I’m ashamed to admit that it’s something I haven’t quite done yet after living in this country for almost 4 years. Well, not fluently anyway. That being said, I do know and understand enough to get by. Sometimes though, it does get to me - especially when I have to sit in meetings conducted in Thai for hours on end. It is frustrating to be in such situations when I know that those people in the same meeting can perfectly speak and understand English. But, of course, they are more comfortable in their own native language so, as the lone foreigner, who am I to demand such grace for my own benefit? Someone can always translate. Granted, I can understand that some words are difficult to translate…but my question is, why then would I need to be in meetings conducted in full Thai where I can hardly contribute constructively?
Truth be told, I usually can understand 50% of the discussions and sometimes would comment between the conversations. But, give me about an hour and I find it hard to keep up. My attention span is only so much. After all, English is almost native to me. Would I learn to speak Thai as fluently as the Thais themselves? Maybe in time...but sadly, I have no strong inclination to do so. That’s just because I’m such a lazy cow and I have other priorities in my spare time. After all, I managed in the last few years with my pidgin Thai.
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2 comments:
To me you are doing great with 50% understanding. It's impolite to chair a meeting in Thai when there is someone present who is not fluently in this language.
One would think that impolite would be the general concensus. I don't particularly condone it, but I usually let it slip. Sometimes, they appologize. Generally, I don't have the upper-hand in this as I'm usually the only foreigner out of 5-10 people in the room. Majority rules. And I get the occasional comment of "you should be learning Thai!"...
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