Farang speaking Pidgin baby talk - painful to listen to!

[Gsxrnz]

Okay this has been done before but I had a bad experience having to listen to a bloke last night (not for the first time) that did my head in, so I'm having a mini rant.

This guy is an educated native English speaker with a highly skilled job and he likes to talk, irrespective if anybody is listening to him. He's a decent enough chap, but I've yet to hear him actually speaking normal English.

He speaks a kind of Pidgin (that I won't call Thinglish because that would be a compliment) that if your 2 year old was speaking you may be rather proud of him/her and correcting them as a parent would, but coming from a grown man, just makes him sound like an imbecile. It's a kind of really, RERALLY bad Thinglish that even confuses the Thais.

He even manages to somehow rearrange the word order in what I believe is an attempt to emulate Thai sentence structure but uses English words, so it sounds even more screwed up than ever.

You hear him talking to the bar staff and it sounds bad enough, but when he's talking to you about politics and he uses phrases like "Him say him no good man and give problem, him tell him must......blah blah blah", you just want to check bin and go somewhere else.

And this goes on continuously, regardless of the subject matter or who he's talking to. It can be funny when he's talking to a non-native (but fairly fluent) English speaker - they're not sure if he's taking the piss or not.

So I ask the question, how do people get to this stage? Sure, most of us probably adopt a few sayings such as "same same" etc, or dumb down our words when speaking to (some) Thais etc, but why talk Pidgin English to a native English speaker.

[somchaismith]

The behaviour of that foreigner is easily summed in one word - pathetic.

[Ulysses G.]

This is one of my pet peeves too. Twits like this are most annoying and they seem to think that they are speaking Thai or "expat language" somehow.

[Satcommlee]

I know, it annoy me too much too!

[CharlieH]

Does it really matter? If it irritates you , move on.

Have you tried asking him?

Maybe he is not aware that he is doing it to the degree he is because its become a habit, and no one as yet, has bothered to ask or point it out to him.

Just a thought.

Edited May 26, 2014 by CharlieH

[HeavyDrinker]

We used to have a pal who did similar so we just old him to pack it in or Big Fat Dave would sit on his head. Do you want me to send BFD around?

[tonytigerbkk]

One of our machine suppliers is an American who has lived in Asia for around 30 years.

He is 70+ years old and talks to everyone like this.

He is a really nice chap and it does not bother me but i find it strange when he talks to me in this strange language.

I don't think that he realises he is doing this.

[canuckamuck]

What mean pidgin talking? me speak angreet choot mark mark. If go to drinking, all friend Thai no problem speak thai angreet same same. happy all time.

[Gsxrnz]

What mean pidgin talking? me speak angreet choot mark mark. If go to drinking, all friend Thai no problem speak thai angreet same same. happy all time.

You NAILED it!!! Maybe it's you?

[Ulysses G.]

Does it really matter? If it irritates you , move on.

Have you tried asking him?

Maybe he is not aware that he is doing it to the degree he is because its become a habit, and no one as yet, has bothered to ask or point it out to him.

Just a thought.

Just tell him that he sounds like a dildo.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Ulysses G.

[David48]

My talk, you not like?

BTW ... Mate, I hear you.

[KhunBENQ]

"Him say him no good man and give problem, him tell him must......blah blah blah"

That is called integration

Too long in Thailand, too many bar visits.

"Me have Thai man, him no good, him drink many many"

Edited May 26, 2014 by KhunBENQ

[JLCrab]

This is a 120 db US Coast Guard approved just-blow-into-it boat horn. I have several. Not used for this purpose but if encountered 'might give it a try.

[David48]

Pull my finger, you do.

[DLock]

"Him say him no good man and give problem, him tell him must......blah blah blah"

That is called integration

Too long in Thailand, too many bar visits.

"Me have Thai man, him no good, him drink many many"

Benq nailed it.

It is a symptom of someone who frequents hanging out in bars talking with lower end bargirls.

In his mind, he is speaking Thai, but to normal people he is speaking gibberish.

Compliment him on his excellent Thai and see if he says "thank you very big".

Confirmed.

[Vacuum]

I had a bad experience having to listen to a bloke last night (not for the first time)

Try another bar.

[edwinchester]

Does it really matter? If it irritates you , move on.

Have you tried asking him?

Maybe he is not aware that he is doing it to the degree he is because its become a habit, and no one as yet, has bothered to ask or point it out to him.

Just a thought.

Just tell him that he sounds like a dildo.

He buzzes too?

[BookMan]

This is one of my pet peeves too. Twits like this are most annoying and they seem to think that they are speaking Thai or "expat language" somehow.

Annoy me same same

[ukrules]

Did you ask him why he's speaking like this ?

I wouldn't have been able to resist it, I would definitely have asked him why. It would be interesting to see what he had to say.

[baboon]

Does it really matter? If it irritates you , move on.

Have you tried asking him?

Maybe he is not aware that he is doing it to the degree he is because its become a habit, and no one as yet, has bothered to ask or point it out to him.

Just a thought.

Just tell him that he sounds like a dildo.

Good god, G. We agree on something! You'll be reading 'Socialist Worker' next!

[wow64]

Dumb crunt.. Have heard many like this

[mickjn]

Does it really matter? If it irritates you , move on.

Have you tried asking him?

Maybe he is not aware that he is doing it to the degree he is because its become a habit, and no one as yet, has bothered to ask or point it out to him.

Just a thought.

Ditto

[chrisinth]

Its the ones who have the trip switch at around the 4th or 5th beer.

One minute normal, next sip Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa mak......................

[hotrod4098]

i go you..you go me..falangs talking like that make me puke

[Hedghog]

It seems the bloke in question,is fluent.

In bar stool Thai.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Hedghog

[krisb]

Friend of mine lives in oz with his Thai wife, speaks and always has exactly like that but ONLY to his wife. I find it awkward to listen to him.

[fishbrando]

I knew a guy like that in the US.

Whenever he was around any Asians, he would switch to pidgin English, even when everyone around him could speak perfect English.

I can only hope that I never become like that...

[namdocmai]

So I ask the question, how do people get to this stage? Sure, most of us probably adopt a few sayings such as "same same" etc, or dumb down our words when speaking to (some) Thais etc, but why talk Pidgin English to a native English speaker.

Well i ain't an english native but after speaking thenglish with Thai i also notice myself starting talking pidgin english. It is very frustrating when people don't understand what you are saying so i also try to make my language as clear and simple as possible for the Thai. If they still understand me then the only option left is me speaking Thai to them and you sure don't want to hear that. It works though and i only use it to buy what i want and not for having a fun conversation.

I won't start talking to a Thai for fun if i know their english is from level ground zero. My neighbours like to drop their thai kids at my place so i can talk to them. They even let them bring me icecreams or whatever food just so the kids can talk to me. When i have to talk to them i also use pidgeon english and i'm sure they even don't understand that.

On the airports i like to listen to other farang and their teerak in conversations. Some of them built their own languages that nobody else can understand, very funny.

After speaking to Thai for several months (in crappy english) i even can't speak fluent english anymore. If i meet a native english speaker somewhere i have to do my very best to speak proper english and it usually takes me an hour or so before i 'm used to that level again.

[whooshbang]

Sometimes you gotta dumb it down to get some Thais to understand you, it's as simple as that!

What's far worse is when people adopt the Thai accent and tones with the pidgin english...... that quite frankly, is awful.

And i agree when people turn and continue talking pidgin even to native speakers it's rather patronising, to say the least.

Edited May 26, 2014 by whooshbang

[I Like Thai]

I tend to do it when I'm drinking, but I do it for a specific reason. When out with other English speaking nationals, I have to try and remember to speak slowly. I can understand most English speakers quite easily, this lulls me into a false sense of dual understanding. It often results in me speaking with my normal accent, which is very fast and words run into each other. It's at this stage I can become quite difficult to understand at times. Speaking Pidgin English counteracts this. It may sound unusual, but what I'm saying is understood.