When trying to speak in English to help a foreign library user, it is useful to remember that there are many differences between English as it is studied in our classrooms and the way it is spoken in real life. One difference is that in real life, there is no Thai teacher to explain things in Thai language. This puts added pressure on us to figure out how to use English words on their own without having lots of explanations and rules given to us in Thai language. This is how English is taught in the Kingdom, and may be one reason why so few Thai people find it enjoyable to speak, read, and write English. One of the good things about English in real life is that it is not necessary to say full sentences to get our messages across. In the classroom, teachers may expect us to answer questions using a subject, object, and verb. In the library when real people ask questions in English, they do not care if the answer is in the form of a complete sentence. All they care about is getting the information they are looking for. Some examples of sentence fragments that are perfectly acceptable as answers to questions will follow. If we are working in the library and an English speaker asks us:

Where are the toilets?

or

Where are the rest rooms?

it is helpful to point in the direction of the rest rooms, and answer as quickly as possible:

Over there.

or we might answer, as we point in the right direction:

That way.

If the visitor needs more detailed information, we can always add:

Walk straight ahead. They are at the end of the hallway.

Usually it is enough to just say in what direction rest rooms may be found, and point in the correct direction. This also works when we must direct library users to other floors of the library. In the Pridi Banomyong Library, if we are on the U3 level, and a visitor asks us in English where the reference desk is, this may confuse us. We may worry that we have to create a full sentence in English in our minds, such as

The reference desk is at the entrance to the Pridi Banomyong Library, upstairs on the U1 level.

In fact, this kind of response, while given good marks in English classes, probably contains too much information, and is not like real English conversation. For example, we do not need to remind visitors that they are in the Pridi Banomyong Library, since they already know that. We also do not need to repeat the words reference desk, since they know what they are asking about. Instead, the quickest way to answer and give useful information, making visitors happy, would be to point upwards to show that the reference desk is to be found on a higher floor, and answer:

Upstairs. Near the entrance.

This kind of sentence fragment is especially useful because it can be used to answer many different kinds of questions. If library users ask us on the U3 level, where there are no rest rooms, where a rest room can be found, we can adapt our answer by pointing up and saying:

Upstairs. At the end of the hallway.

This answer informs visitors on the U3 floor that the nearest rest room is on the U2 floor, and how to get to it after they have climbed a flight of stairs. This approach can be adapted for all the branches of the Thammasat University Libraries. Many of our TU faculty libraries have rest rooms for public use outside of the libraries, located near the elevators on the floors where the libraries are found. Inside these libraries, to answer the question from foreign visitors about where the rest rooms are, we can point in the correct direction and explain:

Outside. Near the elevators.

This immediately gives the visitors the most important information that no rest rooms are to be found inside the library itself. They must go outside the library. Once they are outside the library, they are also informed where to look for them. Typically in Thai English, a question like this gets as an immediate response silence or confusion, as the library staff member thinks with great effort about how to translate a long sentence full of useful information from Thai language into English. As we see, the problem can be solved very quickly by using only four words:

Outside. Near the elevators.

This means that giving information in English is quicker and easier than we might think it is. We do not have to be walking versions of Google Translate, thinking in Thai and translating in English. By pointing and saying just a few words, we can be helpful to English-speaking library users. Sometimes we must limit the information given in directions because telling foreign visitors too much can confuse them. For example, if we are working on the U1 level of the Pridi Banomyong Library, and an English-speaking visitor asks us where the foreign language fiction is shelved, it is not necessary to say:

The English language fiction is shelved downstairs on the U2 level, near the Ajarn Adul Wichiencharoen Room.

This is too much information, and some of it may not be understood by English-speaking library users who are not familiar with the library or Thai names. There is no point in referring to the Ajarn Adul Wichiencharoen Room in giving directions, since most library visitors will have no idea where that is, and they will not be able to find it, since the signs outside of it are only in Thai language. Again, in real-life English conversation, it is not helpful or expected to repeat key phrases that other people have asked us about, so we do not need to mention English language fiction again. Instead, we can just point downward and say:

Downstairs.

If the visitors want more detailed directions and ask, Where downstairs? We can add:

Downstairs on the Underground 2 level.

This should provide enough information so that the visitor does not feel lost. Keep in mind that since pronunciation is usually a challenge, the fewer words we speak, the more likely it is that a foreign visitor will understand what we are trying to say. In case of further confusion, we can always show visitors maps posted in the library which should indicate in English where certain categories of books are shelved, library services may be found, and rest rooms located. Yet it is a good feeling to know that without pointing visitors in the directions of a sign, we can answer requests for information in English with just a few words, quickly and efficiently.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)