Gecko123 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 <deleted> <deleted> <deleted> forget about it, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stradavarius37 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Some do - you just haven't met enough.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko123 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Do-o-on't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko123 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Do-o-on't know. W-w-would you care to hazard a guess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjohndub Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I reckon it's because Thais constantly shout. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy chef 1 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 may it has something to do with the food...after that amount of chili I can't talk at all... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willyumiii Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) 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 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post thailiketoo Posted January 23, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) 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 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko kok prong Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Was this in class,or another of your school gate encounters,as a lot of action seems to occur there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post noahvail Posted January 23, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted January 23, 2015 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. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapout Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko kok prong Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I've hear Thais ...........stammer but not st st st st stutter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko123 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko kok prong Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 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] 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thongkorn Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 obviously you don't know many Thai people, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko123 Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelmsman Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Gecko123 Posted January 24, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 24, 2015 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. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooo Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Moved to Expat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveAustin Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrahmm Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 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.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gsxrnz Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipi Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kkerry Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 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... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briggsy Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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