Susanin Val ♠️

I’m incredibly proud of this moment. 🇹🇭❤️ My little creation, Candiger, from Juth Studio, is now part of Amazing Thailand × Taiwan Pride 2026, in collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Taipei Office. 🌈🐯 What started as a character inspired by traditional Thai tiger amulets is now traveling beyond Thailand, sharing our culture, beliefs, and blessings with the world. Seeing Candiger featured in the official press release means so much to me. A little tiger, a big journey. And this is only the beginning. ❤️ #JuthStudio #Candiger #AmazingThailand #TaiwanPride2026

English Through a Thai Perspective 🇹🇭 Understanding language learning, cultural backgrounds, and the courage it takes to communicate in a second language. I want to share something about Thai people and the English language. Not to make excuses for imperfect English, but to offer a little perspective on what it means to learn and communicate in a language that isn't your own. And perhaps the best way to explain this is through my own experience. 🔸 Growing Up in a Thai-Speaking World Thailand is a country where Thai is the national and official language and the dominant language of everyday life. Although regional and minority languages are also spoken, most Thai people grow up surrounded primarily by Thai. For someone born to Thai parents, raised in a Thai-speaking household, and educated in the Thai school system, English is generally something learned rather than something naturally experienced in daily life. I am one of those people 🙋‍♂️ I grew up in a Thai-speaking environment. I attended Thai schools, studied in the Thai education system, and never had the opportunity to attend summer school abroad or participate in an international exchange program. My childhood was very much rooted in Thailand. However, I was fortunate to have a mother who introduced me to English in a rather interesting way. She used English storybooks to teach me. She would tell me the stories in Thai and explain what they meant. But if I wanted to read the books myself, I had to figure out the English. That became one of my earliest experiences of learning through reading. When I wanted to watch Hollywood movies, my mother wouldn't let me watch the Thai-dubbed versions. Instead, I had to watch them with English subtitles and work out the meanings myself. At the time, I probably didn't realize how much these little experiences would influence my language development. But looking back, they made a significant difference. Later, when I went to university, I majored in Visual Communication Design and chose English as my minor. After graduation, I went on to work for international companies, where English became an important part of my professional life. Yet despite all these experiences, my English skills did not develop equally. 🥺 And that brings me to something important about language learning. 🔸 The Four Skills of Language Learning In language education, there are four fundamental skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. These skills are closely connected, but they do not necessarily develop at the same pace. They are commonly divided into two categories. 🔹 Receptive Skills — Receiving Information Listening is the ability to understand spoken language. It is one of the earliest ways humans acquire language. Babies listen to sounds long before they begin speaking. Reading is the ability to understand written language. It helps learners develop vocabulary, recognize grammatical structures, and become familiar with different ways of expressing ideas. 🔹 Productive Skills — Expressing Information Speaking involves producing language through speech. It requires not only vocabulary and grammar but also pronunciation, timing, rhythm, and the physical coordination of the mouth and tongue. Writing involves expressing thoughts through written language. It requires vocabulary, grammar, spelling, organization, and the ability to communicate ideas clearly. These four skills support one another. Listening can help develop pronunciation and speaking fluency, while reading can strengthen vocabulary and provide language structures that support writing. However, exposure alone is not always enough. Each skill also requires opportunities for meaningful practice. And this is where my own experience becomes relevant. 🔸 Why My Reading and Writing Developed Faster Than My Speaking Because I grew up reading English books and studying English grammar, my reading and writing skills developed relatively well. I could learn vocabulary from books. I could study grammatical rules. I could take my time understanding sentences and organizing my thoughts before writing them down. Reading and writing gave me something valuable: time to think. Listening was different. Nobody in my everyday childhood environment regularly spoke English to me. Most of my listening practice came from Hollywood movies, television, and music. Later, when I started working for international companies, I had to make a conscious effort to understand my colleagues and supervisors. I learned to listen more carefully, recognize different accents, and gradually become more comfortable with spoken English. But speaking? That was, and in many ways still is, my most challenging skill. Not because I don't understand English. Not because I haven't studied enough. But because understanding a language and producing it naturally in real time are two very different abilities. When I speak, my brain has to retrieve vocabulary, organize sentences, apply grammar, and coordinate pronunciation almost simultaneously. And for someone who has spent most of his life thinking and communicating in Thai, that process requires effort. 🔸 Why English Pronunciation Can Be Particularly Challenging for Thai Speakers Thai and English are fundamentally different in several important ways. These differences can make English pronunciation challenging for native Thai speakers, especially those who have had limited opportunities to use English in everyday conversations. 1. Sounds That Do Not Exist in the Same Form in Thai English contains consonant sounds that are unfamiliar to many Thai speakers. For example, the th sounds in "think" and "those," the v sound in "van," and the z sound in "zoo." Thai speakers may unconsciously substitute familiar Thai sounds when pronouncing these words. This isn't necessarily because they don't know the correct pronunciation. Sometimes, their speech muscles are simply more accustomed to producing the sounds of their first language. 2. Final Consonant Sounds Thai and English handle final consonants differently. Thai has a more restricted set of sounds that can occur at the ends of syllables, and many final consonants are pronounced without an audible release. English, however, uses a wider variety of final consonants and consonant combinations. For example, words ending in -s, -t, -d, or -l may require distinctions that Thai speakers are not accustomed to making. Sometimes, these differences can affect how easily a listener understands a word. 3. Complex Consonant Clusters English allows combinations of several consonants within a single syllable. Consider words such as: String Texts Desks These combinations can be difficult for Thai speakers because Thai syllable structures generally do not contain such complex consonant clusters. 4. Stress and Rhythm Thai is a tonal language, meaning that pitch patterns can distinguish the meanings of words. English, on the other hand, relies heavily on word stress, sentence stress, and rhythm. Although Thai also uses stress and English also uses pitch, the two languages organize these features differently. For Thai speakers, learning where to place stress in English words and sentences can take considerable practice. 5. Connected Speech In natural English conversations, words often flow into one another. Sounds may be linked, reduced, or pronounced differently depending on the surrounding words. For example, "look at it" may sound quite different in fast, connected speech compared with the way each word is pronounced separately. This can make both speaking and listening challenging for learners who are more familiar with carefully articulated English. None of these differences makes English impossible to learn. But they help explain why speaking English naturally can require years of exposure and practice. 🔸 Things Are Changing for Younger Generations Today, Thai families have more educational options than previous generations did. Some schools offer bilingual programs in Thai and English. Others provide trilingual education, incorporating Thai, English, and Chinese. International schools also offer environments where English is used regularly in classrooms and everyday activities. These opportunities can provide students with more exposure to English from an early age. Of course, not every young Thai person has access to these educational pathways, and attending a particular type of school does not automatically guarantee fluency. Nevertheless, increased exposure and opportunities to communicate can make a meaningful difference. For people of my generation, especially those who grew up in predominantly Thai-speaking environments, the experience was often quite different. We learned English as a school subject. Then, when we entered the professional world, many of us suddenly had to use it as a working language. That transition was not always easy. 🔸 Why Don't We Just Take More English Classes? It's a reasonable question. If someone needs English for work, why not simply take additional lessons? The answer is that learning a language requires more than motivation. It also requires time, energy, consistency, and opportunities to practice. And for working adults, those resources can be limited. When you have a demanding job, meetings, deadlines, family responsibilities, and other commitments, finding time for language lessons can be difficult. I understand this personally. I'm currently trying to learn Spanish. 🇪🇸💃 And despite genuinely wanting to improve, I often struggle to find enough time. There are textbooks to read, exercises to complete, vocabulary to memorize, and homework to finish. After a long working day, finding the energy to sit down and study another language isn't always easy. Learning a second or third language as an adult can be a humbling experience. It reminds you how much effort goes into something that native speakers do almost automatically. And it has made me even more appreciative of people who try to communicate across language barriers. 🔸 When Someone Makes an Effort to Speak Your Language This brings me to the reason I wanted to write this article. Imagine someone who has spent their entire life speaking Thai. They grew up in a Thai-speaking family, attended Thai schools, worked in a predominantly Thai-speaking environment, and rarely had opportunities to use English outside formal education. Then one day, they meet someone from another country. Someone they want to communicate with. Someone they want to understand. And instead of remaining silent or relying entirely on translation, they make an effort to speak English. They might pause to search for the right word. They might pronounce something incorrectly. Their grammar might not always be perfect. They might even feel nervous or embarrassed. But they keep trying. Because communicating with that person matters to them. And I think that effort deserves appreciation. Of course, not every Thai person has the same background or language ability. Many Thai people speak excellent English, while others are still learning. But for those who grew up with limited exposure to English, speaking it can represent a genuine step outside their comfort zone. 🔸 A Final Thought: Sometimes, Effort Is a Language of Love I don't believe people should have to speak perfect English to deserve respect, friendship, or affection. And I don't believe language mistakes should become reasons to make someone feel inferior. When someone speaks to you in a language that isn't their own, try to listen beyond the accent. Look beyond the grammatical mistakes. Recognize the effort. Because sometimes, the most meaningful part of communication isn't how perfectly someone speaks. It's how much they want to connect with you. And if a Thai person who has spent their whole life surrounded by the Thai language makes a genuine effort to speak English just to communicate with you, perhaps that effort is already telling you something beautiful. You matter enough for them to try. And sometimes, that is a language of love in itself.