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One of the points stressed in the survey is that Thai youths nowadays are using strange words that have been passed on via the Internet, particularly in chat rooms. Modern day youths feel that it is cool to imitate the words frequently used on the Internet, even though they are grammatically incorrect, such as "jing paa?" (really?), as mentioned in last Monday's article.

Normally, this sort of fashionable behaviour would fade away after a while, and there would be no need to intervene to correct the practice. But this is not always the case. Certain behaviour when continually practised may become a way of life, which cannot be corrected. Some words, even though they are incorrect and sound weird, might become popular and finally accepted as normal in daily life. Therefore, it is necessary that we should find ways to prevent further usage of incorrect grammar before it becomes generally accepted.

The Education Ministry should take on the burden of coming up with a system to prevent this from happening. A department should be tasked with following the use of Thai on the Internet and compiling a list of words that are spelled or used incorrectly. Then we can make use of television or other forms of mass media to pinpoint these items, which could lead to the deterioration of the Thai language.

With a non-offensive tone taken in the explanation of this subject and with a proper campaign to promote awareness to maintain the merits of the Thai language, I believe, our youths will help us solve this problem. We did this successfully when a certain number of actors and actresses were pronouncing the diphthong incorrectly, ignoring the 'r' and the 'l' sound. At that time, a soft campaign was launched through the mass media with the slogan: "Correct pronunciation of diphthongs makes the speakers look graceful." By that, the actors and actresses started to become more aware of what they were saying and finally they did it the right away.

Therefore, if the Education Ministry uses the approach of a soft campaign, I believe that our young people of the Internet generation, who naturally love and want to preserve our language, would help correct these grammatical problems. However, if nobody cares enough to raise this issue of incorrect grammar and it is just let go, our youths may get the impression that the older generation has no objection to them speaking improperly and they'll end up developing this bad habit.

The survey also found that young people mimic public figures they like. For the most part, their spoken Thai is good, with attention paid to the diphthongs. However, recently I noticed imperfect pronunciation in two cases: the sound of certain tones and the pronunciation of the letter shaw shang.

Regarding the tones, I notice that young female actresses do not pronounce the second tone and the fourth tone correctly. The second tone is pronounced similar to the third tone, so baan sounds almost like bann, and the fourth tone is also pronounced almost like the third tone.

As for the consonant shaw shang, it is incorrectly pronounced not only by youths but also by grown-ups and famous personalities who studied overseas when they were young. They mistake this consonant for the "ch" sound in English, so they pronounce it that way: "ch." As a matter of fact, it sounds more like "sh", but with less stress. Nowadays, people with good English skills are popular and these people pronounce the consonant exactly like "ch". As a consequence, our young people mistake that for the correct pronunciation and mimic them. Young modern singers do pronounce the consonant as "ch" in every word that starts with it in the song. On this issue it is unfair to blame the youths since many famous and well regarded adults who graduated from overseas commit the same mistake unknowingly and unintentionally.

Other influential political figures use the correct tones and pronunciation, but their selection of words is unnecessarily impolite or rude. Politicians on many occasions do this. Rude words were formerly only used in one-on-one situations and never in public. The practice of using rude words publicly without reservation could transform Thai society from being kind and gentle to being aggressive.

However, there is still a way out. Newspapers should allot space for a new column and invite eminent persons to make use of this column to remind those who improperly use the Thai language at the time it is in limelight. By doing so regularly and promptly, celebrities will become more aware as they would not want to lose their popularity. At the same time, the public will have a vital chance to learn. If the media, especially newspapers, really wish to help out, allotting space and inviting gurus on Thai linguistics to write the column would be an action to be praised.

Until next Monday