March 14, 201313 yr What a strange post, when I say two, they normally mistake it for 343,759,966,004,373 No no it is not a mistake at all, for when I wanted to say 343,759,966,004,373 (in Thailand of course) I've always said two and every one understood 343,759,966,004,373, of course one has to be careful, it works both way! So if I ask for two beer Chang ....it would a bit too much, I do not forget to ask for 343,759,966,004,373 beer Chang so they give me my two!
March 14, 201313 yr I'm trying to work out if there is some hidden joke or something in your post that should be funny...... never had the problem myself. Where are you from? No hidden joke unless its on their part!. Im from south England. Got an estuary accent most people think i speak clearly maybe a bit quietly. Ill try talking louder when i say TWO Did someone say something? <deleted> is an estuary accent? Essex boy. Barrow boy, diamond geezer. Usually found in Thailand as, time share touts, dodgy real estate agents, or boiler room operatives. Pikeys the lot of them, easily spotted wearing their 'ammers football shirts.
March 14, 201313 yr I'm trying to work out if there is some hidden joke or something in your post that should be funny...... never had the problem myself. Where are you from? No hidden joke unless its on their part!. Im from south England. Got an estuary accent most people think i speak clearly maybe a bit quietly. Ill try talking louder when i say TWO You have a British accent. Thais are more familiar with American English. I speak fairly well, but have difficulties understand British English when spoken. "British English"??? Its just English, the Language originates from there. Reminds me of a conversation i heard in Loas last week at breakfast. American man says to Loatian man. "Wow you speak really good English! You dont sound like the English, they have an accent" Loatian man. "What? You have an accent, they ARE English!" Bo***cks. Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap
March 15, 201313 yr I'm trying to work out if there is some hidden joke or something in your post that should be funny...... never had the problem myself. Where are you from? No hidden joke unless its on their part!. Im from south England. Got an estuary accent most people think i speak clearly maybe a bit quietly. Ill try talking louder when i say TWO I'm trying to work out if there is some hidden joke or something in your post that should be funny...... never had the problem myself. Where are you from? No hidden joke unless its on their part!. Im from south England. Got an estuary accent most people think i speak clearly maybe a bit quietly. Ill try talking louder when i say TWO Like you said maybe you speak quietly, are you a shy person? If so try speaking louder, like an American, your 2 and 3 problem should be solved then
March 15, 201313 yr A small riddle: "4U2" Figure it out. But ok......try to use gestures next time and stick up 2 or 3 fingers or 4 whenever you pronounce a number. Maybe getting difficult at numbers 10+, but Thais themselves also pronounce numbers per digit (ex. 543 = haa - see - saam instead of haa-rooi-see-siip-saam [five-hundred forty-three]) Edited March 15, 201313 yr by joepattaya1961
March 15, 201313 yr Thais themselves also pronounce numbers per digit (ex. 543 = haa - see - saam instead of haa-rooi-see-siip-saam [five-hundred forty-three])Well...sometimes. (But not for amounts so much). Not, as might be understood from your post, always.Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa ap Edited March 15, 201313 yr by SteeleJoe
March 15, 201313 yr at least they don't confuse the way you say fourteen and fifteen. your problem can still be easily surmounted using english sign language.
March 16, 201313 yr A small riddle: "4U2" Figure it out. But ok......try to use gestures next time and stick up 2 or 3 fingers or 4 whenever you pronounce a number. Maybe getting difficult at numbers 10+, but Thais themselves also pronounce numbers per digit (ex. 543 = haa - see - saam instead of haa-rooi-see-siip-saam [five-hundred forty-three]) Or, for a bit of fun, hold up three fingers and say "two."
March 16, 201313 yr A little while ago I was helping out doing a bit of teaching to the locals who wanted to learn English, I was telling them to try and write things down as they sound to you, so you can say it right. One day I told them I was sitting on my balcony the other night and I heard a GHECKO ( thats what it sounded like to me) they said no its TWO KAI. I said is that how it sounds to you? They said yes, you have a listen see what you think. The other one I found out was the sound of a cockerel waking you up, to me I had always heard it as COCK a DOODLE DO, ask a Thai what it sounds like its totally different. So there I think many things that Thais hear differently to our ears, you will only find out by accident or stumble across one, they do business differently to us as well soit does not surprise me that words get mixed up. Some people of the same country will speak differently, higher or lower tone, faster or slower and then you have the dialects and accents thrown in, which some people can get on with better than others, life is very interesting dont you think?
March 17, 201313 yr Is this as in inviting someone out, saying just two people, and finding that 'two' means that you take two people out?
March 17, 201313 yr at least they don't confuse the way you say fourteen and fifteen. your problem can still be easily surmounted using english sign language. kes2.jpg The children that I used to teach would use sign language. They showed me one finger very often!
March 17, 201313 yr I'm trying to work out if there is some hidden joke or something in your post that should be funny...... never had the problem myself. Where are you from? No hidden joke unless its on their part!. Im from south England. Got an estuary accent most people think i speak clearly maybe a bit quietly. Ill try talking louder when i say TWO Did someone say something? <deleted> is an estuary accent? Essex boy. Barrow boy, diamond geezer. Usually found in Thailand as, time share touts, dodgy real estate agents, or boiler room operatives. Pikeys the lot of them, easily spotted wearing their 'ammers football shirts. The same lot pronounces "football" (a word which, when I last looked had a "t" finishing its first syllable and a double "ll" finishing the word) as "foough-bawou" and bottle as "bought-ough". If that's not bad enough they will then attempt to involve me in a tediously interminable relativist argument as to there being no "correct" way to speak English) Well, I have a CNN accent. You know, the one that the major North America networks seek out when they recruit for national newsreaders ? That one ? And the one that is taught in most reputable elocution workshops? Non- regional ? Yes, that one. Sorry lads, but language and communication are all about commonality and engagement. I find that Introducing nascent dialect, slang and exclusionary regional quirks and quarks are unhelpful in this regard. Unless of course you're tribalizing and ritualizing with your rugby union mates "down to pub". That's all well and good, I suppose but don't expect a round of appreciative nods from a group of non-native speakers for dragging them into this stuff. Fair enough ? People learn English, especially these days, so as to be as *inclusively* communicative as possible. The so-called "American accent" or, failing that, the "mid-Atlantic accent" is the one they wish to acquire. Or, failing that, they'd like to speak clearly and plainly. They want to be understood as opposed to being lectured about " 'at's 'ow we sai igh ovr 'ear' mem, in it?" Apologies to all the regionalist a and relativists out there. Apologies to the estuarians, but I'll wager that English pronounced so that it can be understood by the greatest biggest audience is what Thais want. Would you really want to endure all the years necessary to acquire English fluency, only to meet with blank stares ? It's a personal choice, I guess.
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