Speaking Thai in Thailand is Useless

[CMBob]

My solution which does help a little is to always start off by saying "sawatdi khrap สวัสดีครับ" then waiting for them to respond back with "sawatdi khrap สวัสดีครับ" to prepare them for the ensuing interaction which will be in thai.

I've done the same thing but I concluded (right or wrong, I'm not sure) that what I'm doing there is switching their minds to listen in Thai. When I first approach a Thai (whether a songteaw driver, sales staff, or wherever), it has seemed to me that they're initially "listening" in English...expecting me to speak English. By first staying something in Thai (often I'll just start out with just "khrap"), I find that they understand my lousy Thai much better (or at least I don't have to restate whatever comment I made).

And I've found myself doing the same thing in reverse. I can't count the times a Thai starts talking to me and, for a moment or so, I'm puzzled as to what the hell he/she is saying. It's because I was expecting to hear Thai (it takes my brain a second or two to conclude: "Hell, he/she's talking in English!").

I expect my noodle will react faster/automatically when/if I become more proficient in Thai but it really hasn't happened entirely as yet. And maybe never will.

[harrry]

I totally disagree. Has helped me tremendously.

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You mean other people learning to speak Thai has helped you tremendously.

[fire69water]

Yes, speaking unintelligible Thai is useless in Thailand.

[Zlabermacht]

Useless?! what a joke! Exercise, exercise! Never think you are good already! Work on the little inflections, on using the proper pronouns and words for the circumstance you are into... work on the details, for example if you have a baritonal voice, of course you need to make the "nasal Asian accent", or at least try to speak with an higher pitch! Have you ever heard a Pavarotti in Thailand? Never get nervous when they avoid talking to you, or can't understand: if your Thai was really fluent, be sure that almost all of them would love to.
Also, you are sure you can actually read? It helps a LOT to understand the proper tones. Listen carefully and imitate, imitate and imitate: sometimes it's all about the flow of the language.
After almost one year of practicing, some expressions and phrases now come out of my mouth very well: they are invariably very happy to hear that "farang puth daai", and yet still too often I am really sorry to disillude them after a short exchange, even if they often keep saying "keng maak loey!"

Keep it up farangs! Never give up, never think you have done!

P.S. have you ever tried speaking English in England as a non native speaker? I don't think so...

Edited November 2, 2014 by Zlabermacht

[metisdead]

An inflammatory post has been removed.

[Zlabermacht]

AnotherOneAmerican, on 01 Nov 2014 - 18:38, said:

Baa_Mango, on 01 Nov 2014 - 18:23, said:

Also - yes when English speakers hear people slaughtering English, it is often easy for us to understand of decipher what the point or meaning is.

With Thai, and I may I venture, other tonal or Asian (?) languages, no matter the context, can often leave people clue less. I thing it is pointless to pin this on one race or kind of people, because I am sure if I was in Iran at 7-11 jabbering and "Farsi" and waving my hands around, it would still be stretch for the staff to realize I just want a bottle of vodka, rum, or phone credit.

I think people may need to exercise cultural empathy for once and try to understand where others may be coming from.

Pointing at the bottle of vodka on the shelf behind the checkout could be helpful.

In a 7/11 in Iran? I really don't think so. LOL

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

I didn't know Thais had an accent.I speak according to the consonants and vowels (long, short) using tones; mids,highs,lows,falling,rising,open endings, closed endings,risings etc.

You mean we should speak with the nasal Asian sounds as well? 555555555

of course Thais have an accent, all nationalities have an accent, for example you know if someone German is speaking English unless they put on an English accent to hide it, same for all languages, this is just one example but can be applied to all.....

[SlyAnimal]

One very important thing is to listen to how Thai people speak.

When you learn a word, try to listen for Thai people saying that work in conversation and then kinda repeat it in your head exactly how they said it. It'll improve your pronunciation and you'll start using the correct tone for it without even realizing. From what I gather, I do this with a lot of vocab, where I don't actually know the tone but hit it correctly because I am saying words how I've heard Thai people say them.

Likewise listen to how Thai people speak, you might be taught to say something one way, and if reading a newspaper that's probably how they'll say it, but people might actually phrase things differently when speaking.

E.g. How Thai people ask for "Leo 2 bottles" or "Leo bottle 1". Or how they ask for a "big bottle" rather than a "long bottle" or "longneck" as you might say in your home country.

If you speak with an unexpected sentence structure (even if it's technically correct), with incorrect tones and non fluent pronunciation, people are less likely to understand what you're saying.

Although if you get 2 of the 3 correct they'll usually understand. Although as another poster mentioned, sometimes they need it repeated while they switch their brain over from English mode back to Thai mode.

[GreeneryGuy]

After reading a number of these posts about directions and everyone being at a loss as to why the locals seem to be in a different dimension in this regard, what I found is that our western orientation is not taught in Thailand and perhaps much of Asia.

 

My wife is well educated, with a Chulalongkorn MBA and business experience for decades. Neither she nor other Thais I've know have any knowledge whatsoever of North, South, East, and West, let alone gradients thereof. My wife is from Bangkok drove everywhere, went everwhere all of her life according to landmarks. These are often gained by trial and error and not conducive to conveying to others.  If they turn right at some tree with characteristics they recognize, but cannot describe as there are other trees there and they tend NOT to know the names of trees, giving directions become burdensome.

Heading to Bang Sue on a air con bus from the Nonthaburi Pier, we traveled an impressive distance on a quite wide and main-looking street. I had expected narrow ones and little continuity on any one. To find it some other time or on a map later, I asked my wife to ask the driver the name of the street. He did not know. She then asked the money-taker and she did not know either. None of us could find any signs and we never did find out. 

After living in the USA for ten or more years and also driving, I can tell she still mostly does not know where she is going.  I on the other hand need to feel "oriented" all the time. No matter where I am, I can point to where we live and tell how to get there. She can't. 

 

I just chalk this up to differences. She sees things in the world I don't and I see things she doesn't. Life is great. If Thai's were like us in the USA, I probably might as well have just stayed in the USA. All the differences in the world's peoples are part of their essence and beauty. Thai's are right brained peaceful, beautiful people and I love them. If there were to be any change, I'd want them to enjoy suntanning and swimming at pools and the beach.

 

[GinBoy2]

I speak Thai & Lao, but I certainly recognize this syndrome in almost most of Asia

 

 

[tgeezer]

It looks like they are pushing globalism in Japan.


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[GinBoy2]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:39 PM, GreeneryGuy said:

After living in the USA for ten or more years and also driving, I can tell she still mostly does not know where she is going.  I on the other hand need to feel "oriented" all the time. No matter where I am, I can point to where we live and tell how to get there. She can't. 

 

Don't get me going on this.

 

My wife was educated in the US and we lived for years in Singapore, yet still her DNA seemed to hardwire her brain to the Thai inability to navigate anywhere.

 

Before google maps I can't remember how many shouting matches, ending in tears, we had when driving in Thailand.

Here in the States, I just trust my google maps techno babe, to guide my wife where she wants to go