Hey guys,

Any tips on a translate app? From what I hear, lots of boys do not speak English very well. What is everyone using to chat with these guys?

 

13 minutes ago, BenG1000 said:

Hey guys,

Any tips on a translate app? From what I hear, lots of boys do not speak English very well. What is everyone using to chat with these guys?

 

wad of sample notes, 100, 500 , 1000 baht  although they usually know phrases like ' one thousand five hundred " , ' short time ' , 'till morning ' etc  but don't assume when they tell you ' I love you ' or ' you are very handsome ' they really understand what they are saying.

In short , don't worry too much, with good will you will not have boring minute there , conversation or not

hahaa, I know that but I'm also a sucker for conversation unfortunately

3 minutes ago, BenG1000 said:

hahaa, I know that but I'm also a sucker for conversation unfortunately

nothing wrong with that, my point was rather to not too worry, those things somehow seem to solve by themselves. Most boys know something and as bodies get closer , vocabulary seem to grow up with that.

They like to be complemented so make sure you tell them they look good, you like their shirt and tattoo , even if you don't , all that helps.

There's guy in Senso who once asked me on subsequent visit 'why you like me/", answer 'I think you are beautiful " sounded sincere  because smile was so broad and bright that even now I smile at recollection.

41 minutes ago, BenG1000 said:

Hey guys,

Any tips on a translate app? From what I hear, lots of boys do not speak English very well. What is everyone using to chat with these guys?

 

I think you will find most guys are familiar with google translate and have it on their own phones.  Understand it's obviously not perfect, but it's good enough.  And free.

 

I use google translate, too lazy to find something else. Most boys have Thai-English translation on their Line so if truly stuck I send him a line message even if we are together in person and usually lightbulb moment occurs. 

They also have a nifty voice translate app that translates basic spoken Thai into written English but I have not found one that works in reverse. 

3 minutes ago, hank75 said:

They also have a nifty voice translate app that translates basic spoken Thai into written English but I have not found one that works in reverse. 

you can do that right in the google translate app.  

Google translate is OK but, in part because of the different structures of English and Thai, not always reliable.

For anything important I do a back translation (translating English to Thai and back to English again.) If the back translation is not satisfactory, change the wording in the original until you are happy with it.

Keep it as simple as you possibly can.

If translation app doesn't work, use sign language. 

34 minutes ago, DivineMadman said:

you can do that right in the google translate app.  

I’ve been using the online version but good reason to finally download the app! Thanks! 

as Vinapu and Witty post above, body and sign language are often enough

If the boy can speak a small bit of English, then only ask him closed questions

e.g. "Would you like short time or long time?" "Are you top or bottom?" are both BAD as the answer will inevitable be an ambiguous YES or NO

Better to as them "We go long time, ok?" "I fuck you, ok?" work much better as there is on ambiguity about the answer

even with a translation app it's not a totally natural conversation. In my experience Google translate is worthless beyond a couple of words.

I did buy the latest version of the Travis translator on Indiegogo https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/travis-touch-i-speak-105-languages-so-can-you--2/x/7247010#/  But I didn't ever actually use it. In my brief testing at home though it was able to translate even my poor Thai into English correctly. So it might work. It claims to use several different translation engines depending on the language so that it probably why it would work better than Google alone.

Have Google translate on your phone...it’s handy to have and is decent with Thai translation. Though sometimes it take more than one attempt. Note - languages can be pre-loaded in case there is poor or non existent internet.  Recommend having Cambodian and Vietnamese translations at hand as many many boys are not Thai.

and...Vinapu’s suggestions are valid and worked in the pre-app world.

Try an app called "SayHi".

Google translate app has a feature to translate directly from the camera. I have never tried with Thai, but it was useful to understand Chinese labels.