Improving Pronuncuation for Thais

[jxxxl]

My wife is really committing herself to improving her English. She does really well with vocabulary but she's struggling with pronunciation. I spend a lot of time with her working on certain sounds but she just can't get her mouth to make the sounds properly.

 

When I was young, I went to a speach therapist and they gave me exercises to do at home. I was wondering if this is ever done by Thais, and if so, what methods do they use.

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

[whosyourdaddy]

It will come with the right techniques. Just takes time for her ear to hear the sound and then her mouth to reproduce it.

[..]

Isn't there a software that has a microphone input and some sort of intelligence and feedback loop to indicate if the word is being pronounced correctly?

 

Yeah, here it is Rosetta Stone. She could practice with that.

 

Cheers,

SD

[jxxxl]

Thanks SD, will give it a try.

 

We have a lot of laughs practicing certain sounds like the hard-R and th. With the hard R, no matter how hard she tries she can't get it right.

 

The exercises I described are things like cupping your tounge and keeping water in it while making certain sounds. I remember being givin this exercise when I was a kid by a speach therapist at my school. I heard they have similar similar courses for actors and broadcasters.

 

Anyway, I'm not to fussed about it, it's really my wife that wants to improve. We always have a lot of fun teasing eachother about our 2nd languages.

[..]

jxxxl said:

I heard they have similar similar courses for actors and broadcasters.

They deffo have that in the States, but doubtful you will find anything like that in LoS.

 

But it sounds like you have the right attitude, so she should do OK.

 

Cheers,

SD

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

"but doubtful you will find anything like that in LoS."

 

Having seen some of the 'acting' in the local soaps, I would tend to agree

 

Sanuk!

[Old Hippie]

In the States, "Learning Annex" has a course "how to lose your regional accent..." might be worth a shot...but maybe expensive...

[Khun004]

jxxxl said:

My wife is really committing herself to improving her English. She does really well with vocabulary but she's struggling with pronunciation. I spend a lot of time with her working on certain sounds but she just can't get her mouth to make the sounds properly.

Excellent question from jxxxl, on a fascinating topic: how to learn to pronounce languages as different as English and Thai.

 

I live in Bangkok.

I've tried to help a few Thais with their English pronunciation, too.

Same, exact, problem, every time.

And I've been studying Thai language, so I have the identical problem myself, just from the other direction.

 

Here's what I've observed:

The muscles of the throat, cheeks, tongue, etc., that we use for speaking English, are very different than those used for speaking Thai.

I've never before in my life made sounds using the muscles required for Thai sounds.

Makes learning rather difficult.

 

And there's another factor: many Thai sounds sound to me like "baby talk" or "crazy talk".

Proper, adult men don't make such sounds!

But to learn Thai, I must.

I assume similar barriers for Thai people trying to speak English.

 

It has taken me almost two years of daily practice and coaching by a very patient Thai teacher, to get to the point where Thais can understand me on the first attempt.

Now I can get into a taxi in Bangkok, specify the destination, and the driver will nod his head and go directly there, without asking again.

I would think it would require similar effort and diligence on the part of any Thai to get to a similar level proficiency with English.

 

And that raises a question: how many Thais are that diligent?

In my experience: none!

Some are willing to spend a few hours, now and then, to learn something, but not two years of daily practice.

Most Thais "have headache" at the first hint of learning anything difficult.

So, jxxxl, this won't be easy.

 

In trying to help Thais to improve their English pronunciation I have developed two techniques which work well, and are quick and easy for me to explain.

But most Thais don't want to learn or practice.

So far, only two Thais have been somewhat willing, and both of them have dramatically improved their English pronunciation.

Here are the two techniques that work:

 

First, Thai language has the five tones.

Thais love those tones, and even put tones in where there are none indicated.

I know this because I can read Thai and can figure out the tone by the rules.

But when Thais speak -- especially the women -- they will just "dub in" a nice sounding tone where none belongs, especially at the end of a sentence.

If you've been to Thailand, you know what I mean, when you walk into a shop or restaurant and the hostess greets you with, "sa-wat-dee, kaaAAAaaaah".

 

On the other hand, English is spoken with, nominally, only two tones: even tone and low tone.

So I tell the Thais: "Forget tones 'dtoo', dtree', and 'jah-tah-wah'.

When you speak English, only use tones 'sah-mahn' and 'eck'".

If they can do that, their English will improve immediately and dramatically.

 

Second tactic:

I tell them to breath in before they speak, and expel air as they talk.

Breathing in before you speak is standard procedure in every speech class I ever had.

But, oh, Thais hate doing that.

Thai language is pronounced by constricting the throat.

So instead of breathing in, they giggle, they get embarrassed, they look sideways to see if anybody is watching, they say they "have headache", anything to avoid taking a breath before they speak.

But the few who try it have improved their English pronunciation by a huge margin.

 

Now, do you remember that old advice that a husband should never try to teach his wife to drive a car?

I think that is true for languages, too -- especially for pronunciation.

Learning a language as different from English as Thai means crossing huge physical, cultural and emotional barriers.

There is bound to be much anxiety on both sides.

 

I'm not an English teacher, but if you wish to learn a bit more about this, and if you happen to be in Bangkok, you are welcome to get in touch with me.

I'll be willing to show you and your wife what has worked with my Thai friends.

No money involved.

If this helps your wife, and you feel a need to show your appreciation, my preferred drink is orange juice.

.

[jitagawn]

Thwe easiest way I have found to help Thais on a word by word basis is to phonetically spell the ENGLISH word using the Thai alphabet.Works like a charm-really You just need to be able to fully understand and creatively use the Thai consonants and vowels in reconstructing the sound sin English-

[Khun004]

jitagawn said:

Thwe easiest way I have found to help Thais on a word by word basis is to phonetically spell the ENGLISH word using the Thai alphabet.Works like a charm-really You just need to be able to fully understand and creatively use the Thai consonants and vowels in reconstructing the sound sin English-

...That's useful advice from jitagawn, and most English-To-Thai dictionaries do exactly that.

Here's one such dictionary to help Thais pronounce English:

SE-ED's New Compact English-Thai Dictionary.

ISBN 974-534-077-4

Price in Thailand: 95 baht (a bargain).

.