Need an English Instructor for my Thai wife

[CaptainJack]

Can anyone recommend an ESL instructor to help my Thai wife improve her English language speaking skills? 

 

I need an instructor that can teach online (Skype) in the evening in Thailand. 

 

Please PM me any recommendations and contact information unless you are comfortable sharing in the open.

 

Thanks,

CJ

[torturedsole]

Why limit yourself to an ESL instructor?  My wife is Thai with degree in English language.  Lived in UK for over 10 years and could well imagine her being a better learning resource than an ESL instructor by a country mile.  

[CaptainJack]

4 minutes ago, torturedsole said:

Why limit yourself to an ESL instructor?  My wife is Thai with degree in English language.  Lived in UK for over 10 years and could well imagine her being a better learning resource than an ESL instructor by a country mile.  

Hi,

 

Definitely not limiting ourselves.  We moved back to the USA, and have just not had any luck finding an instructor that we can hire to help my wife with her English,  but obviously,  online now days with Covid-19. 

 

Thoughts?

 

PS. My wife reads and writes English well, is a university graduate and a quick learner. But she really needs professional instruction to break through to very functional conversational English. 

[torturedsole]

That's where a fellow Thai with good English could prove beneficial.  I'm not touting my wife, by the way.

 

The majority of your ESL instructors are going to be English but a Thai with good English skills can revert to Thai to explain the intricacies.  This is important and something a non-Thai speaker can't fall back on.  

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2020 by torturedsole

[torturedsole]

17 minutes ago, CaptainJack said:

But she really needs professional instruction to break through to very functional conversational English. 

The first Thai lady I met for a date in LOS was very strong in understanding and writing English but couldn't formulate the words to speak the language.  I was bamboozled by her.  

[CaptainJack]

40 minutes ago, torturedsole said:

The first Thai lady I met for a date in LOS was very strong in understanding and writing English but couldn't formulate the words to speak the language.  I was bamboozled by her.  

Quote:

 

"That's where a fellow Thai with good English could prove beneficial.  I'm not touting my wife, by the way.

 

The majority of your ESL instructors are going to be English but a Thai with good English skills can revert to Thai to explain the intricacies.  This is important and something a non-Thai speaker can't fall back on".

 

I agree completely.  And it is fine to tout your wife. We can PM in that regards. 

 

And I understand "bamboozled". We were introduced by a Kiwi mate of mine in Bangkok on a double date.  There has been no one else since then for me.

 

It took months to get my wife back to the USA to be with me, and we have more immigration matters coming up,  but we are together and happy. 

 

It's about cocktail hour here. I'll check for a PM from you later. 

 

Cheers!

 

CJ

[Haveasay]

Thais as a starting point need to learn the lower case alphabet in the first instance, as many can resite the upper case from hearing not seeing upper case. From there it's using that knowledge to put words together with the help of - or √ above each letter as to whether the letter is a quick letter or prolonged. Exactly know doubt how we learned years ago. Achieve that then give the individual to a tefl teacher who will have more success if the basics are met. This is the most time consuming part, but will provide you with a guide to knowing if your efforts will bear out. Good luck

[uncleP]

In my experience  Thai's have little idea how to teach English and you should avoid them completely . Start preparing  for restrictions to be lifted by getting your wife to listen, read, write, and talk English daily. This can be done with TV, movies, music, online esl resources etc. She should also practice using the british council pron chart as English has 44 sounds: there are apps for this. (see the odd looking print after words in a dictionary which are actually showing how to pronounce words). Once things get back to normal she should find someone she connects with and enjoys talking with. Avoid esl schools in Thailand as they are designed to keep getting your money  rather than actually teach English. 

[Damrongsak]

@captainjack

 

Find some Thai/farang couples in the area and befriend them. Or other Asians.  My wife here in the U.S. has friends from Malaysia, Thailand and occasionally Cambodia and Vietnam.  They do lunches together and all have to speak English or some sort of hen-house language to be mutually understood.  It's a very relaxed atmosphere, except for me :).

 

After years, we are friends with a Chinese-Malaysian gal who is married to a guy from Ivory Coast, a Thai gal married to a Turkish guy, another to a guy who came from Puerto Rico, etc.  Your wife may not learn well, but she will learn to be relaxed and communicate verbally more easily.  She's way ahead of the curve if she reads and writes well already. 

 

When we first arrived in the US 40 some years ago, my wife took advantage of some free ESL courses and met up with a few Vietnamese and Lao folks.  One Lao guy had a severe speech impediment but they all managed.  They were all in the same boat, so to speak.  We later moved to another state and a huge local Baptist church had free classes.

 

Put out feelers - it's not about the language, it's about friends and socializing.  See an Asian person in the line at the grocery store?  Inquire.  I met a Thai gal in a second-hand store who was speaking to her son in Thai.  Turned out that she has a Thai restaurant across town. It's a small world, or can be.

 

My wife likes to cook and host, so we had many parties for Thanksgiving and Christmas for the oddballs, LOL. Much fun.

 

My wife didn't speak English hardly at all when I met her.  My Thai was, and is, very marginal.  But we communicated pretty well even to the point of discussing religion and homespun philosophy.  I can't recall speaking to her in English except a word here and there where I didn't know the Thai word. It's what one does in a small Isaan town (Loei) when there is nothing else to do. 

Edited May 8, 2020 by Damrongsak

[CaptainJack]

Thanks for all the replies.  I'm reading them all. 

????????????

[1FinickyOne]

2 hours ago, torturedsole said:

That's where a fellow Thai with good English could prove beneficial.

This is spot on... A Thai with good english skills will know all the stumbling blocks and how to get past them... 

[Martin Gordon]

Good morning ! My name is Martin from England. I've been teaching in Chiang Mai for 15 years to a variety of ages and nationalities though now focus mainly on adults. I'm waiting for my language school to reopen so at the moment I teach exclusively online.

I would be very happy to teach your wife English.

Regards

Martin

[CaptainJack]

27 minutes ago, Martin Gordon said:

Good morning ! My name is Martin from England. I've been teaching in Chiang Mai for 15 years to a variety of ages and nationalities though now focus mainly on adults. I'm waiting for my language school to reopen so at the moment I teach exclusively online.

I would be very happy to teach your wife English.

Regards

Martin

Martin,

 

I am interested in chatting with you.  It is evening here in Texas. We have 500mb Internet,  and before my wife joined me after my return to the USA,  we video chatted with no problem. 

 

I have about every messaging program you can think of. PM me and let's plan a time to talk. We are going on our after dinner walk now. 

 

Thanks,

Jack

[brokenbone]

imo, it needs to be someone that command both languages

so the teacher can explain in her language,

so you should look for an educated thai primarily

[katana]

50 free online lessons here, until you find a non-virtual teacher:

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by katana

[brokenbone]

19 hours ago, uncleP said:

In my experience  Thai's have little idea how to teach English and you should avoid them completely .

but not my experience.

my thai teacher knew english better then any of us students,

some of which were from england & usa, with regards to verb/adjectives and whatnot. what he should steer clear from is someone that cant explain in a language that she can fully comprehend,

i had the misfortune to have teachers that couldnt explain

in a language i fully comprehend also, and i reached my conclusion

monolingual language teachers is an oxymoron not to be touched

[CaptainJack]

Thanks all for your replies.  I have an excellent English language instructor now teaching my wife.  Cheers!