It Would Be Funnny It It Weren'T So Sad

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hi there,

I have a book called "Beginning English: Ask and Answer Well" by Janya In-Ong who has an MA in English as well as a Masters and a PhD in Linguistics. After a brief Google search, I am pretty sure this person works at the Liberal Arts Faculty a the top Uni in the land.... oh deary me.

It is a simple book, aimed at helping Thai students with question words. Each Q/A is translated into Thai. What makes this book an absolute keeper is the fact that a lot of the examples contain either incorrect English or English that is so bizarre that it has no practical use for any langauge student.

I keep the book on my desk as a kind of joke book - I just have to read a few lines when I feel low and without fail, my mood lightens. Here are few belters that I help puts a smile on your face:

Q Where to live?

A We live on Doi Suthep

Q Of whom do you think?

A I think of my first swimming

Q Why are they fighting?

A Because the theatre has only one ticket

Q What population is your country?

A It's 15 millions

Q What does he watch?

A He writes the drama

Q What do we write?

A You write the mountain

Q What doesn't the man fear?

A He doesn't fear heavy work

Q How short does this rope remain?

A It remains 6 inches short

Q With what is her voice quivering?

A It's quivering with fear

Q By whom shall I be blackmailed?

A You will be blackmailed by the hooligans

Is there a chance that this author helped write the TCT tests for foreign teachers????

I mean seriously, this book was written by a linguistics PhD - it's appalling! I show this book to my 'lowly language students' help make them understand that a degree (or several) does not a good English speaker make.

Anyways, thought I would share.

Cheers

[Scott]

When I went to get my Driver's License renewed at an outpost not far from Bangkok, for the 3rd time, the people didn't speak English. I told them "Mai pen rai'. But they were all afraid something was going to go terribly wrong. The head guy actually communicated sufficiently, but obviously was nervous about English. They tried to use some Translator on the computer.

The computer translation from Thai to English was about the same as your examples.

Older books, by the way, are filled with examples like that.

[Firelily]

The test you need to take to get a driving licence is also written in similar English. I was actually surprised to pass on the first try because I did not understand about a third of the questions.

Even worse, I ran into an official practice test for the Prathom 3 national exams a couple of months ago, for the first time ever. No wonder they keep them away from farang teachers in my school. It made me cry and kick a couple of chairs.

[Scott]

I didn't have to take any test--other than a color blindness test and a reaction test. One of the higher-ups was nervous having a Farang there. He was trying to explain the process and I was trying to explain that I would just follow everyone else and do what they do. He called people to translate and then tried the translator program--both were very confusing. I do understand enough Thai to get through something relatively simple and my extremely poor speaking ability should have been sufficient to let them know I was sure I would be able to understand what to do.

I must say, however, I was given VIP treatment--he seemed to be more upset about his English ability and it was I who should have been chastised for my Thai--after all, it is Thailand!

Anyway back on the topic. Years ago, there were some very bad English-Thai books. In the past few years, I have seen a big improvement. There are still some mistakes and some very clumsy and antiquated use of English. But nothing like 10 years ago.

Even the older dictionaries that students used some years back gave incorrect definitions--and I mean really incorrect.

[LarryBird]

I think the books in the series 'The art of English Conversation' are quite useful for teaching Thai's.

[phaethon]

Lawsuit from the author in 3... 2... 1...

[witold]

A lot of books are put together very quickly. Quality is secondary to just publishing and selling.

The Thai/English subject is only interesting because in the rest of the World, everybody wants to learn English and they often do an excellent job. I've met many students from Eastern Europe that speak English VERY well. Some of them spoke nearly flawlessly even though they have never been outside of their native country.

In contrast, most Thais have more pressing things to think about than learning English. I think in a lot of the other countries people are eager to get out of their country and become rich in USA/UK/Western Europe so they put more effort into learning English. Whereas in Thailand, Thais don't seem to have the sort of immigration bug? They probably just see English as a step to getting a job in the Tourism industry and many Thais want nothing to do with the Tourist industry.

Edited December 20, 2010 by witold

[LarryBird]

A lot of books are put together very quickly. Quality is secondary to just publishing and selling.

The Thai/English subject is only interesting because in the rest of the World, everybody wants to learn English and they often do an excellent job. I've met many students from Eastern Europe that speak English VERY well. Some of them spoke nearly flawlessly even though they have never been outside of their native country.

In contrast, most Thais have more pressing things to think about than learning English. I think in a lot of the other countries people are eager to get out of their country and become rich in USA/UK/Western Europe so they put more effort into learning English. Whereas in Thailand, Thais don't seem to have the sort of immigration bug? They probably just see English as a step to getting a job in the Tourism industry and many Thais want nothing to do with the Tourist industry.

Is that why they always ask if they can fly in my luggage when I go to the US?

[Scott]

Let's remember that in addition to a whole range of problems for students learning English, such as bad books, incompetent or poorly qualified teachers, inconsistent curriculum, there is also the problem of linguistic distance. English and Thai are very distant languages, grammar, pronunciation, and alphabet are all different.

For many Europeans, the grammar, pronunciation and alphabets are pretty much the same. There is also more exposure.

For many Asians, learning English is a little harder because of these added hurdles.

[saakura]

Appaling, unbeleivable that he/she is a PhD in linguistics and this is a book to teach english to non-native speakers. Having said that, a lot of native english speaking teachers who post in here make so many gramatical and spelling mistakes but whenever pointed out, invites an immediate reprimand from moderators. Am i seeing double standards here??

[Scott]

I don't think there is a double standard. The people posting are not writing or selling posts; they are asking for information. Many are not native English speakers and a fair number don't teach English--they may teach IN English, but they are not English teachers.

Some have limited computer access and a few don't type well.

And of course some are just not very good with or at English, but that's not the reason that they are here.

Being critical of grammar and spelling is off-topic to most posts, unless the poster has requested it.

[jaiyenyen]

Re, computer translations.

Many times, students at school are given an assignment, to reasearch a subject and present it on a future board. Off they go, surfing the net for information. So far, so good. The problem arises when they run their words through Google Translator.

It seems that Thai teachers have no problems about displaying these boards around the school.

I cringe everytime I walk past one of these assignments.

Don't get me started on the fact that these assignments are just copied from the internet and completely unoriginal.

[thaicbr]

Well having looked on the internet for her name . It certainly looks like she is a prolific writer. I can only hope that this book the OP is talking about was her first and they have got better since then......because they certainly need to .

[billd766]

I don't think there is a double standard. The people posting are not writing or selling posts; they are asking for information. Many are not native English speakers and a fair number don't teach English--they may teach IN English, but they are not English teachers.

Some have limited computer access and a few don't type well.

And of course some are just not very good with or at English, but that's not the reason that they are here.

Being critical of grammar and spelling is off-topic to most posts, unless the poster has requested it.

Many of us older English people who read some of the threads on TV cringe at the spelling and punctuation etc.

Since I left school in 1959 I have seen some of the stuff that my UK son was taught in the 1980's and 1990's and if I were interviewing teachers for a job I wouldn't get past most of the CV's.

It seems that now in the UK nobody ever fails and they all get a pass mark but saying that there are lot of good schools and teachers over there but discipline is hard to deal with over there.

[Scott]

Let's stay on the topic of English, writing skills and related materials and stay away from making statements about particular individuals. Such statements could have legal consequences.

Thanks.

[Loaded]

Appaling, unbeleivable that he/she is a PhD in linguistics and this is a book to teach english to non-native speakers. Having said that, a lot of native english speaking teachers who post in here make so many gramatical and spelling mistakes but whenever pointed out, invites an immediate reprimand from moderators. Am i seeing double standards here??

Surely a wind up?

[blyish]

The test you need to take to get a driving licence is also written in similar English. I was actually surprised to pass on the first try because I did not understand about a third of the questions.

I thought it was just me. I took the test a couple of weeks ago and was absolutely lost throughout the whole thing. I tried to tell the people there that some of the answers didn't make sense, but I couldn't get the message through, so I ended up clicking on whatever sounded closer and hoped for the best. I passed (I'm still not sure how).

[transplant]

Cambridge and Oxford have teemed up with Thai scholars to make some of their grammar and exercise books bilingual and they are excellent but they're really just books. A teacher is a human being that guides the students through interactive and engaging activities that involve critical thinking and that's why we get the big bucks.

[tinsom]

can any one advise me to where i can offer my services as english teacher for a summer camp in samut prakarn area

im not really looking for payment for this just want some hands on experience

as well as a teacher i also use puppets to aid with teaching as i find children better interact with a puppet than a teacher

i was thinking of going to indonesia or cambodia to do this but some one suggested i post message on here first to get some feed back

i plan to be in samut prakarn end of january

my email is [email protected]