Torneyboy Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 When i met my wife 11 months ago she could only speak litte english. she works in her restaurant and speaks thai all day except when a courier delivers something...one offered to teach her...yeah right. we both used my text book from the thai school i go to and she learnt very fast. we now both carry note pads and write down any new sentences etc to practice. But i don't want her to be perfect because it so cute the way she speaks. IE...i just got come back...(just came home from work) i love it so much fun. So do you want your gf to speak fluently?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khwaimaisabai Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Hi torneyboy, My GF attended classes for a while but has now stopped. She can read and write OK and she can understand OK but her spoken English is very weak. She refuses to practice on me because she says she is embarrassed to get it wrong. Also, she gets very irritated when I don't understand what she is saying. So, to answer your question, it doesn't bother me in the least. It means I get to practice my Thai. Khwai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 I can understand what you say, but personally I want mine to be not onlt fluent in English, but eventually (and this is the hard one) to THINK in english. The language you think in defines your thought patterns. But what I understand is that torneyboy's wife lives, works and operates a business in Australia. I personally can't conceive of not wanting someone in this situation not to speak the native language as well as possible. IMO cute won't cut it here. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khwaimaisabai Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Hi LHL, OK - different situation. If she is living in Oz then it must be better for her to speak English. Reading the post again, I think the point is he does not want her to lose her cute accent. There is nothing wrong with speaking English with a foreign accent so long as it can be easily understood. There is no contradiction between speaking good English and keeping an attractive accent. In my experience, very few non-native speakers ever achieve a perfect English accent to the point where they are taken for a native speaker. Some do, and of course there are all shades of grey in between. The chances of this lady totally losing her Thai accent are, I would say, not very high. Khwai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaad Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 he does not want her to lose her cute accent BULLS-EYE! :: My TG's English is pretty good, I love her accent and I really don't want her to lose it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 He never mentioned accent. Just she speak cute. Not the same IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky brow Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 I agree with what you have said.My g/f speaks very good english but still has a great accent.I think/hope she will never lose it. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 Hi, "She can read and write OK and she can understand OK but her spoken English is very weak. She refuses to practice on me because she says she is embarrassed to get it wrong." Pretty much the same for my wife, except that she refuses to speak English with anybody but me for fear of embarrassment. She also blames me for not speaking enough English with her. She did go to school for a few months, but no determination. I would like her to speak better English, but as long as she is too shy to speak nothing much will change Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaad Posted January 17, 2003 Report Share Posted January 17, 2003 He never mentioned accent. Just she speak cute. Not the same IMO It's different, I agree. But I just persume she does have an accent, because I can't see how cute it could be if she sounded like a native speaker. I think he means her word choice + accent. He can correct me if I'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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