Avoiding repetition

Pronouncing English is always a challenge to non-native speakers of English. Even native speakers of English may have problems with pronunciation. In the Kingdom, students are not taught what standard English speech should sound like. So they cannot make sounds in standard American or standard British speech. This can prevent our staff from being understood by English-speaking visitors to the library. This is especially the case when the visitors are themselves not native speakers of English, or if they speak English with regional accents. If our visitors are from Asia or the ASEAN nations, they will probably speak English with a specific accent and not be accustomed to understanding Thai pronunciation of English. So the question arises of what to do if our staff try to say something to English-speaking visitors but are not understood. The usual reaction of the speaker of Thai English is to repeat whatever was said, up to three times or more, hoping that the visitor will finally understand. Some even try to speak louder, as if the volume were the problem. This is not a very efficient method, since it is very time-consuming. Also, the main reason the visitor does not understand may be the particular pronunciation of words in Thai English. Repeating the same pronunciation that is impossible to understand does not help matters, even if it is said louder. A more useful approach would be for our staff to think of other ways to say the same thing. Using different words to express the same message, it is possible that the new words chosen will be more understandable to visitors, when they are pronounced in Thai English. This technique may be challenging for our staff, who are not accustomed to quickly thinking up synonyms for every English word they use. But in some cases, speed of understanding is very important. For example, if a library visitor is rushing past us and we want to warn the visitor that the floor is wet because it has just been mopped by our cleaning staff. If we take too much time to explain this information, it will probably be too late, so we should not say:

Please watch where you are going, because the floor in front of you is wet and there is danger of falling.

By the time our staff has said all that, the visitor may have already fallen or else will be in some other part of library. Instead, it is best to get the message across with as few words as possible. It is also not a good idea to just yell out words, such as:

Wet floor!

The visitor may not understand these words as pronounced in Thai English, and think that our staff is saying hello. Instead, we should prepare a few alternate expressions to get the attention of visitors, such as:

Watch out!

Look out!

Careful!

When we say these expressions, it is always helpful to point to the danger or problem that we wish to draw attention to. If the visitor still seems confused by one of these expressions, we can try another one. Usually when we offer offer advice in the library, it is polite to say please, but if the message is urgent, and we must warn a visitor as soon as possible, it is probably better to just say:

Careful!

rather than to take the time to be polite and say

Please be careful!

This is because the longer expression may sound less urgent. Once we have the attention of the visitor and they have stopped to look, they may need more information. At this point we may inform them further:

The floor is wet.

There is water on the floor.

The floor is slippery.

They will appreciate that we are concerned about their safety. Remember that it may be necessary to say the same thing two or three different ways, so be prepared to offer other phrases meaning the same thing. Depending on the individual pronunciation habits of our staff, one or another phrase will be most easily understood by our English-speaking visitors.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)