English Words That Are Difficult To Pronounce Words For Thais ?

[inapeartree]

While you are trying to improve their pronunciation (something which most don't actually want help with, they're happy to do it incorrectly) you should remind them that English words don't need any of their five tones added to them!

[puchooay]

"l" at the end of a word and "v" all the time

Thai's don't have a letter for V - the nearest is wor waen ว and they often (if not always) omit sala e ิ when it is at the end of a word eg: Suvarnabhum(e).

Absolutely not. That is the letter that represents W. This is half of the problem, unless you are German.

Thais constantly use their symbol of W for a V. The nearest is For Fun ฟ which represents the letter F but can be used as a V with a little explanation.

The sera อิ is being omitted for a reason. The words are spelt with a garan meaning that the sound should not be pronounced. The failure here is that it is spelt incorrectly.

[puchooay]

Did you try "she sells sea shells by the sea shore"?

Actually quite easy as all of the sounds are present in Thai language.

[charlieboz]

Squid; most thai's I have met (not all) seem to struggle with that. Squidge, squim, squit; all sorts of pronunciations but 90% of the time it is wrong.

[Arkady]

Really leary

[Andyfez]

One phrase Thais have great trouble with is 'don't worry - I'll pay the bill this time'.

[super22k]

My Thai girlfriend gets mixed up : Vegetable and Festival. The other mixed up words are Soap and Soup.

But the words she never seems to be able to pronounce are,"Heres your money back".

[sprq]

Eckew me, can I hell you?

[kaptainrob]

I hear some Thais speak English either not well or funny but at least they are speaking. My girlfriend has a laughing fit on my pronunciation of some Thai words. I have been known to butcher some Thai words.

Quite agree . If the Thais are having problems with" r" and " l" and sometimes "h" etc and sounding funny then it the same when we speak Thai and fail with the tones and completly change the meaning of the word. Same same but different .

Photo-phonetical evidence? >

[attento]

Not a spoken thing but has anyone noticed how many Thais who very competent English writers get tired and tried mixed up.

But aren't they just cute little angles?

some of the angles are acute ............ others are quite obtuse.

[loong]

Did you try "she sells sea shells by the sea shore"?

Actually quite easy as all of the sounds are present in Thai language.

Really??

Please give an example of where the "sh" sound is present in the Thai language

An "s" sound never appears at the end of a word in Thai, coupled with the fact that no word ends in an "L" sound, it makes it very difficult for Thais to pronounce "Shells"

[SICHONSTEVE]

"l" at the end of a word and "v" all the time

Thai's don't have a letter for V - the nearest is wor waen ว and they often (if not always) omit sala e ิ when it is at the end of a word eg: Suvarnabhum(e).

Absolutely not. That is the letter that represents W. This is half of the problem, unless you are German.

Thais constantly use their symbol of W for a V. The nearest is For Fun ฟ which represents the letter F but can be used as a V with a little explanation.

The sera อิ is being omitted for a reason. The words are spelt with a garan meaning that the sound should not be pronounced. The failure here is that it is spelt incorrectly.

Why do they call a television tee wee or a van a wan then?? I appreciate that for fun is used for a V as my name (Steve) uses this, I was refering to it being used at the beginning of a word.

Actually Suvarnabhum(e) doesn't have mai garun and it is just a quirk of the system. Mai garun is usually associated with foreign words and the letter is sometimes pronounced and sometimes not.

Edited May 28, 2013 by SICHONSTEVE

[koo]

All words with multiple consonants next to eachother. Thais always need to split thos multiconsonants with in-between vowels to be able to pronounce them at all. And skip the R's and S's whenever possible.

The most notorious example of this seems to be the Coca Cola Company's lemon-lime soft drink which is sold in green bottles. It is pronounced "sah-pah-lite" by the Thais.

[SICHONSTEVE]

Did you try "she sells sea shells by the sea shore"?

Actually quite easy as all of the sounds are present in Thai language.

Really??

Please give an example of where the "sh" sound is present in the Thai language

An "s" sound never appears at the end of a word in Thai, coupled with the fact that no word ends in an "L" sound, it makes it very difficult for Thais to pronounce "Shells,

Chor Chang (elephant) is the nearest equivalent.

[tomyumchai]

Squid; most thai's I have met (not all) seem to struggle with that. Squidge, squim, squit; all sorts of pronunciations but 90% of the time it is wrong.

i had a girlfriend do all 3 of those while wrestling with her squid, very enthralling to watch n all.....

[SICHONSTEVE]

All words with multiple consonants next to eachother. Thais always need to split thos multiconsonants with in-between vowels to be able to pronounce them at all. And skip the R's and S's whenever possible.

The most notorious example of this seems to be the Coca Cola Company's lemon-lime soft drink which is sold in green bottles. It is pronounced "sah-pah-lite" by the Thais.

Not true!!

They have consonants together without vowels in between such as gr. gl. gw and kr, pl (about 17 combinations I think).

[mks222]

It's not just Thai's that struggle with the - IMHO - illogical pronunciation in the English language. Noticed in public toilets in the US last week...

"Push to flush"

Very similar words, totally different pronunciation. Go figure

[laobali]

It was my fault; I was in the wrong.

[cabanlit]

I've a big irritation with the way they prounounce the British unit of currency - the 'pound'.

Why it comes out as 'pond' is beyond me.

It's not as if they can't say "au" sound..........

[loong]

Did you try "she sells sea shells by the sea shore"?

Actually quite easy as all of the sounds are present in Thai language.

Really??

Please give an example of where the "sh" sound is present in the Thai language

An "s" sound never appears at the end of a word in Thai, coupled with the fact that no word ends in an "L" sound, it makes it very difficult for Thais to pronounce "Shells,

Chor Chang (elephant) is the nearest equivalent.

Yes, but not the same, "Sh" does not exist in the Thai language

[bra]

The pronunciation of words with L and R are not only difficult for Thais, but also for other Asians, especially Japanese. My GF who majored in English at University in BKK has a good vocabulary and knowledge of grammar but has trouble pronouncing Ls and Rs - without being condescending I find this charming but no matter how hard she tries its almost impossible - she is an Issan speaker. When I really want to test her I ask her to say parallelogram which results in a not so loving punch!

During WW2 the Americans often used Philadelphia as a password knowing that the Japanese could never pronounce it. As they day on JAL sit back, relax and enjoy your fright.

I am going through all sorts of pain in learning Thai and my attempts often result in huge peals of laughter from my GF and her Soi friends.

[SICHONSTEVE]

I accept it's not quite the same and that is why I said it is the nearest equivalent.

[schbang]

They have some difficulty with:

'I'll do it right away'

or

'I don't sing Karioke'

or

'whisper quiet'

[skorchio]

Towel, advanced, massachusetts, inappropriate, clothes (as distinct from close), refund .....

[bangarang]

Rs and Ls are definitely a classic problem, but I find my wife always gets thrown off with the TH sound like "Thick". I usually only here the T "Tick".

[GarryUK]

Hmmm, so many people deviated from the OP.

My GF says sa-peek and sa-leep on purpose to wind me up, but she can say them properly. She can't, however, pronounce "dumpling" always saying dum-ping, even though she can say ling (monkey) perfectly well.

[rubik101]

Just for a giggle, try them with the word, peanuts. On a more serious note, asks, write, wrong, very, worry, query, serious and many more. I teach English and spend 10% or more of my time on pronunciation.

[kotsak]

I think the check bin is the most hilarious..

[scotbeve]

Clock. They have a lot of trouble with that word.

And using one!!!!

[sustento]

"l" at the end of a word and "v" all the time

Thai's don't have a letter for V - the nearest is wor waen ว and they often (if not always) omit sala e ิ when it is at the end of a word eg: Suvarnabhum(e).

That's why they find it difficult to pronounce.