Why Do Thais Get Angry When Corrected On Their English?

[Jayroo]

In pronunciation or otherwise? I had one hotel receptionist get very upset when I helped her pronounce Iron, as I asked for one and she almost booked me on an island getaway lol, and when I went downstairs she goes, "ahh Mr, you want dolly, it's EYE-RRON Mr, not island" hahaha I was like <deleted>!

Then I politely said to her (smiling), no sorry, this one (pointing at the iron), is pronounced, EYE-EN, do not say the R", her facial expression changed and she was evidently upset by it, and just proceeded to ignore me... Anyway I'm not sure why, as they are not expected to be fluent speakers of English, I thought she/they would appreciate help in learning something new.. or is saving face that much of an issue for them?

[MrZM]

The same reason why they wouldn't correct your Thai, nobody wants to look stupid.

[NomadJoe]

Thai's have a difficult time with that one, and I don't blame them. spelled the way it is. English is such an f-ed up language.Then on top of that they have you pronouncing it EYE-EN, and the next American coming along pronouncing it EYE-yurn, which is how all the Thai's in my English class learned how to say it just last week. You: MIRA. American: MIR-er, and so on.

I didn't understand much of your post. What's the "dolly" bit about?

Edited July 7, 2012 by NomadJoe

[Beetlejuice]

The way you described your conversation with this women, sounds as if you are being patronizing.

Near where I live, there is this shop owner, and one day when I was in his shop, the guy had the same attitude with me when I was trying my very best to converse with him in my basic Thai. I actually appreciate when Thai people try to teach me Thai words and meanings, but this guy was just completely condescending and after a few minutes the urge to smack him in the face was becoming overwhelming.

I always make allowances for Thai people that speak extremely basic or bad English and hope for vice versa when I converse in my basic Thai.

Why not try and converse in Thai instead? After all, we are in Thailand.

[cdnmatt]

Were you by chance a dick when you corrected her? That would probably be why.

When I correct people, they don't seem to have a problem, although I only correct them if I know them. I actually wish people would correct me Thai more, because I know I'm pronouncing loads of shit wrong, but they're too polite (and simply don't care) to do that.

[smokie36]

Apparently my command of the Thai language is deserving of mirth I found out today.

No encouragement was offered...so I will become more pernickity in my judgement of English grammar.

What's good for the goose....

[MidoriApple]

You corrected her in front of her people?

Might be shes only few among them who capable in English spoken at that time?

Think you might made her "losing face"

Dunno, but i don't mind being corrected, I prefer actually.

Btw, the word "Island", Thai people many say "ICE-LANDD",

and I say "EYE-LANN" (too) <---- will correct, I promise

Edited July 7, 2012 by MidoriApple

[daoyai]

I am often "corrected"on Thai pronunciation.... the Thai way, statement is repeated back to me the correct way, up to me to catch the nuance.

Try that style with English, also to verify the meaning.

[JUDAS]

I have never had an issue correcting Thai friends with their English pronunciation though not sure I would do it with a relative stranger. Anyway, my Thai friends spend more time correcting my poor Thai but I always have the last laugh with getting them to say "squirrel"

[krobert6]

Never had a problem corresting my wife or others English - I volunteer tutor English to emigrants in Australia and they appreciate you correcting them - asking me to repeat several times till they get it right.

Funnything is that I have a heavy Glasgwegian accent

[meand]

My favorite answer to a correction, a glaringly obvious correction, is "oh, well we say XXXXX" and just continue to say it like that. Interestingly, if they are talking to a Thai in English, I guess that may be ok.... but that is assuredly never the case. If they are speaking to a foreigner, not ok.... but ok for them i guess is the point.

Edited July 8, 2012 by meand

[meand]

"Never had a problem corresting my wife or others......."

That really made me laugh, laughing with you I hope. Corresting sounds a lot more fun anyway

Edited July 8, 2012 by meand

[colinneil]

My wife and i laugh many times about my wifes pronuciation of some english words !! she speaks about the loof the load the lobbers, 1 time i corrected her she turned and said my english is better than your thai why you laugh at me. (that put me in my place) now we try to help each other, but i would never try to correct another thai persons english

[Dararasmi]

Perhaps it was your delivery? I've never had such an experience. When I correct someone's English, they invariably say "thank you". And more often than not, they write down/make note of the correction.

[flying]

no sorry, this one (pointing at the iron), is pronounced, EYE-EN, do not say the R",

Actually if she said i-urn she is closer than you .............

Edited July 8, 2012 by flying

[TheWalkingMan]

Once tried to correct an ex's pronunciation. She got ticked off. So yeah, there are some people who are overly sensitive about their skills.

[Kilgore Trout]

The same reason why they wouldn't correct your Thai, nobody wants to look stupid.

No, they don't correct you; they just say things like "falang pood Thai mai chart" or "sieng meun dek leu khon mai mee samong," and have a good laugh with their friends at the silly "falang" trying to speak Thai. They can be very condescending.

But when they speak English, even when they have absolutely no knowledge of the language whatsoever, they expect you to understand them, and I have even seen people get upset over a look of confusion, much less an attempt to help or correct them. some (not everyone) seem to be angry at you for just not understanding them.

Ridiculous double standard; I had one person tell me once that Thais can learn English because it is an international language, but Thai is for Thai people only. and westerners should not attempt to speak it.

[Kilgore Trout]

Apparently my command of the Thai language is deserving of mirth I found out today.

No encouragement was offered...so I will become more pernickity in my judgement of English grammar.

What's good for the goose....

Do you even know what those words mean or how to spell them?

mirth/mərTH/

Noun: Amusement, esp. as expressed in laughter: "his six-foot frame shook with mirth".

per·snick·et·y/pərˈsnikətē/

Adjective:

• Placing too much emphasis on trivial or minor details; fussy.
  
• Requiring a particularly precise or careful approach.
  

[garrya]

So how many Thais is the Op talking about? 1 receptionist = Thais???

I bet she didn't ask you to be her teacher so don't try to humiliate her. I don't think this smart-arsing was necessary in the OP'situation.

[kerryk]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDFogjXdIVc&feature=related

I taught this lady English.

[hookedondhamma]

When I correct people, they don't seem to have a problem, although I only correct them if I know them. I actually wish people would correct me Thai more, because I know I'm pronouncing loads of shit wrong, but they're too polite (and simply don't care) to do that.

Exactly. Though I only help if I am asked. It would be wonderful if I could find a thai who would correct me when I murdered a word. Only have met a few, until recently.

Once I was speaking with a fellow for months, and when I would ask if he understood, he would always nod 'yes' in reply, or say he did. A few months later we went to a meeting, where a lady was fluent in English, amongst other languages, but as usual, asked the guy if I could speak thai instead of me directly. He said, 'well, he tries, but I just don't understand him.'

No surprise, now I'm with a group of people who go out of their way to correct me, as they realize that speaking proper Thai in Thailand is something very important.

[hookedondhamma]

Wait a minute - she pronounced the 'R' properly (not an 'L')? I think that's more worthy of praise than anything else. It shows wherever, or however she learned, she learned correctly. If I were you I'd observe if she could nail the 'Z', 'V', or 'X' sounds. If so, propose to her immediately.

[Berkshire]

So how many Thais is the Op talking about? 1 receptionist = Thais???

I bet she didn't ask you to be her teacher so don't try to humiliate her. I don't think this smart-arsing was necessary in the OP'situation.

Agree. One experience with one Thai person suddenly becomes all Thais. &lt;deleted&gt;? Anyways, I've never had any Thais have a problem with me correcting their English. Never.

[luckyluke]

Why Do Thais Get Angry When Corrected On Their English?

A lot of Englishmen don't speak English correctly as well and get angry when you tell them.

[cdnmatt]

Ohhh, I do know one thing that gets them a little pissy though (in a fun way). When you correct the English loanwords Thai has incorporated. For example:

vaccine = waaksin

Jew = Yuu

shopping = chopbing

virus = wirat

They're saying them correctly according to how they're written in Thai, but still, if you're going to steal words from the English language, use them properly.

Edited July 8, 2012 by cdnmatt

[h90]

Reminds when American uses German and Dutch words and insists to speak it like English words.......

[Kilgore Trout]

Reminds when American uses German and Dutch words and insists to speak it like English words.......

Could you be more specific? Is it just Americans or all English speakers??

Edited July 8, 2012 by Kilgore Trout

[NomadJoe]

The same reason why they wouldn't correct your Thai, nobody wants to look stupid.

No, they don't correct you; they just say things like "falang pood Thai mai chart" or "sieng meun dek leu khon mai mee samong," and have a good laugh with their friends at the silly "falang" trying to speak Thai. They can be very condescending.

But when they speak English, even when they have absolutely no knowledge of the language whatsoever, they expect you to understand them, and I have even seen people get upset over a look of confusion, much less an attempt to help or correct them. some (not everyone) seem to be angry at you for just not understanding them.

Ridiculous double standard; I had one person tell me once that Thais can learn English because it is an international language, but Thai is for Thai people only. and westerners should not attempt to speak it.

I find the opposite to be true. I was at the The Expo in Phuket town the other day and had a conversation with a young girl at one of the stalls. "May I have a Lipton Ice Tea?...How much is it? 20 baht?....Yes,can... I don't want a straw, thank you." all in Thai. The girl turned to her mother smiling, "Farang phood Thai geng mak." I was very pleased with myself, but glad she didn't start asking questions as I usually am immediately lost.

Edited July 8, 2012 by NomadJoe

[canuckamuck]

Let me get this straight, you she said eye-ron and you said eye-en.

Which one of you is Thai?

Personally I pronounce the word as it is spelled, I have never been corrected.

[DowntownAl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDFogjXdIVc&feature=related

I taught this lady English.

I try to speak Thai as much as my limited abilities will allow. I personally have no problem with being corrected and so far, have not found a Thai offended when I have corrected what I see is a grievous mispronunciation as in the video added by kerryk. I spent 10 minutes one day helping two ladies pronounce sorry with 'r' instead of 'L' we actually had a hoot doing it. It's all a matter of attitude and quite often timing. BTW - a classic mispronunciation that has always stuck in my craw from a native English speaker is 'nucular' Yes, I will correct that speaker. And another yes, they are always offended - tough.