jasmine Posted December 30, 2002 Report Share Posted December 30, 2002 Hi, I will think of some examples. This is complicated, you know that Thai is spoken differently also with peoples' level of education (I am not being a snob here). I travelled to Thailand with a Thai woman once and all the way there, she was ignored (her speech is not so good) and we travelled in Thai airline (can be snobs there). she asked the hostess to bring her water like this "ou nam ma hai noi see", I would have said it as "Kor nam nung kaew kha". We Thais, most of the time can tell where a person is from just from the first 2 sentences, but it is difficult to explain. The tone, the structure and the ways words are pronounced contribute to the speech. One example "Ma jak nai niea" from one of the Thai women I just met. I would have said "Ma jak janwat nai kha"? or "Ban tii muang thai yoo nai kha?" I will do my best to come up with more examples. Need help from somone else who know Thai well also. Cheers1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 31, 2002 Report Share Posted December 31, 2002 Thais are very forgiving of foreigners' mistakes in speaking Thai. I would say the two main things are - avoid use of rude words - use "khrap" frequently If you went to the Thai language school I'm thinking of (Somchart), the fact that the teachers assumed you went to Soi 4 probably didn't have anything to do with the way you spoke Thai. They assume that of everybody (in the absence of strong evidence to the contrary). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted December 31, 2002 Report Share Posted December 31, 2002 Jasmine, Hi. I dont think that this is exclusive to Thai society - we have plenty of examples of this in the West,and it works both ways. Ironically, there are many parts of Oz where I, as an Australian, would be seen as pretentious if I adhered to the rules of English grammar. I have to laugh when I see blue-ribbon Liberals touring a country location or a building site and attempting to approximate a 'blokey' persona Then there's George Dubya - the good ole boy from Texas is never too far from the surface in his speech. This must send the New England elite into a lather of righteous indignation, but it hasnt hurt his approval rating. Osama Bin Laden was the best thing to happen to Dubya, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibblies Posted December 31, 2002 Report Share Posted December 31, 2002 Says PHIIJAMES: If you went to the Thai language school I'm thinking of (Somchart), the fact that the teachers assumed you went to Soi 4 probably didn't have anything to do with the way you spoke Thai. They assume that of everybody (in the absence of strong evidence to the contrary). You're right. It's guilty until proven innocent there! I don't even know how to speak Thai impolitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyfarang Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 I know many ways of asking "Where are you from" in Thai, but I generally will say: "PEN KON THEE(f) NAI® KHAP(h)?" I don't know how proper this is, because I am imitating others who say it this way. What would you assume about my Thai language ability from hearing me say this, and is it considered high, low, rude, etc? Are you called "MA-LIT(h)?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyfarang Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 One example "Ma jak nai niea" from one of the Thai women I just met. I would have said "Ma jak janwat nai kha"? or "Ban tii muang thai yoo nai kha?" I know many ways of asking "Where are you from" in Thai, but I generally will say: "PEN KON THEE(f) NAI® KHAP(h)?" I don't know how proper this is, because I am imitating others who say it this way. What would you assume about my Thai language ability from hearing me say this, and is it considered high, low, rude, etc? Are you called "MA-LIT(h)?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 Im guilty as well. But in defence i am around thais all the time and i think you fall into a rut or the listening of these words soaks into your brain and you lose focus a bit ...will try harder ok! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 [color:"red"] "PEN KON THEE(f) NAI® KHAP(h)?" [/color] The sentence above is ok, just have to mention though, the word should be "Khrup"with an "r". "Khap"means tight. The sentence that I gave example earlier was presutuous, with a tone which could be found insulting. It is hard to explain to a non-native Thai speaker. Thai has ways to separate wordings and sentences depending with whom you speak to. This is why many people have become concious of the class system and education becuase the speech can be very different. I cannot explain any more than what I have said but will think of the ways to explain later. I have believed all my life that English is so much easier than Thai. Cheers! :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyfarang Posted February 20, 2003 Report Share Posted February 20, 2003 <<The sentence above is ok, just have to mention though, the word should be "Khrup"with an "r". "Khap"means tight.>> I know that the formal word contains an 'R', but in practice, I never hear it pronounced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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