Issues At Thai Language School

[ThailandNoob]

Hello everyone,

I am new to Thailand, and am having a problem at the language school where I am studying Thai (I will not name it here). I would like the advice of people who are familiar with Thai culture as to how to resolve it without causing a loss of face (apologies in advance for the long post).

My company sent me to Thailand this month, and I will likely be here for several years. I have been doing an intensive Thai course since Songkran (private lessons, 3 hours a day 3 days a week, my company is paying but they let me choose the school), and while most of my teachers are OK, there is one that things are not going so well with at all.

He always does the reading and writing lessons with me, and to start off with, he put me on a book that was far too easy for me. As soon as I knew I was going to be in Thailand for a long time, I started doing everything I could to learn the language even when I was back home. Where I used to live I couldn't find anyone to speak Thai with, so I focused on the written language. I learnt the alphabet and the pronunciation rules. By the time I got here, I could read what most of the signs around me were saying (the only issue I had was word boundaries and words with irregular pronunciations), even though I couldn't understand them.

When I took my trial lesson, I asked to see the textbook on the written language that was recommended for me. My teacher showed me the book and while it seemed much too easy, he told me that it quickly got harder. I figured that he knew more than I did about the book and took his word for it.

Now I am doing the lessons I am finding that this book is obviously for someone who has never studied written Thai before. Each one hour lesson we learn two consonants and one pair of long and short vowels. At this rate it will be months before we even finish covering the alphabet (we haven't even started on tone marks or consonant classes yet). I have tried to highlight to him that this book is too easy for me without criticising him for making a bad choice (I wrote out the entire Thai alphabet in order without looking at any chart, and even used color coding to mark High, Mid and Low consonants. I also drew a chart explaining how the consonant classes determine the tone of a syllable in conjunction with tone marks and whether the syllable is live or dead).

On top of this, he makes me practice the pronunciation of long vs. short vowels, usually for around 15 minutes of the class, when I am already fluent in two languages that have this distinction (one of them is my native language). I have also pointed this out to him, and given examples of pairs of words from both languages that have different meanings, but identical pronunciations except for vowel length. He accepted that these words were exactly the same except for vowel length, but said that I still needed to practice it because "long and short vowels are difficult for farangs". Before I met people who spoke only English starting to learn Thai, I never imagined that anyone would have trouble with long and short vowels (kind of like Thai people not understanding why tones could be hard). Me doing this kind of pronunciation practice is like a native English speaker practicing the vowels in "bat" and "bet".

One more thing is that he is making me do this ridiculous "homework" that is nothing but tracing out a certain letter 50 times. This is so ridiculously easy for me that I don't bother to do it and he gets disappointed. In my speaking classes I take notes of everything and it is all in Thai script; I showed these to him and he didn't care and is keeping on setting me the same type of homework.

The only useful thing at all in his classes is that there are a few example words for each new letter, and some of these words are new to me. Here too though, things fall apart, as I keep notes of what he teaches me and look the new words up in my dictionary after the lesson. Many, many times his definitions have been wildly off the mark (and I use multiple dictionaries to make sure that this is not a dictionary error).

I feel that the hour I am spending with him is a waste of time, and desperately want to improve the quality of my lessons. My teacher has ignored my hints to him, and I think this is most likely because either he doesn't care about the quality of his teacher or that he can't admit that he has made a mistake with choosing what lessons I should study. From what I hear, being more direct with him is probably going to end in disaster, as he will feel a loss of face for being criticised (I have heard that it is rare in Thai culture for a student to criticise a teacher). Ditto for telling someone else working at the school about him, plus the fact that he would likely be angry at me for "going behind his back" and any kind of productive teacher-student relationship would then be impossible.

I am seriously considering asking to replace him with another teacher, but am wondering if this will have any negative repercussions. For one thing, the loss of face he would feel could make him an enemy of mine, and we would still have to be in the same school (my company insisted on paying for a whole year up front, on the grounds that the hourly rate was cheaper, plus everything is fine with my other teachers). Also I am worried about getting a reputation as a complainer, since it could make the other teachers afraid of me / resent me and impact on their lesson quality. In addition I am a man, and I think he is the only male teacher in the school. If I ask for another teacher, then I could be perceived as wanting to do this to get another female teacher to perve on. I am aware that some of the students in other Thai schools are really sleazy guys (part of the reason I chose this school is because it seemed more serious, as opposed for a visa factory for sexpats looking to continue their bar girl binge) and do not wish to be seen to be a similar sort of guy, not least because it would make my female teachers uncomfortable and less motivated to teach me.

How right are the assessments that I have made above? What should I do?

Thanks

[Baa_Mango]

Hey, maybe you want to mention what type of book and school your at.. anyways if you can read and write at a decent enough level, yes of course its a waste to be practicing in the kids tracing books. Maybe ask to skip to another level.. when i studied at bpiam mitr they were very open to students trying different levels/classes. Also keep in mind that maybe your pronunciation is not that good. I have no idea, but i remember studying with someone who had learned quite a bit of reading and writing ahead of time before coming to Thailand, which was great and everything, but his spoken Thai was totally super super bad. And this was a book 1 class which wasnt even using written Thai yet.. and he would complain how he wants to see the words in Thai when he couldnt even introduce himself in thai correctly yet. Anyways remember that YOU are the student and customer as well.. your not a little kid.. if it is that much of a problem maybe just ask him to skip to the next unit/chapter/book because you are already have this stuff down reading and writing wise. Again cause i dont know where / how your studying it could be that he is trying to work on your pronunciation or something like that. Anyways hope this helps a bit ? lol

[sarahsbloke]

What you do in private lessons is up to you.

He doesn't do what you want, then he doesn't get paid.

[anchan42]

"From what I hear, being more direct with him is probably going to end in disaster, as he will feel a loss of face for being criticised (I have heard that it is rare in Thai culture for a student to criticise a teacher)"

Not always the case. I cannot see anyway out of this but to speak to him directly. It is rare for a young student in formal school to criticize a teacher but you are not in a formal school. If he can not take criticism, you can get him replaced, changed school etc. For me that is far better then wasting time, especially when you what the languages to survive.

[rak sa_ngop]

Tell him thet you have to return to your home country for a few weeks and that you will get in touch with him (not) when you return. I have found that holidays are a good way to 'change' teachers. Even if you have a good teacher having a range of teacher experiences is sometimes for the good.

[MacWalen]

Difficult situation, a teacher will most likely be offended but if you are not happy with the service you should ask for the change of teachers. You are a paying customer.

[Groongthep]

From what I hear, being more direct with him is probably going to end in disaster, as he will feel a loss of face for being criticised (I have heard that it is rare in Thai culture for a student to criticise a teacher).

The above depends on the situation. Where adults are teaching children in primary (bpratom) or secondary (mattayom) schools or even young adults in college or university it is indeed inappropriate in Thai culture for students to criticize their teachers and if done, serious loss of face (and worse) may ensue.

Your situation is different however. I assume you are an adult and you have hired a teacher to provide you a service. Since you are the payer you are essentially the teacher's boss and hence your status is at least equal if not higher than his. This is especially true if you are older and/or of obviously a higher socio-economic background. By all means be polite but be firm in making it clear that you are in charge. If you cede your status to him he may very well take advantage of the situation and do just enough to get by and still expect to get paid.

Courteously insist that he change his teaching methods to fit your needs. If he does not, do not hesitate to ask for another instructor.

[Parvis]

Yes - you are the paying customer - unfortunately Schools are individuals who have their egos do deal with (and overcome) - especially if they were also instrumental in developing the "program".

You sound to me as an individual who may benefit from a certain School that I normally do not speak highly of - because of the teaching material. But for an individual who attempts to get to a higher level quickly - it may just be an effective way. This program is challenging uses no transliteration.

Book 1+2 are not for beginners and should be revised - but they have "some" merit. Book 3 - which I am currently completing on a self-study program - appears to be designed primarily to increase total vocabulary of the whole program (sometimes 20 new words per page) - vocabulary you can get more effectively by using Thai-language.com - which also has sound.

The positives of the School - in my opinion - although there are detractors

a) the method as conducted by the teachers

the small classes (typ 3-7)

c) rotating teachers every hour - fast paced

The negatives

a) only 2 times x 2 hours per week

no homework - but you can construct your own - which I did

c) the teaching material - particularily book 3 - and/or book 1 if you are a "beginning beginner"

d) you will not get to "fluency" unless you have "supplementary instructions"

e) there are no instructions on "structure" - which I lack.

But as I said - the school has merit - IF ONLY

Edited April 30, 2010 by Parvis

[meadish_sweetball]

I agree with the above, the situation is not working out and it looks like your teacher is burying his head in the sand.

Sometimes loss of face can not be avoided, but you can try your best to minimize it by not escalating the issue emotionally.

Remember to remain calm and factual in your explanation of what you need and what is not working.

Do not let him talk beside the issue, if he starts waffling, bring him gently back on point, and don't let yourself get swayed even if he gets upset and raises his voice. If you can not get him to change tactics by being polite, your only option is to ask the school for another teacher.

[barky]

Sorry, I just don't get it. Your so sweet and kind and touchy feely. Oh man your another one of the multitude of westeners the come to Thailand and put up with treatment that you wouldn't tollerate in your home country and I can tell you it's unlikely that the average Thai would put up with it either. They would simply lie to the teacher about some reason to stop the lessons and change teachers or even change schools. Simple really.

It's your money. Why are you letting this person dictate to you??

Even though I am not a teacher here, a number of my friends are in private schools and I can absolutely assure you that if Thai students don't like a western teacher they have absolutely no hesitation of complaining about him and asking for the teacher to be changed or in some cases sacked. And, in almost every case the administraters do the students bidding. I've heard in some schools western teachers are treated as mere comodities, treated ruthglessly, treated shabbily indeed. If the students don't like you, you're out!

AS for you, ask for a change of teacher (with a big smile of course). If you don't get a new one, immediately change schools. Here endeth another lesson.

[ThailandNoob]

Thanks for the replies ,

Baa Mango, I know that my pronunciation has issues, but these are to do with the tones plus the unaspirated vs. aspirated p, t, ch, and k. I have no problems with long and short vowels because I can speak Arabic natively (my family is from Portugal, but I lived in Egypt for several years as a child). As an adult I learnt Japanese and had no problems with long and short vowels.

I do not wish to name the school involved, as I do not want this to turn into a "name and shame" thread. Anyway I have no desire to change schools, as it is in a convenient location and I have two other teachers that are doing a great job.

Interesting to hear that changing teachers might not be as troublesome as I thought, although barky, just because some (or maybe many) Thai students encourage their school to treat teachers "as mere commodities" does not mean that is is right.

[kriswillems]

My experience is that as Western style of fixing problems is not appreciated but it's usually effective.

I think talking "to the point" or even getting a bit angry and upset works in Thailand too. People will forgive you because you're a farang and you don't know to behave well. At the same time they usually also get the message.

The only places where I am extremely careful and very polite when talking is at immigration or at work, because they have absolute power over me.

In the case you pay for private courses you're the one that's deciding. You could just change teacher if you don't like him.