Thai Students

[els17]

hi,

I was just wondering, where do all these negative things come from? I must say that i myself have had a completely different experience (from the other side).

3 years ago I spent a year as an exchange student in Rayong. I lived with a thai family and went to a local public school where I became a part of M. 6/1. Even though I didn't take a whole lot of scientific subjects, I would always be in my class' English.

I wonder how many of the complaints I read here have to do with the system more than the students themselves. I found my class mates quite shy in the beginning but as they 'got used to me' they really couldn't have been nicer or more accomodating. It turned out most of the students were fully capable of forming a past tense but didn't know how to string a sentence together (apart from "This is a book" of course).

6 hours were spent every week studying Thai but most teachers in my school barely seemed able to speak. Teachers speak solely Thai to their students, 4 hours spent on pretty useless grammar (yes like the gerund) and 2 hours of what they would call abilities (but none were practised).

My host sister (who studied in P.2) had been learning English for 18 months before even beginning to learn the alphabet!?

All the while my friends seemed (after some practising), pretty able and eager to talk to me, having to go read 'Student Weekly' in the library and weekly trips to Siam Square (with parents scraping everything together to manage, but only just) just to be able to pass 'Entrance'.

Can anyone blame them for not being over enthusiastic? It seemed the only time they were really so about English was when P' Andrew came to visit my school.......

Don't judge too soon

Cheers

Els

[Ijustwannateach]

Hard to know where to start... what program were you in Thailand on? What kind of school, public or private? I gather from your post it was a fairly good public school. Since you were in 6/1, that means you were with the best seniors- in other words, the most educated students in the whole school, theoretically (classes 6/2 and up have successively poorer students- usually 6/5 or so is the highest, with the worst students in the senior grade). In theory, they had taken at least 6 years of English (assuming they didn't have any English study in Prathom) and, according to you, were still unable to make a sentence.

In part, this is the system, as you say. There is no accountability of students if they do poorly, no failure, and few teachers *really* qualified to teach English (as a grammar OR as a language). But how do you think the students and parents would react if suddenly they DID start failing from poor performance? How many more years of study would it take to bring them up to the theoretical level they are in? It's certainly in their interests not to change the system, bad as it is. That's why any teachers trying "serious" teaching here will be attacked both by the system and by the students (and parents!)

Yes, they're sweet. Yes, they're cute. Yes, they're great hosts. But their education and their education system is a horrible, horrible disaster.

If this "Andrew" is who I'm thinking of, he's more of a TV star and entertainer than anything else. The kids would be excited about a visit from him as they would any celebrity off of TV. Perhaps another reason he's popular is that he speaks THAI to them?

"Steven"

[Tarragona]

My host sister (who studied in P.2) had been learning English for 18 months before even beginning to learn the alphabet!?

Not necessarily a bad thing in itself - if they spent the 18 months getting some vocabulary and everyday spoken language before they started. They probably didn't, but I'd be interested to hear what they were doing in those 18 months, as a lot Thai schools seem to teach a couple of years of "A - Ant - mot" before anything else.

Edited January 8, 2005 by Tarragona

[mbkudu]

My host sister (who studied in P.2) had been learning English for 18 months before even beginning to learn the alphabet!?

Not necessarily a bad thing in itself - if they spent the 18 months getting some vocabulary and everyday spoken language before they started. They probably didn't, but I'd be interested to hear what they were doing in those 18 months, as a lot Thai schools seem to teach a couple of years of "A - Ant - mot" before anything else.

It is interesting how it is that a Thai student who spends a decade or two learning English in a Thai educational evironment can't really 'speak' English, but a Thai bar girl after a year in the bar can ramble on endlessly about her family, friends, baby, work and life .

[Ijustwannateach]

^a perfect example of education based on necessity and application beating out education based on theory. We're a kinda primitive animal still; we need immediate carrots and sticks most of the time to educate ourselves.

"Steven"

[Rhys]

LAck of unified leadership in the MOE.. it is a revolving door for the MP..Much lip service is given to the importance of English.. The qualfication of Native speakers are called in as oppose to proper training of Thai teachers in the chonnabot..

It come down to the student and their motivation..Even in a rural village you will find that inspired Female student who makes the attempt to learn despite the system.. Many of the hard workin Thai teachers fight the same problems.. and they use the mai bein rai..

YET, some schools despite the MOE, do have those inspired Thai and western (English) teachers who make a difference.. KUDOS to them

[aqua4]

There is no accountability of students if they do poorly:

* Is this not the part of saving face?

* Private Schooling in Thailand is a boom business. Big money gets rolled.

That's why any teachers trying "serious" teaching here will be attacked

* Well IF you had to do serious teaching, how many would pass?

* How many of the exam marks get "padded" now?

Thai educational environment can't really 'speak' English, but a Thai bar girl can.

* Painfull point - You can only learn a language by speaking it. A Bargirl NEEDS to speak English in order to survive, what is a kids motivation, when his teacher thinks India is next to Thailand. There is no concept of a bigger world out there. Why should I speak English when I live in Thailand?

[penzman]

I asked a P6 student: "What is your name?". That went fine. I then asked the same student: "Who are you?". Silence... The whole class failed this one...

At this particulat school, the students had been repeating the same thing like parrots for 6 years...

[Ijustwannateach]

^^ It's all about saving face. It's certainly not about education! And I'm talking about the *public* schools. Private schools are, admittedly, even worse in this respect.

If I had to do "serious" teaching, all those students who made the grades would pass. With a 50% required for passing grades here, with a hefty 10% chunk of tied up in attendance, effort, and assorted claptrap, it doesn't take a rocket scientist. In difficulty level, I shoot for a 70% average on tests, homework, etc. In other words, you would have to do pretty darn badly to fail. The Thai teachers are always saying my grades are too low, though- they wind up with a 90+% average across the class.... suuuuure....

Exam grades don't get "padded," they get out-and-out faked. There are kids here who'll never catch up to their grade level- 5th and 6th graders who can't do single-digit multiplication, etc. I don't bother trying to retest them into competency- it's just punishing myself. I give them the minimum 50% that is required for us all to get on with it because otherwise I'll be forced to "retest" them until they get 50%. Still, they get passed every year in every subject.- and even somehow pass the government promotion tests (wonder how much that costs?) The students who typically pass don't get padding, they either take their grades straight or slightly curved.

I think the current system is unfair to the kids- to keep pushing them up and up and up without the ability to handle the academics- it only means they'll feel inadequate and have attention problems in class. If there's a learning disability, it should also be identified if possible and not have the kid forced to survive in a class going too fast for him.

"Steven"