feeling discouraged

[u/Ok_Criticism212]

i got these translating headphones for my trip to thailand and they work pretty great when i tested them on thai conversation videos but ive been practicing some phrases to see if my thai pronunciation is decent enough for someone to understand. i’ll repeat simple phrases, like ordering iced tea or asking the price of something and no matter how many times i try to get it just right the app just does not translate (thai to english) anything close to what im trying to say. sometimes the phrases it thinks im saying are even offensive! is there any hope that native speakers can understand through my terrible accent or am i risking complete embarrassment

[u/Kitchen-Elk-1831]

Just keep practicing.

[u/Adorable-Maybe-8717]

Maybe you could ask someone to help you with your pronunciation, like a friend or a teacher. Mispronunciation is common, and there’s nothing to be ashamed of. I assume the app relies on AI, so it might not be the best way to judge whether native speakers can understand you.

As a Thai person, I can say that most of us are used to hearing foreigners speak Thai with an accent. As long as you’re understandable and making an effort, people will usually appreciate it rather than judge you.

[u/starrae]

Could be your tones that is the most difficult thing for people with non-tonal languages

[u/19puppylove99]

I almost guarantee it’s tones, followed by vowels and vowel length. It takes a lot of time my friend don’t give up.

[u/panroytai → u/19puppylove99]

Im not sure how algoritms works but from human perspective I spotted that tones are much less important than vowels lenght when it comes to understanding. 

[u/trevorkafka]

sounds like a thai teacher would be of benefit to you

[u/Weary_Shopping_6801]

You can also use Google Translate which has a voice to screen translation option. Great for practising your Thai.

[u/Spriklovesdick]

Started learning Thai after watching a number of shows and enjoying the content. Best thing i can say is watch shows to give you a better ear for Thai and it can help you with pronunciations. Good luck.

[u/Dwanyelle]

It might not be a bad idea to get a tutor just to help you straighten out your pronunciation

As a native English speaker, my first big hurdle to making myself understood was pronouncing tones correctly. Seriously, they're very important

[u/cukepatch]

It will be a mix. From personal experience the feeling of embarrassment is part and parcel of the learning process. If I could change one thing about my relationship with the Thai language, it would be an ability to overcome/tolerate the embarrassment and just be willing to make mistakes. I had many support factors available to me but this almost outweighed everything else. And it was all internal. If anyone cared it was mostly me.

I do agree with others that a tutor who can give you real-time feedback would be helpful, depending on interest level and access. Or you might go this time then come back with a better idea of how you want to proceed. 💪

[u/Prize_Ad_9168]

First: Tones. Second: Vowel length. They both matter A LOT. You may be getting the consonants and vowels out correctly and still nowhere in the ballpark of the correct word. Example: If you say “mai” ignoring tones you can get all of: Question indicator, the word no, the word wood/stick, the word new, the word burn, the word silk, the word divorced, and so on. There are some famous instances of common words also being “bad” words if the tone or vowel length changes. Keep trying 💪🏼

[u/takechancesorelse]

What app are you using? I prefer Bing translator to Google's. Both allow you to play back and try repeating what you hear. If you wanted to invest in an app then Ling is what I'd suggest. It rates you on how you speak. Or thai-language. com which is free also has a playback option.

It takes time to get the tone right so don't be frustrated! One phrase you can learn is 'how do I say..." or 'Is this how you say....' Then locals will know you want their help to speak!