Choo Mike

[Ratsima]

Another tale from the mispronunciation jungle:

Yesterday I went to a minimart that I've visited at least weekly for years. I guess the owner decided it was time to find out my name, so she asked me, in Thai. As usual, I didn't understand even this simple sentence. So, I said "ไม่เข้าใจ". She responded with "What is your name?", in English. I tried to respond in Thai (ชื่อไมค์), but mangled it so badly that she now thinks my name is "Choo Mike".

Oh, well.

[krading]

coo coo ca choo

[bhoydy]

Just to add to this post, i had a terrible off day yesterday with regards to pronunciation. When i teach, i quite often have to switch between languages, but i had one class yesterday where everything seemed to come out wrong. I couldn't even get water right. In addition to that, last month i had a period of 4 or five days where my brain just switched off to the Thai language. I couldn't watch any thai tv without instantly getting a headache, communication other than the basics was a no-go, it was strange. But after that period i think my Thai improved a bit. Sometimes, i think, it's good to have a wee break from it.

[Ratsima]

Sometimes, i think, it's good to have a wee break from it.

Indeed. Which is why I made the OP.

Think about it. Write about it. Try to make light of it. Take a little break. Move on...

[Tod Daniels]

Perhaps putting a first person singular pronoun in FRONT of the two word sentence you used woulda helped her in understanding that you were referring to yourself.

Use either ผม (phohm^R) or ฉัน (chan^R) (To dispel the erroneous rumor that I happened to hear yesterday from a bunch of foreigners learning thai; YES!! Guys can and DO routinely use ฉัน when referring to themselves when talking to people they already know, WITHOUT it sounding gay in the least!!)

Also dont forget to use the ending particle for males; ครับ (khrap^H). It works as a 'trigger' for thais to know you're finished talking and it's their turn.

Something like this would be acceptable;

ผมชื่อไมค์ครับ; phohm^R cheuu^F mai^M khrap^H

FWIW: It's a tough sell getting thais to pronounce the name Mike with a hard 'k' sound on the end unless theyve got some experience with english names and words. Their language rules don't have anything like that, and that thai spelling I used is about as close as you're gonna get to it.

This has been a tough week for me too in the speaking thai department as well. Although my reading and typing are comin' along, the speaking is lagging a far distant third.

Edited July 15, 2010 by tod-daniels

[Ratsima]

I'm always tempted to leave the การันต์ off of my name when I write it.

While the pronoun and polite particle might have helped, I suspect that if I'd said cheuu^F instead of choo^M, she would have gotten the picture.

Next time I'll use a pencil and paper.