Asper

I speak only a few words of Thai, and understand fewer. Put it down to laziness, a Thai wife who speaks English, and grey matter that has been rendered unusable by repeated applications of mind-altering substances (mostly alchohol).

English is difficult to teach, partially because there are many different words that describe the same thing. We come to imagine English as excessively verbose, Thai as concise and terse, making the most with the least.

Imagine my surprise when I dragged a student into the staffroom to explain (for me) to a Thai teacher why she hadn't been coming to my classses. The conversation, Thai student/Thai teacher went on for ten minutes as I stood by uncomprehendingly. The upshot was that my course was inappropriate to her degree requirement.

There. Issue summarized in one sentence. What required 10 minutes of discussion? I'll never know I guess.

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