Don'T Speak 'Thaiglish'

[rocketmanbkk]

Why do people think that Thai people cannot understand English but can understand Thaiglish?

For example, where you go? Rather than saying where are you going?

Don't do it, my wife, Thai, says it makes you sound like a right plonker!

Any comments?

[rocketmanbkk]

Yes, I have just noticed the typo's!

What a plonker I am!

[Tonto21]

Yes, agreed. Not about you being a plonker……maybe you are, I don't know, I trust your not. I agree about the Thaiglish, I always have a sly snigger when I hear it.

Edited May 17, 2011 by Tonto21

[maiphedmaiaroi]

Not all Thai people are great in english so its easier to speak to them that way???

[richard_smith237]

There are ways to be understood by speaking correctly and clearly... Sorry, 'speak good, people mak-mak under-sa-tand easy more'

And a step above - Those who speak Tinglish to other Westerners in Thailand...

And a step above that - Binglish (that's bar girl English BTW !)....

[welsh1]

We all have to start some where when learning a new language.

So when people are trying to learn English or Thai they will make mistakes..

so think it would be better in trying to help and correct that person when they are saying or pronouncing some thing wrong..instead of taking the piss or laughing !!!

[maiphedmaiaroi]

You have to speak different in different circumstances.

Example.

Used to turn up at school at 3pm but the gates where closed to until 3.15pm. However if you had a child at the nursey you could get in at 3pm.

The security man always asked where you going.....At first i used to say nursey....Arai....nursey....Araiiiiii.....finally i would say nusareeeeyyyy and he would get it and open the gates!

Anyway why worry how you speak when 99% of thai are to lazy to speak the correct thai language?

Edited May 17, 2011 by maiphedmaiaroi

[KeyserSoze01]

To the OP, do you really think the average Thai can understand "proper" English, with all the inflection, colloquial expressions, regional dialects, slang and accents? Being a native English speaker myself, I still can't make out but about have what a pommie says during a conversation. Perhaps you and your wife should lock yourselves in your house so you are not exposed to the real world, plonkers or not.

[PoorSucker]

Double post, sorry.

Edited May 17, 2011 by PoorSucker

[PoorSucker]

What is a plonker?

Is this word in the British English dictionary.

Don't exist in my spell checker.

Plonker is a slang term of British origin whose meaning has evolved over time.

Partridge in the third edition of his A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English in 1949 recorded the term as "low" slang for penis, "since ca. 1917".

The term remains in recent use with that meaning.

By 1966, the term had also acquired the meaning of a man who let his girlfriend sleep with his male friends.

[naboo]

I overheard a conversation between a foreigner and two Thais a couple of days ago. This foreigner was speaking English with particularly poor grammar when I overheard him telling his companions he was Australian. I listened more, definitely not an Australian accent, perhaps Eastern European, I couldn't quite work it out. The Thais he was speaking to were speaking better English than he was. Then his friend turned up and he greeted him 'G'day mate!' in the broadest Australian accent I've heard. Then the four of them were conversing, this weird guy speaking English with a strong Australian accent when addressing his friend, then switching to this bad Albanian form when speaking to the Thais. The Thais could clearly follow what he was saying when speaking to his friend. And to top it all off, he was fairly fluent in Thai.

I sounded like an absolute ******. Occasionally, when speaking to people with very low level English, its best to keep it simple, but there's no need to make an utter fool of yourself.

[smokie36]

What is a plonker?

Is this word in the British English dictionary.

Don't exist in my spell checker.

Plonker is a slang term of British origin whose meaning has evolved over time.

Partridge in the third edition of his A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English in 1949 recorded the term as "low" slang for penis, "since ca. 1917".

The term remains in recent use with that meaning.

By 1966, the term had also acquired the meaning of a man who let his girlfriend sleep with his male friends.

[Cobalt60]

Speak to make yourself understood in the circumstances you find yourself in.

Why do so many people feel the need to come on here and try to dictate what other people say or do, or how they live their lives.

Got sod all better to do possibly ?

[IanForbes]

It happens for the same reason why people pick up accents when living in a foreign country for a while. My sister is Canadian and never traveled outside Canada until her twenties, but since she has been living in London, England she has a very strong British accent. It happens to myself when I'm around a bunch of Scots or Irish. Pretty soon I'm mimicing them without hardly noticing it. Thais speaking English use the most simple words together so they can be understood... such as "We go park today" instead of "We go to the park today". Thais often repeat a word... such as "same, same". If you are around people long enough it's quite natural to copy them without even thinking about it.

[inthepink]

To the OP, do you really think the average Thai can understand "proper" English, with all the inflection, colloquial expressions, regional dialects, slang and accents? Being a native English speaker myself, I still can't make out but about have what a pommie says during a conversation. Perhaps you and your wife should lock yourselves in your house so you are not exposed to the real world, plonkers or not.

I'm a pommie and I haven't got a clue what that bit in bold is supposed to mean? Is it English?

[JAG]

To the OP, do you really think the average Thai can understand "proper" English, with all the inflection, colloquial expressions, regional dialects, slang and accents? Being a native English speaker myself, I still can't make out but about have what a pommie says during a conversation. Perhaps you and your wife should lock yourselves in your house so you are not exposed to the real world, plonkers or not.

I'm a pommie and I haven't got a clue what that bit in bold is supposed to mean? Is it English?

"Native English" I think mate!

[smokie36]

It happens for the same reason why people pick up accents when living in a foreign country for a while. My sister is Canadian and never traveled outside Canada until her twenties, but since she has been living in London, England she has a very strong British accent. It happens to myself when I'm around a bunch of Scots or Irish. Pretty soon I'm mimicing them without hardly noticing it. Thais speaking English use the most simple words together so they can be understood... such as "We go park today" instead of "We go to the park today". Thais often repeat a word... such as "same, same". If you are around people long enough it's quite natural to copy them without even thinking about it.

I think w, as native English speakers, should use correct grammar when speaking in English to foreigners. How else will they learn to speak our language correctly?

How would you feel about being taught pidgeon Thai for years and being ;laughed at for your ineptitude?

[KwaTime]

I find you have a higher chance of being understood if you speak Thaiglish, so it becomes less of a hassle. It's also natural adaptation. If I feel their English is decent or if they are trying to learn, I switch to proper English. It's a conscious effort.

[Millard]

Keep in mind that Thai language does not use past or present tense, so particuarly with less educated Thais, it's easier to use "Thaiglish". It's not the best way to go about things, but perhaps the most effcient in the short term.

I think w, as native English speakers, should use correct grammar when speaking in English to foreigners. How else will they learn to speak our language correctly?

How would you feel about being taught pidgeon Thai for years and being ;laughed at for your ineptitude?

I've heard of that happening with men who learn their Thai from bar girls. The girls speak unrefined Thai, so when the falang customer/boyfriend meets professional Thais, supposedly it's apparent where he learned the local language.

[stoneyboy]

I teach my girlfriend my native Norfolk dialect,its so much easier.

A few examples below

• ar ya reet boi? (are you okay good fellow)
• at that time of day (in those days, e.g.beer only cost tuppence a pint at that time of day)
• bred and born (used instead of "born and bred")
• co ter heck (an exclamation of amazement)
• come on ter rain (starts to rain, as in 'if that come on ter rain we shall get wet')
• cor blarst me (when expressing, shock, surprise or exasperation)
• dew yar fa' ki' a dickir, bor? (Does your old man keep a donkey, mate?)(See Dickir/Dickie in vocabulary, below)
• dew yew keep a troshin (means "carry on with the threshing" on its own but also means goodbye or "take care of yourself")
• directly ('as soon as'or 'immediately'), as in 'Directly they got their money on Friday nights, the women would get the suits out of the pawn shop'^[14])
• fare y'well (goodbye)
• finish, at the/in the (eventually, as in 'he gave it to her at the finish';^[15] or 'You might as well have went in the beginning, 'cause you had to go in the finish'.^[16])
• get on to someone (to tell someone off, as in 'They all went quiet, but they never got onto father no more'^[17])
• get wrong (told off)
• good on'yer (good for you)
• he'll square yew up (he will chastise you)
• The Fenians are coming (Phrase, typically referring to a commotion nearby. An old phrase originally referring to irish travellers, who normally caused a commotion in towns they passed through)
• he dint ortera dun it. (he ought not to have done it).
• high learned (well-educated, clever)
• hoddy-doddy (very small)
• hold yew hard ('hang on', or 'wait a moment', from the practice of holding a horse's rein hard to stop it moving forward))
• how much did you give for it? (How much did you pay for it?)
• I/we/you will hetter keep a dewun (no alternative but to keep going)
• ill a bed an wus up (very sick)
• lend us a lug (when asking someone else to listen in to a conversation for you)
• lolloping along (strolling along)
• mobbed a rum'un (made a lot of fuss)
• my heart alive! (expression of surprise, similar to 'good gracious me!', sometimes shortened to 'my heart' as in 'my heart thas dear' meaning 'good heavens, that's expensive'. When Norfolk people use the term 'good gracious', they will sometimes say 'good gracious on to me'.)
• Old Year's Nyte (New Year's Eve)
• on the huh, ?on the moo (awry, slanted, not level)
• putting on his/her parts (having a tantrum, or acting up - usually of a child)
• put you in the mind of (to remind you of, as in 'she put me in the mind of Irene', meaning 'she reminds me of Irene')
• suffun savidge (very angry)
• that crazes me! (that really annoys me)
• that'll larn yer (that'll teach you)
• tergether One particular expression is the greeting of a couple with the phrase Mornin'/Evenin' together a form that is also used in German speaking countries. (This is extensively used in Norfolk; see under grammar, above)
• titty-totty (very small)
• two penneth, six penneth etc (two penny worth)
• wus up?' (what's wrong?)
• yellow belly (person from the Fens; a Fenman)

[stoneyboy]

One of her favourite English songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LBCb6Oebvo

[roamer]

Keep in mind that Thai language does not use past or present tense, so particuarly with less educated Thais, it's easier to use "Thaiglish". It's not the best way to go about things, but perhaps the most effcient in the short term.

I think w, as native English speakers, should use correct grammar when speaking in English to foreigners. How else will they learn to speak our language correctly?

How would you feel about being taught pidgeon Thai for years and being ;laughed at for your ineptitude?

I've heard of that happening with men who learn their Thai from bar girls. The girls speak unrefined Thai, so when the falang customer/boyfriend meets professional Thais, supposedly it's apparent where he learned the local language.

I think the scenario of the farang learning his Thai from a bar girl to the extent he then holds a conversation with professional Thais is a bit of an urban myth. To learn Thai to that extent takes an effort and an awareness that you would have to improve your Thai elsewhere.

What always amazes me is the volume that Thaiglish is used. "I speak louder you understand yes".

To go back to the the bargirl scenario what always makes my wife grind her teeth (we live in the UK) is the farang that pops up in front of her and says "Sawadee KA" with a moronic grin on his face as he seeks to impress his mates. Bad enough if your on the tube or in the supermarket, mortifying if your with your bosses and colleagues at a business lunch.

[MZurf]

"Why do people think that Thai people cannot understand English but can understand Thaiglish?"

Because most can't!! (Is rocketmanbkk the second handle of Saraburioz?)

[saraburioz]

"Why do people think that Thai people cannot understand English but can understand Thaiglish?"

Because most can't!! (Is rocketmanbkk the second handle of Saraburioz?)

Certainly not.

I agree with the OP. I know a few plonkers who still talk to their wives this way. One is even a so-called English teacher.

My wife speaks better English than I - she sounds like Queen Eliz 2, so I never speak thaiglish to her.

[richard_smith237]

Keep in mind that Thai language does not use past or present tense, so particuarly with less educated Thais, it's easier to use "Thaiglish". It's not the best way to go about things, but perhaps the most effcient in the short term.

I think w, as native English speakers, should use correct grammar when speaking in English to foreigners. How else will they learn to speak our language correctly?

How would you feel about being taught pidgeon Thai for years and being ;laughed at for your ineptitude?

I've heard of that happening with men who learn their Thai from bar girls. The girls speak unrefined Thai, so when the falang customer/boyfriend meets professional Thais, supposedly it's apparent where he learned the local language.

Indeed.. There was another thread running a few months ago...'Careful where you learn your Thai'

[Kilgore Trout]

Keep in mind that Thai language does not use past or present tense, so particuarly with less educated Thais, it's easier to use "Thaiglish". It's not the best way to go about things, but perhaps the most effcient in the short term.

I think w, as native English speakers, should use correct grammar when speaking in English to foreigners. How else will they learn to speak our language correctly?

How would you feel about being taught pidgeon Thai for years and being ;laughed at for your ineptitude?

I've heard of that happening with men who learn their Thai from bar girls. The girls speak unrefined Thai, so when the falang customer/boyfriend meets professional Thais, supposedly it's apparent where he learned the local language.

I think the scenario of the farang learning his Thai from a bar girl to the extent he then holds a conversation with professional Thais is a bit of an urban myth. To learn Thai to that extent takes an effort and an awareness that you would have to improve your Thai elsewhere.

What always amazes me is the volume that Thaiglish is used. "I speak louder you understand yes".

To go back to the the bargirl scenario what always makes my wife grind her teeth (we live in the UK) is the farang that pops up in front of her and says "Sawadee KA" with a moronic grin on his face as he seeks to impress his mates. Bad enough if your on the tube or in the supermarket, mortifying if your with your bosses and colleagues at a business lunch.

So should I take the same attitude here when a Thai with bad English comes up to me and says "herrow?"

Ahh, Thais and their double standards...(not everyone of course)

[Mirth]

when in Roma, do like the Romans.

What's the point of using proper english in a bar and it would be rude to use Thaiglish with an educated Thai.

Have a few thai friends who are with Masters or Phd from overseas who not only speak and understand english, they are able to debate with the best of the best in Capitol Hill. But when they are back here, there are people especially foreigners who assume they don't understand english even after they have responded in perfect english. Some people just feel that they are superior cos they know english, same result as some thais who feel that foreigners are inferior cos they don't speak thai. Chicken and egg?

[Kwasaki]

Whow this has got the hoilty toilty on board.

My ' Trouble ' don't understand me sometimes and says ' I baa ' when I come with some of these, she likes though, e.g. me plates, up apples, pain in the bottle, going for a pony, down the frog, me minces, me barnet, dustbins, me old china, cobblers, use ya loaf, taking the mickey, a ruby murray, looks like a syrup, the dogs ringing. etc

[F1fanatic]

English speakers modulate their English to suit the recipient. As soon as it becomes obvious that the Thai speaks English well, we start speaking properly.

Most Thais (understandably) only understand a few words (and English grammar is far harder than Thai), so we speak Thenglish to be (hopefully) understood.

The funny thing is though that whilst we are 'shocked' into speaking normally when meeting an educated Thai, with our (Western) partners we sometimes forget, and speak Thenglish to them!

[rocketmanbkk]

The wife has read some of the posts and agrees with some point but she still cannot understand why. mostly men, talk to Thai's with a tupid accent and in Thaiglish.

Her thoughts remain that people who do this sound, in my word not hers, like complete an dutter plonkers!

Come on chaps, just speak normally. I bet if someone recorded how you sounded an dwhat you said when speaking Thaiglish you's agree you do sound like plonkers!

Furthermore, I hope teh wife doesn't think she can join this forum, too much cooking, cleaning an dwashing to be done on a daily basis!

Cheers