Has Your English Vocabulary Shrank Over The Years?

[handydog]

My son visited last year and after 3 days he told me that if I don't stop speaking pidgin English to him then he'd give me a thick ear. He told me that he even noticed that when I was talking to my friends that we were all using pidgin to varying degrees and it was driving him nuts.

I think we tend to tone down our use of complex words for the sake of our Thai wives or girlfriends when in mixed company and I've got into a bad habit of applying Thai syntax when using English. i.e I'll say "he go seven already, come back 15 minutes" rather than "he's just gone to the 7/11 but will be back in 15 minutes". And I'll say this to a native English speaker as well as a Thai. It's a bad habit I'll have to work on.

However we also play a game where we'll have a conversation using the most complex and convoluted words and varying levels of slang we can think of and it drives even good English speaking Thais crazy. They know we're speaking English but even if we're talking about normal everyday matters (as in the weather, or food, or whatever), they don't have a clue. And occasionally somebody will use a word that nobody else knows or disputes the correct meaning, and then it turns into a TV kind of discussion about the correct usage.....if you get my drift.

I am assuming from your handle that you come from NZ. It has amused me for a while now that my wifes kiwi english has expanded to include common Moari words in normal conversation like; puku, kai, whanau, On spending a couple of years in Thailand on returning to NZ I found I had dropped a lot of the more obscure / definitive words that wouls normally be used in conversation and found myself using Tinglish to friends here.

[bangkokburning]

Yes. I used to have such a fantastic vocabulary.

Part of it went with myself dumbing it down for coworkers and especially my bosses.

Rest of it went with 20 years in Asia.

I definately have had brain farts while back in states.

Not like you are gojng to.have an intelligent conversation with 95% of the farang here in Thailand.

I should read more proper Literature. So many political snd economic blogs.

[uptheos]

Has Your English Vocabulary Shrank Over The Years?

Nope.

Ditto, not sure why it would?

[Gsxrnz]

My son visited last year and after 3 days he told me that if I don't stop speaking pidgin English to him then he'd give me a thick ear. He told me that he even noticed that when I was talking to my friends that we were all using pidgin to varying degrees and it was driving him nuts.

I think we tend to tone down our use of complex words for the sake of our Thai wives or girlfriends when in mixed company and I've got into a bad habit of applying Thai syntax when using English. i.e I'll say "he go seven already, come back 15 minutes" rather than "he's just gone to the 7/11 but will be back in 15 minutes". And I'll say this to a native English speaker as well as a Thai. It's a bad habit I'll have to work on.

However we also play a game where we'll have a conversation using the most complex and convoluted words and varying levels of slang we can think of and it drives even good English speaking Thais crazy. They know we're speaking English but even if we're talking about normal everyday matters (as in the weather, or food, or whatever), they don't have a clue. And occasionally somebody will use a word that nobody else knows or disputes the correct meaning, and then it turns into a TV kind of discussion about the correct usage.....if you get my drift.

I am assuming from your handle that you come from NZ. It has amused me for a while now that my wifes kiwi english has expanded to include common Moari words in normal conversation like; puku, kai, whanau, On spending a couple of years in Thailand on returning to NZ I found I had dropped a lot of the more obscure / definitive words that wouls normally be used in conversation and found myself using Tinglish to friends here.

Yep I'm a Kiwi. Pleased that you've had similar experiences with the language and of course, we Kiwis are known the world over for speaking the most accurate form of English that there is.

We have a 3 year old that speaks great Thai and is improving her English every day. Downside is that she speaks Thai and English with a Kiwi accent. Apparently it's my fault because as she was learning to speak I would use too much Thai to help her and I've confused her. I can understand her Thai perfectly and to my ear it sounds no different to my wife's Thai. To a Thai however, she has an accent.

When I go home I have the same problem as you with speaking too much Tinglish, or even worse when daydreaming I'll ask for a pack of cigarettes in Thai at the dairy, or accidentally bang in to somebody at a shopping centre and blurt out an apology in Thai. Asked where the toilet was at a Thai restaurant (Christchurch) and got a blank look from the Thai waitress - 2nd generation Kiwi apparently and not a word of Thai.

My wife can say 'G'day mayt, aowzit gaan?" like a native.

[Dancealot]

Has Your English Vocabulary Shrank Over The Years?

Nope.

Ditto, not sure why it would?

Give me a break, you know what he means. Mr. Uptheos

As a non native english, mine has expanded on the philosophy side, mainly through TV.

I am not afraid to speak out my vocatbulary needs polishing.

[Tonawatchee]

My English vocabulary is intact but it takes me longer to think of the correct word to say sometimes. After reading the replies to posts on Thaivisa, I want to thank the Brits for giving this Yank a good view into your lingo. I love the replies and they leave me laughing in good humor.

[villagefarang]

I have been here long enough to have gone through different phases. There were years when little or no English was spoken by me. Later my brother commented that I had developed an accent. I guess I was clipping my syllables instead of slurring them.

After moving from Bangkok to Chiang Rai 6 years ago, I started writing a blog and rediscovered my native tongue. With my wife speaking such good English now, my Thai is beginning to suffer. Baby talk or pidgin English has never been an option, not even in Hawaii when it was the norm at school.

VillageFarang, you do write one of the best-composed blogs that I subscribe to. It's a joy to read your well thought-out paragraphs. Really, I appreciate your style.

That said, one of the best ways to keep our English alive is to read good books (or blogs). Time spent speaking improper (caveman or Tarzan) English does nobody any good. If you think about it, it's got to be extremely insulting to Thai girlfriends or wives. I really cannot understand why--even after they've been here for many years--expat men continue to use such non-standard English.

Now, about the location of language in the brain, however, one language does not squeeze out another. The fact is that your first language (L1) is stored in one place, and subsequent languages (L2, L3, etc.) are stored in a completely different area of the brain, This is actually a good thing should we be so unfortunate to suffer a stroke and lose our first language. It's very possible that the region of the brain containing L2, L3, etc. will be undamaged, and we can communicate using a language other than L1. With that in mind, we might think again about the importance of being able to communicate in a language other than English...like Thai, for example.

Thanks for your kind words. It is always nice when someone likes my work.

[LingLek]

Me angrit ees as goot all farang. Even dey heah shot tahm long tahm. sent from my mobile

I was trying to decipher this -- as one has to with so many other posts -- when I realized it was an attempt at humor.

[khaowong1]

No, but I often find myself speaking Thaiglish just to get the message across.

me too, sometimes even when I'm talking to my mother or sister.. jeez.

[khaowong1]

@Pacificperson: I think the point you have raised is a very good point and a very serious one at that !

It baffles me to see that many people write-in very silly responses and/or comments; this surely proves the general 'shallowness" which is obviously prevalent within a large group of TV readers/posters.

Personally; I love the English language since it enables one to express oneself utterly accurately. Combine that with the fact that "connotation is everything", speaking/reading between the lines is as important as being grammatically correct.

I have lived/worked in Thailand for a little over 21 years and I too find myself searching for the right word, at times.

The only things that will "keep-up" a language is: (1) Reading Books and (2) Keeping-up the practice with reasonably educated people who speak the language correctly.

Languages do evolve (read: change) over time, and I recently had the pleasure of re-reading a piece by Sir Winston Churchill, which was written over 100 years ago and the language really blew me away . . . . not only that; I had to look-up half a dozen words: a thoroughly enjoyable experience !

Have a read of this and enjoy the English:

Subject: WINSTON CHURCHILL ON ISLAM

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its

votaries!

Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as

hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.

The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly

systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of

property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.

A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of

its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman

must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or

a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam

has ceased to be a great power among men.

Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities - but the influence of the religion paralyses the social

development of those who follow it.

No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.

Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.

It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is

sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the

civilisation of ancient Rome."

-Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II,

pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899).

Wow.. Sir Winston was spot on, wasn't he. He was such a great orator. I love listening to his voice. thank you for reminding us about him.

[balloon chaser]

yes

no

gin kow

chang

boom boom

Pretty much gets me through the day here.

[Eesat]

Actually I think that my English language vocabulary has increased since I started using Thaivisa.com. I have to regularly use the dictionary to find the meaning of some of those 5 syllable words that the Brits like to use!

Try antidisestablishmentarianism,that's 12!

[bangarang]

Lol... I have been thinking about the same thing... I have been here for 2 years now and started to notice my vocabulary shrinking as well. Even to my farang friends english is a second language so it definitely doesnt help me at all. My favorite adopted word is definitely "same-same"

[Thaddeus]

Actually I think that my English language vocabulary has increased since I started using Thaivisa.com. I have to regularly use the dictionary to find the meaning of some of those 5 syllable words that the Brits like to use!

Try antidisestablishmentarianism,that's 12!

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

With the aid of google, this is too easy...... but I can say and spell that really long place name in north Wales, I learned it when I was a kid at school just to annoy people.

[Pacificperson]

I know that many of the technical tools that I acquired in Graduate school are long gone and so be it. They were not needed in my current
situation, and as required, new skills have been learned to replace them. My original concern was that I was somewhat surprised that my spoken English
vocabulary had atrophied. Over the years, I have deliberately limited my spoken vocabulary order to more effectively communicate in English with people whose
first language is not English. The interesting thing is that I have not noticed the same thing happening with my reading vocabulary.

[tlcwaterfall]

Actually I think that my English language vocabulary has increased since I started using Thaivisa.com. I have to regularly use the dictionary to find the meaning of some of those 5 syllable words that the Brits like to use!

Most of my British friends use mainly four letter words!

[corkythecat]

At 76 I find that I remember too much. (London Blitz particularly), and am a walking thesaurus, (maybe listening to at least 3 books a week helps) but my speech is terrible, e.g. "no hab dis one" and worse.

[Naam]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/637039-hand-rolling-baccy-in-thailand/#entry6366991

[lvdkeyes]

The past participle of the infinitive verb 'to shrink' in English is 'shrunk' so, in a present perfect question it should read: "Has your English vocabulary shrunk over the years". Of course, if you're American, they don't seem to bother too much with past participles which is a minefield for English students. A recent American English teacher wrote on his application to become a teacher - "we don't learn verb tenses in America"! Heaven help his students... :-(

This teacher is an idiot. Of course, they teach verb tenses in America. Obviously, he didn't learn them.

Edited May 4, 2013 by lvdkeyes

[Raybo]

I watch some of the British detective shows and it seems like I am learning a new language with words such as the following.

Nicked,tod, gagged,Knackered,scapgrace,tosh,swally,bungs,schtum,bollocking,bairn,swot.

I assume most of these are slang!

Most Americans are aware of words such as , The boot,nappies,lift, flat ,tele,windscreen, .

My Thai wife of 44 years ,has been in the USA with me for 42 years and even though she has her brother living close,

She finds that she has forgotten lots of Thai words. We keep a Thai/english dictionary handy and look up many words.

Being an Electrician, I learned many technical words while in Thailand, mor-pang,si-fai, keung-fai,

But I still do ok with Thai ,since I talk Thai with the wife and her brother and family in Thai quite a bit.

Probably reading would keep the vocabulary up to snuff.

Chulai 6768

[LawrenceN]

I forget words mostly things like food items. the other day for the life of me I could not remember the word "tamarin" but knew the Thai word for it.

It seems that more and more some things are just easier to express in Thai than in Engish, especially the ludicrous.

I think you mean "tamarind." A tamarin is a type of monkey found in Souith America. So yeah, you did forget that one.

[Phronesis]

eschew obfuscation

Edited May 6, 2013 by Phronesis

[Phronesis]

Maybe a refresher course will help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZC7djccL7M

[Thakkar]

Ever since I moved to Thailand, I've wanted to use the extra time I have to improve my vocabulary, but I keep putting the task off. There's a word for that. I should look it up. I'll to it tomorrow.

T

[Theoutsider]

Cap, aye.

[PoodMaiDai]

My English has gone to hell. I have to second guess everything I say these days.

[stickylies]

no it has not. english is my 2nd language, learned it in school and have been speaking/writing it ever since on daily basis. same goes for the 4 *other* languages that i speak...

and if i hear "him go short-time" 1 more time spoken by farang i 'll probably hang myself........................

[transam]

For sure mine has, BUT, it wasn't that great as a kid. For sure age does have an affect for me. I sometimes sit back and think, W T fuggs your problem Trans, I sit back again and just accept "my" aging process............But I am OK with that...............