It was late summer of 2010. I had letter of
acceptance to Kasetsart University in my hand. I was really looking forward to
my exchange studies at Bangkok, Thailand.
My English skills were at a good level by then, but I was insecure when
I needed to talk. Speaking went well when needed, but I hestitated with
opening the conversations. One major expectation for the exchange period was to
get some fluency in my oral English skills.
Finally, I was in Thailand.
Everybody seemed to speak excellent English… until I stepped out of the airport.
The reality hit me. Outside workers didn’t speak English at all when I tried to
find the place where hire a cab.
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| Jani in Thailand |
I was lucky with my Taxi driver.
He spoke good English on the scale in Thailand. There was massive traffic jam
on the way to my hotel so I had a plenty of time to chat with the driver.
Because of the traffic jam, I
walked the last 1.5 kilometers to my hotel. I stopped every now and then to ask
directions from the locals. Usually they didn’t speak English at all, but they
understood the word ‘Hotel’ and the name of it. Finally I reached the
destination after 27 hours of travelling.
On the first day of school, we met our tutor teacher. I had received
emails from him earlier and those were written in fluent English. When he
opened his mouth for the first time, reality collapsed. It was extremely
difficult to understand nearly anything he said. His pronunciation was way
different that we Europeans were used to.
At least all subject teachers spoke understandable English. Some of them
like natives.
During my exchange period, I made notations that it varies enormously
how well Thais speak English. Young generation and especially university
students spoke at least that much so that you were able to have basic
conversation with them. Naturally, people in the tourist business spoke
understandable English. A little by little, my ear got used to Thai-accent and
it was easier to understand them day by day.
In everyday life I developed a habit of speaking very simple English.
When I bought some fresh fruits from a street shack I didn’t say: “I would like
to have two water melons”. Instead of it, I said “two water melons” and pointed
out what I wanted. It influenced my English skills in a negative way.
Nevertheless, I was speaking English every day and I had various situations during
the day I needed to use it so I got confidence to start speaking with foreign
language without hesitation about words or bad pronunciation.
I was travelling around the south-east Asia quite much during the
exchange semester. While travelling, I met a lot of other travelers which gave
me opportunities to communicate with proper language. While communication with
people from other countries, for example from Europe or middle-East I noticed
that the level of English skills of Finnish people is in a quite high level
comparing to them. We are just too dismissive about our skills.
After the exchange period, I kept travelling for a couple of months. I
had the time of my life. I spent many nights in restaurants hanging out with
other travelers just waffling on everything possible on earth.
The last week I stayed in Thailand, I was travelling with a person from
the States. I really enjoyed accompanying a person who speaks native English.
Just within a week I expanded my active vocabulary enormously.
As an epilogue I could say, the trip was an eye opening experience. I
got confidence in my oral English skills. It was cheerful to notice that in my
summer job where I spoke daily English on the phone.
If you have an opportunity to go on exchange, GO!
http://janimatkalla.blogspot.fi/2010/08/ensimmainen-viikko-takana.html
Text and picture: Jani Vehviläinen, student in the course Independent Study in English, spring 2013
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