WHY DOESN'T YOUR THAI MAKE SENSE? Make people understand you in Thai even as a beginner.

[@RealThailander]

Find the video teaching you how to pronounce the two different T sounds and P sounds here kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJDEoKJ3l9Wfg6s

[@ady38]

@@RealThailander as a native English speaker I hear other English speakers confuse ต/ด เละ ป/บ/พ เละ ง/น plus vowel length as well. I know even after almost 2 years of learning Thai, I still need to concentrate to produce these sounds clearly.

[@RealThailander]

@@ady38 I say you have progressed so much in the last two years. It’s not at all easy to differentiate those and the short and vowel sounds. After so many years of learning English I still have to concentrate a lot when I say words starting with CH and SH.

[@ady38]

@@RealThailander yeah that's right, and your excellent pronunciation shows the benefits of your hard work too bro! Especially in being able to make clear word endings which many Thais struggle with. Keep making those videos, many people will benefit from your experience..

[@edsizhands5974]

I recently moved from the US to Bangkok and this is extremely helpful as I try to learn the language! Thank you 🙏🏻

[@ExpatriatePaul]

I agree with a lot of this, and even after I've been learning Thai for more than 16 years I still struggle with sentence structure. But then I started learning the language when I was already 44 y/o, but I do think it helps that I learned to read and write Thai as well. Doubtful I'll ever achieve fluency, but I will keep learning.

[@jinxi6414]

just ran int your videos and channel.Absolutely love it! Please continue to make more of it. Thank you so much for all the great tips and info!

[@mandobaron]

I’m moving to Bangkok in a month and your channel has become one of my favorites, thank you! Would love to buy you a beer or meal for all your hard work, your videos are so well thought out and communicated!

[@RealThailander]

You must be excited for the move! And thank you so much for your kind words and the offer. I wish I could take it up but I live in Chiang Mai. Let me know if you ever come up north!

[@nosguitar1]

What an original take. I too am an oldie , at the point at which I can remember what I learned in my 30s , but since retiring here and trying to improve , I am finding it difficult to assimilate new words . However , I do enjoy listening to learn and find that really does help. What you say about register and local pronunciation are great points. Thank you I have subscribed.

[@Bhatmann]

Excellent critical thinking skills on this nuanced matter of language and understanding.

[@AndyfromDoncaster]

Great film thankyou Khun Jaem . I always start off with, ‘Hello, how are you,’ and general things like, ‘What lovely weather.’ So the person gets an idea of my accent. Only then do I speak with more complex comments. Works so much better. Best wishes from me here.

[@RealThailander]

thanks for watching. And it's impressive that you have already been using the trick to start the conversation in Thai!

[@AndyfromDoncaster]

@ ha ha. Thanks Khun Jaem. I have in fact made some terrible mistakes speaking Thai in some very embarrassing situations, using slightly the wrong words and tones. However, generally I do okay. Thanks for your advice and uploads.

[@dannguyen655]

Very nuanced advice here thank you. Also helpful that you mentioning your Th vs T video, keep on going with the quality!

[@adamhend3211]

Great tips thanks Buddy. Very good work.

[@JO_R_D]

Especially liked the part about different registers for languages! Such a great point!

[@RealThailander]

Thank you Yotin! 🙏

[@KeithLangOnline]

Excellent

[@rupertspencer6382]

I am enjoying your videos. They are very insightful. I run into the other side of the coin. When I speak Thai to someone that doesn't really know me they assume that I can speak Thai and reply in rapid-fire Thai that is too fast for me to understand and use words that I haven't yet learned.

[@sazji]

Really good ideas here. I’m only just starting to approach Thai but have worked on Vietnamese and many of these issues ring true. I live in a largely Vietnamese neighborhood with lots of Mexicans as well, and I always noticed that even if I spoke crap Spanish, Mexican people were always happy to speak it back to me. Vietnamese… Not so much. They just were not so used to hearing their language spoken by non-Vietnamese. As I improved my pronunciation they did become less weirded out by it. I actually pick up accents and pronunciation fairly quickly so it soon became the opposite problem, I would say something and they would assume that I knew a lot more than I did, and come back in very quick colloquial Vietnamese. And then when I didn’t get it, they’d say, “oh, I thought you actually knew Vietnamese!” (Ego crushed 😂) But at least that is real speech. As for “register” - - that’s really challenging. The linguistic term for that is “formant,” the vocal placement of a language. And you’re spot-on - kids up to a certain age hone in on sounds long before meaning. After that it’s one thing to try and pronounce consonants and vowels right, but people tend to forget how to listen beyond that. Someone recently asked me how to say something in Vietnamese (“hear”) and I said the word, “nghe”. But that “e” is quite strident and a bit nasal. He said “why are you saying it weird?” It sounded odd, but if you sit and listen to (especially) Southern Vietnamese people talking, you’ll hear that strident “e” a lot. People can feel quite self-conscious when they’re asked not only to use new words, and tones, but also change the most basic way they use their voice. Especially in the US, some people are afraid they might be seen as “mocking” people if they change their voice to match them. When they hear an Asian person learning English, they just assume it’s “the way their voice is,” but Asian-Americans who grow up speaking English don’t have that strident or high-pitch vocal placement. (I’ve even heard of people claiming that Vietnamese people have “different vocal equipment” and that it’s impossible for foreigners to reproduce those sounds. Which is nonsense of course, people just don’t really try. :-) Translating from the mother language is a big one, and also letting go of rigid ideas about propriety. Like in Vietnamese you’d order by saying “Give one ______.” Or “give (pronoun) one ______.” That sounds rude in English, but it’s perfectly okay in Viet. It takes a while to get used to, and to remember to use the “politeness words” in the right situations…

[@RealThailander]

I don’t have anything to add! I learned so much from your comment and I will have to come back reading it again a few more times because there are just many interesting aspects about it! Thank you!

[@melissaoficinalis]

Brilliant video, thank you! I love it, you are on point on every topic. And I like the way you express yourself, it's easy to understand and it makes total sense 🙏

[@RealThailander]

thank you so much!

[@timg63]

Great video. I'm an accent/voice coach teaching RP English (also studying Thai) and all your points are very important and well explained, particularly the one about listening. It's amazing how many of my students overlook this, despite living in the UK.

[@RealThailander]

That's both interesting and encouraging to hear! Thank you for leaving this comment

[@timg63]

@ also congratulations on your accent. It’s a actually very hard to master nuanced native intonation in English learning it as an adult, especially if your mother tongue is tonal, so your speech in English is really impressive.

[@wheymano]

These videos are getting better and better with every episode. I love that you researched so much to explain things (+ the mention of Oman ❤). Your English is more perfect than mine, you speak like a Toastmaster! BTW, no have money (97k).

[@RealThailander]

Thank you so much. This means a lot coming from a former toastmaster club president! 🙏 No have 97k no problem. Try again next year!!

[@roybatterham5002]

I think that the mental block is a big one, especially in Bangkok. In my early days of speaking Thai I found that I could be understood 100% when speaking Thai in Laos or Isaan or the north but in Bangkok people would stare blankly. I think it is partly attitude and partly that people in other parts of Thailand are used to greater diversity and are not thrown off if tones are incorrect.

[@lebedivo]

I live in the North, and sadly this block is a thing here too, I'd say it feels like maybe 10% of Thais I meet make me feel rly bad about 3 years spent on language study. And then the others make me feel like I'm fluent, I think some are just naturally more sensitive to the tones than the others, similar to how some of us are more sensitive to different speech disorders.

[@alexandersanders6684]

✌️ My mother tongue is Polish. In my Polish school we also learned English. My studies brought me to Amsterdam, Berlin and Oxford. I couldn't use my English from Poland. There were too many noises, false noises. To quickly speak and understand another language, you need to get a robust dictionary. The pronunciation is then a lot of practice. In Thailand it is probably even more difficult with the pronunciation. There is probably more singing here. Well, one and one more try is always worth it. But yes, thank you very much for your video. Maybe you'll explain the land of smiles to us in a new video. So more the secrets of the smile. Or ; when does a Thai quadruple his face.. Thanks bro . ⭐️👍🏻 12:42

[@RealThailander]

Thanks so much for watching! Great ideas about featuring about Thai smiles. I have been to Poland a few times. Found the language to be challenging! But I think I manage to say thank you and goodbye quite well.. and hello (so so)

[@SamaraMurtaugh]

the mental block is soooo real BUT I have to say-I remember the moment in learning Thai that my brain finally understood that I couldn’t just translate from english-it was a game changer

[@RealThailander]

@@SamaraMurtaugh right? I have witnessed that a lot. And yeah game changer for me too when I learn that I couldn’t use my Thai brain for English

[@annetenremcointhailand-et3rk]

Good advice. Thank you.

[@alexandersmith9499]

Happens quite often - I have often said, "I am speaking Thai to you right now".... Usually there is a second Thai person nearby asking the person, "Why don't you understand him? HE IS speaking Thai!" 555

[@RealThailander]

I can totally imagine that.

[@flynn9727]

Awesome video

[@RealThailander]

Thank you!

[@SteveSmith-zz4ih]

WaDee Khrup, can you do a summary at the end of the video, perhaps dot points, if there is too much talking/speaking i switch off mentally i like short straight answers other wise its confusing, yes i am a slow learner "short and sweet" works for Moi, Khop Khun Khrup Mak.

[@KarenLedesma-w8i]

❤ yes mental block. OMG sometimes I just look at them and don’t understand what and why?… 😂😂😂 but it happens to me in Spanish😂😂😂

[@AnotherHomeChef]

คำแนะนำที่ดี ขอบคุณครับ!

[@RealThailander]

ขอบคุณที่รับชมครับ! 🙏

[@JohnLee-bf7os]

Hi, Do you teach basic Thai language. If not can you recommend any school to enroll ? Thanks

[@eddiejohnson4434]

People who speak English as their native tongue accept a wider range of pronunciation and mistakes, it’s what the world uses so it makes sense. But other countries that aren’t used to foreigners learning their language seem less tolerant. Thai is my 4th language to learn (but my 5th is already surpassing Thai haha) and I’ve never gotten as many unhelpful responses, people who don’t even wanna try to speak to me or flat out rude. Thais are great, and these are just some encounters. I know I’m not advanced in Thai, but there was a time I wasn’t advanced in the other languages and people didn't respond like this.

[@RealThailander]

Thanks for watching and for sharing! Your comment resonates with a comment by my friend who's learned Thai for sometime. She said at the beginning people cheered her on and complimented her but as years roll on when she speaks more, some locals are very harsh and quite critical by her choice of words and pronunciation.

[@R-sn1ty]

I tried to order a coconut in thai and the guy gave me the dirtiest look 😂

[@clivebaxter6354]

I gave up trying years ago, and my wife teaches Thai

[@FrazerHatyai]

Many foreigners use their mother tongues' OS to try and speak Thai. As Stu Jay Raj says, you have to lay down a new Thai OS and stop using English phonetics to pronounce Thai words.

[@freemanol]

Also even small mistakes can make everything unintelligible. Just a few days ago a tourist asked me how to get to Bang Sue on the red line, but he said something like "Baan Ser" with a flat tone. Took me 10 seconds to get it, even as a fellow english-speaking expat who's been here for a few years.

[@mrkopikarat1689]

สวัสดีครับพี่ ผมกำลังเรียนภาษาไทย

[@RID_Thailand]

ขอให้ประสบความสำเร็จเร็ววันครับ 👍

[@RealThailander]

สวัสดีครับ เรียนให้สนุกนะครับ!

[@alternateVSNS]

so to be understood by the locals, dress like the locals ! 😁

[@RealThailander]

Haha damn right.. I think you’ve just outsmarted my whole video!

[@NomenNescio99]

If there is an old Thai woman working at a restaurant, I will usually address her as Mae, mother - is this correct?

[@RealThailander]

It depends where you are in Thailand. In the North, older women like to go by Mae so it’s fine to call them as such. Elsewhere, older Thai women like to go by Bpa ป้า “older auntie” so that may be more suitable.

[@alexandersmith9499]

Happens all the time

[@johnnysukhumvit9242]

He said “I need pad grabow.” He should have at least said “yaak”. But you are correct (of course) that “khaaw” is best as that is what Thais use. Right?

[@RealThailander]

Good job! You are very close. “Yaak” is used when you mention to someone that you desire something. Yaak dai baan (I want to own a house). Yaak dai rot (I want a car). As you can see that it often follows by the word “dai” when it comes to desires for things. You can also use the word Yaak +verb. Yaak gin Khao (wanna eat) Yaak Len game (wanna play games) Having said all that, when you are about to buy things you will use either Khaww or Ao (the latter is less polite than the former)

[@johnnysukhumvit9242]

@ when you say yaak dai baan, it means want _____house. What does dai translate to exactly?

[@ady38]

​@@johnnysukhumvit9242it means "get" in this context. Think of yaak dai as a structure rather than translating each word though. There are MANY of these kind of structures in Thai..trust me it'll save you a lot of pain if you let go of translation mode for these structures and just learn the meaning. A bit like in English if you asked someone to turn off the light. And they asked what turn and off meant. As individual words the phrase makes no sense relative to the task. Ie what are you turning? Off..what? It's not "on" anything..😅

[@RealThailander]

I couldn’t have explained this better!

[@johnnysukhumvit9242]

@@ady38 cool explanation! Is “dai “the same as “can” as in “daai mai?”

[@nigeljohn65]

Maybe the waiter was from Burma...?

[@RealThailander]

That’s a good point. It happened to me a few times too. Although in this case the waiter is definitely Thai.

[@nigeljohn65]

@RealThailander It's happened to me too. But I take your point. Generally, if you speak Thai reasonably well, you will be understood, in my experience, but in places that are very heavily touristed, people may not bother listening.

[@streetracerx535]

In Pattaya Thais speak no thai with farang

[@RealThailander]

That’s sad to hear!

[@R-sn1ty]

🤔

[@czzxzx_MadeinHeaven48]

First of all, Most waiter in Thai restaurant are Burmese.

[@thungwalaen548]

I am from Malaysia, I speak Chinese and Malay. Chinese, Thai and Malay share many similarities in terms of vocabs and sentence structures. So I usually do direct translation when I speak Pasa Thai and Thai people can understand my Thai most of the time although my Thai grammar might not be 100% correct.