Tests For Bi-Lingual Program

[CWMcMurray]

My wife's younger brother is in M2 and currently studying at a government school.

We have discussed the issue and have agreed that we would like to give him the opportunity to study at University in USA and are now trying to set up a realistic plan on how to give him that opportunity.

In order to be accepted at US university he will need to pass the TOEFL and will I also believe that he will need to get some experience in 'Academic English' prior to going to the US.

Given this, I believe that it would be best if he was in a bi-lingual program. Sarasas Witaed Rom Klao is right by our house and my 3 yr old just started here this year, so this the school we are looking at.

He came to Bangkok near the end of B6 and his English skills were pretty much non existent, but we have been working with him and have been sending him for additional classes after school (2 hrs a day, twice a week).

In the past year his English has started to get a bit better and he has gone from bottom 10 in his year group (aprox 300 students) to about 37th. So he is starting to show progress, but I still think he is quite far off from being able to pass the entrance exams for Sarasas.

Also the English classes he is taking are more of General English, but are not Academic Centered so are not likelyt to help him pass entrance exams in Science, Math, History etc.. that will all be in English.

Do any have any recommendations on where the best place to study would be to prepare for entrance exams for a bi-lingual school? I have though of going to the school to see if they have anything like this available for prospective students, but figured I would try here first to see if anyone had any ideas.

[Scott]

Your best bet is to take him into the school. Most of the schools have an entrance exam, but unless they are over-subscribed with students, or he is exceptionally low functioning, he will be accepted.

In many of the bilingual programs, the score on his Thai exam will be the determining factor.

If he plans to go to the US, a bilingual program is an excellent plan.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

[CWMcMurray]

Thanks for your message Scott,I did not realize that.

Do you know if most schools or Sarasas in particular have programs for new students to take additional English lessons to help "Catch Up"?

[otherstuff1957]

Thanks for your message Scott,I did not realize that.

Do you know if most schools or Sarasas in particular have programs for new students to take additional English lessons to help "Catch Up"?

I don't know about Sarasas, but most other schools do.

[Scott]

I don't know if that particular school offers extra English, but most of the Sarasas schools do offer extra English. It may not be available because in some bilingual programs the schedule is quite full for Mathyom students. (Prathom students usually have access to extra English).

If he is making good progress in his English, I wouldn't push him too much on the language issue. He's going to be exposed to English in his bilingual classes. He needs to keep his knowledge level of the subject material up. The language will develop.

Of course, if he is motivated and wants to do more, then by all means do so, but if he is a little hesitant or resistant, then give him a little breathing room. You don't want to turn him off to the language.

Make sure he is exposed to English at home. If you have UBC try to have him watch English programs. Take him to movies etc.

By the way, if you call the school, you can probably find out if there is an opening at his grade level. Testing can often be done on Saturday (usually mornings).

I work with a lady whose son went to school there. She pulled him out of school and sent him to school in New Zealand for his last two years of school. His English was good enough to succeed in NZ, but then she is completely fluent in English and I think he was exposed to a lot of English at home.

Keep us posted.

[CWMcMurray]

Thank you Scott for all of the information, it seems that I may have needlessly worried about the entrance exam....

He is actually very motivated to learn and we are not pushing him into this, he seems genuinely interested. He is also a big fan of English language movies and downloads torrents on his own all the time (English language, no Thai Subtitles). Will also work with him to increase English language use around the house a bit more as well.

We talked it over and since this year has already started, we will try to enroll him starting next year M3 and for the rest of this year he will increase the after school English classes to better prepare himself.