English speaking thai girls in Chiang Mai?

[Ruffian Dick]

On 5/26/2017 at 1:18 AM, lkn said:

...Japan is a little better than mainland China, but probably worse than Thailand.

Hmm, pretty easy to find English speakers in Tokyo, but maybe not so much in the countryside, ne. At any rate, A Japanese native's English can usually be easier to understand than a Thai's.

[CG1 Blue]

On ‎26‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 6:29 AM, EricTh said:

That's why I said there are not many Thai people who can speak good English but others here disagree with me.

 

 

And likewise, there are not many Brits in the UK who can speak Thai.  You seem to think Thais are obliged to speak your language - or that's the impression I got anyway.

[CG1 Blue]

On ‎26‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 6:34 AM, EricTh said:

 

True. But this is a very small minority that usually don't work in pharmacies, shopping malls, shops, banks where they come into contact with ordinary people most of the time. They are the exception rather than the norm and were probably educated in western countries.

 

I was amazed at how poor the English fluency level is at Bangkok Bank when I asked about their various deposit schemes.

 

Whereas if you go to Malaysia or Singapore, you can see many people in the customer service line who can speak good English.

 

That'll be because Singapore was colonised by the British.  Thailand wasn't.

[Ruffian Dick]

3 hours ago, CG1 Blue said:

And likewise, there are not many Brits in the UK who can speak Thai.  You seem to think Thais are obliged to speak your language - or that's the impression I got anyway.

Well, to be honest, it's the second language here. I overheard a hotel concierge trying to communicate with a Chinese tourist in the only language they had in common - English - and that badly.

[EricTh]

14 hours ago, Ruffian Dick said:

Well, to be honest, it's the second language here. I overheard a hotel concierge trying to communicate with a Chinese tourist in the only language they had in common - English - and that badly.

Yes, you're right.

 

Thais do learn English as a second language in schools as far as I know for a minimum of 10 years?

 

They are also taught by native English speakers 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2017 by EricTh

[EricTh]

17 hours ago, CG1 Blue said:

And likewise, there are not many Brits in the UK who can speak Thai.  You seem to think Thais are obliged to speak your language - or that's the impression I got anyway.

 

Brits don't learn Thai as a second language in national schools.

[lkn]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

Brits don't learn Thai as a second language in national schools.

But they do learn German or French, which should be easier for a Brit to learn than for a Thai to learn English, yet Brits who can hold a conversation in German or French are few and far between.

 

[Bill97]

 
Brits don't learn Thai as a second language in national schools.

What is the matter with the Brits anyway?

[bazza73]

Probably the best option is a meeting halfway. My Thai GF and I communicate in a mixture of Thai and English. I speak Thai, she speaks English. We get there.

Thai is very difficult for us because of the subtleties of tone and range of vowels.. Equally, English is difficult for Thais because Thai does not have the compound consonants that English does. We entertain each other with our mutual mistakes.

[JaseTheBass]

 
They are the ones who I meet at customer service centers at shopping malls and banks.
 
I always ask customer service 'do you speak English?' , they always say 'little'. 
 
Their little is really very little and I had trouble communicating with them beyond very basic English.
 
To communicate at this level is nearly impossible for them.

You need to shout a bit louder.

Sent from my Cray II supercomputer

[JaseTheBass]

Hmm, pretty easy to find English speakers in Tokyo, but maybe not so much in the countryside, ne. At any rate, A Japanese native's English can usually be easier to understand than a Thai's.

Rubbery Ingrish

Sent from my Cray II supercomputer

[EricTh]

15 hours ago, bazza73 said:

Probably the best option is a meeting halfway. My Thai GF and I communicate in a mixture of Thai and English. I speak Thai, she speaks English. We get there.

Thai is very difficult for us because of the subtleties of tone and range of vowels.. Equally, English is difficult for Thais because Thai does not have the compound consonants that English does. We entertain each other with our mutual mistakes.

 

Very true. I remember I asked a Thai guy in simple English what he does for a living. He said 'cat fit'.

 

That really confused me. Is he trying to rear cats for a living? 

 

I will try to let you guys figure out what he really meant. 

 

PS. I already know the answer.

 

 

Edited June 5, 2017 by EricTh

[lkn]

25 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Very true. I remember I asked a Thai guy in simple English what he does for a living. He said 'cat fit'.

I had a Thai wanting to take me to a fig farm, I was positively surprised, as the fig they cat was very good.

 

[Loaded]

3 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Very true. I remember I asked a Thai guy in simple English what he does for a living. He said 'cat fit'.

 

That really confused me. Is he trying to rear cats for a living? 

 

I will try to let you guys figure out what he really meant. 

 

PS. I already know the answer.

 

 

mangda?

[pow01]

Lots of good English speakers, as others have said make an effort to talk to people if they think you are worth the effort then maybe they will try a little harder, also you can help them by encouraging the conversation and offering assistance at times. I have met good English speakers from across the spectrum of society, you are really spoilt for choice in a city like Chiang Mai.

[Flying Kiwi]

Perhaps Thai girls should start asking if Westerners can speak Thai after all you are in THEIR country BETTER still why don't you take some lessons and learn Thai, you will gain more respect by doing that rather than saying you only want an english speaking Thai lady.

 

When In Rome

 

[EricTh]

2 hours ago, Flying Kiwi said:

Perhaps Thai girls should start asking if Westerners can speak Thai after all you are in THEIR country BETTER still why don't you take some lessons and learn Thai, you will gain more respect by doing that rather than saying you only want an english speaking Thai lady.

 

When In Rome

 

 

Thai and European languages are so different from each other that it takes a huge amount of effort for Europeans to learn. 

 

[Dante99]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

 

Thai and European languages are so different from each other that it takes a huge amount of effort for Europeans to learn. 

 

Typical lame lazy excuse for not learning Thai.

 

 How about the grammar of European languages is so difficult it takes a huge amount of effort for Thais to learn.

[NanLaew]

On 5/25/2017 at 5:52 PM, Loaded said:

There's a lot of Thai women who speak English fluently because they are usually well-educated and studied abroad. The problem for most Western men is that they will never break into those circles. Once you are in those circles, you'll be amazed at how many speak English fluently.

 

My wife studied at post-grad level in the UK. Her friends all communicate with me easily in English. Some even speak French fluently. They are mainly business owners, daughters of business owners or professionals (solicitors, accountants etc.).

Yeah... but with regard to the OP, are they any good?

[DeaconJohn]

2 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Thai and European languages are so different from each other that it takes a huge amount of effort for Europeans to learn. 

 

You're right, of course.

Thai and European languages are  different from each other... and Thai is  difficult to learn.

Some people seem to be born with an aptitude for learning languages.

I wasn't; but I overcame it to learn Thai because I didn't want my Thai wife and our children to see me as an illiterate who couldn't speak the language.

[EricTh]

Just now, DeaconJohn said:

You're right, of course.

Thai and European languages are  different from each other... and Thai is  difficult to learn.

Some people seem to be born with an aptitude for learning languages.

I wasn't; but I overcame it to learn Thai because I didn't want my Thai wife and our children to see me as an illiterate who couldn't speak the language.

 

Speaking a language at a very elementary level is doable for nearly everyone.

 

The problem is learning the language up to intermediate level so that one can understand Thai movies without any subtitles.

 

[hspace]

Summary of this thread:

 

1. Complaints about all the low-level staff and girls at dodgy places don't speak English

 

2. Totally ignorant about better-educated locals at higher levels of functioning society that probably have a bigger vocabulary and better-read in literary works than the poster

 

3. Doesn't want to learn Thai because too difficult. Chastises people for not learning English because it's a nonsensical, almagated language, with all the strange collective nouns, tenses, borrowed words from Latin, German etc. Not to mention random rules for pronounciation. And why does your nose run, but your feet smell? Terrible shitstorm of a language.

 

OK, done. Flame away.

[heybruce]

If you check the OP you'll find that he is not in Thailand, but is considering a move here.  He doesn't state if he plans to learn Thai, neither does he rule it out.  Presumably he would like to know if there are Thai woman he can communicate with until he learns the language. 

 

Not an unreasonable question, in my opinion.  However, as often happens, his post was met with lots of off-topic, judgemental, insulting replies directed towards the OP, Thai people, and other posters.  Welcome to Thai Visa.

[sharktooth]

On 5/25/2017 at 8:50 AM, uptheos said:

Lots of good English speaking girls in Chiang Mai, banking, nursing, immigration, Uni. NGO's. Mostly they stick to a Thai partner though and later have babies.

The majority of girls seen with farangs are found 'in other places', not necessarily bad places, just 'other places'. 

You forgot to add that their thai partner ultimately leaves them and they become single mothers...

[GuiseppeD]

My wife is English graduate and lived in the UK for over seven years. Jeez, she still comes out with some nonsense. I correct her where necessary for which she's grateful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fatdrunkandstupid]

Better you learn Thai.  Then you can get a hot girlfriend that is even harder for that rich Norwegian guy to steal.

[dingdongrb]

On 6/7/2017 at 10:55 PM, EricTh said:

 

Speaking a language at a very elementary level is doable for nearly everyone.

 

The problem is learning the language up to intermediate level so that one can understand Thai movies without any subtitles.

 

Who in their right mind would want to watch a Thai movie? Most of them are rubbish !!

[EricTh]

14 hours ago, sharktooth said:

You forgot to add that their thai partner ultimately leaves them and they become single mothers...

 

Where did you hear this? Is this prevalent? Why would Thai partner leave her? 

[sharktooth]

1 hour ago, EricTh said:

 

Where did you hear this? Is this prevalent? Why would Thai partner leave her? 

Tinder, Badoo and Thaifriendly are full of them...

[heybruce]

5 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Where did you hear this? Is this prevalent? Why would Thai partner leave her? 

It doesn't always happen, but it happens a lot.  Apparently there is little in the way of legal or social consequences for a Thai man who walks away from a wife or girlfriend and child.  Some of the single mothers rely on family, some try to find a new man (favoring non-Thai men) and some turn to prostitution. 

 

Teenage romance, teenage pregnancy, teenage boyfriend who runs away....

 

Of course this is not unique to Thailand.