1 minute ago, Doctor Tom said:

By what measure? If its percentage of the population, that is surely UK/US/Australia etc. 

By numbers, 125 million English speakers.

But, to correct myself it is second to the US.  Apologies for that error.

21 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Please demonstrate your Thai language skills.

I can't. This is an English language only forum buddy.

The Thai I met outside Thailand generally speak English well, the Thai in Thailand mostly speak, well, Thai. 

52 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Ok we know all Thais are not Shakespearians with their english but this is the charm of the place for us farangs and tourists alike...

So keep the locals as they are because we think it's quaint?  I guess it's good to put a positive spin on things, but this should not be something to celebrate.  Particularly as the government claims to be addressing it and Thai students actually learn English from kindergarten, through high school and generally university.

 

Thailand shouldn't be close to Haiti and the DPR Congo.

58 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Where was the USA?

It didn't even make the list. ????

26 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Depends. English won't help much in Japan, Korea, Germany, China, Italy,...

English will help a lot in those countries.  Many people there will speak at least a little.  It's a very useful language and most countries make an effort to get their citizens speaking it.

 

Why lie?  Just because you're sore about Thailand's score?

40 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Depends. English won't help much in Japan, Korea, Germany, China, Italy,... But you have a strong point.

 

The flip side, of course, is that Brits, like most of those in line above, never bother to learn any other languages. So an English speaking Thai is at least bilingual, while English speaking Brit isn't even that.

I simply don't agree. I am , Lord knows, no great intellectual ( I can't hear the opening bars of the William Tell overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger, and I struggle with long words like marmalade, wheelbarrow and Konstantnopolishanastrasseneckedoodlesaxpfeifer), but I speak French, German and some Thai. Plenty of other Britons speak second or third languages. The myth of the monoglot Englishman is just that, a myth.

40 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

I'd like to rank British on their Thai proficiency.

"I'd like to claim that British people are bad because I'm mad that this survey makes Thai people look bad." - whataboutism.

 

British people learning Thai is in no way comparable to Thais learning English.  Thais learn English from kindergarten and it is a necessary global language.  Brits encounter Thai mostly as adults (some of advanced years) and rarely need it for career success.

53 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Please demonstrate your Thai language skills.

Remember; we have not "learned" thai for 4 years an school ????

 

It's not about the money spent. There are two main reasons that Thai kids are lacking on a few fronts.

Firstly, high school here is a disaster and is just 6 years of brainwashing nonsense by some muppet high school teacher that hasn't a clue and is brainwashed themselves. This is where it initially goes completely wrong.

Secondly, it's the motivation levels, or lack thereof, of these kids and they just simply aren't like Singapore kids (terrible comparison on all topics really)... not really any ambition in most. It's mainly just the idea of "let's just get through it along the path of least resistance and blend in with the herd" sort of nonsense.

There just isn't the appetite to succeed apart from the 10% that do want to... call it what you like (lethargy/idleness/indifference/laziness/social conditioning etc. etc.). A commonly encountered example of this is something like "Well, I'm going to be working in Thailand, so why do I need to study English?"

There are two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic (from within and from outside) and all too often the latter is on display. 

It goes way deeper than the education authorities, media, or government feel comfortable facing/realising/talking about and changing it doesn't serve the ends of the elite (they still need a passive slave class of workers here)... it's a deeply ingrained trait that isn't going away anytime soon.

Some commentators also say that religion plays a part as Buddhism isn't exactly well-suited to encourage the active get-up-and-go sort it out and make it happen attitude... especially in the many that don't see things as very urgent anyhow.

 

 

34 minutes ago, mikebell said:

I think Thailand would finish near bottom in a survey of EVERY subject not just language learning.  They are born genetically lazy.

Yeah, they are so lazy some (adults) can't even read or write Thai.

Maybe that's a result of the hopeless Thai education system and the non enforcement of school attendance

1 hour ago, bob smith said:

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

Not like most expats!

1 hour ago, mikeymike100 said:

Americans in general speak better English than many Brits? Unless  you go to Texas of course?????

 

Rubbish, they can't even do joined up writing and they use upper case all over the place.

 

Borderline retards.

1 hour ago, Sir Dude said:

It's not about the money spent. There are two main reasons that Thai kids are lacking on a few fronts.

Firstly, high school here is a disaster and is just 6 years of brainwashing nonsense by some muppet high school teacher that hasn't a clue and is brainwashed themselves. This is where it initially goes completely wrong.

Secondly, it's the motivation levels, or lack thereof, of these kids and they just simply aren't like Singapore kids (terrible comparison on all topics really)... not really any ambition in most. It's mainly just the idea of "let's just get through it along the path of least resistance and blend in with the herd" sort of nonsense.

There just isn't the appetite to succeed apart from the 10% that do want to... call it what you like (lethargy/idleness/indifference/laziness/social conditioning etc. etc.). A commonly encountered example of this is something like "Well, I'm going to be working in Thailand, so why do I need to study English?"

There are two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic (from within and from outside) and all too often the latter is on display. 

It goes way deeper than the education authorities, media, or government feel comfortable facing/realising/talking about and changing it doesn't serve the ends of the elite (they still need a passive slave class of workers here)... it's a deeply ingrained trait that isn't going away anytime soon.

Some commentators also say that religion plays a part as Buddhism isn't exactly well-suited to encourage the active get-up-and-go sort it out and make it happen attitude... especially in the many that don't see things as very urgent anyhow.

 

 

Excellent post, spot on!????

2 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

I'd like to rank British on their Thai proficiency.

 

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

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/14/sajid-javid-770000-people-in-england-not-able-to-speak-english

why ? when thai is taken up by hundreds of millions of people world wide then come back and we will have that talk. outside of thailand no one cares much about the language at all. can you say the same for english outside its native lands ? i think we both know. 

 

750k new brits who are either new immigrants or refugees for the most part. you are being facetious with this statement. 

2 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Please demonstrate your Thai language skills.

me talk thai dee dee na 

Thailand thinks Thai should be the Lingua Franca for the World ....

regards Worgeordie

1 minute ago, worgeordie said:

Thailand thinks Thai should be the Lingua Franca for the World ....

regards Worgeordie

big p did say it a few years ago.

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

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

Aren't there

3 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.

There is no end of kids

2 hours ago, 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?

it's immaterial

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).

 

 

2 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

By what measure? If its percentage of the population, that is surely UK/US/Australia etc. 

If it's percentage

3 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Just below Australia ?????

and I thought USA was above Australia (I didn't say on top 555) look at the map 555

1 hour ago, PJ71 said:

Rubbish, they can't even do joined up writing and they use upper case all over the place.

 

Borderline retards.

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.

 

 

Oh Oh!

Beware the stampede for # 97 next lottery.

Thai's can understand English #'s? Huh?

Oh.....sorry.????????

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

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

Because then all those people who only want to talk English leave her alone. And I will talk Thai with her.

Win/win/win. ???? 

Why do you feel the need to talk with them?

Lack of English doesn't seem to affect the tourist trade. Compare Philippines tourism with Thailand's.

3 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Why would anyone around the world want to speak Thai?  English is a lingua-franca, Thai isn't.

French and Spanish are also useful.

Thai, not so much.

A crazy Education system is a factor.  As I don't think anywhere else in the world do you have a system were the students get a pass mark no matter what, even if they haven't turned up.  absolutely nuts! way to go about things.