Thailand falls in global English Proficiency Index for fourth consecutive year

[ChrisKC]

It's about time Thai English language teachers learned it from native English speakers, that included at least a year in a country where English is the first language

[ravip]

9 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

I was at homepro last week in the loading bay. I saw a English bloke waving his hands around at a couple of confused Thais. He wanted a piece of rope, but was unable to ask for it making himself frustrated and being mildly rude to the staff. 
In two seconds I politely asked them for some rope. 
 

While we were waiting he started going on about how stupid they are and he had been living here for 8 years. I said to him if they were good at foreign languages they wouldn’t be working at homepro for 10,000 a month. I don’t think it had ever occurred to him. 

He wanted a piece of rope, but was unable to ask for it making himself frustrated and being mildly rude to the staff.

This is very very common internationally. Some love to make a 'huge circus' in front of poor or helpless people, usually shouting loud and waving their hands around - I guess, it is a sickness.

(if the guy was being mildly rude, promote him to the gentlemen's grade 555)

 

[ravip]

4 hours ago, JohnHans said:

Well I don't know about that... Visitors hear Thais speaking English in the street a lot...

1) Wash you name?

2) Weigh u fom?

3) Weigh u go?

4) U hansum man!

5) I go you, ok?

6) U bad man, no like Thai.

If you travel around the globe in non English speaking countries, you will hear similar or worse.

Can ALL Germans, French, Swedish, Norwegians etc speak 100% correct English with perfect pronunciation?

[ravip]

17 minutes ago, ChrisKC said:

Thai teachers or their students are no stupid. English is difficult to learn as a second language and worse, if taught to them by other Thai people who don't know it properly themselves.

 

 

WOW! This is an excellent evaluation. 

Yes, The WOW factor is breaking the barrier!

[ChrisKC]

9 minutes ago, ravip said:

If you travel around the globe in non English speaking countries, you will hear similar or worse.

Can ALL Germans, French, Swedish, Norwegians etc speak 100% correct English with perfect pronunciation?

It doesn't need to be perfect! Ask many Scottish, Irish, deep south USA

[tso310]

5 hours ago, mikeymike100 said:

If their English language is that bad, as you infer,  how do they pass the entrance exam?

They already have  a Thai degree. A UK degree is worth far more than a Thai one and far cheaper than the US. What UK universities are looking for is an ability to understand and complete the course work in English. One of our daughters was at Hull University which had many Thai students and a thriving Thai Club heavily sponsored by the Hull Consulate. 

[ravip]

7 minutes ago, ChrisKC said:

It doesn't need to be perfect! Ask many Scottish, Irish, deep south USA

Hence, this is super good...

 

1) Wash you name?

2) Weigh u fom?

3) Weigh u go?

4) U hansum man!

5) I go you, ok?

6) U bad man, no like Thai.

[tso310]

5 hours ago, laocowboy2 said:

Because for the first time they have been properly taught English.

Very true and down in lower Buriram I know a number of English native teachers. It can be a grind for them but any worse than teaching French in a UK school. Our youngest daughter was at Hull University in the UK which has/had a large number of Thai students and I was surprised at the breadth of social backgrounds.  Needless to say the ones whose fathers were in the diplomatic corps or international banking etc spoke faultless English. Some had  to spend a year at a language school, Brighton and Bournemouth seemed to have been the most popular locations.

[brian2f2f]

9 hours ago, gunnerterry said:

I would presume the people/students surveyed were educated in the government school system as a majority of students learning in International and Private Thai schools can speak basic English. In government schools, Thai students are not nationally tested on their speaking skills. The English test involves a number of multiple choice questions, so they know they can just guess the answers, so don't pay attention in class. Teaching speaking and listening effectively to a class of 50-60 students in a Government school is virtually impossible. The only way the English proficiency will go up for the average Thai student is a complete restructure of the national tests, smaller classes in Government schools, and better facilities, training and evaluations for teachers.

I have met more Thais with english degrees either BA or Masters that can't even speak anything beyond hi in English. The problems is that nearly every English teacher in Thailand has no concept of the language at all to begin with. So that's no different then us teaching a language we have 0 skill in. Of course the students wont learn. Then on top of it the books for English have more errors then correct information as well so even then the majority of the information being taught is incorrect in the first place. So can we honestly expect Thais to be good in English when they books are horribly inaccurate and the teachers have no ability in the language itself. 

[robertyongym]

On 11/25/2020 at 3:12 PM, J Town said:

Hasn't this poor dead horse been beaten enough?

 

You get what you pay for. Pay a competitive salary and you'll get quality teachers. I know a school where they are currently short 14 teachers. They are part of the the largest private school system in Southeast Asia, and the pay they offer is literally laughed at and it shows. Numbers don't lie. As a result you get lousy English proficiency. Again, numbers don't lie.

Absolutely true. Many schools want to pay for champagne with beer money. 

[teacherclaire]

10 hours ago, Chassa said:

I believe the official language in Singapore is English!

 

But it's only a tiny country, innit?

Area: 725.7 km²

Population: 5.639 million (2018) World Bank

         

[teacherclaire]

55 minutes ago, ravip said:

Hence, this is super good...

 

1) Wash you name?

2) Weigh u fom?

3) Weigh u go?

4) U hansum man!

5) I go you, ok?

6) U bad man, no like Thai.

Sarcasm? I had gate duty with a Thai English teacher when she said: " I am toilet."

 

  Off she went to the toilet. 

 

 

 

  

[todlad]

Admittedly a sample of one but ... private school with native English speakers as teachers ... all teachers. Good!

Ah but, every classroom has an assistant, Thai speaking, teacher. Lazy children learn no English! I wonder why many parents pay school fees but are happy to waste so much of them.

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, ChrisKC said:

"Accusing" is NOT the correct word. My comment was prefaced as being pedantic.  For Foreigners and even some English native speakers could argue that an English teacher is a Teacher from England  as well as anybody could interpret same as any person teaching English.

I believe to some extent that the Thai teachers don't deserve  the title of English teacher unless that title is prefaced by the word "Thai" as they themselves don't know it well enough

The word was 'actually'; I have a smartphone that alters words sometimes. 

If you're not a native English speaker(native speaker of English), I can understand your confusion.

 

I am a NES and we say 'English teacher' to mean someone who teaches English, regardless of their nationality. We say Maths teacher/PE teacher etc NOT teacher of Maths/teacher of PE.  My daughters' English teachers are from the US, Oz and England.

 

My 2 Thai friends are English teachers and probable speak better English than most NES. They both got PhD's from Leeds University. 

 

 

 

 

[Neeranam]

2 hours ago, ChrisKC said:

Thai teachers or their students are no stupid. English is difficult to learn as a second language and worse, if taught to them by other Thai people who don't know it properly themselves.

 

 

My daughter's IELTS teacher is Thai; she got a band 9! 

 

My wife went to English classes after we got married; her teacher was Burmese and better than most English teachers I know from the UK or US. 

[ChrisKC]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

My daughter's IELTS teacher is Thai; she got a band 9! 

 

My wife went to English classes after we got married; her teacher was Burmese and better than most English teachers I know from the UK or US. 

Credit to them for sure. Whatever a scenario about anything, it never applies to 100%

[2530Ubon]

It would probably help if the teachers could keep their dirty peckers and hands to themselves. 40% of Thai students report being sexually harrassed at school - and it's almost an even split between boys and girls.

 

A hard ask to achieve academic success when your too busy fending off unwanted diddling

 

[ChrisKC]

12 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

The word was 'actually'; I have a smartphone that alters words sometimes. 

If you're not a native English speaker(native speaker of English), I can understand your confusion.

 

I am a NES and we say 'English teacher' to mean someone who teaches English, regardless of their nationality. We say Maths teacher/PE teacher etc NOT teacher of Maths/teacher of PE.  My daughters' English teachers are from the US, Oz and England.

 

My 2 Thai friends are English teachers and probable speak better English than most NES. They both got PhD's from Leeds University. 

 

 

 

 

I stick to my point - I was being pedantic. "English Teacher" is grammatically correct and CAN mean what I wrote. I know how it is said in common English usage and I acknowledge that. But the word "Maths" or "PE" teacher itself cannot be confusing or used pedantically as they are not a Nationality!  I am a native speaker of English and I continue to study it and am not remotely confused. I know a few Thai people who speak really good English and they are not teachers.

 

I don't want to brag but last month - after six months of thinking of English idioms I was able to add 218 (from about 800 I submitted) to the already largest English idiom dictionary in the world. I won first prize in a worldwide competition  and won $150. This was after I added 150 a few months ago and I came second and won $50. Yes, I know my idioms and I have been doing Times and Telegraph crosswords - the cryptic ones for more than 50 years -   I love my language  and having fun with words.

[SaamBaht]

11 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Yet, many of these "bar girls" will be forced to go back to school and learn English properly. No more "same same, ting tong, poom pui, ba ba baw baw". Then they can escape a miserable life of squalor and degradation. 

Sadly, these farang mongers don't care about their physical/mental/spiritual wellbeing, or that of themselves. 

Hey handsum man! Where you go?

[SaamBaht]

11 hours ago, Neeranam said:

I taught here for 25 years at high school, university. 

Oh my...how is your recovery going? 

[Neeranam]

7 minutes ago, SaamBaht said:

Hey handsum man! Where you go?

Hey Saambaht, long time me see you no. 

[Neeranam]

3 minutes ago, SaamBaht said:

Oh my...how is your recovery going? 

One day at a time, it is beyond my wildest dreams!

[Neeranam]

33 minutes ago, ChrisKC said:

I have been doing Times and Telegraph crosswords - the cryptic ones for more than 50 years -   I love my language  and having fun with words.

Ah, a fellow cruciverbalist! I started doing the Times crossword in the late 80's and only ever finished the cryptic clues

once! 

[teacherclaire]

13 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Plenty of people in England cant speak English

 

   

 

      " Their is a man who's family lost  three of there colleges."  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

       

[teacherclaire]

36 minutes ago, SaamBaht said:

Oh my...how is your recovery going? 

He recovered pretty well. 

[joecoolfrog]

On 11/25/2020 at 9:21 AM, Traubert said:

Hows the Thai proficency in the Western world?

At precisely the level required.

[Maybole]

On 11/25/2020 at 3:52 PM, AlfHuy said:

Soon, no more English spoken but at school, they will be obliged to learn Mandarine to better understand their brothers and sisters.

I am being pedantic. My old teacher of English, James (Nuncle)  Hood would have been horrified by your split infinitive. He would have insisted on "to understand their brothers and sisters better" . Feel free to lampoon me. 

Also, I was approached to help a couple of local 8 year-olds to help with their homework and within a month received a note in Pidgin ordering me to desist and stop interfering.

[Natai Beach]

 

13 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

In case you have not noticed, alot of what we do on this forum is observe, vent our frustrations, complain a bit and rant. 
 

Maybe if you spent more time improving yourself rather than venting and ranting about Thai people you wouldn’t have to rely on google translate. 

[ChakaKhan]

On 11/25/2020 at 3:12 AM, J Town said:

Hasn't this poor dead horse been beaten enough?

 

On 11/25/2020 at 3:44 AM, csmith said:

I'm finding more Thai's have HIGH proficiency using Google translate .… am impressed with that.

Always take the easiest route in LOS.....reminds me of Simpsons where young homer and barney skip class to go smoke ..barney says they will miss english class, Homer scoffs, who cares, im never going to england!

[Emdog]

21 hours ago, Neeranam said:

And how do you think the English teachers would feel? 

 

Just imagine if retired Chinamen started doing your profession for free in your country, whatever it is.

I get that. I'd just say the demand/need far outstrips the supply, or at least supply they can get with poor wages offered (or so I've read here).

I'm concerned about the students actually learning the language & that doesn't seem to be happening under current "system". IMO education should be "student centered" more than "teacher centered". We could argue chicken and egg bit about which is more important... personally, I'd prefer learning Chinese from a native speaker "Chinaman" (hint: some see that as a racial slur). My idea of a few hours a week is not to replace the inept Thai English teacher, but to augment.