thainglish

My students' English is better than my Thai. So much better, in fact, that I am constantly humbled by their ability to converse with me. Some students who couldn't even say "hello" six months ago are now able to have conversations with me. They are even starting to learn Italian and French musical terms. (German, for some reason, is proving to be more difficult.)

While my Thai skills are languishing, I am becoming more adept at understanding what my students really mean when they say certain things in English.

For instance:

"Not sure" means "Absolutely not, but I will never answer my teacher in the negative."

"OK" often means "I have no idea what you just said, but you are clearly waiting for some kind of response." (Sometimes it actually means "OK.")

They are also becoming more adept at predicting my (perhaps too formulaic?) responses to their playing. They will often try to beat me to the punch, saying what they think I'm about to say.

For instance:

"Again please." I never have to say this anymore. They say it for me. I think it's become some kind of an inside joke among them.

Often when they come in for their lessons, after the hellos and how-are-yous, I ask "Are you ready?" Now, sometimes a student will come in and the first thing out of his mouth is "I am ready."

They know that lessons always start with scales. Call me rigid, call me doctrinaire, and Betty when you call me you can call me Al....oh wait, sorry. Where was I? Lessons always start with scales. Several of my students will come in, put their music on the stand, and announce, "Scale." What's interesting about this is that the Thai pronunciation of the word "scale" has three syllables. "Sah-cay-un."

Then there is the other side of the coin: I do know enough Thai that sometimes it's easier for me to get my point across by using Thai words. I often find myself saying things like these sparkling linguistic jewels:

"Crescendo nit-noy."

• crescendo: Italian musical term for "get louder"
• nit-noy: Thai for "a little bit"

"Mai chai A major. Mee E#. Ni F# minor."

• mai chai: Thai for "is not"
• A major and F# minor: two tonalities that have the same key signature
• mee: Thai for "have"
• E#: the note that is a dead giveaway for F# minor
• ni: Thai for "this"

"Ein wenig bewegter same-same un poco agitato"

• ein wenig bewegter: German musical term for "a little more agitated"
• same-same: Thainglish for, well, same-same
• un poco agitato: Italian musical term, same-same ein wenig bewegter