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Thailand’s English proficiency plummets: Survey


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I find it to be deeply troubling nor understand the almost obsessive indoctrination ideals of mandating second languages towards the overwhelmingly greater percentage of respective populations that will never have a practical need/wish/desire to attain English by way of their everyday lives. They'll never have any practical purpose or reason to use it. 

 

Granted, there are those segments of the populations that, for whatever reasons in their lives, have a great desire to become sufficient in the magical English - those are the ones that should be targeted and expanding the education upon. 

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2 hours ago, overherebc said:

Not many of the expats here speak latin either.

English, whether you like it or not, is useful all over the world. Thai is useful in one country only, 

hence the preface 'people who live here', i think if you intend to make a country your home then it would be beneficial to learn the language

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I remember a native american teaching English in a rural secundary school in Isaan, The guy was plumber in the US. Hardly to understand in normal conversation. No teaching skills, no grammar knowledge, hillbilly pronounciation. Which result should be expected?

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12 minutes ago, it is what it is said:

hence the preface 'people who live here', i think if you intend to make a country your home then it would be beneficial to learn the language

I've been here for a long time but it is not my home. I could list the differences but I don't have all night.

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33 minutes ago, SheikYabodyline said:

You've been teaching English for fifteen years? That corresponds nicely with the downward trend in English competence. Far be it from me to correlate the two though...

Thank you for  your confidence in my teaching

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5 hours ago, Mango Bob said:

Maybe we English speaking countries who live in Thailand should try speaking some Thai.  I bet we are worst then the Thais.

 

Europeans can master English easily because they are of the same language family with many cognates, that's why the top 20 are almost all European countries.

 

I had a laugh when a farang couldn't remember how to say fish in Thai after the owner of the shop keep on teaching him every time he wants to order the same dish.

 

I think Thai would have an easier time learning Lao language than farang.

Edited by EricTh
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4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I see UK is not in the top 10.

The ranking is for second language speakers. They have to master at least two languages.

 

USA, Canada, Australia, UK are all native English speakers who only need to master one language.

 

Saying a few sentences like sawatdee krap doesn't qualify one as a speaker of that language.

Edited by EricTh
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4 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

I wonder where the USA would rank?  Some areas of the USA if you don't speak Spanish like Miami, you can't function.  I lived in Houston for a period of time and some areas of the city if you did not speak Spanish you could not communicate with anyone. 

That is saying nothing of the Ebonics that takes a special degree of understanding.  And for anyone who has ever traveled to Louisiana that Cajun dialect may be something but English it is not.  

The ranking is for non-native English speaking countries. USA, Canada, Australia, UK are all excluded for obvious reason.

 

 

 

 

 

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25 minutes ago, EricTh said:

The ranking is for non-native English speaking countries. USA, Canada, Australia, UK are all excluded for obvious reason.

 

 

 

 

 

why only "white" countries, why not include..

  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Australia
  • The Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • Belize
  • Canada*
  • Dominica
  • Grenada
  • Guyana
  • Ireland
  • Jamaica
  • Malta
  • New Zealand
  • St Kitts and Nevis
  • St Lucia
  • St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America

and then there's countries like India, Bangladesh, South Africa,,,,,

Edited by Thunglom
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7 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

They weren't doing very well 10 years ago and since then, they have done their level best to get rid of as many foreigners as possible... including teachers.

One has to ask "why?". Surely it's in nobody's interest to remain at the bottom of the barrel. Is this a strategy or pure incompetence/or ignorance? 

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1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

My Thai wife, who was taught English in school here by native Thai nationality EN teachers, was just explaining to me how Thailand probably ranked so low on this ranking list because Thailand never lost a "wah"....

 

I paused, and asked "Wah??? What's "Wah???" And she explained, yes, "wah" against foreigners.... And I replied, "Darling, I think you mean "WAR"!  And she said, "yes, but my Thai teacher taught me... WAH!"

 

Even after being together for many years, it seems we have one of those kinds of "my Thai teacher taught me" conversations every week or so... My wife most of the time by now knows how to pronounce things correctly, but probably just likes to "hack" me off by rubbing her native TH EN learning stuff in my face! ????

 

I bet the firsttime you met she told you'r a very hansum man.

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5 hours ago, blackprince said:

The English Proficiency Index is the most methodologically flawed test around. Serious linguists wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. From their own website:

 

"The test-taking population represented in this Index is self-selected and not guaranteed to be representative. Only those who want to learn English or are curious about their English skills will participate in one of these tests. This could skew scores lower or higher than those of the general population." Not 'alf guv.

 

A more telling comparison would be with the number of westerners who gain any Thai fluency after years or decades of immersion in the Thai language.

 

 

Some learn Thai but most don't. 

A lot can depend on whether you're here for retirement or work and the work you are involved in. In the case of O&G work and working in engineering and related fabrication the specifications are always in english. The contracts are in english and the reasons are obvious. If written in Thai too many interpretations can be made from the printed word, that doesn't happen if it's in english. One example is the difference between should and shall, that is not so clear in Thai and it can make a big difference.

Back to the point of learning Thai, if you spend all your working day using english and the Thais you are working with have to converse in english with you it doesn't help your Thai skills.

If you are early retired then yes you have a better chance to learn Thai, but, many of those who do learn Thai from a bar and believe me if you use that Thai in 'polite' circles you don't want to know what educated Thais think of you.

 

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