Thais speaking English

[Guest]

I?ve taught Thai students from all walks of life over the years. What pleases me most about people learning English, or any other language for that matter, is that money doesn?t buy progress. I?ve taught obnoxious rich people who will never be able to communicate in English for as long as they live ? regardless of how hard they try. On the other hand, I?ve tutored teenagers and young adults from less privileged backgrounds, and they?ve come on in leaps and bounds simply because they have a desire to learn. At least there?s a fairness about it all. <BR>

 

What has always intrigued me about Thai students is the way that beginners and advanced students alike, seem to make the same ?fossilized? errors in their speech, and I?d like to present a few of my ?favorites? here. Some of the following are not really errors as such, but speech traits and other things to listen out for when Thais speak in English. <BR><BR>

 

 

 

I?m convinced that you can go around Thailand on ten adjectives ? delicious, expensive, far, good, beautiful, hot and cold?. actually, make that seven. You don?t even need to know the opposites. A Thai will often refer to something as ?not expensive? rather than ?it?s cheap?. And it?s the same when they speak English. If a meal in a restaurant is awful, Thais will say it?s ?not delicious? rather than ?the food is awful?. The word ?delicious? is one of the Thai English speaker?s most overused words. ?Delicious? can be used to describe lobster in a light wine sauce or a simple cheese sandwich. My pleas to get Thai students to reserve this adjective only for very special occasions, has always fallen on deaf ears. Also from our adjective list, be very careful when your Thai friend uses the word ?far?. The Thai concept of ?far? and the western notion of it are poles apart. A Thai will deem virtually anything that can?t be seen with the naked eye as ?far?, when it?s probably just a brisk ten-minute stroll.<BR><BR>

 

 

 

Two additional much-loved and vastly over-used words are ?service? and ?appointment?. Thais have an appointment with everybody. They have an appointment with the plastic surgeon and they have an appointment with their friend in front of McDonalds. I wouldn?t mind a dollar either for every time I?ve heard a student say ?I service my friend? meaning ?help? or ?take? or ?give him a lift?. Even the most advanced students will never use the verbs ?see off? or ?drop off? meaning to take someone to an airport or bus station. ?I will send my friend to the airport? always conjures up images of a Thai person trying to stuff their best pal into a manila envelope. I?ve lost count of the times I?ve tried to teach phrasal verbs (pick up, come across, rely on, etc) by and large, they?re a waste of time, because Thais never feel comfortable with them, and if you are going to use them, you need to get them exactly right. I remember a Thai guy in Koh Samui telling me that if I tried to buy a motorbike in Bangkok, they would rip my head off because I was a foreigner. He meant that they would rip me off. Doesn?t quite sound the same does it? (Although I do believe some Americans do use ?rip your head off? as an idiom to describe someone cheating you)<BR><BR>

 

 

 

I don?t think you will cure many Thais of the legendary ?I go to shopping at the weekend? and the articles - a, an, and the, cause nightmares. So most Thai English speakers just leave them out altogether. ?You must to wear polite clothes in the temple? seems to be a strange hybrid of ?have to? and ?must?, while the popular ?polite? meaning ?formal? is thrown in for good measure.<BR>

 

Ask 100 Thais who have studied English ?can you see Lumpini Park from the top of the Baiyoke Tower?? and 99 of them will say ?Yes, I can?. I don?t know why, but they can never grasp the concept of the impersonal ?you? meaning ?anyone?<BR>

 

Use of possessives is another very problematic area because Thais tend to translate directly from Thai to English. Therefore you hear people refer to ?the house of my friend? and the car of my sister?. When a double possessive is involved, such as ?my sister?s boyfriend?s job?, you can literally watch a person?s brain explode right there before your very eyes. <BR><BR>

 

 

 

Even advanced students, when telling a story that involves several people, will constantly mix up the genders ?he? and ?she?. You find yourself constantly asking the speaker for clarification. Did you say that the woman was late for the meeting or the man? ?Oh sorry, I meant the man?. And so it goes on. <BR>

 

 

 

But the mistake I find most interesting is how students fail to use the present continuous to show that an activity is taking place at that moment in time (he is working, he is sleeping, she is watching TV downstairs) Thais much prefer ?he work? and she watch TV?. And yet, they have the same verb structures in Thai, where a word is added to signify an action in progress. I?ve never been able to get to the bottom of it. And while we?re on the topic, ask a Thai to say ?bottle? and ?bottom? and guess which one is which. ?Can I just have a small bottom?? ? well, is it a restaurant request, or a teenage girl?s prayer? I?ve never been really sure.<BR><BR>

 

 

 

And as for time markers ? forget it. Seven years ago, three hours ago, in four weeks. Still I?ve been here long enough to know exactly what ?more three days? means, and as yet, I?ve never missed an appointment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bibblies]

"And yet, they have the same verb structures in Thai, where a word is added to signify an action in progress. I?ve never been able to get to the bottom of it..."

 

 

 

I can't work that one out either.

 

 

 

This is probably below you, but it mystifies me why bar-girls (and other Thais that have learnt English 'on the job') say "too much" when they mean "very much". There's no Thai precedent for this, so who taught them that? Beating my head against the nearest wall, I've often tried to correct it, but it never sticks.

[Guest]

It's not just the Thais that just translate their native language into English rather than speak the English language. It is very difficult to find anyone anywhere who actually _speaks_ a foreign language. Most people just translate the vocabulary and continue speaking their native language.

[Guest]

bibblies: "This is probably below you, but it mystifies me why bar-girls (and other Thais that have learnt English 'on the job') say "too much" when they mean "very much". There's no Thai precedent for this, so who taught them that?"

 

 

 

It is my impression that "too mut" (note the corrected spelling) is used when a Thai speaker would say "yeu" or "yeu-yea." When a Thai speaker would say "maak" they would translate it as "much" or "very much."

 

 

 

The one I haven't been able to figure out is the word-doubling in "same-same." It's never used by native English speakers and I don't believe the Thai word for "same" is ever doubled up.

[Boo Radley]

The one I haven't been able to figure out is the word-doubling in "same-same." It's never used by native English speakers and I don't believe the Thai word for "same" is ever doubled up.

 

 

 

Hi,

 

I think this comes from the Thai word for similar, to be like something, which is ¤ÅéÒ KHLAI or ¤ÅéÒÂæ ¡Ñ¹ KHLAI KHLAI GAN. Because they can double up the word in Thai, they assume (wrongly) that you can carry this over to the English, hence the same same that you often hear.

 

Well, anyhow, that's what the Thai said who explained it to me.

 

 

[Pescator]

> The one I haven't been able to figure out is the word-doubling in "same-same." It's never used by native English speakers and I don't believe the Thai word for "same" is ever doubled up.

 

 

 

Well, it is occasionally.

 

I hear mostly women say "meuan meuan" and the vowel of the first "meuan" is significantly prolonged and with at high tone.

 

It is used when the speaker wants to stress the similarity e.g. that it is *exactly* the same.

 

 

 

The doubling of adjectives is rather common when you want to stress the meaning of that particular word.

 

 

 

Rot Khan Nee Yai.

 

That car/truck/bike is big.

 

 

 

Rot Khan Nee Yaaai Yai.

 

That car/truck/bik is *very* big.

 

 

 

Hua Nguu.

 

 

[Boo Radley]

Hi,

 

I think you meant to address this to madmax.

[bibblies]

It is my impression that "too mut" (note the corrected spelling) is used when a Thai speaker would say "yeu" or "yeu-yea." When a Thai speaker would say "maak" they would translate it as "much" or "very much."

 

 

 

I've never heard such a Thai say "very much"! I'd award an on the spot mini-Mars bar for that!

 

 

 

The "yeu-yeu" thing doesn't explain the "love you too muts".

 

Shouldn't "yeu-yeu" translate to "lots" anyway? "Too much" is "maak gern pai", surely.

[jasmine]

Dear Khun Bangkok Phil,

 

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed your writing on ?Thais speaking English?. The first person who taught me English was my father, when I just started the 1st grade. Where I was, the English teaching did not start until ones are in 5th grade, but I nagged my father to translate one of his English books with pictures so he figured teaching me the language was the best way to stop the nagging. However, when I got to the formal English classes in school, I was bored to tears because the classes were so basic like ?This is a book. That is a chair?, but I survived with flying grades. However, I had a few conflicts with Thai teachers on the way they pronounce some words, and in those old days, the students were not allowed to argue, but my father (bless his soul) saved me from being punished a few times. My father spoke English, not fluent but could communicate with the foreigners he dealt with, could read better than speaking, and I wanted to speak English, so he found some Indians, Burmese (we lived on the border of Burma/Thailand at that time) who could converse with me. I even studied with an Indian Buddhist monk (non-traditional because of me being a female). I was lucky also to have American and British teachers from the 8th grade on. I have learned since I was very young not to translate English into Thai directly, my father would not allow me to use Thai/English dictionary. The most valuable lesson from my father was, to think in the language one speaks (I do speak 3 languages, even though my French is quite rusty).

 

 

 

The flaws the Thai students you mentioned on your writing are very accurate from what I have observed every time I visited Thailand. However, the sentence ??I will send someone to do something?, I actually heard from some Americans (I am in the States). My father also said being a female, I should never say, ?I am hot?, but say instead ?It is hot in here!?, my friends say ?I am hot? all the time!

 

 

 

You are right, ?articles - a, an, and the, cause nightmares? still is sometimes for me. I use to have a little problem with ?he? and ?she? and it was NOT because of the Thai background, it was because of my mouth was running faster than my brain (for once, my husband will agree with me! SMILE).

 

 

 

I feel that if the Thai parents support the children in their English learning by helping them at home, it may improve their learning. However, I find that some Thai teachers are still downright stubborn in their own ways. My niece who is in Thailand, a 6th grader, told me that one of her English (Thai national) teachers pronounces the alphabet ?h? as ?hach?, ?dog? as ?doc? and would not listen to anyone else, she scolded the children severely if they contradicted her, is there any hope?

 

 

 

Please keep trying, your contribution is appreciated, some of the students will get the benefits from your teaching, I do believe.

 

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Pescator]

I`ve found that the level of english spoken by thai teachers teaching english to students in primary classes especially upcountry is appalling. No other word comes to mind to describe it.

 

When I lived in Sakon Nakhon I was several times approached by people who spoke to me in what at first seemed like an unintelligible language. It took some serious ear-adjusting to find out that they actually spoke english. They proudly presented themselves as "english teachers". I came to visit one of them in school and sure enough he was indeed an english teacher. I couldn hardly bear to overhear his "lesson".

 

Now I know that my english is no way near native english, but if you had witnessed the english spoken in that class it would have brought tears to your eyes.

 

 

 

Hua Nguu.