Thailand’s English proficiency is getting worse: study

[Lacessit]

1 minute ago, marcusarelus said:

Sexual repression is what is killing the West.  Every guy I know is a bit nuts and driven crazy by the new stuff.  No wonder they are opening robot brothels. 

Agree. That repression is partly due to men knowing any longer-term relationship in the West will result in the legal confiscation of half their assets, irrespective of any circumstances. Thai law is far more sensible.

[bowerboy]

“You will notice there is not a psychiatrists office on ever street corner like there is in the West nor do Thais take all the anti depressants like everyone does in the West”

 

Thailand has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. It is ranked number 19 in the world for suicides putting it in the top 10% for suicide.

 

Yeah, really wonderful that there is no help for those struggling with depression and mental health issues.,,

 

 

[howbri]

10 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.

Thais teaching Thais English is a recipe for failure.

[ChakaKhan]

11 hours ago, PatOngo said:

Why dey tink dat? I tink is welly goos!

U no unnerstaan thai pee pole!   You tink too mutt!  Where u from? Where u go?  why no sleep??? naaa

[hobobo]

10 hours ago, thequietman said:

someone that speaks the language

someone who speaks the language

Where do you teach?

[bowerboy]

https://ethailand.com/breaking-news/thailand-third-most-suicides-world/1627/

 

Yeah  because they are all so cheerful and happy and live in an amazing wonderland where no one needs physiatrists and nobody needs antidepressants and the family support structure is so strong that everyone is overflowing with happiness and joy at all times and nobody ever wants for anything and whatever financial or mental health deficit exists is made up for with love and support from the family....

 

Yeah sure.

[mommysboy]

Go in to a Thai school and try to strike up even a basic conversation with the Thai teachers of English.  Most would struggle to pass any competence test.

[ChakaKhan]

You falang all tink too MUTT!  mai pen rai..I go take a nap and eat some noodle...

[Nice Boyd]

And now they’re pushing Chinese 

[GinBoy2]

15 minutes ago, Nice Boyd said:

And now they’re pushing Chinese 

 

15 minutes ago, Nice Boyd said:

And now they’re pushing Chinese 

Maybe they'll have an easier time with that.

 

I spoke Mandarin long before I learnt Thai and Lao, and I credit that with enabling me to pick up the other two fairly easily. 

 

Then again this is Thailand we're talking about. So it'll probably be some semi literate Mandarin speaker as the teacher, just like English, hence the result will be the same

Edited November 3, 2018 by GinBoy2

[thequietman]

47 minutes ago, hobobo said:

someone who speaks the language

Where do you teach?

That can also replace who (or whom), especially when the reference is non-specific. 

So, in fact, it’s a case not of right and wrong, but rather of personal preference or style: although if you are referring back to someone specific, it’s advisable to write ‘who’. I wasn't referring to any specific person, hence 'that.'

Chaucer and Shakespeare also wrote using 'someone that......' , so take your nit picking up with them. It is natural to say 'someone that' and so that comes out when I write. 

[rct99q]

I once had the misfortune of working for a company called sine in thailand. We were not allowed to issue any failing grades or even grades just above minimum pass level.

Always thought it strange as well as frustrating. Not that we wanted any student to fail, just that out of the 200 or so students i had a couple would fall into the try that grade again section.

Nope, sine used their 99% success rate to use to sell their program to other schools, so there are people using the system to make money, without the best interests of the child.

I lasted about 3 months before realizing i could be more useful tutoring.

Both my children are fluent in thai, english, and french (not a language i know) just from tutors...they are not special we just work hard at home.

[djayz]

I don't know what's worse - the general population that believes that it's "too difficult" to learn (anything, English or otherwise) or the government schools which just want the tuition fees and the language schools which just want the course fees. 

 

Nobody gives a rat's @rse.  

 

It's never going to improve until the attitude changes. 

 

[bbbbooboo]

Hmm...no surprises here

[dirtybirty]

Dosent help having yank private tutors teaching English. As ive said to many a thai who think they are speaking english after being taught by a yank, much to their dismay that you are not speaking english "right"

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Puwa]

I think the English ability in the general population has actually improved in the last 20 years. But I don't credit schools at all; the improvement apparently comes from access to the internet. Young people who are motivated enough take matters into their own hands and teach themselves, which is quite impressive. 

 

[freebyrd]

7 hours ago, balo said:

10 hours ago, freebyrd said:

Cambodia 21 place below Thailand - rubbish! I've lived in both countries and here in Cambodia English proficiency is far higher than in Thailand.
 
In Thailand I had to learn the language to do my job, 12 years in Cambodia and I speak only rudimentary Khmer. I am the only foreigner in a Cambodian company and 21 of my 25 staff speak English. Even some Tuk Tuk drivers speak English here. In my 13 years in TL I never encountered one that could speak any English.

Because Cambo belonged to France, so the older generations had to learn French , then after the independence they continued to encourage everyone to learn English. The education system was just better.

Not so, Cambodia got its independence in 1953 and when i first came here in 1996 virtually no one spoke English, French was still the second language.

 

As for the education system being better, that is perhaps so now, but in the 2 decades during and after the Khmer Rouge era??

 

The simple fact is Cambodians are far more motivated than Thais.

[FritsSikkink]

7 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

You wrote, " It's true, and I did learn sufficient Thai to get around. But, i appreciate it only for the utility to avoid getting taken advantage of"  Sounds to me like you have never lived here and only visit.  The ability to converse in Thai and understanding Thai literature and poetry would introduce to many Thai people who are in higher intellectual levels.  

The only management he ever did in Thailand was managing to get home after a night out. He certainly never interacted with the crème de la crème of Thai people, who according to him only talk about food.

[FritsSikkink]

5 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

You falang all tink too MUTT!  mai pen rai..I go take a nap and eat some noodle...

Maybe try to interact with educated people instead of a prostitute with 3 years of primary school.

[MaxYakov]

6 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

You falang all tink too MUTT!  mai pen rai..I go take a nap and eat some noodle...

 

18 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Maybe try to interact with educated people instead of a prostitute with 3 years of primary school.

 

Do think that it is beyond the realm of possibility that ChakaKhan's reply is simply mocking Thai English speakers and a particular view of Thai culture?

 

Ref: HERE

Edited November 3, 2018 by MaxYakov

[K950]

18 hours ago, thequietman said:

Creating English curriculum without asking the NES right there in their schools, is typical of Thai department heads here. The attitude of 'I can't lose face' means that they would rather get it wrong than ask for help from someone that speaks the language. It is purely a box ticking exercise here and everything and I mean everything, is all show and absolutely no substance.

 

In my Uni, there are incorrectly displayed documents and posters in incorrect English all over the place. When you mention it, you are seen as a trouble maker! Wow!

 

When they ask me is everything OK, I just tell them 'Yes.' That's all they want to hear and to say anything else, is as I said before, creating trouble for yourself.

 

It is all a shambles.

Here in Korat, I have a few friends that teach English. They all have said that you aren't allowed to fail the student even though they are failing.

[THE REVERAND]

Their is a simple solution only use quality English people to teach students English and is must be for much longer than 4 hours per week in less than class sizes of 48 students.

[Hanuman2547]

19 hours ago, Chippy151 said:

I would imagine the Thai English teachers in the late 80s were much more proficient in English than they are now. We don't need an English Proficiency Index to tell us that things are getting worse here.

 

I was here then.  No, they were not more proficient.

[Hanuman2547]

19 hours ago, thequietman said:

In my Uni, there are incorrectly displayed documents and posters in incorrect English all over the place. When you mention it, you are seen as a trouble maker! Wow!

 

When they ask me is everything OK, I just tell them 'Yes.' That's all they want to hear and to say anything else, is as I said before, creating trouble for yourself.

 

It is all a shambles.

So in some ways, you are part of the problem as well by just telling them "Yes".

[chrissables]

18 hours 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.

Actually it's Pat-ta-yaa ????

[canuckamuck]

พัทยา พั= puh ทย= dai or dtai ยา= ya     puh dai ya  I think most foreigners put an emphasis on the middle syllable, making it sound weird. The The Thais do not put emphasis on any syllable and run the three together but the first syllable often has an 'aa' sound rather than an 'uh' sound.

Edited November 4, 2018 by canuckamuck

[marcusarelus]

9 hours ago, ChakaKhan said:

U no unnerstaan thai pee pole!   You tink too mutt!  Where u from? Where u go?  why no sleep??? naaa

I always wondered who taught Thai kids to say that.  Which school do you teach at?

[SoilSpoil]

Doing a lot of Thai English translation work, I see a lot of poorly written articles. A lot of Thais seem to struggle with their own language as well.

[marcusarelus]

9 hours ago, bowerboy said:

“You will notice there is not a psychiatrists office on ever street corner like there is in the West nor do Thais take all the anti depressants like everyone does in the West”

 

Thailand has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. It is ranked number 19 in the world for suicides putting it in the top 10% for suicide.

 

Yeah, really wonderful that there is no help for those struggling with depression and mental health issues.,,

Belgium 15, Japan 18, France 25, Austria 26, and Finland 27, all higher suicide rates than Thailand do they not have access to psychiatrists? 

[marcusarelus]

9 hours ago, howbri said:

Thais teaching Thais English is a recipe for failure.

Unless you taught Thais how to speak English first.  I know educated in Thailand people who speak perfect English.  They don't teach school though.  They are working in industry.  The future is teaching with computer games and that should take care of the problem.