Studying In A Thai University As An Old Man

[johnray]

Studying for a Bachelor of Arts Business English

 

My age:  30 something.

 

After a few emails they quickly asked me to come in to take a look around.  I went in an met the head of the international college.  She is a really nice easy going lady.  She speaks excellent English.

 

I went to Laos to get the ED visa and paid the university.

 

All the students are Chinese and I am the only British person.  There are two American teachers.

 

It's actually quite amazing how hard the teacher work.  The students turn up with zero English ability.  Like nothing.  The students are aged 18, 19, 20+ and they don't know 'left and right' 'girl boy' 'he she' or the days of the week.

 

So these guys take about 6 months of intensive English language training, and they can speak confidently.

 

There is a lot of work to do.  The degree is 3 years instead of 5 so it is full time.  You get one day off a week but later on that disappeared and a few bits and bobs were put on the day off as well.

 

So the work load is heavy.  All the classes are 3 hours long and there is one guy that just decides to add an extra hour for some reason.  He basically does a 4 lesson.  I am suspecting that he gets paid more for it.  Either that or he just a sadist.

 

The classes start at 9 and you go home at 4.  One semester we started at 8 in the morning for a while on one day.

 

The rooms have AC but everyone keeps messing with it.  Knocking the grill up or even turning it off because it is too noisy.  Totally insane as the room is roasting hot.  It's not noisy but even if it was just use a mic and speak over it.  All the classrooms have a modern flat screen, projector and microphones.

 

The uniform is tight-fitting trousers, a tight white shirt, noisy dress shoes and a neck tie.  Very uncomfortable.

 

The hallways are hot and smell of sewage.  The food court is disgusting.  Cold tasteless food and again the room smells of sewage.

 

There are writing courses, formal writing, business writing, casual writing, faxes, emails, minutes, meetings.  Everything.  Then there is creative writing.  We then have the public speaking.  Impromptu speaking, speeches, eulogies, congratulatory speeches, introductions, business speeches.  There is also a ton of presentations.  It actually really hard to memorize a whole a4 sheet of words.  You go totally blank.  So I usually freestyle and just look serious.

 

All of these classes must be taken seriously or you will just look like a dick in front of everyone.  You can't really cut corners.

 

There’s actually a whole bunch of non-English classes.  Like environment, sociology, intercultural communications, research methods and so on.

 

As far as the actual tests.  These are about 10 or 20 pages.  I managed to get it down to just revising on the morning of the test.  A few hours before I walk in.  You can take a 6-week lecture and boil it down to one a4 sheet of buzz words.  I sit in the car on the way and just go through keywords.

 

Being a native speaker is a huge advantage.  The Chinese kids have to translate every single word on their phone or dictionary.  The business classes and sociology classes are really wordy.  So they are basically <deleted>.  But the mixture of course work and test scores mean they will graduate.

 

There was one girl that gave me some competition.  She spoke good English but she decided to stay in China during covid 19 time and come back later.  Being outsmarted by a 17 year old kid made me take English seriously.  I now revise grammar every day.  Even though you are a native speaker you know zero about grammar, writing or more in depth linguistics.

 

Being older + being a native speaker.  

 

You get flash backs of being a teenager.  The mixture of having no idealism and seeing all the guys wasting their time.  Just playing games on their phones all day.  It’s painful to see what a waste it is.  If you don’t study you won’t succeed and you will end up dead in a doorway.  Turn off the video games.  It is scary how these people stare at the phone when walking up stairs and eating.  When taking money from someone or even crossing a road.  The precious moments when a parent is trying to show a child something and he is dwarfed by an ipad.  you notice all the other students flaws.  Short attention span, bored by everything, smoking, drinking, stupid hair, not handing in homework, forgetting their books.  You sit there watching their time slipping away.

 

It's really weird.  As a teen we see school as a daunting mountain.  We take everything literally.  We listen to everyone even though it’s mostly <deleted>.  Bewildered parents, robotic teachers, garbage media, and Disney films that teach us if we are good we will succeed and be happy in life.  But now as an adult you just sit back and look at the score system ''rubrik'' then casually draft out an essay in 10 minutes.  It so easy now I understand why they want.  No need to read 20 books and 1000 handouts.  The teacher will give a clear outline of the assignments and you just go home and do it.  it's very easy.  Sometimes just one paragraph or a summary.  Sometimes one page.  But the assignments are fun.

 

It makes me realize how floored high school education is now.  The idea that you just tip a bucket of print outs on a teenager’s desk say don’t ask questions and just go away.  When you directly pay the teacher's salary things change really quickly.  Nice emails, friendly chats, coffee breaks, always asking if you understand it.

 

pros:  

It's an easy visa to get.  They practically tear your arm off when you flash the cash.

It's a useful degree that you can use anywhere i the world

You feel like a superhuman.  Acing every test.  Doing homework in the lesson and submitting it just as the lesson ends.  Doing a 2 hour test in 20 minutes and always being the first to hand in a test paper.

The Thai universities are respected in Thailand because of the historical endorsement by previous kings.

The teachers are really cool.

The atmosphere is really good.  Everyone meets up almost every day.

It is a great way to meet people in Thailand.

There is always something going on and lots of school trips to the beaches.

You get to learn Thai and another language of your choice.

 

cons:

Due to the schedule you can not work full time.  Only part time until the internship.

You will be the oldest in the class.

Girls will come up to you bow and say 'hello teacher'.  Very awkward.

It's about 40,000 per semester.  So you need some dough.

The immigration scum let you pass easily.  You still have to do 90 day report.

 

I am aware this review is full of mistakes but I can’t be bothered to spend time on something no one will read.

 

[bwpage3]

Another con is you end up with a degree that is worthless outside of Thailand.

[cmarshall]

He doesn't write like a native English speaker.

[Rhys]

....well sometimes it is luck of the draw, cool teachers outnumber the Turkey Teachers... with attitudes..

[DavisH]

On 11/9/2020 at 12:55 AM, bwpage3 said:

Another con is you end up with a degree that is worthless outside of Thailand.

That's not true, actually. I know someone who got a degree from Chula and works for Google in Singapore. They best and brightest Thais can get jobs anywhere if they can prove themselves. If Thai degrees were useless, western universities would not accept them to do Masters or PhD programs. And with those western qualifications they can, and do, get work in western countries.

 

[bwpage3]

On 2/7/2021 at 9:47 AM, DavisH said:

That's not true, actually. I know someone who got a degree from Chula and works for Google in Singapore. They best and brightest Thais can get jobs anywhere if they can prove themselves. If Thai degrees were useless, western universities would not accept them to do Masters or PhD programs. And with those western qualifications they can, and do, get work in western countries.

 

I know a PhD from Chula who has been a waiter for 7 years in the USA.

Western Uni's accept them for the money.

You must not be familiar with Taksin and his PhD from N. Texas State, yet his English is super poor.

Money talks. 

[Patong2021]

On 2/8/2021 at 8:04 PM, bwpage3 said:

I know a PhD from Chula who has been a waiter for 7 years in the USA.

Western Uni's accept them for the money.

You must not be familiar with Taksin and his PhD from N. Texas State, yet his English is super poor.

Money talks. 

Ok so you know of one person who may have a PhD who is a waiter in the USA. It is a nonsense point because we do not know anything about the person. The university has graduated tens of thousands of people with graduate level diplomas and you reference one person. Take into consideration the extent of mental illness, , alcoholism or other emotional problems and it is to be expected that a portion of all graduates will not do well in life. Dentists have one of the highest rates of suicide of the professions. Would you blame the universities for this too?

 

Many foreign students attended schools in Australia, North America, and EU and many graduate with their graduate diplomas having only basic language skills. Thaksin worked where, and did what? if this is the ex PM, then you know he did not stay long in the USA and all his work was in Thailand where the language is Thai.  It takes great courage and discipline to study in a non mother tongue language.  Easy to criticize, but I would like to see you do Thai PhD course in Thai language and have great Thai language skill. 

 

 

[Scott]

The value of a degree depends on what you plan to do with it.   Unless you have a specialty, such as a degree in education, nursing, a medical doctor, an engineer, you will be working for the job that you can find, not the job you were educated for.  As the old saying goes, What is the first thing someone with a Philosophy degree says, "Would you like fries with that burger?"

I know many Thais living in the US.  One, a teacher, I worked with is now a teacher in the US, another has a computer degree, worked in for a time, but actually found a job he liked better.  

A problem for many immigrants has to do with the age and time when they immigrate.  You start at the bottom and you work your way from there. 

 

[sanuk711]

On 11/8/2020 at 9:08 PM, johnray said:

I am aware this review is full of mistakes but I can’t be bothered to spend time on something no one will read.

 

I am sure with that positive attitude,

you will go far in any chosen profession..........

 

 

[donnacha]

Slumming your way through a course where it's easy to be the best in the class is just as much of a waste of your time and potential as the kids constantly playing their video games.

In any aspect of life, you should always try to be in situations that truly challenge you. Never be the smartest person in the room.

In your thirties you should be flying high, not hanging around the hatchery. 

Also, if you ever write anything, you should make a point of expressing your thoughts as clearly, intelligently, and correctly as possible, regardless of how few people you presume will read it. You write for yourself, not other people. Your inner craftsman should never let you publish anything that is not a true expression of your capabilities.

 

[248900_1469958220]

'It makes me realize how floored high school education is now' .......right down there on the floor it seems....mmmmmmm....

[NCC1701A]

On 11/8/2020 at 9:08 PM, johnray said:

My age:  30 something.

Studying In A Thai University As An Old Man 

[DavisH]

4 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Studying In A Thai University As An Old Man 

But imagine the Pu$$y to be had lol

What other reason could there possibly be?