Written Thai English

[karTER]

I'm not referring to the translations we see around us on menus, banners or forms of advertising/marketing but what the accepted policy is when it comes to writing English correctly. I'm sure there are no hard and fast rules "on the street" or for informal kinds of prose, but what about serious writing- does Thailand follow British English or American English when it comes to spelling and grammar.

We're all aware of the discrepancies between the two styles but is this a factor here? Please note that I am also not referring to bad English in either format- wrong is just plain wrong.

In spelling we have for example, colour/color; grey/gray, aluminium/aluminum to name but a few, and in grammar we have tenses dived/dove; sneaked/snuck; got/gotten; etcetera...

Anyone know what the etiquette in Thailand is for formal writing in English?

[gotglue]

You're having a laugh, surely.

[bkkjames]

I may be going out on a limb here but I would guess that at American International Schools they don't teach British English?

[Spiny]

Over the past several decades (38 years working in SE Asia), I have noted the tendancy in Thailand and other SE Asian countries (apart from the subcontinent) to move away from "British" English to American English and associated changes to the accent of the non-native English speakers

[happylarry]

My wife has completed a course for teaching English, through a Thai university and all the text books were written using "American " English.

I was creased up laughing at some of the things they had written but anyway the point is that if the Thai's are taught to spell the words incorrectly to start with then that is how they will carry on through life.

HL

[PattayaParent]

I may be going out on a limb here but I would guess that at American International Schools they don't teach British English?

Unfortunately they don't teach British English at the British Curriculum Schools either, the kids come home speaking American.

[bkkjames]

I may be going out on a limb here but I would guess that at American International Schools they don't teach British English?

Unfortunately they don't teach British English at the British Curriculum Schools either, the kids come home speaking American.

Maybe some more time in front of the BBC will help.

[karTER]

I'm fully aware it's all "Americanised" but I am more interested in what is correct at the highest level. Government policy, law or written communication with foreign dignitaries or in diplomatic circles, when communicating in written, formal English.

I'm not sure there is proper protocol for this, probably wherever the person learnt their English but I am curious.

[karTER]

My wife has completed a course for teaching English, through a Thai university and all the text books were written using "American " English.

I was creased up laughing at some of the things they had written but anyway the point is that if the Thai's are taught to spell the words incorrectly to start with then that is how they will carry on through life.

HL

But isn't this happening in England too?

[NBD]

They learned British English in my classes. American English in my American colleagues class. At a government school.

Believe it or not, there was no official policy either way as far as I know.

Fortunately the numbers 1-10 and days of the week kept most classes busy enough, without getting onto how you spell centre/center.

[bkkjames]

<snip>

I have been accused of such a crime.

Edited by: Toptuan

Reason for Edit: deleted offensive term previously deleted by mod in its original post

[tom21]

the number of filipino teachers here the kids will be learning english with a philippine accent

[GuestHouse]

Part of my job is to review, comment and approve specifications, standards and reports written in English by Thais - All use British English.

They've all been working with Brits, many have studdied at universities in the UK and/or trained at our UK head office.

Oh and they have the spell checker on their PC set at UK English.

[Loz]

Guest house, you occupy a priviliged position indeed.

[mahtin]

Oh and they have the spell checker on their PC set at UK English.

Wot abaht yores?

[mahtin]

On a more serious note, the current incumbent having attended Eton and Oxford, one imagines that BE is the flavor of the month. oops.

[321niti123]

I may be going out on a limb here but I would guess that at American International Schools they don't teach British English?

Not sure if this is true for all international schools in bangkok, but most international schools have both english and american teachers, most of them teach both and are fine with either, with the exception of a few though (one of my teacher is an Australian and he despises american english, he always says "ITS al-lu-mi-nium NOT Aluminum"

not sure what thai schools teach though.

[NaiGreg]

Not sure if this is true for all international schools in bangkok, but most international schools have both english and american teachers, most of them teach both and are fine with either, with the exception of a few though (one of my teacher is an Australian and he despises american english, he always says "ITS al-lu-mi-nium NOT Aluminum"

not sure what thai schools teach though.

I have noticed that most English-Thai dictionaries written by Thais for Thais use American spellings except for a few "entrenched" British spellings.

aluminium, draught and yoghurt come to mind. But always see color, labor, tire, etc.

[klikster]

Unfortunately they don't teach British English at the British Curriculum Schools either, the kids come home speaking American.

Would that be Lakota? Or Spanish or Cajun or .. ?

[elkangorito]

I'm not referring to the translations we see around us on menus, banners or forms of advertising/marketing but what the accepted policy is when it comes to writing English correctly. I'm sure there are no hard and fast rules "on the street" or for informal kinds of prose, but what about serious writing- does Thailand follow British English or American English when it comes to spelling and grammar.

I don't think that Thailand follows one or the other.

I do, however, think that one or the other should be consistently used in formal situations. In other words, not mixing them in the one article.

I prefer British English.

Edited June 5, 2010 by elkangorito

[sirchai]

the number of filipino teachers here the kids will be learning english with a philippine accent

The accent isn't the problem, but sometimes a man becomes suddenly a woman.

Example: My father is gay, she is a dentist.

[Fookhaht]

Part of my job is to review, comment and approve specifications, standards and reports written in English by Thais - All use British English.

They've all been working with Brits, many have studdied at universities in the UK and/or trained at our UK head office.

Oh and they have the spell checker on their PC set at UK English.

Part of my job is to review master's theses, and doctoral dissertations, the other part is to teach English vocabulary/spelling/punctuation to Thai college and university students. It's British all the way, not by policy but by precedent (have always had native teachers from the U.K., and at least 70% of Thai staff with doctorates have been trained in U.K. universities.)

When I've brought up the issue in staff meetings, I always get the response "teach both, but don't mark either as wrong on a student's written work." I go a step further and tell the students to choose either style and then stick to it.

Some of the additional British/American differences that have tripped me up in the past have been:

Word usage (American vs. British)

staff vs. staffs

math vs. maths

band-aid vs. plaster

elevator vs. lift

parts of the vehicle

clothing: sweater vs. jumper

It's interesting to see how most of the above British terms have worked their way into the Thai vocabulary (in both Thai language and English spoken by Thais), such as "plaster" and "lift," to the exclusion of their American counterparts. And yet, most Thai students prefer to learn and speak with an American accent rather than British. It gets tricky on those words ending in "r" (far, tar, mar, char, etc.), because the natural Thai tendency is to leave off the final "r" as the British do.

Punctuation

Placement of a period (oh excuse me, "full stop") at the end of a quotation.

Edited June 5, 2010 by Fookhaht

[elkangorito]

Word usage (American vs. British)

staff vs. staffs

I thought it was the other way around.

EDIT: The only people I know who say 'staffs' are non-native speakers of English.

Edited June 5, 2010 by elkangorito

[NaiGreg]

It's interesting to see how most of the above British terms have worked their way into the Thai vocabulary (in both Thai language and English spoken by Thais), such as "plaster" and "lift," to the exclusion of their American counterparts. And yet, most Thai students prefer to learn and speak with an American accent rather than British.

I would add "rubber" (pencil eraser) to that list. This gets tricky because of the American idiomatic use of the word rubber (condom.)

So when my young (Thai-American/American-Thai) children refer to an eraser as a rubber I remind them that is okay to use the term eraser. Daddy, look! I have a new rubber

Also, I must mention the word proper. In American English it means appropriate or suitable. Apparently (for some) in British English it is a euphemism for British

Cheers!

Don't be a dubber, wear a rubber!

[eyebee]

Probably the clearest example of the dichotomy between British/American English in Thai is the word "check-bin". It's made up of the American "check" and the British "bill", both meaning the same thing. And the fact that it's close to the official Thai word ("kep-taeng"), makes it a tri-lingual word. Can any other language boast such an amazing ability?

Edited June 5, 2010 by eyebee

[zydeco]

I'm fully aware it's all "Americanised" but I am more interested in what is correct at the highest level.

That would be "Americanized", wouldn't it?

[NBD]

Try getting a Thai person to say lorry? Haha

[IMA_FARANG]

Oh dear, are we into this English English versus American English topic again?

Now I was born in The U.S. and naturally grew up speaking American English and using American English spelling. In school I would have recieved a "incorrect" if I had spelled the word color as colour. I seem to remember that an American vice presidential candidate was criticised by the American press because he told a group of students that they had spelled the word Potato without an e. They had spelled it in the American English way, as in Potato rather than Potatoe as in British English.

As for the BBC, I've spent a lot of time listening to the BBC World service on shortwave when I was working in countries where English news was sparse. I once heard a commentater say that, "A goods van and an articulated lorry had collided with a caravan at a layby on the (road) in (some town)". I knew what he meant, but much of that would be gibberish to many Americans. A goods van? An articulated lorry? A caravan (exactly how many camels are there in a British English caravan, anyhow)? So please don't tell me that the British don't use slang on the BBC. And what's a layby, anyhow?

Once when I worked in Saudi Arabia where we had British radio operators I heard them criticising the Americans for using "slang" rather than proper English in their communications. The exact wording of the next sentence was,"Like wot was on that advert on the bloody telly last night." (no spelling errors, I spelled it exactly as I heard it). So please don't tell me that Brits don't use "slang", always proper English.

Anyhow, let's just say we agree to disagree. There has been about 400 years of seperation by an ocean of those Americans from British influence, and there has been a large number of immigrants from countries where English was at best a second language into the U.S. So why should anyone be surprised that American English has changed from the mother tounge? Niether is "wrong" they are both a logical adaption to the local conditions. English has always been adapting itself like that. Do the people currently living in London speak their English exactly as Chaucher did? I don't think so.

But all that is rather irrelevent to the topic anyhow. It seems to me that Thais who have Thai as their first language, and have spent enough time to learn English as their second language, shouldn't be criticised for improper spelling or grammer; especially when native speakers don't agree on certain points.

I guess that's the "bottom line" on this post.

Edited June 6, 2010 by IMA_FARANG

[karTER]

Oh dear, are we into this English English versus American English topic again?

Now I was born in The U.S. and naturally grew up speaking American English and using American English spelling. In school I would have recieved a "incorrect" if I had spelled the word color as colour. I seem to remember that an American vice presidential candidate was criticised by the American press because he told a group of students that they had spelled the word Potato without an e. They had spelled it in the American English way, as in Potato rather than Potatoe as in British English.

As for the BBC, I've spent a lot of time listening to the BBC World service on shortwave when I was working in countries where English news was sparse. I once heard a commentater say that, "A goods van and an articulated lorry had collided with a caravan at a layby on the (road) in (some town)". I knew what he meant, but much of that would be gibberish to many Americans. A goods van? An articulated lorry? A caravan (exactly how many camels are there in a British English caravan, anyhow)? So please don't tell me that the British don't use slang on the BBC. And what's a layby, anyhow?

Once when I worked in Saudi Arabia where we had British radio operators I heard them criticising the Americans for using "slang" rather than proper English in their communications. The exact wording of the next sentence was,"Like wot was on that advert on the bloody telly last night." (no spelling errors, I spelled it exactly as I heard it). So please don't tell me that Brits don't use "slang", always proper English.

Anyhow, let's just say we agree to disagree. There has been about 400 years of seperation by an ocean of those Americans from British influence, and there has been a large number of immigrants from countries where English was at best a second language into the U.S. So why should anyone be surprised that American English has changed from the mother tounge? Niether is "wrong" they are both a logical adaption to the local conditions. English has always been adapting itself like that. Do the people currently living in London speak their English exactly as Chaucher did? I don't think so.

But all that is rather irrelevent to the topic anyhow. It seems to me that Thais who have Thai as their first language, and have spent enough time to learn English as their second language, shouldn't be criticised for improper spelling or grammer; especially when native speakers don't agree on certain points.

I guess that's the "bottom line" on this post.

You're correct, most of what you've posted is irrelevant to my opening post as I had no intention of pitching "British" English against "American" English, I simply wanted to ascertain if Thailand adopted one or the other in formal writing. What's transpired is that so far, no one is sure and it seems entirely down to an individual's choice.

I'm more than puzzled though by your example of quoting the BBC radio broadcast as English "slang". It's not in the least. Simply because one has not heard of certain words does not make them slang, it merely suggests one's vocabulary may not be as wide as it could be.

And there is most certainly no criticism on my behalf for anyone writing in a second language, misspellings or not. I only have the highest regard and admiration. We all make errors in our writing; even native speakers with spell-checkers. May I ask which setting yours is on?

[mahtin]

May I ask which setting yours is on?

At least Chaucer didn't spell potato with an e