Flashermac Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Have lived here over 5 years now, been married to a Thai going on 10 years. My Thai is what you would politely call “extremely limitedâ€Â. It’s not something I am proud of, but I live with it and with my life it is not a problem. When I do try to speak even the limited words I know, most Thai cringe. TH When I was first learning Thai, the students would ask me to speak Thai to them. I would decline, saying they'd laugh at me. They'd all disagree and promise they wouldn't laugh. Then when I did, they'd split their sides laughing at me. p.s. Only way to learn correct pronunciation is to learn to read. Once you can, you'll realise how many words you've been mispronouncing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 "mai put thai" all I need sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 I can speak at what I think is a decent conversational level - but sometimes my grammar gets all mixed up. I usually get the point across in the end. Can read (slowly - probably at the pace a small child of 4 or 5 would read) and writing? Forget it! Can also sing in Thai - especially when drunk! It's nice when I hear the compliment "phuut Thai chaat", which is when people I speak to say that I speak clearly. Maybe they are being "pahk wahn" (sweet mouths) but it's a nice compliment all the same. I think it's kind of funny when you hear a farang speaking Thai, but they leave so much of their own accent in it - I notice this with Australians and Americans the most. eg. "Sawasdee Khrup" with a real ocker Thai accent, or Southern-US-Style drawl just doesn't sound quite right to me - but at least they're trying and giving it a go! :thumbup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 I had a friend with a heavy Texas drawl. The Thais would ask him to speak English, saying they couldn't understand his Thai at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Hi, A mutual friend of CTO and mine is a singer and as such has an excellent ear for tones. His pronunciation is fantastic, however if vocabulary very limited. The result is that after he pronounces a sentence almost perfectly, he has to ask someone to translate the response as Thais assume his Thai is great while he actually doesn't have a clue what they say. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 I had a friend with a heavy Texas drawl. The Thais would ask him to speak English, saying they couldn't understand his Thai at all. My ex and I once visited an elderly lady in Glasgow at her Aussie grand daughters request. We sat there all evening understanding about one word in ten of what she said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexi Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Speaking Thai is not necessarily an advantage when it comes to chatting up the ladies - on several occasions I`ve been asked " where is your Thai wife ?".They refuse to believe I havnt got one..... Saw a farang on tv speaking Thai recently-although all the correct words were there he didnt use any tones made it very difficult to understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 It's an advantage if they know you have a Thai wife, they realise we are skilled in the secret sexual rituals that drive women mad and are only understood by men with Thai wives. We seldom get charged a barfine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HonoluluJimmy Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Here's how it goes. If you ain;t got much money Thai's don't give as shite about you cause they can't get squat off ya! If you got money, believe me, you will have npo problem communicatging. Look at the great Engrit speak at all the retail places. Looking for pooying. Try Home Pro, it's 0545 and I have a Hope Pro Customer Service girl sleeping in my bed right now. She is lovely and is very nice to the house keeper. (ooops, the lady who cleans out my Fortuner-in which I live) Speak Thai, I can get along well but I am Farang and I am a Hansum Man. I know this because girls shout it out to mee all the time. When I went to Patong the other day I loved the cat calls! BTW, I note here that K.S. is employed, I would have thought he was a mega billion baht internet guy. Look other boards have him bill as a cyber mogul with NanaPlaza.com as a hobby for he and some other blokes???? Could have fooled me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage_Kwai Posted December 4, 2009 Report Share Posted December 4, 2009 Did a short course (reading, writing and conversation to about primary 3 level before I came permanently. Situation quite similar to KS with the exception that I've been here twenty years. My conversations can raise eyebrows at times because most Thais do not expect that level of proficiency. It's also a lot more fun to keep your mouth shut in a new situation and watch what goes on around you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.