Thailand Ranked 106th in English Proficiency Out of 116 Countries

[mfd101]

1 hour ago, ikke1959 said:

only  a handful of people in Thailand can speak another language than Thai. 

Nonsense. Most of the poor & uneducated peoples of Isaan speak at least 2 languages (Thai/Khmer and Thai/Lao are the most common).

 

In my family here the old people speak Khmer for preference and (mostly) poor Thai. Their offspring are fluent in both. Their grandchildren (mostly) still understand Khmer but refuse to speak it because of the rabid Thai nationalism taught in schools. As for English, zilch.

[tonypattaya]

3 minutes ago, nikmar said:

 

I worked at a government school a long time ago. An English guy who used to teach in the UK worked there and, by all accounts, was very popular. 

 

Unfortunately, one day, he made the mistake of correcting a Thai English teacher's bad English in front of a class.

 

He was sacked the next day.

Unbelievable, or maybe not!

[outsidetrader]

On the bright side ,there are so many more International Schools cropping up at a rapid pace and the young guns are slowly but surely getting there .

No hope fror the Dinosaurs so .

Most of the Teachers are native English .

[Toby1947]

1 minute ago, Toby1947 said:

Yes all bought down the Koasan Rd. in Bangkok. 100 baht apiece. I take my place in the House of Lords on a regular basis as Lord Billy of Boll+cks, all on the  strength of my Bangkok qualifications 😂🤣

 

[mfd101]

3 minutes ago, tonypattaya said:

not understanding that if a foreigner learns Thai, it will only hep in Thailand, but if a Thai learns English, it will help him all over the world.

So Thais would have been better off (today) if they HAD been colonized by the British ...

[hotsun]

5 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Bargirls keeping Thailand from being ranked 116

True. They are also the ones keeping the economy afloat

[Celsius]

12 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Nonsense. Most of the poor & uneducated peoples of Isaan speak at least 2 languages (Thai/Khmer and Thai/Lao are the most common).

 

 

 

gee....and I'm a Serb and I can speak Croatian.

 

DOES NOT APPLY

[Thingamabob]

The majority of so-called English language teachers in Thailand cannot speak English. No small wonder this ranking is so low. Only the Thai nightlife workers prevent it from being even lower.

[geisha]

Thailand isn’t doing well on the international stage. Communication and technology are being held back by a lack of English.  Education in schools and at home is a mess.  

[Chongalulu]

27 minutes ago, Kinok Farang said:

And England must rank 116th for learning other languages.

It's really embarrassing for Brits abroad when all their language skills are ,talking louder and slower in English.

Shame on the education system.

The only reason for that is that their native language is in the world's most widely spoken language so there's less need. Most Europeans speak English because it's essential for them. Thai is only used in 1 country,so essential they learn English as surrounding countries understand. It's simply poor quality of education, evidenced by it's low and diminishing standing in the PISA educational tables. It suits those in power that the lumpen masses remain such...

[Yellowtail]

Wow, the US improved from 51st to 49th! 

[Chongalulu]

20 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Nonsense. Most of the poor & uneducated peoples of Isaan speak at least 2 languages (Thai/Khmer and Thai/Lao are the most common).

 

In my family here the old people speak Khmer for preference and (mostly) poor Thai. Their offspring are fluent in both. Their grandchildren (mostly) still understand Khmer but refuse to speak it because of the rabid Thai nationalism taught in schools. As for English, zilch.

That's not really another language, simply a dialect of Thai...and useless.

[mfd101]

4 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

gee....and I'm a Serb and I can speak Croatian.

 

DOES NOT APPLY

You have less than half a point. While Lao & Thai are closely related in origin, they are NOT - for the most part - mutually intelligible. As to Khmer & Thai they are completely unrelated languages (Austroasiatic & Kra-Dai).

[Kinok Farang]

Thais speak English much better than English speak Thai ,even in Thailand.

So just who are the dummies here?

[actonion]

My ex Thai  Girlfriend was an English Teacher in a Government School, she invited me to sit in &   listen to her Teach English..

1; Her English is not  good enough to be teaching it

2; Most of the kids  aged  9 to 12  Years old  spent the whole lesson  playing with their Telephones,...   Telephones at 9 years of age !! 

 I was told by another Teacher, they cannot see themselves every leaving Thailand  so why should they learn English

[mfd101]

1 minute ago, Chongalulu said:

That's not really another language, simply a dialect of Thai...and useless.

Um, you're referring to Thai & Lao? or Thai & Khmer?

 

See my response above.

[Celsius]

3 minutes ago, Kinok Farang said:

Thais speak English much better than English speak Thai ,even in Thailand.

So just who are the dummies here?

 

You, because you speak Tinglish 

[Gottfrid]

3 hours ago, ExpatInCM said:

So many English speaking people find it very difficult to learn Thai, so it is not really surprising that so many Thai people find it difficult to learn English.  

 

I've been watching this annual reports come out for about 15 years now, and Thailand's ranking has not moved very much overy this time period.

Partly agree. However, If we get quality teaching already from kindergarten age, then we would have no problem learning Thai as a second or even third language. The other part is the substandard quality of teaching, which you can see in all areas and subjects.

[mrfill]

3 hours ago, ExpatInCM said:

So many English speaking people find it very difficult to learn Thai, so it is not really surprising that so many Thai people find it difficult to learn English.  

 

I've been watching this annual reports come out for about 15 years now, and Thailand's ranking has not moved very much overy this time period.

Ever seen Japanese?

Yet a large number of Japanese seem to handle English.

Same for Korean

[mikebell]

3 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

A lot has to do with the quality of English taught. At a couple of schools I visited I was surprised at the poor level of English language teaching

As an ex-Head of English with 39 years teaching experience, I was invited in to a neighbourhood school.  I spent an uncomfortable 10 minutes in the Head's study as neither of us had much of each other's language.  At last the school's Head of English showed up confidently announcing himself as, 'Me number one teach Angrit in sacoon.'  

[Yellowtail]

1 minute ago, mrfill said:

Ever seen Japanese?

Yet a large number of Japanese seem to handle English.

Same for Korean

I think that Thai having a workable alphabet has actually worked against their adoption of English.

[Tarteso]

Thais tin tu mut

[Kinok Farang]

27 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

You, because you speak Tinglish 

And if wit was shiit,you'd be constipated.

[StayinThailand2much]

Almost #1 (reverse)... 😙

[Chongalulu]

35 minutes ago, Kinok Farang said:

Thais speak English much better than English speak Thai ,even in Thailand.

So just who are the dummies here?

That would be you.. Now ask yourself how many countries is English useful in and how many is Thai..? DOH! 

[Yellowtail]

2 minutes ago, Chongalulu said:

That would be you.. Now ask yourself how many countries is English useful in and how many is Thai..? DOH! 

How useful is English in Thailand? 

[gejohesch]

4 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

A lot has to do with the quality of English taught. At a couple of schools I visited I was surprised at the poor level of English language teaching

The Thai culture is charming, but if only they would spend a bit less time laughing, playing, praying and singing when at school (or even at work!), and a bit more time actually concentrating on learning and/or doing something....

Ah, the word "concentrating" ...... I will stop here!

[KireB]

4 hours ago, ExpatInCM said:

So many English speaking people find it very difficult to learn Thai, so it is not really surprising that so many Thai people find it difficult to learn English.  

 

I've been watching this annual reports come out for about 15 years now, and Thailand's ranking has not moved very much overy this time period.

Thais lovevAmerican movies, English music and Bangkok is the most visited city in the world. One would think there are enough incentives to learn English.On individual level, learning newclanguages could pull people out of poverty.

 

The real reason  of the low efficiency, and that of Math and Science (TIMMS and PISA tests), is that Thais have never learned to take responsibilty for their actions. E.g., the no fail policies in schools. Learning a new language is difficult and takes effort. I learned 4 languages in school, and if I wouldn't study for my tests, I would stay seated. 

[simon43]

[quote]

...

From what I've read Thai are very bad at speaking and reading /writing Thai!

...

[/quote]

 

True that.  I often have to correct my ex-wife's written Thai.

 

As for Thai and Lao being mutually understandable, it's not. I speak/read both languages.  While they are in the same language family, most Lao people can understand Thai because they often watch Thai TV (because Lao TV is simply terrible!).  But many Thai people cannot understand if a Lao person speaks with them in Lao.

 

My Issan ex-wife speaks Thai and her family language of Issan.  But the latter is not a written language.  Issan people will resort to writing Issan words using Thai characters.  So I have the crazy situation that I can read Lao, but my Issan ex cannot!

[mfd101]

37 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

How useful is English in Thailand? 

Fine in Bangers. And here at the edge of the jungle and the end of the world I have my b/f, whose English has improved considerably over the 13 years of our togetherness and was already OKish when we met as he served in a bar in Bangers & had an English half-BIL.