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

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

21 hours ago, mikeymike100 said:

Where was England?????

Oi, you got a loicense for that cheeky banter eh, mate?

 

21 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

I learned to not fight it and just let them have their own way.  All they want is confirmation, not actual correction. 

Heh, like when a farang or two is picked to sit at the judging table for competitions. Just for the photo ops. Of course the most attractive chick wasn't the best performer, but who am I to argue. "Arai gor dai, kap".

[Gknrd]

Yeah, with the problems in China. English is going to be top dog for a while longer for sure. In the business world at least. But, as long as countries can exploit the work force here it really does not matter IMO.  

[Grumpy one]

22 hours ago, roo860 said:

Where was the USA?

Failed to appear " your honour "

[Old Croc]

14 hours ago, mrfill said:

Slight language problem there...

The biggest English speaking country is Canada.

The most populous English speaking country is India.

Which country produces the most pedants?

[seajae]

before going to university to become a doctor our daughter had very good english, great pronounciation and sentences, now she can barely speak english and always answers me in thai, really have to wonder just what they were pushing at her university to turn her away from english. She comes across now with a thai is best attitude and that using english is demeaning, if this is what they are being taught at universities it explains why Thailand is getting worse as an english speaking country.

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, seajae said:

before going to university to become a doctor our daughter had very good english, great pronounciation and sentences, now she can barely speak english and always answers me in thai, really have to wonder just what they were pushing at her university to turn her away from english. She comes across now with a thai is best attitude and that using english is demeaning, if this is what they are being taught at universities it explains why Thailand is getting worse as an english speaking country.

Why on Earth is your daughter not a native speaker?

I never speak Thai to my kids.

[BangkokReady]

14 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

you cant carry on with a long term junta and get good results

It's always been this way.  It has nothing to do with the junta.

[hotandsticky]

3 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

It's always been this way.  It has nothing to do with the junta.

 

 

True, but that doesn't suit his agenda.

[Venom]

Education is extremely limited if they can only speak Thai. 

[If I should die]

The main point is that these are the results of people taking an English test.  It is not of the population at large.  It does not say the purpose of the test but the table shows the results of English language students in each of the countries then th eresults are damning, showing for those at the lower end an inability or unwillingness to dedicate effort even when the subject is chosen.

[If I should die]

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

Which country produces the most pedants?

India is the most populous country where some speak a form of English.  Most speak no English, some are able to intersperse English words into their Hindi or other local language but few can hold a conversation speaking only English.

 

[BigStar]

23 minutes ago, Venom said:

Education is extremely limited if they can only speak Thai. 

No. Surprised Japan even made to "low," actually.

 

Only speaking in Thai is hardly the most important limitation of many in the Thai education system in general. On the other hand, other countries may speak only English, and mostly badly, yet everyone here thinks they have great education systems.???? Fortunately, Urdu is becoming quite popular in the UK among the more intelligent inhabitants, so some of the limitation there, with all those unintelligible, uncouth dialects (often heard in Thailand), is now disappearing.

Edited November 27, 2022 by BigStar

[Old Croc]

6 minutes ago, If I should die said:

India is the most populous country where some speak a form of English.  Most speak no English, some are able to intersperse English words into their Hindi or other local language but few can hold a conversation speaking only English.

 

I fail to understand what your post has to do with my question.

 

I guess you were answering an earlier post. There I stated that 125 million Indians speak English. Obviously, that is only something like 10% of the population so your reasoning has some truth, but still makes my statement that they have more English speakers than all countries other than the US, correct.

If you still believe they don't really speak English there I suggest you research the 100+ years of British colonialism in India to understand why it is so, or perhaps just ring a help line with a computer problem.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

3 hours ago, Gknrd said:

Yeah, with the problems in China. English is going to be top dog for a while longer for sure.

Hehe. I often heard "Better start learning Mandarin" up until a few years ago. That's looking a lot less likely with:

 

1. Botched, heavy handed, yet continued response to Covid.

2. Thousands of apartment and condo projects incomplete and abandoned.

3. Banks teetering on the verge of collapse.

4. Treating and paying their workers like <deleted>, then aghast in utter disbelief at them rioting and destroying the factories.

[Barnet1900]

On 11/26/2022 at 10:01 AM, Doctor Tom said:

yes, that's the most important point of this report? ????

Because he is the only hampsum man in the bar.....

 

[Barnet1900]

On 11/26/2022 at 10:17 AM, mikeymike100 said:

Probably very low, but unless you live in Thailand its immaterial?

English is the most widely spoken language in the world and certainly if you are Thai and want to get a job, or live outside of Thailand, speaking English would be a necessity?

Exactly. It's completely useless outside of Thailand.

[Barnet1900]

22 hours ago, Taboo2 said:

Hey dude, guess what, the local thais here tell me that as am American, they understand when I speak America English much better than the Brits, Scotts, Irish and Aussies.  

 

It is the "Hollywood Effect"...they watch movies and are more comfortable with American English than yours.  

 

Do not get too upset because we speak the Queen's (now King's English) better than you.

 

 

I agree. As a Brit, I can honestly say that the new breed of Brits speak <deleted> English.

 

Americans in my opinion do speak clearly...however, check your post for errors.

 

Thais not thais. 

 

Scots not Scotts. 

 

am American...

 

American English. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Skallywag]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:36 AM, webfact said:

the latest rankings of English Proficiency by a Swedish firm called EF Education First in which the data from 2.1 million test results among non-native speakers was

Swedish data from testing non-native speakers of English...??  What is this for people living in the 20th century? 

 

Another worthless survey IMO   Bigger Point!  With translation apps improving all the time - within a generation it will not matter, People will be able to understand each other whatever language they speak

 

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Skallywag

[phetphet]

On 11/26/2022 at 10:07 AM, bob smith said:

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

The education system here being what it is, many don't get the opportunity to learn English, and even if they do, the level of teaching is not always that great.

I think there was an article here on AN a couple of months ago about a Thai English language teacher, and how she was teaching the students incorrect English.

 

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, If I should die said:

India is the most populous country where some speak a form of English.  Most speak no English, some are able to intersperse English words into their Hindi or other local language but few can hold a conversation speaking only English.

 

Unless they work in a scam call centre!

[Taboo2]

23 hours ago, topt said:

Maybe I am being obtuse but can you please explain what Carthage has/had to do with America?

It requires a knowledge of the History of the Roman Empire...England has been around ruling the world longer than America.  Also, if you study American politics,  you will see a lot of how the Carthaginians rule and the corruption of the leaders and how they failed to support Hannibal and their troops.  America is the same, full of corrupt politicians who care nothing about the people and only govern to make millions.  Carthage failed because of greed and corruption and so will America.  By the way, the new Rome is China and we will lose the next global war with them, just like the Carthaginians were wiped out by the Romans.  When we lose, the Chinese will dominate the world and hence, Mandarin will be the number one language.  

[topt]

7 minutes ago, Taboo2 said:

It requires a knowledge of the History of the Roman Empire...England has been around ruling the world longer than America.  Also, if you study American politics,  you will see a lot of how the Carthaginians rule and the corruption of the leaders and how they failed to support Hannibal and their troops.  America is the same, full of corrupt politicians who care nothing about the people and only govern to make millions.  Carthage failed because of greed and corruption and so will America.  By the way, the new Rome is China and we will lose the next global war with them, just like the Carthaginians were wiped out by the Romans.  When we lose, the Chinese will dominate the world and hence, Mandarin will be the number one language.  

Thanks for the explanation.

[StevieAus]

I think it would assist if they concentrated on trying to teach the kids to speak English rather than worrying about the grammar. 

Also I have come across teachers trying to teach them English in Thai not sure how that works. 

The other issue is that when they go home they naturally speak Thai so there is no practice. 

I find with my six year old who speaks excellent English that apart from with me and my Thai wife she speaks Thai expected I suppose. 

[Ginner]

On 11/26/2022 at 10:07 AM, bob smith said:

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

What do you expect when even the Thai Education authorities cant even deliver an English exam paper that hasn't got grammar mistakes on almost every question. Plus English classes are considered PLAY TIME/GAME TIME/ FREE TIME and sleep time. If a foreigner attempts to encourage them to learn, he or she are labeled SERIOUS and BORING and need to be replaced ASAP.

[berrec]

English is often said to be the language of internation business.

 

If Thai's remain encapsulated internally in Thai business practices, they feel they don't require learning other language skills.

 

And they say they have Google Translate anyway (as good or as bad as it is)

 

Learning another language it often the mother of necessity. 

 

Have you every noticed that many of the Thai's at the grassroots of servicing tourists speak and understand basic English better than the rest of the Thai population?

 

Why! Because their livelihood depends on it.

 

 

[Venom]

3 hours ago, Barnet1900 said:

Exactly. It's completely useless outside of Thailand.

Exactly and extremely limited with regards to availability of educational materials which are highly censored in Thailand. Take history as one very obvious example. 

[Barnet1900]

48 minutes ago, berrec said:

English is often said to be the language of internation business.

 

If Thai's remain encapsulated internally in Thai business practices, they feel they don't require learning other language skills.

 

And they say they have Google Translate anyway (as good or as bad as it is)

 

Learning another language it often the mother of necessity. 

 

Have you every noticed that many of the Thai's at the grassroots of servicing tourists speak and understand basic English better than the rest of the Thai population?

 

Why! Because their livelihood depends on it.

 

 

Great post.

 

I imagine they avoid Thai university nonsense in which students are taught nothing but grammar by people who know nothing about grammar and end up scared to try and speak English.

[trainman34014]

5 hours ago, Venom said:

Education is extremely limited if they can only speak Thai. 

Your first four words sum up 'Education' in Thailand !

[spidermike007]

I would guess that there is a proportionate factor, between the countries that allow students to ask questions of the teacher, and the ability to learn and become good at the subject in question. Not being able to question their teachers here, has had a lasting and profoundly negative effect on learning.

 

Always question authority. Any and all authority. 

[BritManToo]

30 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I would guess that there is a proportionate factor, between the countries that allow students to ask questions of the teacher, and the ability to learn and become good at the subject in question. Not being able to question their teachers here, has had a lasting and profoundly negative effect on learning.

 

Always question authority. Any and all authority. 

My Thai cycling pal is a retired English teacher, he can't speak a word of English, I have to speak Thai.

I would suggest the way forward would be to employ qualified teachers that can speak English.

Not

1. Unqualified English speaking foreigners and not

2. Thai teachers that can't speak English.