Hoping for my good knowledge of English and our outstanding abilities in terms of acting, we naively went to live in non-tourist Thailand, not knowing a word of Thai and not taking a phrasebook with us. And this turned out to be our mistake, because in the northern part of this country, more than often, you can meet a Thai who does not speak or understand a word in English..
The content of the article
- one Specificity of communication
- 2 Cheat sheet how to communicate with Thais
- 3 Thai English pronunciation
Specificity of communication
When we talk about communication, we mean ordinary Thais whom you encounter every day at the counter of a store, in a cafe, at the reception in a hotel, and not those who work in a prestigious job in an office and at a higher level. We talked with such people only during hitchhiking, and my soul just sang when we had interesting conversations in good English! So take this into account, do not demand too much, I doubt that in the same Moscow / St. Petersburg / VashGorod, saleswomen in stores generally speak English.
One of the most common crafts in Tae
Smiling is a common thing for Thais
Their impressions of our futile attempts at communicating with ordinary Thais I described in another article, I will not repeat myself. Let me just remind you that it is difficult, tk. guys they are modest and hesitate to admit if they do not fully understand you. It's easier for them to pretend that they understand everything and answer «yes», which in the end sometimes leads to consequences that are not entirely pleasant for us.
In fact, the problem is not in modesty, but in culture (you cannot lose face and make the other lose it), so it is sometimes very difficult for foreigners to understand how to behave better and how to solve this or that issue. And here, or you «build in» to the local culture, learn the local language and all that (if you come to live for years), or just accept the rules of the game for a while (while you are resting / wintering).
Cheat sheet how to communicate with Thais
The old fashioned way
In order to at least somehow make life easier for ourselves, and minimize situations of misunderstanding, we made ourselves a lifesaver: we asked our friend, who knows English, a taichka to write to me in a notebook with Thai «hieroglyphs» some phrases we need to survive .. It seemed that now life would become easier. Pointing your finger at the desired Thai phrase, and there will be no more misundestination. In vain ...
We were surprised to find that you will drive a little from the city, and you have every chance to meet a person who cannot read his own language. We are talking about the north of Thailand, in the south we did not encounter. Of course, it could have seemed so easy to us, but a couple of times we ran into the fact that you showed them a phrase in Thai (written by a Thai) in a notebook, and they even refuse to look or fumble about what was written with their eyes. Our notebook went from hand to hand until it found someone who could still read, more often this someone turned out to be children who are still in school. It may well be that Thais simply did not really want to communicate with foreigners (so as not to lose face), or maybe the dialects were different (there are many Burmese in the north, Chinese live).
These are the phrases that we collected in the process of living here, the presence of these in written form helped us a lot, maybe they will be useful to you.
Common Useful Phrases
Our heroism was only enough to learn how to pronounce two words correctly in Thai:
Hello - Savadi khap (so the peasants say), Savadi ka-a-a (so the women say)
Thank you - Khap-khoop-khap (so the men say), Khap-khoop-ka-ah (so the women say)
Phrases on the topic Food
Phrases on the topic Food
Phrases on the topic Food
Phrases on the topic Food
Phrases on the topic Renting and shopping
Phrases on the topic Renting and shopping
Apps for Android and iOS
UPDATE. The post was written a few years ago, when we didn't have smartphones with a bunch of different useful applications. So now communication in any country has become much easier if you have a modern telephone. I have several dictionaries, but most often I use regular Google Translate.
Google translate is an application that can translate text between many languages (it is better to use a bunch of English => Thai, it works more correctly), pronounce words and phrases, translate the photographed text. Moreover, for some time now it can still work without the Internet (only translation will be available), for this you need to download the necessary language packs in advance.
Surely, there are other applications created specifically for the Thai language, but we did not need them, there was always enough Google. Moreover, most often we are in developed cities and resorts, and there almost everyone speaks English, even if it is very simple and distorted.
Calculator to help
Thais are easier to handle with numbers. Most likely your question «How much» (How Much), you will be prompted to take a look at their calculator where the seller has typed the desired amount. You can point with your fingers, for example, show 25 with your fingers 2, then 5. Even if your Thai interlocutor knows English numbers, it is still better to pronounce three-digit numbers, for example 524, call them five, two, four.
Thai English pronunciation
Thais have specific English. This is manifested in both pronunciation and grammar of the language, and when we first arrived in Thailand, I did not immediately learn to understand the English phrases addressed to me. Here are some of their pronunciation features that can help you understand their Thai English by ear..
Our country is recognized only if it is pronounced like Rasia, if you tell a Thai that you are from Russia, most likely he will not understand you the first time.
Be aware that they rarely make a sound «with», and the sound «R» is almost always replaced by «l». Because of this, the English word Gesthouse in Thai version will be Gethau, the words rent and room will sound like «tapes» and «lum», and the dish fried rice (fried rice) will be - fly lai.
In general, for the same reason, Thais hammer and swallow the specific sound of English, indicated by the letter combination «th», therefore, the word month (English month) in Thai English will sound like «man», monthly - as «manley».
Well, and if the question «Do you have ...» you are told «No have», then you have just been answered «No, I don’t have ...». Well, this is so, a note for advanced polyglots. 🙂
P.S. In general, do not be afraid of the language barrier in this country, English is spoken there in all tourist places (they speak Russian in Pattaya), you just need to get used to the pronunciation, and with the help of such weapons as ingenuity and gestures, it will be difficult to disappear in general: )
