webfact Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 Thai parliament keen to improve Chinese language skills of officials BANGKOK, 11 September 2017 (NNT) – The Thai parliament has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kasetsart University to improve the Chinese language skills of its officials and staff. National Legislative Assembly (NLA) President Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, chaired the signing ceremony between the Secretariat of the Senate and the Confucius Institute at Kasetsart University. Under the agreement, the Confucius Institute will teach employees and officers at the Thai parliament to speak the Chinese language, enabling the Thai legislators to have better ties and more effective communication with their Chinese counterparts. The ceremony took place at Parliament Building 2 and was witnessed by Wararat Atibaedya, the secretary general of the Senate, and other high-ranking officers. It's also hoped the project will promote and support legislative undertakings between the two parliaments. In addition, the Confucius Institute will assist the Thai parliament in its effort to learn more about Chinese culture and traditions through various activities such as Chinese calligraphy and painting. President Pornpetch applauded both sides’ cooperation and thanked the institute for its help and support. -- nnt 2017-09-11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thechook Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 (edited) As English is the universal language wouldn't it be better to learn english? I also believe that Prayuth has plans to make Thai the world language, well that was he plan awhile back. Edited September 10, 2017 by Thechook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 If it reaches the quality of the English subject line they will still have an uphill struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezzra Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 wishful thinking, Thais in general are not gifted when it comes to learning other languages other than the language of money... good luck to them mastering Chinese that is like much more harder than English, and we all know how well Thai officials speaks English.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaiwrath Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 19 minutes ago, Thechook said: As English is the universal language wouldn't it be better to learn english? I also believe that Prayuth has plans to make Thai the world language, well that was he plan awhile back. Money is the universal language here ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inThailand Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 (edited) Shouldn't they become proficient in their native language first? Edited September 10, 2017 by inThailand fat fingers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxx Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 Confucius Institute? That arm of the Chinese Communist Party that imposes censorship on host universities, engages in industrial and military espionage, monitors Chinese students abroad, and is committed to promulgating the Chinese leadership's views on matters such as Tibet, Taiwan and human rights? A great partner for the junta. It's just a pity that the students won't be able to learn such useful phrases as "Tibet has been invaded and subjugated by Han Chinese", "Taiwan is an independent country", and "Ai Weiwei was illegally detained for 81 days". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckamuck Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 (edited) They want to know how to say ,"me love you long time" in Mandarin Edited September 10, 2017 by canuckamuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inThailand Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 (edited) Or, how much in Baht for your sister? Edited September 10, 2017 by inThailand fat fingers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinchester Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 7 minutes ago, canuckamuck said: They want to know how to say ,"me love you long time" in Mandarin That'll be a "number 69 with prawn balls please" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thian Posted September 10, 2017 Share Posted September 10, 2017 Since almost nobody at Kasetsart can speak english i say good plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisY1 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 2 hours ago, ezzra said: wishful thinking, good luck to them mastering Chinese that is like much more harder than English, and we all know how well Thai officials speaks English.... "Thais in general are not gifted when it comes to learning"........that's better:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatOngo Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 I hope they achieve the same level of competency in Chinese as taxi drivers have reached in the English language! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakhar Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Most semi educated Chinese speak English Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcomer71 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Maybe if they would care about level of proficiency in English first... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvavin Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Did I read wrongly? Learn your English first before talking about Chinese. Clowns! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upena Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Shouldn't they learn Thai first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klauskunkel Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 One of the MUs that Prayuth signed recently in China was that any future amendments to the constitution will be in Mandarin. Just prepping the way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alien365 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 3 hours ago, ezzra said: wishful thinking, Thais in general are not gifted when it comes to learning other languages other than the language of money... good luck to them mastering Chinese that is like much more harder than English, and we all know how well Thai officials speaks English.... If they truly had a reason to learn another language, I'm sure they'd do fine. It's being told to learn a language when they can't see themselves ever using it that's the problem. That being the case I wouldn't be surprised if the outcome was most only being able to say hello, how are you? I'm fine thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
car720 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 3 hours ago, ezzra said: wishful thinking, Thais in general are not gifted when it comes to learning other languages other than the language of money... good luck to them mastering Chinese that is like much more harder than English, and we all know how well Thai officials speaks English.... Much more harder than English.........................officials speaks English?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tambs2020 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 How about making the laws for those foreigners married to Thai nationals a bit easier.In my country my wife can live & work without having to do silly visa runs or visiting the immigration office at certain intervals.I know I know...Its just a pipe dream [emoji23]Sent from my X9079 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheard Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Much more harder than English.........................officials speaks English??????I chatted to a Malaysian Chinese guy on a train in Malaysia. He was messaging on his phone. I asked him his messaging language. His reply: "Oh, English, much easier". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobobo Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 3 hours ago, Thechook said: As English is the universal language wouldn't it be better to learn english? I also believe that Prayuth has plans to make Thai the world language, well that was he plan awhile back. Agreed that English is the universal language, but since Thailand seems keen to become a far-off province of China, they want to know what kind of a deal they will be getting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overherebc Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 17 minutes ago, car720 said: Much more harder than English.........................officials speaks English?????? Is like much more the harderest of the two, better ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcatcher Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 19 minutes ago, car720 said: Much more harder than English.........................officials speaks English?????? Language police alert this morning eh? I am certain English is not ezzra's native language, thus IMO merely a minor discrepancy understood by all. His English is superior to that of many native speakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattayadgw Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 One minute it's English, next Russian and now Chinese... no wonder they're all so confused :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whaleboneman Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 With 1.4 billion Chinese almost next door, I think it's a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwct Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 The Chinese Officials speak English. Thai Officials Speak Thai! I think these idiots need to learn English First! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rijb Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 1 hour ago, Dakhar said: Most semi educated Chinese speak English Chinglish is very popular in China, especially on some of their hilarious signs and printed materials. Maybe parliament could train interpreters to translate Chinglish into Tinglish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Loh Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 3 hours ago, ezzra said: wishful thinking, Thais in general are not gifted when it comes to learning other languages other than the language of money... good luck to them mastering Chinese that is like much more harder than English, and we all know how well Thai officials speaks English.... You can't master Chinese but you can master Mandarin. Thai mastering of Mandarin is much easier because both Thai and Chinese languages use tones during pronunciation to correctly convey the intended meaning of a word. Some Thai words are also 'borrowed" from the Chinese words. Thais are more familiar with mastering the tones than westerners with Thai language. English pronunciation is difficult for Thais as they so used with their 5 tones. That said, it is waste of time to teach at this stage except for some easy pleasantry greetings. You cant learn Mandarin with a short course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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