A shower thought that I don't think many expats give much consideration
- HaifongWangchuck
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Re: A shower thought that I don't think many expats give much consideration
Is that honestly so different from an Anglophonic country like the UK or US? I know things have changed quite a bit as the Great Occidental Cultural Revolution continues, but I remember both the US and UK having lots of cultural pressure, just from different angles: in the West, you're called sexist if you're chivalrous, not to mention the bizarre dance one must learn about any number of topics, from Ableism to Zionism: Say the wrong thing, even if you are unaware, and you may be quickly fired, even arrested.newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Mon Feb 19, 2024 6:07 pm
Japanese love all the unwritten rules. They’ve spent a lifetime learning them. Taught from birth, reinforced in university.
(Speaking of which, I still remember an episode of the Simpsons where Homer was heavily chastised for wearing pink and used this as a source of humour, something completely uncontroversial in Japan)
Serious question: What freedom does say, Canada or the UK or New York have, that Japan does not?nd yet, many Japanese long for the freedom of Western society.
Reminds me of parallels with Ireland.Culturally, the Ryukyu Kingdom was independent from Japan. Even after the conquest, Japan “pretended” it didn’t conquer the Kingdom, per treaty China would invade if it was conquered. The Japanese boot only happened after China went downhill and threat of invasion disappeared..
Re: A shower thought that I don't think many expats give much consideration
If your Khmer is sloppy, and you don't care about the correct consonants and vowels that much it's indeed possible to make a faux pas, but it's usually laughed away easily by the locals. However, the examples you give are as similar as 'pen' and 'man' in English (your first example) and the second as much as 'slang' and 'sling'. The vowels and consonants used in your examples, and thus the sounds, are pretty distinctive, even for beginners IMHO.HaifongWangchuck wrote: ↑Tue Feb 20, 2024 11:01 pm The fact of the matter is, it's not so much that many Khmer don't prefer speaking their language--Unlike in many places I've travelled, people here speak to you in the local dialect if they can understand you and you prefer it--but the issue is, *if* they understand you!
Or even worse, if you make an embarassing mistake that makes them want to laugh: Khmer of all languages I can think of is probably the most easy to make a linguistic faux pas, as lot of embarassing words or offensive terms are homophones with common, every day words.
For example, "ប៉ះ" is a very common word, meaning to touch something; but most foreign visitors almost always pronounce it as "បាស់", which means to rise up like an erection.
Another more common example that most expats are familiar with is the similarity between ក្តៅ, which means "hot/warm", and "ក្ត", which is a rude slang term for the penis.
So it remains that many Khmer will try to speak in English not just to try and be polite, but also to spare you from an embarassing faux pas as well.
- Big Daikon
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Re: A shower thought that I don't think many expats give much consideration
Missed this comment. Will disagree with NKOTB. Japanese are turning away from the US and the West. Their focus is much more Asia-centered at this point. Japan does more business with China than with the US, Japanese students studying in the US is on the decline and so on. I have witnessed first-hand Japanese university students choosing to study Chinese and Korean rather than English.HaifongWangchuck wrote: ↑Tue Feb 20, 2024 11:14 pmSerious question: What freedom does say, Canada or the UK or New York have, that Japan does not?newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Mon Feb 19, 2024 6:07 pmAnd yet, many Japanese long for the freedom of Western society.
Elon Musk commented on this a few years ago. The Japanese are not impressed with the US/general West like they used to be.
- HaifongWangchuck
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Re: A shower thought that I don't think many expats give much consideration
Kammekor wrote: ↑Wed Feb 21, 2024 7:53 amIf your Khmer is sloppy, and you don't care about the correct consonants and vowels that much it's indeed possible to make a faux pas, but it's usually laughed away easily by the locals.HaifongWangchuck wrote: ↑Tue Feb 20, 2024 11:01 pm The fact of the matter is, it's not so much that many Khmer don't prefer speaking their language--Unlike in many places I've travelled, people here speak to you in the local dialect if they can understand you and you prefer it--but the issue is, *if* they understand you!
Or even worse, if you make an embarassing mistake that makes them want to laugh: Khmer of all languages I can think of is probably the most easy to make a linguistic faux pas, as lot of embarassing words or offensive terms are homophones with common, every day words.
For example, "ប៉ះ" is a very common word, meaning to touch something; but most foreign visitors almost always pronounce it as "បាស់", which means to rise up like an erection.
Another more common example that most expats are familiar with is the similarity between ក្តៅ, which means "hot/warm", and "ក្ត", which is a rude slang term for the penis.
So it remains that many Khmer will try to speak in English not just to try and be polite, but also to spare you from an embarassing faux pas as well.
I don't consider this a good thing if you are genuinely trying to make a positive impression with Khmer: would you want a potential business partner in a land deal laughing away at how one speaks, afterall?
"Man" and "pen" are completely different as one begins with a labial consonant and the other starts with a plosive. My example is a lot more relevant, as both begins with plosives that have a very subtle difference yet nonetheless this difference holds a key distinction.However, the examples you give are as similar as 'pen' and 'man' in English (your first example) and the second as much as 'slang' and 'sling'.
A better example for would be "they're" and "their" or the difference between "th" in "this" versus its pronunciation in "thick", but perhaps with a lot more socially unacceptable consequences ("nigger" and "niggard" is one familiar to a lot of Americans).
The vowels and consonants used in your examples, and thus the sounds, are pretty distinctive, even for beginners IMHO.
Re: A shower thought that I don't think many expats give much consideration
Makes me wonder how you pronounce ប៉ះ and បាស់.HaifongWangchuck wrote: ↑Thu Feb 22, 2024 3:30 pm
"Man" and "pen" are completely different as one begins with a labial consonant and the other starts with a plosive. My example is a lot more relevant, as both begins with plosives that have a very subtle difference yet nonetheless this difference holds a key distinction.
And if you think the words 'pen' and 'ben' can be confused easily.
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