iuytrede Posted January 27, 2002 Report Share Posted January 27, 2002 usually spelled "Xhosa" a people in Southern Africa xh stands for a click sound Now what is a click? Something not many westerners can pronounce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2002 Report Share Posted January 27, 2002 Thai people can say r sound. It just takes practice. My old Thai g/f could say my name perfectly. Later I was lucky to be nicknamed without an r sound. I still have problems with many thai words and tones. As the Thai girl said it's a tonge problem. I still have problems with words like Grape or Money in Thai (and many more). I'm a real beginner. The best thing for me was when I got a Thai nickname (no r sound). Although my wife keeps trying to say her last name with r sound. She does well with it i must say. she always calls me by my thai nickname however. As a joke you can always call yourself Somchai or somthing. Actually I use this as a joke all the time. I never expect her to speak english to me. The best way to learn Thai is from your g/f or wife. I have to learn fast when she is angry at me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 Guess most ppl are right that it's learnable. Example are like words starting with r. Example: reng rao, reng eek, rak. And assure them it's ok (not a sin) to use "r" sound other than the words that start with r. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 quote: Originally posted by mikem: Why is that? And does this apply to all Asian languages? Or ranguages?? Funny you should mention that. originating from France, i always wondered why english/american born people always have a problem pronoucing Rs as we do in continental Europe. And that thai "ng" thing (as in ngeun/money, for ex.). What is so hard about it that most foreigners can't never get it right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 15, 2002 Report Share Posted February 15, 2002 quote: Originally posted by micsnee: Hi Just to point out, the Japanese have hard time with the Western "L" and "R" too. They have "L/R" type of sound, transcribed to Roman alphabet as RA - RI - RU - RE - RO. But the sound is not really the Western "R", more like the "L" but not really that either, sort of in-between. And they often make the "L/R" mistake when trying to speak or write in English (perhaps in French, Spanish, German et al as well). The real problem is that 50% of the japanese use a clear "L" and the other half use something that sounds as a "flap of the tongue" which sounds quite like a rolling R used in spain and the netherlands. From age 0 and up they are tought not to make a difference between them and as a result "R" and "L" really sounds the same to them. That's the way my japanese teacher brought it. I think using the "L" type in speech sounds a bit too funny So I use the "flap of the tongue" Which in turn can sounds a little like a D if you're starting out. Kore Kole Kode... [ February 14, 2002: Message edited by: Aidix ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2002 Report Share Posted February 16, 2002 Quote: I think this is the same with most major esarn (lao based) dialects. The major esarn dialects are much closer to lao than thai, though quite often people from esarn say there dialect is not lao but thai. I do not know what you mean with (lao based). But to state that most major esarn dialects are closer to lao than thai is just wrong. All regions south, west and east of Sisaket are Kambodian based. Further on in the west pure thai dialect is spoken. In the north of Sisaket, Koen Khaen lao influence is also not very heavy if even existent. So, you are right if you claim that everything east of Ubon Rachathani is most of esarn. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 16, 2002 Report Share Posted February 16, 2002 UUpppsss... Sorry, I have to exuse myself. MY previous statement was wrong (one is never old enough to learn). Thank's to this board. In Sisaket the lao/kambodian dialect are about 50:50. North of Sisaket (Kon Kahen, Kalasin) is clearly influenced by lao. Inbetween Buriram and Sisaket the languages are different from village to village. Whether lao or cambodian dialects. Some villages even speak a language which doesn't belong to anything nor thai, nor lao, nor cambodia. From Buriram west cambodian dialects are spoken. In Korat a Thai dialect is spoken. South of all this regions it is hard to find the border between all the dialects and Thai. However, I like to exuse myself again as indeed almost all esan people (doesn't matter which dialect they speak at home) can understand and also speak lao. Cheers PS: one not must know everything, but it is good to have the sources at hand to figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Petchburi Pete Posted February 17, 2002 Report Share Posted February 17, 2002 I have worked with my Thai wife extensively with this; and, it is not easy for her. What I find interesting is that her name is Aranya; and, when she taught me how to pronounce it properly, she trilled (sp) the 'r' quite nicely. Ask one to pronounce the letter 'h' !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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