More English Training For Thai Taxi Drivers

[george]

More English training for taxi drivers

BANGKOK: -- The Ministry of Education yesterday pledged to provide English language training for taxi drivers across the country, a programme which the Education Minister Adisai Bhodaramik said would be later extended to include other service sector professions.

Addressing a seminar organized by the Department of Non-Formal Education, Mr. Adisai hailed the department's English language programme for taxi drivers as a resounding success, with overwhelming numbers of applicants following the initial training of 1,000 drivers.

"The English language is a matter of national importance. The government and the Ministry of Education attaches great importance to the acceleration of English language skills development among children and Thai citizens across the country. We don't want people to study for decades and gain little from it. Even the teachers who teach don't always improve. Although some are excellent, on average there are still poor. Schoolchildren in particular aren't very brave, and don't really want to study English as the teaching is no fun", he said.

Mr. Adisai said that the department would, thus, work to expand the programme, and would also develop its educational materials in line with the needs of the Thai and global societies, eventually taking the scheme to other professions within the service sector.

In order to make English language training more interesting for the students, he said, the department would generate teaching materials which did not necessarily presuppose a certain level of competence on the part of the teachers, but would, instead, allow teachers to learn alongside their pupils.

The core focus of English programmes for taxi drivers will be communication with foreigners in order that tourists are impressed and happy when they travel to Thailand.

The government aims to provide training for 30 percent of taxi drivers in the capital, after which it will assess the scheme to determine whether or not the extra training has improved taxi drivers' income.

The Acting Director of the Department of Non-Formal Education Mr. Sawat Teechuen said yesterday that the free programme would initially be expanded to other professions where there was a lot of contact with foreigners, whether golf caddies or masseurs.

He also noted that surveys of 35,000 taxi drivers in Bangkok had shown that the vast majority wanted to better their English language skills.

However, as 85 percent had no education beyond primary school level, basic English among taxi drivers was often poor.

-- TNA 2004-07-01

[Dutchy2]

Mr. Adisai hailed the department's English language programme for taxi drivers as a resounding success, with overwhelming numbers of applicants following the initial training of 1,000 drivers.

It might be a refreshing new idea in Thailand but I'd suggest looking at the quality of the program and number of participants that pass tests to consider it a success.

[stumonster]

why not save a bit of money and give them a free tape to pop in the tape deck....

[astral]

Could provide jobs for some of those underqualified yougsters who keep asking in the Visa forum about teaching English in Thailand:-)

[MadFrankie]

why not save a bit of money and give them a free tape to pop in the tape deck....

Maybe give them a map of bangkok while there at it And teach them the game of "avoid the traffic jam" instead of the one there all real good @, u nearly have to drive the thing yourself sometimes

[possom]

i have been in taxis in many parts of the "english speaking world" i.e. uk ,usa, aus, nz, where the driver spoke less english than most bangkok cabbies while it maybe helpful for tourists (some ,not all) surely this is something a lot of these guys have no time for,even if they wanted to . giving them free tapes with basic english instruction might be more effective as they would be able to try their hand while waiting for fares if they so wished. also i think a lot of these guys have a good knowledge of bangkok ,compared to many cabbies in other big cities around the world .

[NedKelly]

I can see it now......instead of " you like girl, boom boom, yaba, ganga ?"..........it will be "Sir, welcome to Thailand, I sincerely hope you are having a wonderful stay here. May I take this opportunity to inform you that today you are looking so handsome and powerful. Indeed I wish also to take this opportunity to offer you only the finest selection of hand grown marijuana or perhaps some locally produced amphetamines - the uneducated call them ya ba - or perhaps you would like to participate in a wonderful soapy massage to restore your weary muscles after such a long and tiring flight from your homeland. I also have a good selection of girls I can arrange to escort Sir to his lodgings" Maybe Toxin could attend the class too.

[ASIC]

How about more english training for the english teachers here?

ASIC