Thai education embraces UK programmes to boost English language proficiency

[jacko45k]

1 minute ago, mikebell said:

I agree.  I am an ex-English teacher & am horrified daily by the disappearing 'T' in the middle of words; li"le, bo"om, fi''ing; this is, of course, in spoken English in particular by sports presen'ers dumbing down to sound like one of the people.

It appears only HRH and Joanna Lumley speak well these days!

[Drumbuie]

2 hours ago, blazes said:

Dublin is preferable to Belfast, where "now"  is pronounced "noy".  

A different thread perhaps, but which is the absolute worst English regional accent?

After Belfast, I'd vote for Liverpool and Yorkshire.  (Sorry if I've offended anyone here.)

I don't know whether you've offended anyone here but you've definitely advanced the cause of Irish reunification a notch or two. 

[mikebell]

2 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

It appears only HRH and Joanna Lumley speak well these days!

The latter has a lovely voice as well as a beautiful smile.

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, blazes said:

A different thread perhaps, but which is the absolute worst English regional accent?

Australian.

[HappyExpat57]

Rex Harrison was a true hero!

 

 

[DILLIGAD]

In a country where nobody can fail and where promotions are bought. This is all just window dressing IMO!

[bigt3116]

18 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

If serious then..............

 

1. English will need to be taught at primary school from day one.

It is already taught to many in Kindergarten, and mandated to be taught from P1

[kuzmabruk]

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I thought there was plenty of English teachers here? pay the them the right money and make it easier to get jobs and they will come, 

People who speak English are not English teachers unless they have been educated in the art of language instruction. 

[JayClay]

3 hours ago, blazes said:

The worst mistake one tends to see on comment sites like this is:

 

"would of" when they mean "would've".  There is no such construction in English as "would of been proud  of...."

 

Of course to be absolutely correct, one could simply add two more letters and say "would have".

It's certainly annoying. But not as annoying as everybody's apparent need to add an apostrophe when referring to Thais in the plural.

 

It's odd. You rarely see the same same when people talk about foreigner's, or indeed, any other plural. It's one of the true mysteries of modern time's.

[SooKee]

All they need is more teachers like this.....

 

 

[Srikcir]

Good move towards better international trade and security.

The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories where English is either an official, administrative, or cultural language. As of the 2000s, nearly 2 billion people globally speak English. Example, about 63% Malaysians speak English.

[ifmu]

I use scrabble with my wife ... 

[ThaiFelix]

4 hours ago, Joe Farang said:

I find that UK people have the lowest standard of proficiency in the English language in the English speaking world. I think they assume that they are number one. I have rarely met an English person that knows "lose is not loose" nor " have is not of"

Well at least they didnt have to modify an existing language because they cant spell.

[ChipButty]

16 minutes ago, kuzmabruk said:

People who speak English are not English teachers unless they have been educated in the art of language instruction. 

I didnt say they was did I? 

[brianthainess]

4 hours ago, Joe Farang said:

I find that UK people have the lowest standard of proficiency in the English language in the English speaking world. I think they assume that they are number one. I have rarely met an English person that knows "lose is not loose" nor " have is not of"

"Cor blimey gov, wot's this geezer on about?

[Victor Laszlo]

57 minutes ago, mikebell said:

I agree.  I am an ex-English teacher & am horrified daily by the disappearing 'T' in the middle of words; li"le, bo"om, fi''ing; this is, of course, in spoken English in particular by sports presen'ers dumbing down to sound like one of the 

 

[ThaiFelix]

You can bring in all the programmes you want but proficiency will not improve until the schools cease operating as cash cows and start operating as educational institutions.

 

And because this will never happen in our lifetimes you may be better off going back to just blaming the teachers (and it doesnt cost anything too).  

 

Another suggestion to encourage the kids would be to have more intelligent leaders who dont say things like "Dont worry about learning English, the rest of the world will be speaking Thai soon".

 

Until then its same same but different.

[cdemundo]

4 hours ago, Joe Farang said:

I find that UK people have the lowest standard of proficiency in the English language in the English speaking world. I think they assume that they are number one. I have rarely met an English person that knows "lose is not loose" nor " have is not of"

So apparently you are corresponding with these English persons?

I say this because I don't think these errors can be heard in speech, correct me if I am wrong.

If it is email, very few people proof their emails and it's possible what you are really seeing is carelessness in typing, not poor knowledge of English.

 

[hitext]

5 hours ago, Joe Farang said:

I find that UK people have the lowest standard of proficiency in the English language in the English speaking world. I think they assume that they are number one. I have rarely met an English person that knows "lose is not loose" nor " have is not of"

I try not to be pedantic about grammar, but I do think saying "I would of, could of or should of" should result in a long jail sentence.

[ThaiFelix]

3 hours ago, Bobydog said:

So nice to see a productive report for a change, Philippines are way ahead of Thailand in this area so why focus on Britain when the Philippines are an ASEAN member.

Not 100% sure but think it is because Thailand's curriculum supports real English whereas the Philippines supports the American 'I am hopless at spelling' style English.

[brianthainess]

5 hours ago, Joe Farang said:

I find that UK people have the lowest standard of proficiency in the English language in the English speaking world. I think they assume that they are number one. I have rarely met an English person that knows "lose is not loose" nor " have is not of"

I find the Americans, Australians, and Kiwis, the most hard to understand, with their awful pronunciations. I cringe at these words when spoken in their accent. Route, Vehicle, Pasta. 

Rout, Ve-hericle, Parsta,

[ThaiFelix]

2 minutes ago, hitext said:

I try not to be pedantic about grammar, but I do think saying "I would of, could of or should of" should result in a long jail sentence.

with hard labour and homework (English)

[jesimps]

5 hours ago, Joe Farang said:

I find that UK people have the lowest standard of proficiency in the English language in the English speaking world. I think they assume that they are number one. I have rarely met an English person that knows "lose is not loose" nor " have is not of"

I agree with a lot of what you say, but with the UK having so many young left-wing teachers and the country being the melting pot that it is, it's hardly surprising.

[babylonbrothers]

If the Bard wants to be pedantic he should at least get his facts straight. The 'who' and 'that' that you talk about are called relative pronouns and  according to Michael Swan, either is fine; eg. 'There's the man who/that sold me my bike.'

Secondly, having 'rewritten' the original he completely lost the sense of the statement, which is that 'would have' is wrongly written as 'would of'  because in its contracted form it sounds the same as 'would have'.

This is great fun, thanks! ps. Michael Swan is the absolute guru regarding English grammar and usage!  

[parallelman]

3 hours ago, kenjinuk said:

I read this article and the full story and I still do not know how this will level the playing field or raise standards. Children in my village school cannot read English, their teachers do not speak English. There is a mountain to climb if standards are to improve.

Quite. And in addition there has to be motivation too. Perhaps the private sector might benefit, such as hotel staff, restaurants etc.

[ThaiFelix]

2 minutes ago, jesimps said:

I agree with a lot of what you say, but with the UK having so many young left-wing teachers and the country being the melting pot that it is, it's hardly surprising.

That is applicable to many countries today not just the UK.   Im an old Aussie, born and bred, and was talking to someone online a few days ago who said he was Australian and my reply was "Thats funny, you dont look Indian at all"! LOl

[brianthainess]

3 hours ago, blazes said:

Dublin is preferable to Belfast, where "now"  is pronounced "noy".  

A different thread perhaps, but which is the absolute worst English regional accent?

After Belfast, I'd vote for Liverpool and Yorkshire.  (Sorry if I've offended anyone here.)

Did you forget Birmingham.? 

[khunpeer]

now why is this going to be online? because the teachers cannot cope with it! finally education ministry admits!

my daughter tells me always funny stories about her English teacher at school...

[Cake Monster]

All the assistance in the World will never make a jot of difference to the ability of the Thai people in speaking, or understanding English.

The major hurdle to overcome is the willingness to actually want to learn the language, or anything else.

There seems to me, that there is some kind of deep ingrained resentment towards all things that are not to a persons liking, and an animosity towards being told that what they are doing is incorrect, or could be done differently.

An Electronic Teacher or an Eastern European Techer is just not going to cut it when there is little or no access to English outside of the Classroom

Where are the Free to Air TV Channels in English for the Population to watch and learn from ?

 

[ThaiFelix]

53 minutes ago, bigt3116 said:

It is already taught to many in Kindergarten, and mandated to be taught from P1

and many school nurseries too but crowd control is main activity there haha!