Thread: teaching a thai english

My Thai wife spoke very little English when we first met, but after we got married she learned to speak, read, and write English entirely on her own. We were living in the USA, and she spent a lot of time watching TV (especially American football). She became a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys (which I don't care for, being a Packer fan and all), and quickly picked up on all the rules of the NFL.

She didn't have too many Thai friends, but became good friends with mostly English-speaking people. Today she can speak and read/write English as well as she speaks and read/writes Thai.

Bottom line; exposure to English-only communication.

Good luck.

When I taught the local village kids (started off as two...ended with 20-25)...at home I had them teach me Thai/Laos...Alphabet to start and simple words...names of objects/fruit/trees/parts of the anatomy (face, ears,eyes arms,legs etc before anyone says something).....Numbers were easy...using cards or fingers...doesn't take long and gains confidence quickly...

Most important thing was to repeat last lesson at start of the next one...keep them entertaining (easy if it is a G/F)...Better to understand a little well...and let that little build up.

Most of all...learn from her too...If you can master her language at the same rate...then things start to fall in place quickly....If she won't teach you Thai...think to yourself why?

well about 1 or 2 hours a day for the last few months have done wonders, she now speaks, reads and writes english well, even her boss has noticed and she now is called upon to help out with english speaking customers, so i must say, that if they are interested to learn,they will pick it up very quickly, and it was fun,we both enjoyed the lessons and now we are working on my Thai
she used to say, i go shop.... now she says i am going shopping
a big difference in only a few months

And always model correct language and grammar.

nothing worse than hearing some geezer say "I go Shop darlink, you want come?"

Send her to work in a bar. You'd be amazed how much she'll pick up in six months.

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

And always model correct language and grammar.

nothing worse than hearing some geezer say "I go Shop darlink, you want come?"

I've never heard a Thai stress a K at an end of the word before (hardly ever a P or T - your teaching technique must be very good.

Well done Robbo, now get a new g/f and start all over again.

well thanks betty boo, but she was an excellent student and very keen to learn so it made my job quite easy, very different i believe to a classroom full of uninterested kids

Well done Robbo, now get a new g/f and start all over again.

ha ha ha with all the work i put into this one, no thanks!!! beside that i think i might have found a gem, time will tell, but so far everything is cool

Originally Posted by robbo

beside that i think i might have found a gem

I hope you're right; good luck.

If You Shout Loud Enough Everyone Understands

For what it's worth, try to use less idioms and phrasal verbs when you speak with her.

get laid
get you
get over it
get busy

etc.

The more you use phrases like this with beginner/intermediate level English learners, the more confusion you will cause.
To set solid foundations in English, your vocabulary and sentence structure should be as simple as possible, while also using correct English.

Don't fall into the expat trap of saying "I go to the shop yesterday" because you think it's easier for her to understand. It's not. It's just teaching her bad habits and making you sound like a muppet.

It is possible to speak simply and correctly. I do it every day with 6-8 year olds.

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

nothing worse than hearing some geezer say "I go Shop darlink, you want come?"

you'd be surprised how many so called english teachers talk like that

Simple. Just tell her the 'ing' can mean 'gam-lang' or 'kwarm' - she should get that or she has no chance. I hope you know a little bit of Thai. Or is this some kind of experiment?

Originally Posted by 9999

Simple. Just tell her the 'ing' can mean 'gam-lang' or 'kwarm' - she should get that or she has no chance. I hope you know a little bit of Thai. Or is this some kind of experiment?

this was a thread started quite a long time ago when i was having trouble explaining ....get and getting, since then, and many hours of study her english is very good and as i have stated in a previous post, that her boss now gets her to help out with any english speaking customers

so no, this was not an expieriment, it was a genuine request for help that has kept this thread going now for quite some months,with thanks to all that have offered their own little bit of advice,google translate was an excellent tool along with her willing attitude

Unfortunately you stumbled onto one of the most confusing English-Thai issues. The Thai word "hai" is often translated to English as "get" but it has many meanings, give, allow, for/in order to and more. Maybe better that you use "bring"="ow mah" in Thai