Cabinet gives green light to Canadians to teach English in 300 schools - kids will speak well in just a few years, says now ex-minister

[webfact]

Cabinet gives green light to Canadians to teach English in 300 schools - kids will speak well in just a few years, says now ex-minister

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thailand's education minister told Thai Rath that within 3-5 years primary school children would be communicating in English now that his plans are beginning to bear fruit.

 

There is just one problem for Nattaphol Teepsuwan - yesterday he was jailed for seven years for insurrection in connection with the 2013 protests. 

 

Thai Rath had posted a picture of the minister with bags under his eyes but he was upbeat after a cabinet meeting decided to agree to his plan to work with the Canadian Embassy and Canadian Chamber of Commerce in sourcing new teachers. 

 

They will be deployed at 300 good sub-district schools from May.

 

Nattaphol said that the education ministry under his leadership was sourcing teachers from native speaking countries to raise standards.

 

Three hundred is just a start, there will soon be 10,000 foreign  teachers in schools teaching English, he said, raising standards.

 

He said that primary schools were a good place to start as the little ones are like sponges who will soak up the words and be communicating.

 

Sourcing high quality foreign teachers with high level English abilities and abilities to pass on their knowledge to children remained his priority.

 

Nattaphol was then sentenced to 7 years 16 months in jail according to reports and print media in Thailand said he was taken off to jail. 

 

He has already been stripped of his ministerial post, according to reports.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-02-25

 

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[bdenner]

So it's taken all these years for the education department to realize Filipino English teachers are a waste of time!

[Tropicalevo]

But Canadians cannot spell! (Same as Americans.)

[Peabody]

"Nattaphol was then sentenced to 7 years 16 months in jail according to reports and print media in Thailand said he was taken off to jail. "

 

So 8 years, 4 months??

[KarenBravo]

3 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

But Canadians cannot spell! (Same as Americans.)

 

Actually, they can.

Their spellings are the original. When the colonists first moved to the New World, there weren't that many of them and the language and spelling stayed static. Meanwhile, in the UK, things evolved and changed.

Though, they have no excuse for their pronunciation and spelling of the word Aluminium.

 

Explanation is courtesy of the author Bill Bryson.

[RotBenz8888]

So Thai kids will speak English with a French accent. 

[petermik]

7 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

So Thai kids will speak English with a French accent. 

Yes monsieur....

[Crossy]

1 minute ago, petermik said:

Yes monsieur....

 

"Good moaning, I was pi55ing by your doeur".

 

[jvs]

At least you will be able to understand what they are saying eh?

[Crossy]

10 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

Though, they have no excuse for their pronunciation and spelling of the word Aluminium.

 

Aluminium is an interesting one. 

 

"Aluminum" was the original name given to the element by Humphry Davy, but others called it "aluminium" as other metals ended in "ium" (sodium, calcium etc etc) and that became the accepted name in Europe.

 

However, in the USA the preferred name was "aluminum" and when the American Chemical Society debated on the issue, in 1925, it decided to stick with aluminum.

 

However "zed" is definitely the last letter of the alphabet not this "zee" thing (Dutch for sea).

 

[gunderhill]

42 minutes ago, webfact said:

He said that primary schools were a good place to start as the little ones are like sponges who will soak up the words and be communicating.

Oh yes that's  exactly what they want so they can ram that religion and obedience to  the very  top, truly disgusting.

[ezzra]

46 minutes ago, webfact said:

Nattaphol was then sentenced to 7 years 16 months in jail according to reports and print media in Thailand said he was taken off to jail

Talking about best laid plans, now that the man is off to Jail what is going to happen to his vision...

[Moonlover]

34 minutes ago, Peabody said:

"Nattaphol was then sentenced to 7 years 16 months in jail according to reports and print media in Thailand said he was taken off to jail. "

 

So 8 years, 4 months??

Incorrect info, the sentence was 7 years and 4 months.

 

Two cabinet ministers get jail for insurrection over PDRC

[foreverlomsak]

41 minutes ago, webfact said:

Cabinet gives green light to Canadians to teach English in 300 schools - kids will speak well in just a few years, says now ex-minister

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Thailand's education minister told Thai Rath that within 3-5 years primary school children would be communicating in English now that his plans are beginning to bear fruit.

 

There is just one problem for Nattaphol Teepsuwan - yesterday he was jailed for seven years for insurrection in connection with the 2013 protests. 

 

Thai Rath had posted a picture of the minister with bags under his eyes but he was upbeat after a cabinet meeting decided to agree to his plan to work with the Canadian Embassy and Canadian Chamber of Commerce in sourcing new teachers. 

 

They will be deployed at 300 good sub-district schools from May.

 

Nattaphol said that the education ministry under his leadership was sourcing teachers from native speaking countries to raise standards.

 

Three hundred is just a start, there will soon be 10,000 foreign  teachers in schools teaching English, he said, raising standards.

 

He said that primary schools were a good place to start as the little ones are like sponges who will soak up the words and be communicating.

 

Sourcing high quality foreign teachers with high level English abilities and abilities to pass on their knowledge to children remained his priority.

 

Nattaphol was then sentenced to 7 years 16 months in jail according to reports and print media in Thailand said he was taken off to jail. 

 

He has already been stripped of his ministerial post, according to reports.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-02-25

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

The Thai education system falls down with to much emphasis on spelling and grammar and not enough on speaking. They've researched and researched US/UK schools on how they do it, but they've missed a major point, the kids are speaking English before they go to school, and need only to hone their language skills by learning spelling and grammar.

What does it matter if a Thai asks "Station train is where?" (in Thai the question word is last in the sentence), instead of the grammatically correct "Where is the train station?", it's still easily understood. The pronunciation may sound funny at times, but even among native speakers within the US or UK or Australia or Canada for that matter pronunciation differs.

That's my gripe over with, and yes I've taught in 5 schools (state and private) in Thailand from Kindergarten right through to final year of high school. Some are wizards at spelling and grammar but cannot say a word.

[realfunster]

Sorry, eh ?

[foreverlomsak]

11 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Talking about best laid plans, now that the man is off to Jail what is going to happen to his vision...

Back burner until he gets back to revitalize it.

[bluesofa]

41 minutes ago, KarenBravo said:

 

Actually, they can.

Their spellings are the original. When the colonists first moved to the New World, there weren't that many of them and the language and spelling stayed static. Meanwhile, in the UK, things evolved and changed.

Though, they have no excuse for their pronunciation and spelling of the word Aluminium.

 

Explanation is courtesy of the author Bill Bryson.

Yes, I've read that elsewhere too regarding the origin and hence different spelling.

[bermondburi]

There's a big difference between Canadian and Canadian teacher. What qualified Canadian teacher will come to work for peanuts? ????️????️ 

[bluesofa]

4 minutes ago, bermondburi said:

There's a big difference between Canadian and Canadian teacher. What qualified Canadian teacher will come to work for peanuts? ????️????️ 

A Canadian sock monkey?

[ballpoint]

It's aboot time they did this, eh?

[Golden Triangle]

^^^^^ Eh ?

????

[OJAS]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Thailand's education minister told Thai Rath that within 3-5 years primary school children would be communicating in English now that his plans are beginning to bear fruit.

 

I am sure that Canadians hailing from Quebec would be far more interested if the education minister were to adopt similar plans for primary school children to be communicating in French within 3-5 years.

Edited February 25, 2021 by OJAS

[mr mr]

1 hour ago, jvs said:

At least you will be able to understand what they are saying eh?

 

no doubt aboot it.

Edited February 25, 2021 by mr mr

[scorecard]

52 minutes ago, foreverlomsak said:

The Thai education system falls down with to much emphasis on spelling and grammar and not enough on speaking. They've researched and researched US/UK schools on how they do it, but they've missed a major point, the kids are speaking English before they go to school, and need only to hone their language skills by learning spelling and grammar.

What does it matter if a Thai asks "Station train is where?" (in Thai the question word is last in the sentence), instead of the grammatically correct "Where is the train station?", it's still easily understood. The pronunciation may sound funny at times, but even among native speakers within the US or UK or Australia or Canada for that matter pronunciation differs.

That's my gripe over with, and yes I've taught in 5 schools (state and private) in Thailand from Kindergarten right through to final year of high school. Some are wizards at spelling and grammar but cannot say a word.

So what's wrong with teaching the kids correct English?

 

Or perhaps you could develop the teaching materials / books with wrong English (as per your example).

 

The reality is that there are many good series of lesson books suitable for young kids up to adults, most with progressive drawings and photos aligned to age groups, in colour and nowadays bought in massive bulk and therefore not that expensive.

 

And they come with practice and homework books to reinforce the daily lessons.

 

They work, my adult son and his 3 kids have all had these books as their main materials, they all speak advanced English.

 

Why not use them along with qualified experienced farang teachers? 

Edited February 25, 2021 by scorecard

[PatOngo]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

kids will speak well in just a few years

Has'nt worked for the past 2564 years but will work in the next few, yeah, ok!

[ramrod711]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

But Canadians cannot spell! (Same as Americans.)

Canadians spell the same way the English do. I think the English had something to do with the language being called English. On the other hand there may be a wave of students coming who end their sentences with eh? 

[ramrod711]

1 hour ago, realfunster said:

Sorry, eh ?

 

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

 

"Good moaning, I was pi55ing by your doeur".

 

Say that onlee wance

[mr mr]

 

[foreverlomsak]

33 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Why not use them along with qualified experienced farang teachers? 

That's one of the big problems, at my first school 75% of the English teachers taught verbally in Thai, because

1. they did not speak English, so English was rarely heard

2. that's the way they were taught, so it must be right

Everything was spelling and grammar.

Books are easy to get as you say (have many myself and I did use them in the classroom paid for out of my own pocket) but if they are used in isolation from the spoken word, you won't get English speakers.

Speaking is all about making yourself understood, not worrying whether you should use a noun, a pronoun, a verb or whatever, why I gave the example sentence, it is what a Thai would say but typed in English.

Getting qualified experienced farang teachers to move to Thailand is not easy, even getting newly qualified teachers is hard enough and it is mainly only the International schools that can afford the salaries that qualified experienced farang teachers want.

I also believe the best use of qualified experienced farang teachers is to teach the teachers not the students directly.

Rant over, but this is and has been one of my pet theories for a while, actually got it started in one school we were doing both, teaching the students and the teachers (not only English dept either)