wellred Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 One the things I like about my tgf is the way she speaks baby english. Me go shower now, what you say she, me want to looking movie ect..... I used to try and correct her but after I while it occurred in doing so I was driving out some of her cuteness. So now I find myself also speaking baby English with her. I think this also gives her some reassurance that she is speaking correctly hence will make no attempt to improve. Great!!!! On a side note I did once observe to falangs speaking baby english to each other. It was quite amazing to watch. Does anyone else have any similar experiences? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gsxrnz Posted December 17, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2013 Yep. When I go home my son always tells me off for talking pidgin. He got really annoyed when we were shopping at a mall and I saw something that wasn't priced. I "waved" the shop assistant over with the Thai wave, pointed at the item and said "This one, how much?". As to correcting your GF's English, you'll be doing her a favour if you get her to improve her grammar. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post GinBoy2 Posted December 17, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2013 My wife happily corrects my Lao, and I her English 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post noikrit Posted December 17, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2013 No sorry .......... The Missus wants to learn English so I correct her , she does the same to my Thai .... But each to our own ... Main thing is to have good communication with each other ! Whatever way you choose ............. and of course ......enjoy each other !!! CHOKDEE 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benalibina Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Ahhh yes, another thing...yes yes.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gsxrnz Posted December 17, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2013 (edited) OP - it can be fun getting her to improve. I throw some strange words and sayings at my wife and she does her best to understand the usage - does pretty well really. She's really good at understanding nuance and irony. We were once out for a meal with a friend and his friend. The guy was a two week millionaire boorish loudmouth who was giving us his expert knowledge on all things Thai, specifically about Thai women. His assumption was that the women present either didn't understand him or if they did, they didn't care. My wife was fuming and eventually after listening to a piece of diatribe from him (the diatribe being irrelevant), she says to him "So Kun Chris, in your ever so bumble opinion, which I see you're not backwards in being forward about, what do you think would be the case if.......blah blah blah". And she made a few good points and shot this dude down. All of those phrases I'd taught her previously, and she told me later that she had to really try hard to recall them before she used them that night and even checked a few of the words on her phone dictionary at the table. Needless to say, the American was speechless, my friend choked on his beer, his wife didn't know what the hell was going on, and I just sat back and smiled. Edit: Just to clarify. Her English is nowhere near that level but when she hears me use different words/sayings and hears them repeatedly, she often asks what they mean and how to use them. Edited December 17, 2013 by Gsxrnz 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kangawallafox Posted December 17, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2013 I could not handle that,I like an accent but failed English means you cannot really communicate,that is the foundation of a good relationship. I expect it from a child,anyone else I can't live with them. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post mancub Posted December 17, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2013 I have an English friend who speaks awful pidgin English with his girlfriend .....I constantly find myself slapping him . 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post i claudius Posted December 17, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2013 I hate hearing Guys talking to their wives /girlfriends in pidgeon english ,a friend of ours has just gone back and insisted on talking to my wife like it ,in the end i just said "listen you never spoke to her like that the 8 years we lived in the UK ,why do it now?" she speaks english really well,amazing 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uptheos Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Much of it depends on where and how they learned to speak English in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardened Spanker Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 My friend you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobalt60 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Its not that you correct them, but how. Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSnapper Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 My GF corrects my English when I fall back into Thai Pidgin... Always good for a laugh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardened Spanker Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Yes,let's all speak perfect English in a BBC estuary accent,what an interesting place the world would be then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJIC Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 (edited) This way of talking is quite common,and bloody annoying,they learn't this pidgin type of English before they ever met you,from other Thais,and is now almost impossible to correct,as the saying goes"old habits die hard" such as "no have" "no can do" "me no understand" or something else prefixed with me. It may sound cute now,but wouldn't win her a job back in your own country,dealing with the public! Edited December 17, 2013 by MAJIC 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJIC Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 This way of talking is quite common,and bloody annoying,they learn't this pidgin type of English before they ever met you,from other Thais,and is now almost impossible to correct,as the saying goes"old habits die hard" such as "no have" "no can do" "me no understand" or something else prefixed with me. It may sound cute now,but wouldn't win her a job back in your own country,dealing with the public! Somehow this kind of Pidgin English is catching,up to now I have had to correct 2 English guys,who had gone native,and were actually talking to me in this type of Pidgin English! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrjlh Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I do correct my GF to help her understand better and she wants me to. Wait until to you go back to your home country and start answering everyone in Thai! And you don't realize you've done it. The looks you will get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1955 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 My wife speaks just about perfect english sometimes to good . I do find it odd when some of my friends whos wives still speak" me go to bat room " talk to her like she doesn't understand common English. Years ago we talked like this , some of my friends would just crack up listening to us talk . No problem its all part of the cross culture marriage.... The best one was when she first came to the US we were watching TV and she was scratching her arm . I asked whats the matter she said Im skitchey I died laughing ..... The other word was very she could not say a V sound to save her life ,, was always worry ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAJIC Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I have an English friend who speaks awful pidgin English with his girlfriend .....I constantly find myself slapping him . Good! give him a good slapping from me as well! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wooloomooloo Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 I do find it odd when some of my friends whos wives still speak" me go to bat room " talk to her like she doesn't understand common English. Her friends don't understand good English? My wife has degree in English and obviously very good and learning more every day here in UK. I will occasionally correct phraseology and pronunciation as people won't understand occasionally. I don't go over the top and largely let her learn through her residence. She works full-time and learns far more from the social interaction. It's more gentle. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David48 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Much of it depends on where and how they learned to speak English in the first place. subtle ... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gsxrnz Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Much of it depends on where and how they learned to speak English in the first place. subtle ... sledghehammer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benalibina Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Motorbye Mickey mou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 I can't be bothered to rather than not liking to correct my wife but glad I did. I wouldn't want her to be speaking bad English with me in front of our children. I get really annoyed with some friends who come round to ours and speak pidgin Thai/English with my kids. I mean what the ####? It is funny though watching my kids cringe. One of my friends who is the worst teaches English at a university! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Much of it depends on where and how they learned to speak English in the first place. subtle ... Very....given the fact, large numbers of Thai English degree holders, some,even with masters degrees from the likes of Chula can't speak proper English either, and do talk in baby English as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 I can't be bothered to rather than not liking to correct my wife but glad I did. I wouldn't want her to be speaking bad English with me in front of our children. I get really annoyed with some friends who come round to ours and speak pidgin Thai/English with my kids. I mean what the ####? It is funny though watching my kids cringe. One of my friends who is the worst teaches English at a university! I correct "her in doors" all the time and expect her to correct my Thai..... If the native speaker is not correcting, how someone to improve in a language which is not their native one ? Even at work I help correct my Thai colleagues English, obviously doing in such a way as I am not coming across as a grammar Nazi 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigante7 Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 As a Scotsman my wife has bugger all chance of me teaching her English, in fact her English is better than mine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estrada Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Perhaps it would be better if she learnt English from a competent English speaker: Quote: "I used to try and correct her but after I while it occurred in doing so".... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estrada Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Mai Me Ban Ha/ No problem: My wife corrects my Thai and I correct her English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bifftastic Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 One of the reasons I started to learn Thai was that I didn't like to correct my wife's English all the time. I will do it from time to time, if I think she's struggling with a concept, like the verb 'to be' as in s/he is, they are, I am. But doing it constantly while people are trying to communicate is annoying, to the speaker and the listener. So sometimes it's better to let the conversation flow, and if you want to pick up on something that needs work, do it later when you can pick the moment. It definitely helps that we can refer to both languages now if there's something that isn't immediately clear. It is worth doing some correcting, when she visits London it's nice to know that she can go off by herself and be understood by people who don't understand all the 'my friend you' stuff. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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