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

[JensenZ]

On 11/26/2022 at 1:07 PM, Taboo2 said:

Why waste time learning English...seriously, Chinese should be their number one language....in case anyone has not checked in yet, the Chinese will rule the world in 20 years.  Tell your kids to learn Mandarin.  Such is life.  Let's see if they will do a better job than the Romans (England) or Carthage (America).

Don't worry about China. Their population is aging so fast, they will be in serious decline in 20 years. It has already started. They'll be one working-age person for every retired person.

[JensenZ]

On 11/26/2022 at 3:34 PM, In Full Agreement said:

 

And Britain??

It was a survey of non-English (as a first language) countries. South Africa shouldn't have been on the list either.

[JensenZ]

On 11/26/2022 at 4:14 PM, chricha said:

6. that's why Philiponos sound like Yanks because they learn from Yankees

It's actually "Filipinos".

 

They don't learn their current pronunciation from "Yankees". They are taught American English at school by Filipino teachers, giving them their unique Filipino-American English accent.

 

When America colonized the Philippines in 1898, they sent thousands of English teachers over there.... so it is true, a long time ago, they learned from Americans.

[steevjee]

On 11/26/2022 at 10:20 AM, Sato said:

The same applies to English people, Americans and Australiens.

Australiens??? are they aliens living in Austria??

[garrya]

Too mut. Should be lower!

Well congrats to all the qualified teachers and imported foreign "teachers", "travellers*, "backpackers" 

????

 

Have a lovely day ????

[ozz1]

When you have a pm that thinks the Thai language is the centre of the universe and everyone should speak it what else can you expect

[Cardano]

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.

and even then most thais outside of bangkok only speak bastardised versions of the thai language, put together an issan thai, a bangkok thai and a southern thai and they cannot understand each other. Much like the english, scots, geordies and welsh lol.

[xkkpafi]

I remember 34 years ago meeting a samlor driver in Hua Hin with who I became good mates. He asked me to look over his daughter's English language homework, in which the teacher had set 10 questions. The answers she provided were so bad as to be incomprehensible to an English speaker. I then had a look at the questions the teacher had set, which were also totally incomprehensible to an English speaker. So its a case of the blind leading the blind on that one.  At the time there was a total ban on foreigners teaching in State schools, so obviously this included English language teachers. I'm not sure if this still holds true, but it would go some way in explaining why this generation of  Thais that cant afford private schooling remain so bad at the language. I also think that there are real pronunciation difficulties for Thais when it comes to speaking English, just a couple of days ago my wife asked me in Thai "lao yoo ttii nie" (sorry not allowed by the mods to write Thai)  which left me perplexed as we had just flown from Thailand and I wondered why she wanted to head straight for Laos, but of course it was the bizzy class lounge she was looking for rather than a visit to Vientienne. Its the 'gnge' sound amongst others that  I think the Thais find very difficult.

[Puccini]

16 hours ago, seajae said:

...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.

What university was this? It's OK to give the name; they won't see it as defamation. On the contrary, they will take it as a compliment.

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Puccini
Corrected a typing error

[Selatan]

13 hours ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

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.

Who are the top tourists to Thailand right now? Malaysians.

Most Malaysians are bilingual and many are trilingual. A Chinese Malaysian like me can speak Malay, English and Mandarin. Most Singaporeans can speak English and Mandarin.

 

[Selatan]

11 hours 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.

 

 

In Malaysia, when I deal with government departments, I use Malay and sometimes English.

 

In business, I use mostly English. If the customer is an ethnic Chinese, I might use English, Mandarin or a Chinese dialect. If the customer is an ethnic Malay, I might use Malay or English. If the customer is an ethnic Indian, I might use English or Malay.

 

Among family members, I use various Chinese dialects and English.

 

When dealing with foreign workers, I use Malay.

[Lorry]

32 minutes ago, Selatan said:

Most Singaporeans can speak English and Mandarin.

Why did I mostly meet the others? 

 

[MrMuddle]

On 11/26/2022 at 7:47 PM, proton said:

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. 

I have tinnitus, can't differentiate the tones either!

[ikke1959]

In a perfect country, where nobody will fail ever , where the students gets high grades to prevent losing face, you can't expect more than that the education system is only meant to keep children in a place 50 in a class as the parents don't want them at home...There are some kids who want to learn, but 90% copy without knowing what they are copying...The Government support this system as when kids start to learn they see what is happening and that must be prevented.....Keep them unknowing and rule... the best example that everyone is following like sheep is the maskwearing.

[nausea]

Not colonized so no English, or French, language skills. It's a plus and a minus. Anyway, the world's changing, Mandarin Chinese may well become the new Lingua Franca. I know at least one woman who is honing her language skills, and it ain't in English. Whatever, one reason English became rhe Lingua Franca is cos it's easy for adults to learn, depending mostly on sentence structure rather than cases and inflection, so I don't suppose it's going away anytime soon. Personally,  I'm just grateful I was born into it, and can enjoy Shakespeare and Keats with no effort at all.

[sammieuk1]

They are very proficient at "No have Mister" is my finding ????  

[jacko45k]

14 hours ago, JensenZ said:

It was a survey of non-English (as a first language) countries. South Africa shouldn't have been on the list either.

What is their official first language....not Afrikaans?

[Billy Bloggs]

On 11/26/2022 at 11:31 AM, kokesaat said:

Not like most expats!

Why would most english speaking expats need to learn another language in an ASEAN country, I know I dont as I have a live in translator or a step daughter who is very shy and can when pushed understand but usually wont as she thinks she cant speak it well enough, most would rather enjoy what time they have having a nice life not learning something they dont really need.

[Will B Good]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:24 PM, hotchilli said:

Immigrants possibly...

Geordies ?

[Chongalulu]

On 11/27/2022 at 12:53 AM, FritsSikkink said:

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?

You win today’s Internet for the daftest false equivalence ???? 

if you have to invent something I didn’t say to support an argument then you don’t have one! 

[Selatan]

11 hours ago, Lorry said:

Why did I mostly meet the others? 

 

Maybe you didn't like Chinese people? Nearly 80% of Singapore's population is ethnic Chinese. The rest are mostly Malays and Indians.

[Sato]

21 hours ago, steevjee said:

are they aliens living in Austria??

Not in Austria but in Australia yes !

[bangon04]

On 11/27/2022 at 5:08 AM, phetphet said:

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.

 

I thought the majority of English teachers in Thailand actually came from the Philippines (because they are cheaper)

[Venom]

On 11/27/2022 at 11:38 PM, xkkpafi said:

I remember 34 years ago meeting a samlor driver in Hua Hin with who I became good mates. He asked me to look over his daughter's English language homework, in which the teacher had set 10 questions. The answers she provided were so bad as to be incomprehensible to an English speaker.

Incomprehensible? Try the English version of the Thai driver license test! ????????????

[Bim Smith]

On 11/26/2022 at 2:45 PM, mikeymike100 said:

Must be the Brits?????

I'm a Brit and even I found that funny ????

[bang saen guy]

2 hours ago, bangon04 said:

I thought the majority of English teachers in Thailand actually came from the Philippines (because they are cheaper)

My nephew tells me that the recent English teachers are Indian

[brewsterbudgen]

2 hours ago, bangon04 said:

I thought the majority of English teachers in Thailand actually came from the Philippines (because they are cheaper)

And very good most of them are too!

[Mr Meeseeks]

I'd be surprised if the majority have an IQ above 80.

[stoutfella]

On 11/26/2022 at 9:51 AM, roo860 said:

Where was the USA?

I wondered that also.

[Smokey and the Bandit]

On 11/26/2022 at 6:42 PM, mrfill said:

Actually, actually, Canada is much greater in area.

If you compare land area, then the USA is bigger than Canada Actually!????

The United States has a bigger land area (3,531,905 sq miles) than Canada (3,511,023 sq miles).