Thai words that are impossible to pronounce.

[sipi]

There are some Thai words I simply cannot say.

Take "hand" for example. The closest I can get is "meuueauuarrr"

One of my wifes friend's name is "Aiew". She doesn't mind, but sometimes I feel embarrassed calling her "Eh you", which is as close as I can get.

There are many more. Can you think of any?

[infinity11]

i STILL can not say shrimp properly

i say it in english

and there are other more difficult words

(sigh)

[David48]

Words that are impossible to pronounce that I still cannot say?

Honey, sure, I have heaps of money ... lets go to MBK ... take all the Family, heck, invite the neighbours!

Sorry sipi ... I'll get my coat!

[Crazy chef 1]

Toey

Kuea

some names are just impossible for me to pronounce.

[Thaddeus]

No such thing as impossible, just difficult.

[arunsakda]

Ngern , as in $.

[sipi]

Words that are impossible to pronounce that I still cannot say?

Honey, sure, I have heaps of money ... lets go to MBK ... take all the Family, heck, invite the neighbours!

Sorry sipi ... I'll get my coat!

Can you leave your coat behind David? The brother-in-law "borrowed" mine.

Ok, "I'll give you 600 baht for it".

"You want 1000 baht"

"700, final offer"

[sipi]

No such thing as impossible, just difficult..

Some words I have been trying to pronounce since my first visit to Thailand in 1986. I'm not sure if they are difficult or impossible.

[HooHaa]

none whatsoever, most are quite easy to pronounce actually

[ATF]

No such thing as impossible, just difficult..

Some words I have been trying to pronounce since my first visit to Thailand in 1986. I'm not sure if they are difficult or impossible.

Hand is Mir or Mur just the same sound as one of the three wise men's gifts. Hearing and listening is the most difficult.

[sipi]

No such thing as impossible, just difficult..

Some words I have been trying to pronounce since my first visit to Thailand in 1986. I'm not sure if they are difficult or impossible.

Hand is Mir or Mur just the same sound as one of the three wise men's gifts. Hearing and listening is the most difficult.

I have tried Mur; as in gold, frankincense and mur.

It must be an Australian accent thing.

I remember my first trip to the North West 29 years ago: asking a taxi driver who spoke perfect English..."Do you have tigers here?"

His response.."Toger, what is a toger?"

[Gonsalviz]

My wife told me I speak Thai, funny.

I said,it's ok, you speak English funny. We laughed and we get on.

[brewsterbudgen]

Ngu. I'd hate to have to call out "snake" in an emergency...

[sdanielmcev]

Long vowels. I just forget.

[Suradit69]

Not exactly one word, but the full name for Bangkok ... I suppose it's pronounceable, but it would be a challenge to roll it off the tongue in most casual conversations.

Its full name is "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit."

Edited November 9, 2014 by Suradit69

[DogNo1]

The secret is learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA.) Renditions of Thai words without it, using only approximations of the sounds represented by standard consonants and vowels, cannot duplicate the correct pronunciation. For example, there is no "r" sound anywhere in the Thai word for hand.

[Thai at Heart]

Reseeprosseetee

[Thaddeus]

Not exactly one word, but the full name for Bangkok ... I suppose it's pronounceable, but it would be a challenge to roll it off the tongue in most casual conversations.

Its full name is "Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit."

Wow, I bet you looked that up, well done.

One other place name, and this is purely from memory, that I learned just to annoy people.

Llanfair­pwllgwyn­gyllgo­gery­chwyrn­drobwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch.

And yes, I can say it.

There is no big secret to pronunciation of Thai words, but there are some that only become obvious when someone else tells you.

A friend of mine from another forum asked me once if I could say 'sing'

To which my reply was 'duh'

He then said can you say 'singer'

My reply was along the same lines as the previous one.

"Ok' he said, stick an 'n' on the end and say it five times quickly, which I did.

Then he said ... now don't say the 'si'

Now.... say 'debt'.... and tell me it's impossible.

[Thaddeus]

The bottom line is this.

There isn't a single Thai consonant combination sound that you do not know how to do already that I know of, it's just in a slightly different place in the word.

It's a very simple spoken language, it's a very complicated written one for reasons that are very obvious to anyone with a touch of learning (keep the peasants down)

There are so many more sounds in 'our' language that Thais find almost impossible to say.

Thirty thousand thieves thought it was thursday and instead of going to school started a game of football which ended in a draw.

Milk break.

Discuss

Edited November 9, 2014 by Thaddeus

[David48]

One other place name, and this is purely from memory, that I learned just to annoy people.

Llanfair­pwllgwyn­gyllgo­gery­chwyrn­drobwll­llanty­silio­gogo­goch.

I've been there.

Well, the Train Station!

Wales?

[David48]

The bottom line is this.

There isn't a single Thai consonant combination sound that you do not know how to do already that I know of, it's just in a slightly different place in the word.

It's a very simple spoken language, it's a very complicated written one for reasons that are very obvious to anyone with a touch of learning (keep the peasants down)

There are so many more sounds in 'our' language that Thais find almost impossible to say.

Thirty thousand thieves thought it was thursday and instead of going to school started a game of football which ended in a draw.

Milk break.

Discuss

Actually ...

There is one sound I know I can't make.

The rolling of the Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Can do the guttural Germanic style, but not the tongue vibrating 'Spanish' style ... despite much trying over the years.

So, for me ... 'Krrrap' becomes 'Crap' with my best attempt to 'roll' the 'R'.

Maybe I'm a retard?

.

[ezzra]

I find it very difficult to utter any sentences with the word Money in it,......

[1FinickyOne]

Try this for hand and friend and the other "uuuuu" words...

put your mouth into the exaggerated shape of a very sad clown - hold that shape and then say the word… "pu-uuuuu-un"

as to the "NG" sound in the beginning of a word - the advice I rcvd was say it in the back of your mouth, or think the "ng" don't try and say it… or the old favorite of mine, if you put your hand on the top of your head and hop up and down on one foot - nobody will notice that you are mis-pronouncing a word...

have fun.

[Johnnie99]

I find that any word I say in Thai to, say, a taxi driver, is misunderstood.

You know, like "Em Bee Kay" - definite no-no. Or "Pa-la-gonn".

Certainly too hard for me.

[Bredbury Blue]

The ULTIMATE English word that Thais can't pronounce is....SQUIRREL. Try it out, they pronounce it sqw-uw or similar. Hours of fun.

[Gsxrnz]

My missus can say "True Visions" (as in the TV service) in perfect English.

But she can't say "trust" - it comes out like "tusd" And she can't say "visit" - comes out like "wisit".

Why can she say True Visions perfectly?

Because......apparently they are Thai words.

[Mr Somtam]

My missus can say "True Visions" (as in the TV service) in perfect English.

But she can't say "trust" - it comes out like "tusd" And she can't say "visit" - comes out like "wisit".

Why can she say True Visions perfectly?

Because......apparently they are Thai words.

Gne gne gne, can I hell you, go to my how?

[villagefarang]

Pronunciation really isn't all that difficult but I suppose it is more fun to say it is.

[bluebluewater]

Anytime I have to use that snake NU sound I'm pretty sure I'm going to get it wrong. It's just a hard one for me. And often I'll ask my Thai friends to spell the word they are saying so that I can "see" the letters in my head and then I have a better chance of saying what I think I may be hearing.

How is it however, that whenever they butcher up a word in English that I can 99% of the time know what they are trying to pronounce/say whereas when I butcher one of their words all I'm going to hear back from then is 'huh?" The answer is that I try to understand what they are saying by listening carefully and consider the contest of the usage. They do not try but just find it easier to say "huh?"

I also think it is very funny that they can convert a word in English to whatever they want and call it "Thai talk" but I cannot do the same with a Thai word.

Tis the Land of Frustration. Cheers!

[carter1882]

I don't have a problem with the pronunciation of Thai. But my hearing can be shocking. When my first missus phones me up to enquire, i presume, about the late bank transfer i can never make out any of the words at all.