Abac Quality

[remmy]

I think the quality here in assumption university is low especially for freshmen and sophomore I dont know about junior and senior students. But my lecturers; I dont know whether they are thai or other asian, they are very very bad, they can barely speak english.. they might be fluent in their subject but whats the use if they cannot express or explain in english? I think some of our lecturers might be fresh graduate from ABAC itselt. I feel like we are used for training by some fresh graduate and trainee. I thought it was a reputable university but definitely not in terms of the quality of teaching. However, the facilities are excellent.

If you are a teacher in ABAC and if you read this.. I hope you pass on to your colleague.

[terdsak_12]

From my understanding ABAC employ a load of Burmese teachers because they're cheap. That place is a profit making machine, I think teaching is a minor inconvienience.

[Ajarn]

From my understanding ABAC employ a load of Burmese teachers because they're cheap. That place is a profit making machine, I think teaching is a minor inconvienience.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In my experience, most of the Burmese teachers I've met teaching can talk circles around most Thais when it comes to speaking English. And, the Burmese schools used to be far superior to Thai standards, and so were their teachers. Politics has changed a lot of that, unfortunately.

Still....

Is the OP a native English speaker? It seems not, but then he says he doesn't even know if his teachers are Thai, "or some other Asian". That sounds unbelievable to me, leading me to question every other aspect of his post...

[mbkudu]

My brother who is an American native English speaker studied at ABAC four years. He said there were quite a few Burmese and Indian teachers, with some having heavy accents, but they were very knowledgeable in their subjects. He said that after awhile you just get used to it (the accents) and get on with learning.

Even in America it is not uncommon to have an Asian or African instructor at a college or university. One of the very best history teachers I had in college in the US was Mr. Bhodipo from Cameroon. Thick, thick accent but absolutely brilliant.

[PeaceBlondie]

Yes, in the USA I've had professors, bosses, and a surgeon whose Indian accents were very thick. But out of necessity, I figured out what they were saying. Very knowledgable, but extremely difficult to understand.

[remmy]

From my understanding ABAC employ a load of Burmese teachers because they're cheap. That place is a profit making machine, I think teaching is a minor inconvienience.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In my experience, most of the Burmese teachers I've met teaching can talk circles around most Thais when it comes to speaking English. And, the Burmese schools used to be far superior to Thai standards, and so were their teachers. Politics has changed a lot of that, unfortunately.

Still....

Is the OP a native English speaker? It seems not, but then he says he doesn't even know if his teachers are Thai, "or some other Asian". That sounds unbelievable to me, leading me to question every other aspect of his post...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am not native english speaker I am asian Indian. Yes it is true I cannot differentiate whether my teacher is thai, philippino, burmese or indonesian from their english accent or appearance though i myself am asian (Yes people of asian origin(mogoloid) live in India too). I wonder what makes you to question other aspects of my post? I talked to other students from Europe, Africa and South Asia; they all complained about asian lecturers because they are just not fluent enough to teach in english at University level. I am not saying all of them are but a lot of them are. Thais and chinese students don't complain because they are just as bad as those teachers and cannot speak english properly.

[Ijustwannateach]

I have several friends who work at ABAC, and I'm afraid that OP's estimation of the *students* is entirely accurate.

Classic story: one of my friends working there had some part-time work helping students edit their master's theses. One such young woman, a *master*'s student in linguistics, met him to arrange an edit. When speaking with her, she was barely able to arrange and understand an appointment time in English. When it came to the place, he referred her his office in the Master's building for her major- her response "tee nee?" His response: "You know, it's the building you've been *studying* in the last 3 years!"

What I've heard about the Indian and Burmese contingents there is not very flattering either. My friends who work there note that the salary is especially low, even for Thailand. The good points, however:

1. Low class loads

2. Looong vacations

3. Absolutely squeaky-clean paperwork

"Steven"

[chingy_]

ABAC is a money making machine, it the kind of school that you pay to get a degree.

[jerry921]

I have several friends who work at ABAC, and I'm afraid that OP's estimation of the *students* is entirely accurate.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I didn't think OP was talking about the students, though my interpretation rests completely on his choice of one word. He said

"the quality ... for ... students [ is low]"

For course if he really meant "of" and not "for" then that's different.

[K-Bkk]

Speaking as an ex-ABAC student. I have to admit that most of us (Thai students) don't know how to communicate well in speaking and writing in English.. but 4 years in university doesn't mean nothing per say. At least we know how to read and comprehen the gist of taxt books.

[Thug]

There are a few great teachers at Abac. On the faculty of Engineering, they are quite bad I heard.

K-Bkk: Did you comprehen well the taxt books when you got your degree? That's cool

[Thaiboxer]

I did my last course at ABAC a couple years back then transferred the credits back to my old university in the USA to get my Bachelor's Degree. My instructor was Burmese and spoke excellent English. On top of this her handwriting on the chalk board was VERY clear and well organized; can't say the same about all my professors in the USA and they had whiteboards with markers.

[Casanundra]

I was offered a job earlier this year to be a Professor at the Engineering School and I refused point blank because they not only wanted me to work there full time for only 20,000 THB per month, but to also take on all the responsibilities of a full professorship and be responsible for research, journals, lecturing and program development. They must have thought I was straight off the banana boat or something.

ABAC is known for its low entry requirements and higher course fees. They are a money making organisation where emphasis is on cash flow rather than quality teaching. Here at my faculty we have many ABAC graduates and they all say the same thing in that ABAC is full of spoilt lazy kids who just go there to get their education 'paid' for.

Like everything in life, you get what you pay for and ABAC gets spoilt kids and monkies earning peanuts to teach them. Not a good mix really now is it!

Edited December 7, 2006 by Casanundra

[BigA]

I had no idea the pay was that low, How can they compete for top talent? I would have thought a full timer would make about 60K per month

[ajarnmark]

A friend of mine is teaching in ABAC and I consulted him for the reply to all these posts. My friend is a brilliant guy having many degrees and expertise in many fields. The reason why he is teaching at a low salary is something more of personal nature. He could go back to his country and get maybe four times of what he is earning here only in teaching or he could goto industry to earn many times more he could earn in the education field.

One more thing is that being a so called "Native" English speaker does not guarantee that you are a good teacher or have command on the subject. However, unfortunately, in Thailand, being a white guy means one is a superior race, which is a wrong notion and has to be changed. On the other hand, Thai, Burmese and Indian accents are sometimes difficult to understand.

For OP: If you are not satisfied with ABAC standards then you are not the only one, there are a loads of people there. But again, there are good teachers who are willing to help you in ABAC, and the only thing is to find such teacher. How many times did you go to your teacher seeking help? PM me to refer you to some good teachers in ABAC who will help you in your studies.

For Ijustwannateach: There may be some more personal reasons apart from the three you mentioned for teaching in ABAC as in the case of my friend.

For K-BKK: I believe that you must have been a brilliant student but are you really sure that you can comprehend the book by yourself or you just go outside and study with the tutor in Thai. For reference please take a look at AU Press of Jane-August 2006.

For Casanundra: I agree that by and large your idea about ABAC is true, however, how can you generalize by saying that all kids are "lazy" or all teachers are "monkeys (consider your spelling for monkeys) earning peanuts".

For BigA: 60K per month is a big deal for ABAC and only few teachers are getting this much.

Any suggestions?

[MiG16]

not gonna refute the details of each or any posts but just thought Id add that Im also an ABAC Alumnus

yes there are burmese teachers, even back in the days I went there...quite a few of the thai teachers...who I feel were more the problem. they were starting to hire fresh graduates as teachers...so essentially people who did well and got good grades, but absolutely no real life experience in the business world, and no teaching expertise. that was more the problem rather than what the OP is focused on, such as accent. I know lots of people who are very smart and brilliant, and even speak FLUENT english...better than a common english or american guy (not all whites have good english surprisingly! eventhough it is supposedly their 'native' tongue) but to the non-native simply because they have a different accent, I dont think that should be used as the basis to judge their ability.

although having said that, I do hear from other friends that the quality of graduates produced has declined substantially in recent years. sad to hear...particularly since ABAC really does have good facilities...hope they pay more attention to improving what matters most

[ashacat]

Interesting to read this thread as I have been listening to my English mate complaining that he cannot understand his lecturers and about the general quality of teaching in ABAC for ages.

I thought he was just being a whinging git. Maybe not.

[hUsh]

I went to Graduate School in ABAC 2 years ago as a visiting student. I wanted to see the quality of the program/courses and teacher so I enrolled myself for 1 semester. 2 out 3 teachers I had (One Thai and another one Thai-Indian) were very good and professional with a lot of knowledge and experience on the subject matter. However, the other one was disappointing as he spoke Thai during our lessons and found it hard to explain the subject matters clearly and even to just express himself.

As for the students, I met some who are very smart and who most of them did their bachelors degree at ABAC too and are successful with their carreer or business.

For the quality of ABAC, I hope that they would improve it. After taking that 1 semester I looked into the whole program and almost decided to enroll as a full time student. However, since this program I was into was new and we were the first batch-- not all courses were being offered so I changed my mind and left ABAC. It is not cheap so I decided not go through something not worth it.

Surprisingly today, I got a call from the new dean of that program and asked what happened and if I wanted to go back. I explained the whole reasons as to what happened before and as of now I'm not sure if I would go back there. He (the dean) told me that the courses are now all being offered online. So I still wonder if it gotten better or not... I don't think that online studying suits me, but for those who might be interested its Masters in Management....

MiG, I agree. I do hope that ABAC would put the money in good use and improve the standards of their teaching, teachers and students....

[MiG16]

but Id say I turned out fine even if I do say so myself hehehe

[prighas]

I have been working on a Phd for the last 4 years in the Faculty of Science and Technology at Hua Mak Campus. My advisor is a Professor who has been working at Wollongong University in Australia for years. I can tell you that I have learned much from him during these years. He is very qualified in his area of expertise. I was also impressed at the excellent quality of many of the teachers there.

I don't think remarks about ABAC can be generalized from experiences in certain specific departments. You can perhaps refer to a couple of teachers in certain departments but that should not necessarily apply to the whole University.

[toptuan]

From just these posts, there seems to be a significant difference between undergrad and grad programs at ABAC. Undergrads, caveat emptor! I've only had one contact with ABAC at the faculty undergrad level, and it was disappointing, indeed. Very unprofessional.

At the Ph.D. or even master's level, if you can lock into those 1 or 2 professors who can mentor you and make a significant impact on your life--go for it. This would be true for any institute of higher education.

Edited December 28, 2006 by toptuan