Thais and their English affair

[stickylies]

TVF at its best again...

[GAZZPA]

4. If you want to practice Thai, hire a tutor or something. Instead of getting annoyed of that fried chicken vendor who refuse to let you practice your Thai. Also, think it this way, that chicken vendor may simply be trying to practice her English with you.

Why do most of you Thai people foolishly believe that all white people want to speak or practice English?This is not England, this is Thailand. You should have more pride in your culture and language than this! Thai people love to say how they were never colonized but your behavior, especially on this issue, says something very different in my opinion.

I think the Thai's know its not England.

The fact of the matter is that English has become the International language, doesn't matter whether you like it or not, it just has.

I have read recently that Thailand has fallen behind most other Asian countries when it comes to speaking English,, why should they care, they are after all Thai. Well, they should care because for a country to thrive nowadays it needs to trade internationally and if you have a nation of people who cannot speak the adopted international language then you have a disadvantaged workforce.

So, English is what most Thai will speak to foreigners in, they often practice and it is much less important to them,, and i could argue for you too,, to learn Thai.

My only exception to this is if you are retiring and not working in Thailand then to integrate better into society learning Thai would be the right thing to do,, but for me, still working and in business all of my communication is in English.

[poweratradio]

1. What really bothers me are farangs who assume most Thais can't really understand English.

2. They don't assume you're native English speaker (how would they know exactly what country you're from anyway?), but they do assume you speak English, which you probably do, right?

3. Ideally, yes, but if you foreigners speak so poor Thai, it may be better for us to speak to you in English instead to save time and get on with the business. Our English may be poor, but consider this that your Thai may also be poor. In this case, instead of getting annoyed by a Thai who are unwilling to put up and understand your poor Thai, perhaps you should just get on with your business and try to understand our poor English instead?

For example, if you was gonna buy some "gai yaang", and the vendor replied you "yoo wan fait chikken?", just say "yes", instead of getting annoyed?

4. If you want to practice Thai, hire a tutor or something. Instead of getting annoyed of that fried chicken vendor who refuse to let you practice your Thai. Also, think it this way, that chicken vendor may simply be trying to practice her English with you.

Me too. The international language of travel and commerce in ENGLISH

[socksy01]

@Mole

1. Tell me you don't agree with me then. How many Thais can get beyond the very basics when they say things like "no have" ?

3. My very basic Thai is good enough to order most things. In fact, the seller will waste much more time trying to remember what he learnt in English then vice-versa?

4. I suppose I should hire you or a relative, right?

Have met so many that can't even say "no have" luckily I understand it in Thai.

[socksy01]

@Mole

1. Tell me you don't agree with me then. How many Thais can get beyond the very basics when they say things like "no have" ?

3. My very basic Thai is good enough to order most things. In fact, the seller will waste much more time trying to remember what he learnt in English then vice-versa?

4. I suppose I should hire you or a relative, right?

Have met so many that can't even say "no have" luckily I understand it in Thai.

[Gringogazzer]

There are two things you can do in this situation. The first is to say (in Thai) you don't speak English and continue the conversation in Thai. The second is to start speaking English as you would to a native speaker and when they fail to understand, continue the conversation in Thai.

The first part of this is an excellent idea but the second part fails to work. In my experience when I've only talked in English but the Thai person doesn't understand my request so I explain myself in Thai, it's had a negative reaction as though looking down on their intelligence. Which always made for an uncomfortable moment as it wasn't my intention, but only to make myself understood. Edited May 30, 2014 by Gringogazzer

[Naam]

It blows your opportunities to practice Thai and evolve

Does it also bother you? How do you go about it?

silly and ignorant remarks like yours bother me since i found out that those who speak Thai still have to pay 7.6 million Baht for a fully loaded Benz CLS, i.e. not a single Satang less than the Farang who only knows a few polite phrases and numbers.

of course... there might be a substantial discount using Thai when bargaining the price for a noodle soup with a street vendor

[Roel]

There are two things you can do in this situation. The first is to say (in Thai) you don't speak English and continue the conversation in Thai. The second is to start speaking English as you would to a native speaker and when they fail to understand, continue the conversation in Thai.

In theory a good idea. But what if the Thai starts talking street slang at machine gun speed. Then he beats you with your own weapon.

[CaptHaddock]

The first time I was in Paris no one would speak English even if they could. I learned French working there, outside a small town the southwest part of the country. My job was to buy things needed at the archaeological site we were digging. I would say something to a shopkeeper and if they had a clue what I meant they would repeat it back in proper French.

This does not work with Thai because it is a tonal language. It took me a while to accept the fact that if you get the tone wrong, the word cannot be "guessed" at.

This is complete nonsense. Tones are just phonemes like vowels and consonants. If you fail to get enough of them right the listener won't understand unless the context provides enough clues. In Thai, if you get the tone wrong Thais can often get the word from the context, but not always. The same is true, for instance, when Thais mispronounce an English word by putting the stress incorrectly on the last syllable. We might get it, but sometimes we are baffled by it. For the French getting the vowel wrong will often make the word incomprehensible if they cannot get it from the context.

French people frequently correct foreigners who mispronounce their language because they have a love for their language unmatched by any other group I have ever encountered. Neither Americans nor Thais routinely correct foreigners' mispronunciations to the same degree as the French.

[CaptHaddock]

In my opinion the Thais do surprising well with English. Even the clerks in my 7/11 can do business in English. Clerks at information counters in shopping malls can field requests and respond in English. Most of the educated Thais I know can speak English quite well. I find this impressive particularly given the disadvantages that Thailand faces in language learning: no colonial history, wages too low to attract qualified native speakers, and a poor quality education system in general.

I do find it frustrating that Thais respond to my spoken Thai in English or address their response to my wife instead of me. My approach is just firmly to insist that they speak Thai to me, but then my listening comprehension is unfortunately not always up to the rigors of spoken Thai. I put their response down to a very low expectation of foreigner's ability to speak Thai and interest in achieving fluency. Frankly, their expectations are all too realistic. One can hardly fail to notice how few foreigners here speak Thai fluently. Unfortunately, I notice that when ordinary Thais speak Thai with me they do not make an attempt to speak more slowly and clearly and avoid colloquialisms to help me understand. Most educated Americans would do this when speaking to a foreigner whose English was tentative. In addition, although in English it is relatively easy to judge the level of education of the speaker based on his grammar, usage, and the degree to which he speaks clearly, this is not true of spoken Thai. In fact, there is apparently no standard Thai language in that way. I have listened to Thai professors mumble through an interview in a way that would pretty well discredit a native English-speaking professional who spoke that carelessly. Thai politicians in interviews sometimes chat like they are in the kitchen at home.

Further evidence that the Thais currently have little experience of coping with foreigners who actually want to learn to speak Thai fluently can be seen in how frequently they compliment us excessively for the least demonstration of skill. A Thai once complimented me for pronouncing correctly the "ง" in "งาน" as though the idea that a foreigner could ever do so was pretty surprising in itself.

So, frustrating sometimes, but then, the differences are the point after all.

[Gringogazzer]

There are two things you can do in this situation. The first is to say (in Thai) you don't speak English and continue the conversation in Thai. The second is to start speaking English as you would to a native speaker and when they fail to understand, continue the conversation in Thai.

In theory a good idea. But what if the Thai starts talking street slang at machine gun speed. Then he beats you with your own weapon.

If this happens or they talk back to you in an Isaan dialect, then they do not want to talk to you and you should move on. Some Thai people do not like to speak Bangkok dialect, but can speak and understand this dialect. If they want to sell you something or have a brief conversation they will accommodate you. If not you have your answer.

[fasteddie]

4. If you want to practice Thai, hire a tutor or something. Instead of getting annoyed of that fried chicken vendor who refuse to let you practice your Thai. Also, think it this way, that chicken vendor may simply be trying to practice her English with you.

Why do most of you Thai people foolishly believe that all white people want to speak or practice English?This is not England, this is Thailand. You should have more pride in your culture and language than this! Thai people love to say how they were never colonized but your behavior, especially on this issue, says something very different in my opinion.

It's not that they think all white people want to speak English, it's they who want to as it's the international language of commerce.

Sent from my LG-P880 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rlopes]

It blows your opportunities to practice Thai and evolve

Does it also bother you? How do you go about it?

silly and ignorant remarks like yours bother me since i found out that those who speak Thai still have to pay 7.6 million Baht for a fully loaded Benz CLS, i.e. not a single Satang less than the Farang who only knows a few polite phrases and numbers.

of course... there might be a substantial discount using Thai when bargaining the price for a noodle soup with a street vendor

Silly and ignorant, says the fellow who can't even capitalize a word...

[rlopes]

There are two things you can do in this situation. The first is to say (in Thai) you don't speak English and continue the conversation in Thai. The second is to start speaking English as you would to a native speaker and when they fail to understand, continue the conversation in Thai.

In theory a good idea. But what if the Thai starts talking street slang at machine gun speed. Then he beats you with your own weapon.

If this happens or they talk back to you in an Isaan dialect, then they do not want to talk to you and you should move on. Some Thai people do not like to speak Bangkok dialect, but can speak and understand this dialect. If they want to sell you something or have a brief conversation they will accommodate you. If not you have your answer.

But if you use some Isaan words with the Isaan people they get happy beyond words

[Naam]

It blows your opportunities to practice Thai and evolve

Does it also bother you? How do you go about it?

silly and ignorant remarks like yours bother me since i found out that those who speak Thai still have to pay 7.6 million Baht for a fully loaded Benz CLS, i.e. not a single Satang less than the Farang who only knows a few polite phrases and numbers.

of course... there might be a substantial discount using Thai when bargaining the price for a noodle soup with a street vendor

Silly and ignorant, says the fellow who can't even capitalize a word...

silly and ignorant is the fellow who assumes that i can't

Edited May 31, 2014 by Naam

[ableguy]

Mellow out man.

[Johpa]

Me too. The international language of travel and commerce in ENGLISH

Then perhaps you should seek some remedial help.