I was intrigued by the discussion of the potential death to a language and pigeon languages. One is forced to wonder if English arising as a universal language could potentially contribute to the death of several more minor languages. At the same time, however, I have noticed that many less significant languages have adapted to the influx of English by attempting to teach both their native tongue and English in schools. Additionally, I have witnessed many people adopting English words and putting some sort of native accent on it to make it their own. I would tend to side with this trend of assimilation of languages over the mass death of many of the world's languages.
I have utilized my own creative adaptation of the Thai language at times by repeating phrases that make the most sense to me and by adding English words when necessary and understood by Thai people. For example, the Thai use the English word "computer" with a rising tone at the end. It is definitely reassuring to hear the random English word utilized when attempting to piece together sentences to make meaning of what a fast Thai speaker is saying. The problem with this approach is that only certain people in Thai society would understand my pigeon formulation of Thai language. It is difficult to figure out what exactly I should be trying to learn (extremely formal, slang words or something in the middle). It is certainly reassuring when my Thai language partner tells me that the Thai people will generally understand what I am saying even if I am not speaking their specific dialect or their level of formality. I hope to gain a more in depth understanding of Thai language particulars so that I don’t sound like as much of an outsider to Thai people. Fortunately, I have the opportunity to learn much of the "urban slang" from my Thai language partner who has spent much of his life in Bangkok. I can compare these words to the "rural Isaan slang" that I picked up on while studying in the northeast.
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