How Often Do You Correct Your Wife'S/ Gf'S English?

[StreetCowboy]

If you are English, where England has many dialects, then you can normally understand any English speaker from what ever corner of the planet they come from, except Scotland . Unfortunately if your Thai is a little out, hmmmm, big problem.

To be honest, I think there is not a great deal of dialect - more a diversity of English accents; probably more than 80% (invented statistic) of the words spoken by even the broadest scouser could be found in an English dictionary. If you could make out what word he was trying to say....

And I think that the language is converging, as well, thanks to the curse of television, which afflicts the whole country in the same way - with the same material; I wanted to invent the word 'commonally'...

I could be wrong there, of course. I have not been back to the land of my childhood, nor spoken to indigenous children, for many a year, so I do not know if they still speak the same dialect that I grew up with. But even then, probably less than 25% of our vocabulary was either Scots or local dialect. One day we'll all be talking like Billy Connolly*

SC

* meant as a cruel jibe at his bland Hollywood performances. I have no idea what he sounds like in real life...

[mstribling]

I don't pay much attention to anything she says so it makes correcting stuff difficult.

Who has to the time to worry how other people speak?

[MrsMills]

When we met she said " Hello handsome man " even though she was way off and handsome should have been hideous, who am I to correct her ?

[StreetCowboy]

When we met she said " Hello handsome man " even though she was way off and handsome should have been hideous, who am I to correct her ?

"Handsome" as in 'well-endowed with hands', sort of like an octopus (although they are more well-armed than handy, but I am sure you grasp the analogy, so to speak).

It is good to have a wholesome relationship

SC

[whybother]

Ask your Thai GF/wife to say "fluff" I guarantee she will pronounce it "flupp".

Until she can master the word fluff she cannot truly speak the Queens English .

And "problem".

[IanForbes]

I never correct ANYONE's, "Ingrish". I just know how poorly I do trying to speak Thai.

But, if some Thai gal WANTS me to help her then I will... just as I'll ask her how to pronounce certain words in Thai. Then, I'll try to write it down as it sounds. That helps me a lot. Very often I don't hear the last sylable correctly and write a "K" instead of a "G". One gal told me her name what I thought was Gik when it actually was Gig. That DID get a laugh.

[dogleg]

Ask your Thai GF/wife to say "fluff" I guarantee she will pronounce it "flupp".

Until she can master the word fluff she cannot truly speak the Queens English .

hahahahaa! Nice one.

"frupp, frupp, frupp, flupp"

Please stop coming round here teaching my missus bad Engrish.!!

[krading]

If you are English, where England has many dialects, then you can normally understand any English speaker from what ever corner of the planet they come from, except Scotland . Unfortunately if your Thai is a little out, hmmmm, big problem.

Geordies get me everytime. Only accross the border I know.

jb1

"Coom here me littul Jackie, no' uv smoked me backie

we'ull uv tha bit cracky til tha bot cooms in"

I played rugby with a couple of Geordies and could understand them because I used to watch 'When The Boat Comes In' on tele.

In the bar after the game they usually ended up punching each other out.

[MSingh]

I'm just too impatient for that kind of thing. I do make an extra effort to correct my daughter though, but there's a bit of a problem.

You see, I have a bit of a 'wossy'.

For those who don't know, a 'wossy' is a speech impediment where the speaker struggles with 'R's'. The impediment become known affectionately as a 'wossy' after the English celeb Jonathan Ross, who is afflicted with the same thing. Mine is only slight and often goes unnoticed, but it is there.

So when it comes to correcting our daughters enunciation of words things become a bit difficult. With my wife being Thai, she can't pronounce her 'R's' too well either. Trying to correct somebody's English when you can't do it yourself is quite difficult.

My daughter is bright, the Thai government is sending her to demonstration schools because her grades are very high. The poor girl is going to come a cropper when it comes to conversations about squirrels though.

[Scully]

Ask your Thai GF/wife to say "fluff" I guarantee she will pronounce it "flupp".

Until she can master the word fluff she cannot truly speak the Queens English .

And "problem".

No problem just an "observation".

[siammcfarang]

How can someone have a " Degree in English ", yet only speak it " quite well " ??

Where does this " Degree " get issued & to what standard ??

Ramhaegkang University, Bangkok, 4 year Bachelor degree, major in media studies, minor in english..

You must understand that NATIVE Thai university ( and even more so in "grades" 1 to 12) English teachers are often ( in her case this is true) not that competent in English themselves to start with, therefore they are not imparting the best standards of English on to their students. They are merely passing on the quality of their own English speaking abilities to their unsuspecting students.

yes, i "hear" what i just wrote, so, as her best friend and spouse, I should be more consistent in my correcting of her English, so forthwith i will take the advice of some posters who feel quite simply that i should correct her all the time, instead of some, or most of the time. Oy, this should be fun!

i will admit that I like the sound of the thai accent speaking english, and they also think it is amusing to hear us farang chop up the thai language when we try to say words like "snake"

Take care

[siammcfarang]

Speaking pidgin English with your partner is foolish IMO since it teaches that person the incorrect way to speak English.

Better to speak more slowly, more clearly and if necessary, use simpler words (or do what I tend to do, use a more complex word but then explain it) so that your partner's English is improved without them feeling picked on, criticized or like an idiot.

Agreed! I cringe every time I hear someone speaking pidgin English to his/her partner....especially when the person wants to learn more English! It doesn't help them if you model poor English. For the most part, an English language learner can understand "Should we go to the store?" or "Wanna go to the store?" just as well as "We go store?"

yikes, i never speak pidgin engish to her.. did i suggest that i did? if I did I truly f'd up, as that is simply not the case.. I always speak proper english to her, and ENUNCIATE slowly to help her understand.. my shortcoming is not CONSISTENTLY correcting her..

.. but i have decided to try harder to be consistent, for her sake and out of respect to posters who have taken the time to mildly chastise me for my laziness ..cheers

[zzaa09]

Mrs. zzaa09 doesn't understand English....novelty aspect, is all. So, I've nipped that in the bud.

[Kilgore Trout]

How can someone have a " Degree in English ", yet only speak it " quite well " ??

Where does this " Degree " get issued & to what standard ??

I have seen people here in Thailand with a degree in English who literally can not respond to "what is your name."

Not joking; you should get out more.

[Moonrakers]

Q) Do you speak English

A) Yes

Q) What is your name

A) Yes

[tim armstrong]

My wife used to learn peoples' names by association eg. Carol became 'carrot', Isabel became 'jingle bells', and Wendy became 'one day'. But that was a while ago. Her English is much better now, and she is not so self - conscious about mistakes. She sometimes asks me for correct useage, and I rarely correct her except when she says - have some porn, as in - have some prawns.

But I have taught her some Oz expressions which she is inclined to use at the wrong times. eg.to a friend, Hi Ian, how they hangin'! - in front of his wife. She was intrigued when I tried to explain - bugger, to her, but uses it freely now.

[SteveLynch]

as a guy who tried to learn thai but just failed so easily ........i got embarresed making mistakes i have a very very thick accent and dont have the ability or need to work around it

even english speaking friends struggle when i speak with some words .....when i say her it often sounds like whore thus some strange looks

i think its important when speaking to a thai in english use your own words wisley dont dumb down becouse thats the way you interperet things to be

i had a gf who always typed mush instead of much i tought it was cute .......she tought i was a ass for not helping her

[Thakkar]

Heard at the supermarket:

Foreigner: "Where's the milk?"

Thai staff, pointing two aisles down: "They in that soi."

[Khun Jean]

^ And was the milk there? If it was then it was a successful exchange.

I correct my wife when she slips back into what i call 'lazy english'.

I start with calling her by her name and leave out the last sound.

I get some angry looks sometimes as this can go on for a few days, but afterwards the results are that other people understand her better and she is happy with that.

[MrBrad]

How can someone have a " Degree in English ", yet only speak it " quite well " ??

Where does this " Degree " get issued & to what standard ??

"quite well" is a subjective statement, Many people have degrees in a language but may have focussed on literature etc, or not have had much opportunity since earning a degree to use the spoken language. If you pass your classes a degree is awarded even if you aren't great. Degrees are earned in a university or a college. The standard would depend on not only where the school was, but also it's accreditations and areas of specialization.

I personally know more than a few people in Thailand with a Master's degree in English Education that don't speak English well. (Yes, that is sad!) They write well and can dissect a sentence but their speaking skills are poor.

Have you ever asked to see your medical doctor's transcript? He or she may have graduated at the bottom of his class, but he is still called "Doctor."

[MrBrad]

I'm just too impatient for that kind of thing. I do make an extra effort to correct my daughter though, but there's a bit of a problem.

You see, I have a bit of a 'wossy'.

For those who don't know, a 'wossy' is a speech impediment where the speaker struggles with 'R's'. The impediment become known affectionately as a 'wossy' after the English celeb Jonathan Ross, who is afflicted with the same thing. Mine is only slight and often goes unnoticed, but it is there.

So when it comes to correcting our daughters enunciation of words things become a bit difficult. With my wife being Thai, she can't pronounce her 'R's' too well either. Trying to correct somebody's English when you can't do it yourself is quite difficult.

My daughter is bright, the Thai government is sending her to demonstration schools because her grades are very high. The poor girl is going to come a cropper when it comes to conversations about squirrels though.

The "R" is not all that difficult. There are 2 "R" pronunciations though. If the word or syllable begins with R, or if the second letter is an R, the lips should be formed in a W shape first to get the right attack on the pronunciation. So, to pronounce the word "right or rite," for example, one should take a hint from the spelling of "Wright or write".

As is often the case, "R" will fall at the end or near the end of a syllable or word. I've not found that Thais in general have trouble with the final R sound.

[Moonrakers]

I'm just too impatient for that kind of thing. I do make an extra effort to correct my daughter though, but there's a bit of a problem.

You see, I have a bit of a 'wossy'.

For those who don't know, a 'wossy' is a speech impediment where the speaker struggles with 'R's'. The impediment become known affectionately as a 'wossy' after the English celeb Jonathan Ross, who is afflicted with the same thing. Mine is only slight and often goes unnoticed, but it is there.

So when it comes to correcting our daughters enunciation of words things become a bit difficult. With my wife being Thai, she can't pronounce her 'R's' too well either. Trying to correct somebody's English when you can't do it yourself is quite difficult.

My daughter is bright, the Thai government is sending her to demonstration schools because her grades are very high. The poor girl is going to come a cropper when it comes to conversations about squirrels though.

The "R" is not all that difficult. There are 2 "R" pronunciations though. If the word or syllable begins with R, or if the second letter is an R, the lips should be formed in a W shape first to get the right attack on the pronunciation. So, to pronounce the word "right or rite," for example, one should take a hint from the spelling of "Wright or write".

As is often the case, "R" will fall at the end or near the end of a syllable or word. I've not found that Thais in general have trouble with the final R sound.

Brilliant

After 36 years of trying, my speech impediment is finally cured by some random thai-visa bod who tells me it has been easy all this time.

Fantastic

[MrBrad]

I'm just too impatient for that kind of thing. I do make an extra effort to correct my daughter though, but there's a bit of a problem.

You see, I have a bit of a 'wossy'.

For those who don't know, a 'wossy' is a speech impediment where the speaker struggles with 'R's'. The impediment become known affectionately as a 'wossy' after the English celeb Jonathan Ross, who is afflicted with the same thing. Mine is only slight and often goes unnoticed, but it is there.

So when it comes to correcting our daughters enunciation of words things become a bit difficult. With my wife being Thai, she can't pronounce her 'R's' too well either. Trying to correct somebody's English when you can't do it yourself is quite difficult.

My daughter is bright, the Thai government is sending her to demonstration schools because her grades are very high. The poor girl is going to come a cropper when it comes to conversations about squirrels though.

The "R" is not all that difficult. There are 2 "R" pronunciations though. If the word or syllable begins with R, or if the second letter is an R, the lips should be formed in a W shape first to get the right attack on the pronunciation. So, to pronounce the word "right or rite," for example, one should take a hint from the spelling of "Wright or write".

As is often the case, "R" will fall at the end or near the end of a syllable or word. I've not found that Thais in general have trouble with the final R sound.

Brilliant

After 36 years of trying, my speech impediment is finally cured by some random thai-visa bod who tells me it has been easy all this time.

Fantastic

Of course there are exceptions. I should have taken you into consideration and stated that unless one has a speech impediment, my contribution to this thread works.

[StreetCowboy]

I'm just too impatient for that kind of thing. I do make an extra effort to correct my daughter though, but there's a bit of a problem.

You see, I have a bit of a 'wossy'.

For those who don't know, a 'wossy' is a speech impediment where the speaker struggles with 'R's'. The impediment become known affectionately as a 'wossy' after the English celeb Jonathan Ross, who is afflicted with the same thing. Mine is only slight and often goes unnoticed, but it is there.

So when it comes to correcting our daughters enunciation of words things become a bit difficult. With my wife being Thai, she can't pronounce her 'R's' too well either. Trying to correct somebody's English when you can't do it yourself is quite difficult.

My daughter is bright, the Thai government is sending her to demonstration schools because her grades are very high. The poor girl is going to come a cropper when it comes to conversations about squirrels though.

The "R" is not all that difficult. There are 2 "R" pronunciations though. If the word or syllable begins with R, or if the second letter is an R, the lips should be formed in a W shape first to get the right attack on the pronunciation. So, to pronounce the word "right or rite," for example, one should take a hint from the spelling of "Wright or write".

As is often the case, "R" will fall at the end or near the end of a syllable or word. I've not found that Thais in general have trouble with the final R sound.

Brilliant

After 36 years of trying, my speech impediment is finally cured by some random thai-visa bod who tells me it has been easy all this time.

Fantastic

What a great forum. If only you had known that sooner.

Having said that, I did not find the advice too helpful,in fact, it was wubbish, wotten and widiculus. Wank, it was, wank nonsense. Pwonouncing an ah by fohming a w... dwivel. Wancid cwap.

I'll probably never be able to speak properly again now...

MistahBwad is probably English...

SC

[Moonrakers]

Welease Wodger

[StreetCowboy]

Welease Wodger

Wodgah

Wake the moon

SC

The president's right-hand man is a high-ranking official

[MrBrad]

[anterian]

My partner is totally inconsistent, some days she can hold a reasonable conversation in English, other days she can hardly string a sentence together. This second situation is mainly when she has been chatting with friends or watching a Thai soap. I guess her brain cannot move smoothly between the two languages.

When it comes to learning Thai I find that very young girls are the best teachers, their diction is much clearer, their vocabulary is simpler, and because they themselves are still learning at school (English), they can better empathise with my own learning problems.

[antsrule]

Ask your Thai GF/wife to say "fluff" I guarantee she will pronounce it "flupp".

Until she can master the word fluff she cannot truly speak the Queens English .

Here are some good words for Thai natives to perfect.

"very, ferry, pill and throttle"

Also, a Thai speaker will let their tongue tip touch the roof of their mouth in different places. Westerners may hear "L" or "R". A bit tough for Thais to separate.

[featography]

Ask your Thai GF/wife to say "fluff" I guarantee she will pronounce it "flupp".

Until she can master the word fluff she cannot truly speak the Queens English .

Here are some good words for Thai natives to perfect.

"very, ferry, pill and throttle"

Also, a Thai speaker will let their tongue tip touch the roof of their mouth in different places. Westerners may hear "L" or "R". A bit tough for Thais to separate.

Yes, I play with that daily, trying to show the wife where to touch the roof of the mouth, to get that R sound. Another thing not mentioned here, some schools do well to teach students to pronounce each syllable in words. This is good in most cases, but after 4 years of hearing "veg a ta bul" , "Deemo CRAH see". "CAH sin oh" it went from cute to lets move on in English 101. It became big news to the wife when she learned that some vowels are silent in some words, and the concept of there being an emphasis on the proper syllable in most words was never brought up in her university.

Now its a regular ritual of "Thank you Mr. Teacher". Still has a problem dropping the Mr. in that sentence, but we will work on it. I do see the day when she will speak as good Americanish as I do, and I may well miss the cuteness of her thaiglish