Guest Posted November 23, 2002 Report Share Posted November 23, 2002 "I've heard falang with flawless Thai." Did the Thais shared that believe? About 8 years ago I met an English monk who had at the time been in Thailand almost continuously for 20 or so years. According to my Thai stepmother if you did not look at him it would be hard to tell if he was a farang or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted November 24, 2002 Report Share Posted November 24, 2002 Hi, [color:"red"] I think that when faced with a falang a Thai's immediate prejudice will prevent them from believing that a falang could speak Thai like a Thai. Remove the visual point of reference and I think they couldn't tell the difference. [/color] I agree with the concept of visual reference does make some difference on what people hear. I think it is more pre-conceived idea than prejudice though. In the USA, there is a preconceived notion connecting with visual point of reference also. Many years ago, there was a test on what people hear when looking at an Asian. A woman (looks typical Asian) gave a speech on TV and a survey result said only 40% of the audience understood what she said. Then a month later, a white woman was put on the TV, using the taped speech of the earlier mentioned Asian woman, the survey result stated that over 90% of the audience understood the speech!!! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted November 24, 2002 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2002 Jasmine, Interesting, although I'm not sure that Americans make the best control group for tests of this type. A friend was outside a shop in the South during a trip several years ago, and spent a few minutes shooting the breeze with some locals, some of whom were curious about Australia. As he left, he heard an old guy say 'Thats the strangest damn Yankee accent I ever heard !'. Just as an aside, have you picked up an American accent ? If it can happen to Greg Norman, I'm sure it could happen to anyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodthaigirl Posted November 24, 2002 Report Share Posted November 24, 2002 Says khunsanuk: "The 'Thai' model Cindy. She's 100% pure falang, Sorry, she's not 100 % farang, only 75 % Her dad is American and her mon is a luk kreang. I'm not sure if her granddad or grandmom is a farang. Her parents have a shop in Pattaya selling sport good - if I'm not mistaken. She grew up in Pattaya beach and sun. She told a funny story about her waiting to order som tom from a food vender. The vender didn't know she was Thai and spoke to the other about how a beautiful farang girl wanted to eat a som tom. So, she spoke to them in Thai. Really embarrased them but in a friendly way. She finished her high school from an international school in Bangkok. Never heard her speaking English though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted November 24, 2002 Report Share Posted November 24, 2002 Hi, [color:"red"] 'Thats the strangest damn Yankee accent I ever heard !'. [/color] :D Don't you know that Southerners(my experience) think every one is a yankee, if he is not from the South? My husband is called "damn yankee" because he is a Yankee who stayed in the South for a long time. I have an American accent most of the time, but many people told me that I have some British accent in many words, especially on the phone. I cannot still speak exactly like the natives though and I doubt I will. Cheers! (I really like what what you posted about the American Southerners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted November 25, 2002 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2002 Thanks, Jasmine, but I suspect that a group of good ole boys may be waiting outside the building when I leave tonight, all liquored up and ready to make me see the error of my ways. Run, Artie, Run .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted December 5, 2002 Report Share Posted December 5, 2002 Hi GTG, her dad runs a dive shop in Pattaya, one of the oldest established dive shops there. Cheers, Limbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted December 5, 2002 Report Share Posted December 5, 2002 Hi, I live in the south for 3 years now and I learn a few words a week I guess. This is partly because my wife speaks very good English and we almost don't speak Thai at home. However, whenever she teaches me Thai or I learn some new words, she makes shure that I speak BKK Thai rather than learn the Southern way, which I highly appreciate. This does make a big difference in Thailand, although with my current language skills, it'll be a far way to go before I'll be able to speak fluently......... Age does matter, the younger the better and faster you learn. Really young kids can pick up a language really quickly, but also forget it rather quickly again. Cheers, Limbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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