How come Thais don't s-s-s-stutter?

[Gecko123]

Sometimes I stutter.

If I typed like I sometimes talk it would sound like: "Wh-wh-what di-di-did you say? Ca-ca-can you repeat tha-tha-that?" That sort of thing.

Mind you, I don't sound like that all the time, but I do have a tendency to stutter when I get nervous or excited.

Yesterday, I'm sorry to report, one of my students started mimicking me in class, and the whole class started giggling along.

Yeah, I'll admit it, it was kind of humiliating, and I couldn't believe how disrespectful the kid was being.

I wanted to grab her with both hands by the back of her M.4 blouse and bodily throw her out of my third story classroom window.

Mercifully, though, it was near the end of the period, the lunch bell rang a few minutes later, and I managed to excuse the class without any incident.

But after I got home that afternoon and had a chance to relax, I started to think.

I realized that I don't think I've ever heard a Thai kid or adult stutter or stammer even once.

Does anybody have any idea why that might be?

Is it a genetic thing? A cultural thing? A sociological thing? Does it have to do with the Thai language? Is it the food they eat?

Any thoughts anyone would like to sh-sh-share would be appreciated.

[CharlieH]

<deleted> <deleted> <deleted> forget about it,

[Stradavarius37]

Some do - you just haven't met enough....

[Gecko123]

Some do - you just haven't met enough....

I'm sure somewhere there's a Thai who stutters, but I've been teaching a long time and have met plenty of Thais. Never noticed any that stutter.

[h90]

Do-o-on't know.

[Gecko123]

Do-o-on't know.

W-w-would you care to hazard a guess?

[mrjohndub]

I reckon it's because Thais constantly shout.

[Crazy chef 1]

may it has something to do with the food...after that amount of chili I can't talk at all...

[willyumiii]

I honestly would not notice if they stuttered or not!

When I was about 10, I started to stutter a lot.

My father sat me down and told me to slow down and say everything to myself in my head before I said it vocally.

He told me that my brain was working faster than my mouth!

I took his advice and stopped stuttering immediately!

You might try that.

I found it very interesting when I read a study that said people who stutter, do not stutter when talking on the phone and do not stutter when talking to dogs and cats.

Is that true?

Choke dee!

Edited January 23, 2015 by willyumiii

[thailiketoo]

Don't men stutter ten times as much as women? Isn't stuttering caused by overbearing parents who want the boy to do well? If so that would explain it. All Thai men are raised like little princes. Or princesses in the case of lady boys.

Edited January 23, 2015 by thailiketoo

[h90]

I honestly would not notice if they stuttered or not!

When I was about 10, I started to stutter a lot.

My father sat me down and told me to slow down and say everything to myself in my head before I said it vocally.

He told me that my brain was working faster than my mouth!

I took his advice and stopped stuttering immediately!

You might try that.

I found it very interesting when I read a study that said people who stutter, do not stutter when talking on the phone and do not stutter when talking to dogs and cats.

Is that true?

Choke dee!

I think stutter comes when you think too much about what you talk. So you don't stutter when you talk to dogs and cats, because they won't put every word on the scale.

[marko kok prong]

Was this in class,or another of your school gate encounters,as a lot of action seems to occur there.

[noahvail]

Just checked with my wife, and she confirms that not only do some Thais stutter, but they sometimes write the stutters into their songs, just as in the West. Interesting topic, OP.

[slapout]

Its a good time to give the little rascals a lesson in manners, acceptance of others as well as pass some learning as to cause, treatments etc... Get some Mel Tellis songs and then some examples of his interviews. He stutters in normal conversation but not when he sings. Point out the Thai's difficlaty with the letter R, etc, in their speech and compare the two.

Then explain that some stuttering comes from excitment, tension, etc and you are just so excited that the class as a whole is doing so well that you stutter a bit. I knew one fellow who claimed that a good 3 finger drink calms him enough to decrease stuttering by 50 to 70 percent.

Edited January 23, 2015 by slapout

[marko kok prong]

Gecko must be again at the school gate,as he started a thread he has not replied to for about 2 hours,bad form some would sa ..sa ..say.

Edited January 23, 2015 by marko kok prong

[Neeranam]

I honestly would not notice if they stuttered or not!

When I was about 10, I started to stutter a lot.

My father sat me down and told me to slow down and say everything to myself in my head before I said it vocally.

He told me that my brain was working faster than my mouth!

I took his advice and stopped stuttering immediately!

You might try that.

I found it very interesting when I read a study that said people who stutter, do not stutter when talking on the phone and do not stutter when talking to dogs and cats.

Is that true?

Choke dee!

I think stutter comes when you think too much about what you talk. So you don't stutter when you talk to dogs and cats, because they won't put every word on the scale.

People who talk to cats and dogs are weird.

[Neeranam]

I've hear Thais ...........stammer but not st st st st stutter.

[Gecko123]

Gecko must be again at the school gate,as he started a thread he has not replied to for about 2 hours,bad form some would sa ..sa ..say.

I think you've got me mixed up with another poster. I know the "school gate" thread you are referring to, but it wasn't started by me.

[marko kok prong]

Gecko must be again at the school gate,as he started a thread he has not replied to for about 2 hours,bad form some would sa ..sa ..say.

I think you've got me mixed up with another poster. I know the "school gate" thread you are referring to, but it wasn't started by me.

Awfully sorry old chap,feel like a fool now,please accept my apologies,and of course if you come to my house[bring gun-so i can ...help my inlaws]

[Thongkorn]

obviously you don't know many Thai people,

[Gecko123]

When I was about 10, I started to stutter a lot.

My father sat me down and told me to slow down and say everything to myself in my head before I said it vocally.

He told me that my brain was working faster than my mouth!

I took his advice and stopped stuttering immediately!

willyumiii:

I think you might have hit on something here regarding why Thais seem to stutter less than Westerners.

It does seem that it is more acceptable in Thai culture to take your time when conversing with people. Maybe because there is less pressure to respond quickly, people are less apt to get nervous or excited when talking, and thus better able to avoid stuttering.

[thehelmsman]

I wanted to grab her with both hands by the back of her M.4 blouse and bodily throw her out of my third story classroom window.

Why would you chosse to be a teacher if you stutter ?? Also you might want to control your anger, you sound like a ticking time bomb. tttick, ttttick.

[Gecko123]

I wanted to grab her with both hands by the back of her M.4 blouse and bodily throw her out of my third story classroom window.

Why would you chosse to be a teacher if you stutter ?? Also you might want to control your anger, you sound like a ticking time bomb. tttick, ttttick.

I appreciate your concern, but the sentence you latched onto was strictly hyperbole, and only included to add color and humor to the story, and to help people understand how it feels to be mimicked in public.

The subject of the thread isn't whether people who stutter should be allowed to teach. The subject is why Thais seem to have a lower incidence of stuttering than Westerners.

But to answer your question, I choose to teach in Thailand because I have a degree in English, generally enjoy teaching and kids, it keeps me active, and it's one of the few forms of employment which foreigners can do in rural Thailand. I have been successfully teaching in Thailand for many years, and as I said in my OP, my stutter isn't that pronounced.

Might I add, as long as we are exchanging first impressions of one another, that you sound like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

[Rooo]

Moved to Expat.

[daveAustin]

Posit a similar amount stutter to anywhere else. For one, they are big repeaters of words. You have to listen keenly. If you don't understand Thai (not that you'd really need to) you might be missing it amid the general yada yada yada.

Regards the kid, I would either forget about it (we all took the piss out of our teachers), call her out on it for a pinch of loss of face (though too late and it may come back on you) or just mark the bitch down.

[pgrahmm]

With some of our Thai language skills not very good.....how the h*ll would we even know?

Maybe on an obvious facial stammer or twtch.....

I know when focusing on Thai words my mouth feels like it is working out...if you watch Thai speakers enounciating words it looks like a lot of work...where English is effortless....

[Gsxrnz]

So whose was it that put the S in Stutter?

The Thai equivalent had the same sense of humour it seems. The Thai verb for stutter is dta gook dta gak.

An alternative is euk euk ak ak.

My wife has a habit of repeating the first word of a Thai sentence 6 or 7 times before continuing. Especially when she's exited. Not exactly a stutter, but it is a trend I've noticed in many Thai women.

[sipi]

My wife and I were watching a documentary in English, with sub-titles in English. They were interviewing a man who was involved in a fatal car crash, and he stuttered; so they put sub-titles in. No matter how hard I tried, I could not explain to my wife why they did that; she just couldn't understand.

The Thais that I have met are very articulate with their speech, but I am sure there are many that have problems. Aussies are known as "lazy" spreakers; we shorten every second word to two syllables, and mumble the rest.

My friends wife owns an internet shop, and every time an Aussie walks in, all she can hear is "mmnnn ttrry mmmaaww...". It drives her mad.

My biological father stuttered really bad but I didn't meet him for nearly 30 years as I was adopted by a doctor. I never stuttered, but have always been self-conscious about speaking. I assume it is somewhat learned, but possibly also genetic.

[kkerry]

ka.. ka.. ka.. ka.. ka.. ka.. ka... bunch of women everyday on some morning tv show my wife watches, and they seem stuck on this whenever I walk by...

[Briggsy]

I don't recall coming across Thais with a stutter. However, bear in mind, a number of facts.

1. Stutterers don't stutter all the time.

2. Stutterers have strategies e.g speak less, don't speak, etc. to hide their stutter.

3. If speaking in English, the foreigner may mistake a stutter as getting stuck in English.

4. We will probably encounter a lot more "language hours" in English (or German or Dutch or whatever) than in Thai so there is more opportunity to encounter a stutterer.