thai at the same time , I am halve way threw 30 lessons at a Thai school here in BKK and she is the only person i have to practice with 95% of the time .

Looks like my side of things will have to go on the back burner for while .

Once again thanks to everybody who took time to reply .

[Makyai]

Hi ,

Thanks for all the tips and advice , I am already getting out of the habit of talking broken english and halve Thai to her and have stopped sounding like a robot , hopefully this will also stop my friends from UK rolling around laughthing at my voice when they come over to visit .

I am still speaking a little slower than usual for her and trying to use shorter sentances but everything now is in English , her Thai TV time has been cut too hehe ( thank god ) and changed to watching English channels .

She is already starting to speak more clearly and again i am surprised at how well she actually can speak in English when she tries for a sustained period .

I think it was also just a case of breaking old bad habits that we had gotten into when talking to each other since being togethor .

So now the only problem left to solve is , how do i improve my Thai at the same time , I am halve way threw 30 lessons at a Thai school here in BKK and she is the only person i have to practice with 95% of the time .

Looks like my side of things will have to go on the back burner for while .

Once again thanks to everybody who took time to reply .

Hi,

Just my thoughts and experiences for you. I teach adults English and 90% of my classes are conversations. All my students are female professionals (nurses, accountants, managers and governement officials) and like all women they like to chat. I find that when I find a topic that they are interested in, there is no stopping them.

The main hurdle I had was getting them to not be scared of making a mistake and understanding that the only way to improve is to make mistakes, get corrected and remembering the correction. I know that it also helps that I am a female teacher who speaks Thai (though not as fluent as I would like). I think what would help your wife is to have a female English speaking friend, if that is at all possible.

Makyai

[Yunnie]

You could work on both but you would have to set it up for speaking English or Thai only at these time or these days. That would mean both of you speak ONLY that chosen language for the couple hours or day.

It also give each of you a break from the other language for a little bit so your mind can rest. But its up to you. Whatever works best.