Damning English survey ranking leaves Thailand almost rock bottom in the World - Singapore and Philippines lead way in Asia

[fusion58]

8 hours ago, bob smith said:

will never change. thais are far too lazy to even attempt learning another language other than their own.

Moreover, Thais are probably the most intellectually incurious lot you’ll ever encounter. Most folks here are oblivious to international affairs and seem to believe Thailand is the geographical and cultural center of the universe. For most Thais, the pursuit of money and social status seem to be the only real priorities.

[bob smith]

10 minutes ago, fusion58 said:

Moreover, Thais are probably the most intellectually incurious lot you’ll ever encounter. Most folks here are oblivious to international affairs and seem to believe Thailand is the geographical and cultural center of the universe. For most Thais, the pursuit of money and social status seem to be the only real priorities.

I couldn't agree more m8

they are a bunch of iphone scrolling drones. In general, of course.
 

Im sure there are 1 or 2 that have a brain but ive yet to meet him/her

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Smokey and the Bandit said:

Actually  America is the biggest native English speaking country!

Alaska doesn't really count as there's nobody there.

[Doctor Tom]

1 hour ago, bangon04 said:

If you ask them, they will usually say they are Indian first, and only British second.

not if they were born in UK

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, geisha said:

The Thai kids I know are a catastrophic.

Do they know how to finish a sentence?

[Rimmer]

A post with an incorrect quote has been removed

[Phredd]

I have a Thai lady who teaches English and some of her Students are beyond belief with there Intelligence, that's is the way I see them. However when they reach teenage years it's all gone to 'waste', particularly when it comes to girls falling in,"Love" so to speak. What a Bummer. :(:(:(

[SchuetzRob]

9 hours ago, bob smith said:

will never change. thais are far too lazy to even attempt learning another language other than their own.

Nice, very nice....... May I presume that you are living in Thailand? And may I presume that you were not too lazy to learn Thai?

 

[djayz]

3 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Some better-educated Thais know English grammar well. They can explain it (in Thai), but still cannot string a conversational phrase together.

100% correct! But, listening to them more times than not leaves me wondering "What's he/she talking about?" I've often wondered if it's a cultural thing. Do they think the same about us when we talk (in Thai or English)?

Edited November 26, 2022 by djayz

[DrJoy]

9 hours ago, roo860 said:

Where was the USA?

I guess its a list of countries whose 1st language is not English

[DrJoy]

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

French and Spanish are also useful.

Thai, not so much.

Thats the point

[MrMuddle]

9 hours ago, Sato said:

The same applies to English people, Americans and Australiens.

The English don't learn another language, they just raise their voices - gets the job done!

[proton]

4 hours ago, Purdey said:

Often wondered why British people retiring in Thailand can't speak Thai. Was here three years and thought that it was time to learn. Bought a book called The Fundamentals of Thai Language. It led me to get jobs for Thai companies and i have no interest in retiring now.

Native language speakers have a distinct advantage.

Everyone in my current company speaks English but is happy to know i understand when they speak Thai. 

 

Mrs is a Thai language teacher, met her at the school she worked at. 20 years later I still cannot speak it, despite starting in 1994! Tones impossible to hear or replicate most of the time, easier not to bother trying, just causes frustration all round. 

[siftasam]

Whenever I hear a Thai girl say "Me no money", I always correct them.

[Neeranam]

So what?

 

I'm sure Thailand is much higher than other countries in Chinese proficiency. 

 

 

[orchidfan]

10 hours ago, Sato said:

The same applies to English people, Americans and Australiens.

Do you mean "Australians" by any chance??

[Caldera]

That won't surprise anyone who has spent any time in Thailand.

[BTB1977]

11 hours ago, mikeymike100 said:

Where was England?????

112th. 

[djayz]

6 hours ago, DezLez said:

You said "I have yet to meet one who could hold a decent conversation - in English or Thai"

Yes it offends me as you seem incapable of lifting your expectations and seem incapable of finding educated Thais to have an intelligent conversation with.  Hence my bar comment!  I am sorry if that bit offends you!

Ouch! That hurt... ???? ????

You have no idea of the Thais I've met. ????

Based on these, and other comments, you strike me as being a very sensitive creature. Are you in love? 

[FritsSikkink]

9 hours ago, nchuckle said:

The more revealing question is " How many countries speak the language in which you are proficient?."

For Thai it is only ONE. For English,Spanish and others ….? 

So because some countries invaded other countries and forced them to speak their languages, you don't have to learn the language of the country you are living in?

[visabouncer]

14 hours ago, mikeymike100 said:

English is the most widely spoken language in the world

Is English also the most widely spoken language among tourists in Thailand? Russian or Chinese, I suppose...

[cdemundo]

15 hours ago, Old Croc said:

India is the biggest English-speaking country in the world.

True as stated, but estimates of percentage of Indians who speak English top out around 20%.

So it has the largest population of countries that speak English, but low percentage speak English.

[Stargeezr]

Canadians speak Canadian, since we do not use English words like Windscreen, Bonnet, Boot,

 Alu minium. We have wind shields, hoods, trunks, and aluminum. There are other very British English that

we have heard, but do not speak as well.  I am lucky that I have quite a few  Thai relatives who speak

very good English, much better than my poor attempt at Thai. Considering the wages of a lot of 

Thai people, they cannot afford the good English teachers in every school or after school classes.

[RayWright]

Perhaps rather than teaching English with English Teachers, Thai kids should be made to watch all 236 episodes (88 hours) of Friends.

Apparently,  you only need to understand 750 different words to comprehend 90% of all the episodes, or 4150 to cover 98% of the Friends vocabulary. 

See link for more details.

 

http://herbsusmann.com/2020/08/04/friends/

 

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, Will B Good said:

There is/are? no end of kids.......12 to 15.....

Corrected for you

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Though just a thought... I read somewhere that over 750k Brits can't speak English... Lemme find it... Here:

Immigrants possibly...

[AgentSmith]

18 hours ago, Will B Good said:

There is/are? no end of kids.......12 to 15......careering around on motorbikes (modified exhausts obvs) all day long where we live......never in school.

 

I asked the wife what happens when they don't turn up at school......she shrugs and says nothing happens.

Nothing happens at school either so no damage done.. Sadly.

[skorp13]

19 hours ago, roo860 said:

Where was the USA?

Not sure but we rocked in Spanish ????

[Derek B]

20 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I think it's great when the cute girls don't understand English. 

I agree - In which case I just use sign language and it goes just great.

 

[jacko45k]

21 hours ago, steven100 said:

I see India is about middle of the scale .....  isn't there some Indian taxi drivers in the UK ?

Yes there are... and I got one that could hardly speak English and didn't know where the one and only hospital was!