Thailand’s English proficiency is getting worse: study

[Jeremy50]

49 minutes ago, poanoi said:

bs, just the 3 past year when i was away they learned a lot of english,

before i had to converse in thai, there was no way around that,

but now almost everyone speak passable english

How bizarre, you must be in a different Thailand, unless you live in Pattaya. Talking of which,It makes me cringe when I hear westerners, I mean especially those dozens of youtube vloggers  who presumably live there, that can't even pronounce the name of the place properly. Pa-TY-er, what? It's Pati-YA, you fools.

[Just1Voice]

My adopted Thai son teaches Advanced Thai.  At a school seminar he introduced me to the Thai woman who taught English.  He informed her that I had a Master's in English Composition & Creative Writing.  She said she also had a Master's in English.  For the next 5 minutes I struggled to understand anything she was saying. 

 

[Phuketshrew]

Surprised that Australia didn't make the list ????

[FritsSikkink]

11 minutes ago, Thechook said:

They use teachers where english is not their 1st language.  

They do that in the Netherlands too and they are 2nd

[Jeremy50]

47 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

Your wife might be right. Maybe they can speak English but they prefer not to respond to a farang because they might stuff it up and become embarrassed and lose face. Just a thought.

Why not just learn Thai? It's worth it just to see that face of dread and fear on the sales assistant's face break into smiling relief when she realises that you can speak Thai. Isn't it a bit frustrating to have to have your wife do all the talking, while you just stand there like a helpless child?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

26 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

And this student needs to better understand the difference t'wixt tennis and Kite flying in order to improve their English methinks 

 

Clearly, this test/quiz above is wrong, at least as it relates to Thailand.

 

You cannot properly have two correct answers to the same question. And yet for #6, either answer could certainly be deemed correct here. 

[wgdanson]

7 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

You cannot properly have two correct answers to the same question.

Yes you can. Have a look at some of the Driving Test questions where you have to choose between FOUR CORRECT answers to the same question.

Edited November 3, 2018 by wgdanson

[TumblinDice]

I'm not surprised. The dumbest, most illiterate students in English classes all have to pass regardless of their failing marks. The system is so bloody corrupt.

[MaxYakov]

27 minutes ago, Jeremy50 said:

How bizarre, you must be in a different Thailand, unless you live in Pattaya. Talking of which,It makes me cringe when I hear westerners, I mean especially those dozens of youtube vloggers  who presumably live there, that can't even pronounce the name of the place properly. Pa-TY-er, what? It's Pati-YA, you fools.

I'm no fool. I pronounce it "PartyYeah!".

Edited November 3, 2018 by MaxYakov

[Justgrazing]

Anyway Pattaya girls have a grasp enough of the important Engrish that they need like Hansum , Take care , Mama sick , Thai man velly bad , Western Union and you help me amongst other amusing small talk .. using a bit of rhyming slang is always a laugh though overdoing it just confuses the hell out of 'em .. 

[RotBenz8888]

But Thailand is not bad in terms of Education Spending. But exactly what are they spending the money on?

 

https://www.ef.se/epi/regions/asia/thailand/

This World Bank statistic refers to the percentage of total government expenditure dedicated to education. The global average for EF EPI countries from 2010 to 2013 was 14.0%, with the range being 7.3% (Azerbaijan) to 31.3% (Thailand).

 

 

 

 

[melvinmelvin]

21 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

They do that in the Netherlands too and they are 2nd

I think most countries do that.

 

[BigT73]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

The current regime should be very happy. As the results in this OP show, they're well on their way to "Making Thailand Great Again!" 

 

My wife (who's very fluent in English, especially after years of marriage) and I have a regular, now predictable routine about this.  Whenever we're out and about doing some business that requires conversation with Thais, she'll invariably tell me, "Go ahead and talk to them, they can speak English."

 

I already know what's going to happen after many such encounters, usually in a retail or customer service setting, but gotta humor the wife. So I start speaking slowly, clearly in English to the Thai person, and almost always even in BKK, it quickly becomes clear they have no idea what I'm talking about. And they're either unwilling or unable to say anything in response in English that shows they have any clue.

 

So in the end, my wife ends up talking to them in Thai. Could have saved a lot of time and trouble if we had just done that first. The wife continues to think other Thais she encounters can speak English as she does. And almost always, she's very mistaken.

I got the exact same scenareo with my misses, she always says "but day spik inglish soo gooood" and Im like "yea but they cant understand a word Im saying".  Their comprehension and grasping ability is next to non existant.  So before I go out I verse the misses with Google Translate,  Google pics, a book of ABC's crayon drawings and finger puppets.  Eventually she gets it and it saves me hours dealing with shop assistants.

Edited November 3, 2018 by BigT73

[nausea]

Fear is a big factor here. A lot of Thais are like a deer in the headlights when approached by a Farang. Personally, having taught English here previously for 10+ years, I found the standard vastly improved for motivated people, at least over the period I was teaching. When questioned the motivation was invariably money, a career asset. The English taught in public schools is a joke, a bit like the French I was taught as a youngster. To be honest, the emphasis on grammatical correctness rather than oral fluency doesn't help. Writing is the hardest art, I've yet to meet a Thai who could write for toffee, though in conversation they might be quite able.

[NCC1701A]

55 minutes ago, Justgrazing said:

And this student needs to better understand the difference t'wixt tennis and Kite flying in order to improve their English methinks 

using a test from bar girl prep school is hardly a good example.

[melvinmelvin]

I am a strong believer in the necessity of having a good command and understanding of your mother tongue if

you are to learn foreign languages well. (in reality, to learn anything well)

 

was wondering, these Thai English teachers, are they any good in Thai?

lots of Thais have a fairly flakey command of the Thai language

not a good starting point for learning / teaching English

 

same question re their pupils

 

 

 

[1337markus]

1 hour ago, bluesofa said:

I was surprised that Myanmar is so low in the proficiency ratings. I always assumed that English was well spoken there. Perhaps it's just in larger cities?

Laos doesn't even get a mention, presumably not enough Laotians took the test to even register in the rankings.

I agree with you I have been to many places in Myanmar, even close to China ( Kentung) and was amazed not only mature adults speak well and have their children at school learning it.  UAE has Dubai lots English there. Kazakhstan I work in a few months a year in the main cities its OK, in smaller cities mainly hotels and supermarkets.  Have doubts on this survey.

[Fex Bluse]

14 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Very sad when bar girls are more proficient in English than local English teachers. Maybe Thai English teachers should spend more time in bars to improve their English!

We've all seen the middle class Thais and how high they aim their noses in the air when they walk through the malls. 

 

Middle class urban Thais are too good to talk or mix with lowly Farang. 

[helloagain]

Stop teaching them to write it. Teach them to speak it up to 11 year or 12 year old. Then introduce them to how to spell it. My 2 nieces just stayed with us one is 18 the other is 15 they are useless can say nothing. Up to you thailand. They are taught computeerrrr. Doctoorrrrrr. 

[canuckamuck]

2 hours ago, Cadbury said:

The PM should be very happy with that outcome. After all it was he who told schoolchildren that one day the Thai language could become the international language of the world.

Maybe his influence on impressionable school children has created this outcome and they no longer believe it is important to learn English.

 

This report is no good without seeing how the non Thai countries are improving their Thai proficiency. Perhaps Thai is becoming the world's language. ????

 

[MartinL]

Quite a few years ago, I helped a first year undergrad. in Engineering with her English from an engineering viewpoint, since engineering was my former profession. She wasn't at all interested initially and happily admitted that she wanted to learn Japanese so that she could read Japanese comics. As time progressed, she became much more enthusiastic as she realised that it was all USEFUL stuff. She ended up being very good in day-to-day conversation as well as engineering-related matters.

 

A few months ago, after she'd finished her Engineering Masters in USA, spent a few years employed as an engineer and met an American boyfriend - now husband - she sent me an e-mail saying something like "Thanks for teaching me English. You changed my life".

 

WOW!!! Was I pleased to receive that compliment!!!

 

I could never be an English teacher in a school here but helping her was an experience I wouldn't have missed for anything. 

[melvinmelvin]

6 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

I am a strong believer in the necessity of having a good command and understanding of your mother tongue if

you are to learn foreign languages well. (in reality, to learn anything well)

 

was wondering, these Thai English teachers, are they any good in Thai?

lots of Thais have a fairly flakey command of the Thai language

not a good starting point for learning / teaching English

 

same question re their pupils

 

 

 

to add to that,

in Norway there are many refugees, asylum seekers, economic immigrants - whatever

their kids need schooling - which they get free

years ago school authorities concluded that many if not most of these kids ain't fit for learning

'cause they have a rather lousy command of their mother tongue

 

so, step 1, learn them their mother tongue - then onto the rest

costs shitloads of satang - importing foreigners to teach foreigners their mother tongue

 

[lensta]

2 hours ago, darksidedog said:

To be honest, I didn't think it was possible for it to get worse. Of all the places I have been, Thailand is the worst for ability to speak English even remotely well. Many years ago I tried to set up an office here and closed it after a year due to inability to recruit even a single individual who had the proficiency I was after, and I was offering 50K a month basic. Until such time as those doing the teaching can actually speak the language, given that most Thai English teachers simply cannot, it is difficult to see the situation improving either.

It doesn't matter because in a few years the whole world will be speaking Thai, just ask the pocket general.

[roo860]

Where did America come in this survey?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[balo]

Some of the girls working in bars/restaurants in soi Bua Kaow , Pattaya speaks with a cockney accent. 

 

[drhugo]

They were obviously paying too much attention in class . . . 

 

 

[shady86]

Thais would prefer to learn Chinese or Japanese because that's the largest inbound tourist market and the largest source of Foreign Direct Investment.

[timewilltell]

Most coukd not care less. The educated are corrupt and xenophobic. The pay rates are inadequate and intelligence is to be decried because it just shows up the general atrocious level of stupidity around. No hope! 

 

On the bright side I am sure they will all be fluent in Chinese soon.

[TumblinDice]

10 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

to add to that,

in Norway there are many refugees, asylum seekers, economic immigrants - whatever

their kids need schooling - which they get free

years ago school authorities concluded that many if not most of these kids ain't fit for learning

'cause they have a rather lousy command of their mother tongue

 

so, step 1, learn them their mother tongue - then onto the rest

costs shitloads of satang - importing foreigners to teach foreigners their mother tongue

 

I, being a Canadian with Norwegian heritage, taught English at a government school in Phetchaburi where the had an Italian, an Ethiopian & two Russians teaching English?? <deleted>!

[meinphuket]

The cause and effect of obstructive visa regulations by this government, its embassy and consulate attitudes and the hounding of (mostly) well meaning foreign teachers.. (I am NOT a teacher myself)