I am moving closer and closer to the move to thailand. My son had been in school in britain for 2 years.At the moment preschool and reception in britain(he is nearly 5). If i come to thailand I am thinking of keeping him out of school for a while to play with the kids in the village to learn, at least some, Thai. Then when he is 6 letting him start in school. Do you think this is a good way to go, or do you think I should just let him go at it and start ASAP. He will obviously not speak Thai as we only speak English here. Which do you think will be best for him. This is important to me as he is very important to me

Cheers

neil

He will probably pickup the Language very quickly, kids have a big advantage in this area.

Set him loose amongst the local children, within a few weeks or so you will find he will have assimilated quite well , ask him to invite some of his friends to your home , it will assist his learning curve as he attempts to translate for his parents .The only true way to learn any language is by total immersion , it becomes rather confusing when you try to translate as you learn and slows down the process .

Thai's learn their alphabet in K1 and K2, ages 4 and 5 respectively. You could always send him to a local school for this and not worry too much since you mainly want socialization. Then when he gets older send him of to a proper school. The school year is May-March the semester break is October.

The only problem I can forsee is that while he is off school to play with the kids in the village they will probably be at school

I'd give him a few days a week at a local kindergarden until he starts school.

In my opinion your thought to have your son be around Thai children for a while before starting school is very valid and a good idea.

I agree that the problem with this will be that the local kids will be in school, but your son will not need to learn Thai from other kids. Let him be around Thai people of all ages, preferably people who will speak clear Thai with him.

There might be Thai people who will speak in bad English to your son, don't let him spend too much time there, let him spend time around Thai people who talk a lot to your son in Thai, not just the same phrases, but who speak a lot.

You could get older Thai children read Thai books to him at home, too.

On weekends, evenings and holidays you can then make an effort to get out and find children who still have some energy left after school to play with a smaller child.

Your son will most likely be happy to be around you, you are what he knows, you are stability for him in a new environment. Putting him right into a school might be very upsetting for him.

Edited July 27, 201015 yr by g00dgirl

In my opinion your thought to have your son be around Thai children for a while before starting school is very valid and a good idea.

I agree that the problem with this will be that the local kids will be in school, but your son will not need to learn Thai from other kids. Let him be around Thai people of all ages, preferably people who will speak clear Thai with him.

There might be Thai people who will speak in bad English to your son, don't let him spend too much time there, let him spend time around Thai people who talk a lot to your son in Thai, not just the same phrases, but who speak a lot.

You could get older Thai children read Thai books to him at home, too.

On weekends, evenings and holidays you can then make an effort to get out and find children who still have some energy left after school to play with a smaller child.

Your son will most likely be happy to be around you, you are what he knows, you are stability for him in a new environment. Putting him right into a school might be very upsetting for him.

I would agree. He might get the Thai from the other kids but IMHO,if he looks like a westerner most Thais (adults) will not speak to him in Thai. This may include the teacher at the school you send him to. I could be wrong though.