How long did it take to communicate effectively with your Thai partner?

[seajae]

mate, no problems from the start and I cant speak thai at all apart from a few minor things and numbers. My wife can speak english but her pronunciations are a bit hard at times but it doesnt effect us at all, we usually just have a good laugh about it, if anything it has made us even closer.

[Scarpolo]

All things considered maybe you should only speak for yourself. Just so you don't get confused, I'm opting out of you speaking for me and perhaps there are others who might not want to be identified as sex tourists.

I never claimed to speak for you.

Many - if not most - male foreigners here have such motives and attitude, whether they're as honest as me or whether you like it or not.

Feel free to make me disappear with the forum's ignore function. . .

You wrote, "We don't come to Thailand looking for intellectual stimulation." Nothing wrong with the comment but you should not have assumed you had the authority to speak for anyone but yourself.

SIGN on Bathroom wall in Chaing Mai hippie restaurant:

You have learned everything intellectually and understand every matter,

But in Thailand you are free to learn, of your spirit and your heart and soul

[Scarpolo]

Effective communication?

Every problem was miscommunication,

Only the mutual desire to learn and grow,

kept it going

It isn't easy,

cohabitation never is

[sawadee1947]

why talking...? Causes only problems. Do what you want, enjoy your life...For relaxing she can join you....Is that what you mean?

[lips]

I feel that as a woman coming fron this area SEA most western husbands should realise the upbringing and life of his wife would affect the way she thinks, react and so forth.

And sometimes, when you appear stern, she would prefer to keep quiet so that there is no problem in the house. This is a common reaction. Another matter is economically, she may have come from a poor family and have little education, so this could be a problem.

Not the same frequency.

When the kids arrive, the responsibility is actually left to the husband. Most of the chores are done by the womenfolk but advising and telling the kids, was always the husband's duty not the wife. So that is why she would seem slacking by your standards.

Standards will differ from house to house so are values - Therefore, it is best to discuss all these before embarkig on a marriage.

Having kids is another responsibility and we must understnd the local culture properly. What is OK for us, may not be OK for them.

I hope to keep marriage intact, always go to the local counsellor and talk this out and it might help to improve the marriage and family.

[IsaanUSA]

From the second we met, so it took me zero units of time measure.

[JHenry]

It's not all about language skills. It's also about listening skills and I find that my wife is not such a good listener. If the exchange is unimportant many times I just drop it. If it is important it sometimes takes 2 or 3 times to be heard by her.

She's got bored with you that is all. The next stage is coming soon.

[JHenry]

Many of the expats can not communicate with their own children. Pathetic....

[benalibina]

Many of the expats can not communicate with their own children. Pathetic....

From ?

[Scottythai]

My communication with the soon to be Mrs. Is good. But in general I think my communication with females somewhat fails. What are they really thinking?

[geronimo]

I was fluent in Thai before I met my wife so there was no time period.

[BKK Blues Brother]

Many of the expats can not communicate with their own children. Pathetic....

From ?

In my experience i find that problems stem from the Thai's level of English.

Once the children reach 7/8/9 years old they speak, read and write English fluently and can often leave the Thai parent behind.

This result's is the other parent and school providing 90% of the mental stimulation needed for the children.

The other parent often becomes more ostracised because of their communication skills.

This can created problems from the Thai parent having an adverse affect on the children with the other parent playing constant mediator.

It can be frustrating at times and can often drive a wedge between the mother and father.

Thai/Western relationships with children are not for the faint hearted!

I am dreading the teenage years.....

[Scarpolo]

dont they have sesame street in thailand?

you can buy "hooked on phonics"

and watch with the kids and the wife, with the kids being the focus, and the wife having fun learning with the kids?

[wym]

Kids learning from Daddy + media since birth will be completely fluent, assuming appropriate time is spent with them.

A Thai who's first exposure to a NES is in adulthood and who's never lived in an NES country is very unlikely to EVER be even close to fluent, only rare exceptionally motivated Thais even get halfway there staying in Thailand, especially if their only NES input is their husband and occasional media.

Many mia farang who know they're staying in Thailand just aren't that motivated once they get secure in the relationship, just don't have a strong reason to make that extra effort, the last 50% of the learning curve is 100x the effort of the first half.

[kaveh]

never! not ever long long time!

you would never able to communicate %100

time doesn't matter. the only thing is matter is language and never believe that language is just knowing Pasa Thai