Learning English Language In Thailand: Hype Or Necessity?

[kerryk]

The world over uses english as the #1 international language through every day business dealings and general communication. I agree.

However, there are more Chinese native speakers than English one.

Yes, but 99% of them are in China . . . there are also more native Spanish speakers but the importance isn't measured by numbers alone. Just look at this site, there was a poll a while ago about the backgrounds of the posters - 15% were from non-English-speaking ethnicities/nationalities . . . if you can find a Chinese language expat website like this for Thailand I doubt you would find many - if any - non-Chinese-ethnic posters.

There are more English-language internet pages than Chinese as well, which makes the decision quite simple in that English is the way to go. (there are many other reasons, of course, like ease of learning etc...)

Even the Iranian guys on Tagged post in English!!!

[Thai at Heart]

My father is a retired dentist with plenty of training experience, and we joked about him coming over here to lend his experience to the dentistry faculty at the local university. Could you imagine how difficult that would be to put in place in terms of work permits and paperwork?

Of course there will be paperwork and permits - why on earth shouldn't there be?! As I stated previously, virtually every country has qualification requirements and the ensuing paperwork and permits to go along with it.

No disrespect to your father (despite him being a dentist. ) and I am sure he could prove to be a very valuable indeed . . . but do you really not see the need for paperwork and permits? He has the specific degree to the subject he would be lecturing in so that should make it easier, if it weren't a 'protected' profession . . . would you be as happy and willing for a Zambian or Haitian dentist to be channeled through the system without paperwork or permits?

Why is the trade balance of Thailand positive, of the USA negative? There must be more to it than knowing the English language.

You're kidding, right?

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I wouldn't want my children to be taught by someone without a degree, specifically a degree in the specified subject area . . . as one learns a heck of a lot more than just the subject matter when you have a Dip. Ed.

TEFLers are ok for adults and for conversational English but not for kids . . .

Every teacher in my kids' school has a Dip Ed, half from a local Uni and the other from their respective countries . . . which is the way it should be.

No of course there can be requirements, although I don't think you understand how relatively draconian the amount of paperwork and cost that is associated with getting a work permit. It should be a hell of a lot simpler than it is, and there should be a very simple procedure for people to volunteer legally if they wish to. No one is putting a gun to anyone's head to volunteer, but should it really be necessary to get hold of a work permit for someone to volunteer? It would be the responsibility of the university or school to make sure that whom they allow to volunteer is up to the appropriate.

As for smuggling Hatians in as dentistry teachers, well, as I said if the best dental lecturer in the world happens to be Hatian, I don't see why it need be illegal for a university to allow to use his time if he should volunteer.

My original premise in this entire discussion is that the system here should look at what they already have available in the country and utilise this first to the minimum fuss. Not many full time teachers in the West want to come to Thailand or 30 or 40k per month to work in a government school. It isn't as though the government system is overflowing with English speakers outside the main cities, but if the premise is to get kids to start speaking better English, why can't a parent or retiree of one of the kids be allowed to voluntarily spend time with the 5 to 10 year olds purely to get their speaking skills improved. it may not be perfect, but 30 minutes a day of spoken English has to be better than none. This needn't impinge one bit on the legal, teaching professions to go through the academic process of formally teaching English, but there are literally dozens of native speaking mothers that I know of that would love very much to go and volunteer to help out in primary schools but the system doesn't allow you to legally even volunteer.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Thai at Heart

[Sing_Sling]

although I don't think you understand how relatively draconian the amount of paperwork and cost that is associated with getting a work permit.

Oh, I do, trust me . . . it does your head in. I built two small bio-diesel plants and a factory for latex technology and the hoops I had to jump through . . . both for the factories (which employed Thais!!!!) and my work permit, then my wife's and children's residence permits and then the constant visa-runs - ridiculous.

It should be a hell of a lot simpler than it is, and there should be a very simple procedure for people to volunteer legally if they wish to.

Yes, that's something I really don't understand either - just think of the tsunami volunteers . . . red tape as long as your arm.

Thailand really is overprotective and I believe the reason for this is so that the inadequacies of the system aren't as easily found and highlighted to show how underdeveloped Thailand really is.

As for smuggling Hatians in as dentistry teachers, well, as I said if the best dental lecturer in the world happens to be Hatian, I don't see why it need be illegal for a university to allow to use his time if he should volunteer.

You're right, of course, a fair comment, but you do know what I meant . . . a degree or qualifications from country A aren't on the same level as country B . . .

why can't a parent or retiree of one of the kids be allowed to voluntarily spend time with the 5 to 10 year olds purely to get their speaking skills improved. it may not be perfect, but 30 minutes a day of spoken English has to be better than none. This needn't impinge one bit on the legal, teaching professions to go through the academic process of formally teaching English, but there are literally dozens of native speaking mothers that I know of that would love very much to go and volunteer to help out in primary schools but the system doesn't allow you to legally even volunteer.

It is ridiculous, I agree. Here in Malaysia (finally saw the light and got out of Thailand) a charity we work with welcomes foreigners to help out at orphanages, poorer schools etc . . . Volunteerism is encouraged - as it should be. I guess it is a matter of social development and Thailand is about as undeveloped as a two-week old foetus in this regard

Edited April 5, 2012 by Sing_Sling

[scorecard]

Thais must learn english.

I have been saying this for the past 10 years and they are still dragging there feet on this issue.

The old ' thais don't need to speak english as there native language is thai which makes them unique ' doesn't hold water.

This is a load of rubbish as all nationalities need to learn english even if it's just basic english, as long as you can communicate effectively.

The world over uses english as the #1 international language through every day business dealings and general communication.

How can school leavers ever apply or even be considered for a position in another country if he or she cannot speak english ?

Tourism revenue accounts for some 80% of thai income .... so with this revenue being such a large chunk of the countries income ... wouldn't it be a priority to ensure the population and especially those working in the tourism industry can speak english ?

How can the country move forward when the younger generation cannot understand any english ?

If Thailand doe's not make english mandatory for school student and include it in the curriculum it will be left behind.

It will continue to become know for it's lack of motivation, planning and development for the young and it will continue to be 50 years behind the times.

Cut and copy from above: "How can school leavers ever apply or even be considered for a position in another country if he or she cannot speak english ?"

Just last month my Thai son and his wife had some old school friends come to the house. There was a discussion about ASEAN 2015.

One lady (always seems to get thinks backwards and always cops a lot of flak from the others in this group) asked whether people from other ASEAN countries can apply for jobs in Thailand (post 2015). Answer Yes. Her next response was 'that's not fair to Thai people'.

Next comment in the discussion 'So if that's not fair to Thais then Thais should not allowed to apply for jobs in other ASEAN countries", The lady mentioned then responds 'but Thai people should be allowed to try'.

Next comment: 'How could you work in Singapore, you can't speak any English'. Her response: 'But the Singapore company should make all their staff learn Thai language'. Response from another person 'So your suggesting that all Singapore companies should make their employees learn Thai just in case suddenly there is a Thai employee in the Singapore office?' Silence......... then, 'But Singapore people like to come to Thailand for shopping'.

And more...

[Sing_Sling]

Tourism revenue accounts for some 80% of thai income ....

Not even close . . . revenue from tourism brings in about 6% to GDP . . . but you make valid points

[Thai at Heart]

Thais must learn english.

I have been saying this for the past 10 years and they are still dragging there feet on this issue.

The old ' thais don't need to speak english as there native language is thai which makes them unique ' doesn't hold water.

This is a load of rubbish as all nationalities need to learn english even if it's just basic english, as long as you can communicate effectively.

The world over uses english as the #1 international language through every day business dealings and general communication.

How can school leavers ever apply or even be considered for a position in another country if he or she cannot speak english ?

Tourism revenue accounts for some 80% of thai income .... so with this revenue being such a large chunk of the countries income ... wouldn't it be a priority to ensure the population and especially those working in the tourism industry can speak english ?

How can the country move forward when the younger generation cannot understand any english ?

If Thailand doe's not make english mandatory for school student and include it in the curriculum it will be left behind.

It will continue to become know for it's lack of motivation, planning and development for the young and it will continue to be 50 years behind the times.

Cut and copy from above: "How can school leavers ever apply or even be considered for a position in another country if he or she cannot speak english ?"

Just last month my Thai son and his wife had some old school friends come to the house. There was a discussion about ASEAN 2015.

One lady (always seems to get thinks backwards and always cops a lot of flak from the others in this group) asked whether people from other ASEAN countries can apply for jobs in Thailand (post 2015). Answer Yes. Her next response was 'that's not fair to Thai people'.

Next comment in the discussion 'So if that's not fair to Thais then Thais should not allowed to apply for jobs in other ASEAN countries", The lady mentioned then responds 'but Thai people should be allowed to try'.

Next comment: 'How could you work in Singapore, you can't speak any English'. Her response: 'But the Singapore company should make all their staff learn Thai language'. Response from another person 'So your suggesting that all Singapore companies should make their employees learn Thai just in case suddenly there is a Thai employee in the Singapore office?' Silence......... then, 'But Singapore people like to come to Thailand for shopping'.

And more...

And to think I learnt 10 years of Welsh, as nice as it was, but still I can truly believe that there are actually think that the world is truly missing out on something linguistically very very precious by not learning Thai. Exporting sand to the desert comes to mind.

[xthAi76s]

Thais must learn english.

I have been saying this for the past 10 years and they are still dragging there feet on this issue.

The old ' thais don't need to speak english as there native language is thai which makes them unique ' doesn't hold water.

This is a load of rubbish as all nationalities need to learn english even if it's just basic english, as long as you can communicate effectively.

The world over uses english as the #1 international language through every day business dealings and general communication.

How can school leavers ever apply or even be considered for a position in another country if he or she cannot speak english ?

Tourism revenue accounts for some 80% of thai income .... so with this revenue being such a large chunk of the countries income ... wouldn't it be a priority to ensure the population and especially those working in the tourism industry can speak english ?

How can the country move forward when the younger generation cannot understand any english ?

If Thailand doe's not make english mandatory for school student and include it in the curriculum it will be left behind.

It will continue to become know for it's lack of motivation, planning and development for the young and it will continue to be 50 years behind the times.

Cut and copy from above: "How can school leavers ever apply or even be considered for a position in another country if he or she cannot speak english ?"

Just last month my Thai son and his wife had some old school friends come to the house. There was a discussion about ASEAN 2015.

One lady (always seems to get thinks backwards and always cops a lot of flak from the others in this group) asked whether people from other ASEAN countries can apply for jobs in Thailand (post 2015). Answer Yes. Her next response was 'that's not fair to Thai people'.

Next comment in the discussion 'So if that's not fair to Thais then Thais should not allowed to apply for jobs in other ASEAN countries", The lady mentioned then responds 'but Thai people should be allowed to try'.

Next comment: 'How could you work in Singapore, you can't speak any English'. Her response: 'But the Singapore company should make all their staff learn Thai language'. Response from another person 'So your suggesting that all Singapore companies should make their employees learn Thai just in case suddenly there is a Thai employee in the Singapore office?' Silence......... then, 'But Singapore people like to come to Thailand for shopping'.

And more...

And to think I learnt 10 years of Welsh, as nice as it was, but still I can truly believe that there are actually think that the world is truly missing out on something linguistically very very precious by not learning Thai. Exporting sand to the desert comes to mind.

Thai is essentially a messy, irregular hodgepodge of a writing system from the Indians (Pali and Sandskrit), with their most sophisticated vocabulary from Khmer (Cambodia) when they were under the control of the Khmers ... Sorry, Thai is not very good at all. Illogical and vague. Cute though.

Edited April 5, 2012 by xthAi76s

[BigJohnnyBKK]

My father is a retired dentist with plenty of training experience, and we joked about him coming over here to lend his experience to the dentistry faculty at the local university. Could you imagine how difficult that would be to put in place in terms of work permits and paperwork?

Actually not at all, as long as he were volunteering - I know an American who's done exactly that for around 4 months of every year for the past ten years with the Police Hospital at Ratchaprasong.

If the sponsoring Thai organization is motivated it isn't hard at all.

[Thai at Heart]

My father is a retired dentist with plenty of training experience, and we joked about him coming over here to lend his experience to the dentistry faculty at the local university. Could you imagine how difficult that would be to put in place in terms of work permits and paperwork?

Actually not at all, as long as he were volunteering - I know an American who's done exactly that for around 4 months of every year for the past ten years with the Police Hospital at Ratchaprasong.

If the sponsoring Thai organization is motivated it isn't hard at all.

Well, I hope he is legal.

[JohnAllan]

This is an ongoing argument, and for Thais neither working in jobs that require them to communicate with foreign citizens, nor seeing the likelihood of leaving Thailand for foreign climes – this includes for holidays, remember – learning any foreign language, whilst useful, is hardly essential. For all others, like it or not, English is the language of global communication.

The Indians' grasp of English is first class, but unfortunately, their accent is often lacking. Singapore and Malaysia are much better examples.

While I agree that local teachers should be more than capable of teaching the language to Thai students, it's a sad fact of Thai educational life that few are anything like competent enough to do so. Foreign ambassadorial staff are expected to learn the local language with local teachers. It therefore stands to reason that those in the frontline need to learn English from qualified native speakers. And I do mean native. Not, as is so often a case in point, Filipino English speakers.

And apart from the fact that a native English speaker from Texas being described as a white hillbilly could possibly be construed as racist, Dr Kuldeep, a degree in English Literature is completely irrelevant to language skills. It is one in English Language that should be required.

As asides: if we discount the Japanese occupation of Thailand as colonisation – naturally, that produced no benefits for Thailand – the nationalists in the colonisation argument do tend to ignore the fact that any one of the colonising powers could have colonised Thailand, had they wanted. The question these nationalists should be asking is: why didn't they?

And Britain colonised, rather than occupied, North America, which, until the War of Independence, was not the USA.

Edited April 6, 2012 by JohnAllan

[Sing_Sling]

any one of the colonising powers could have colonised Thailand, had they wanted. The question these nationalists should be asking is: why didn't they?

There were some things even the Brits wouldn't do? Standards?

[Mousehound]

A good experienced teacher will always be able to teach virtually anything they are required to. At least to High School level. A higher degree in literature is no guarantee of any ability to teach English. The ability to understand the teaching/learning process, motivate students, classroom control and real classroom experience are far more important. I have higher education qualifications in English, business and law and have recently completed another degree in the arts. None of these are as powerful as the years of experience I have at working a classroom.

[pastitche]

I can't believe that BS. Not just a high degree makes a teacher successful.I'd say Thais believe their Masters in English makes them to better English speakers.

I speak English as a native speaker and never had anyone with a degree, never mind a Master's degree teach me the language and I have coped pretty well over the years

For the most part only basic English is required in Thailand and this could be taught by anyone who is a native speaker of English.

My question would be quite simple - how often will the majority of Thais have to interact with an English speaker, given that they mostly live outwith the areas where foreigners will be and that very few will be involved in business at a level where language skills might be necessary?

Whilst I agree that the standards of teaching here need improvement, I have to say that I do not believe that any country in the west uses "native" speakers to a large degree. Teaching is a skilled profession, no matter the subject.

[pastitche]

"Thailand was never colonized so why botherto learn English. For them English is the language of the British colonies. It has no place in Thai society. Someothers with a myopic vision believe that Thai peopleshould not be made to feel insecure and inferior because of all the hype about importance of learning English"

This attitude says it all. Whilst Thais hold on to this rather pathetic argument it will forever be the poor relative of Asia.

I would not even think about colonisation if the locals would speak English, for me all British colonized countries drive on the wrong side off the road.....

In that case so does Thailand

[pastitche]

The minister of education in this country needs to set up a pilot program with the Embassy of England, The American Embassy, The Australian Embassy, The Embassy of Canada, and the Embassy of Singapore to put children in the homes of English speaking parents who have children whos native language is English.

The pilot progam would allow native Thai children a dramatic learning experience in speaking English. Children do infact learn quicker in an environment where there are other children of a similar age group.

That would help to reach to very important goals. 1. Give children a hands of approach to speaking english and the ability to pick up the nuances

of the language, and help to reduce the amount of prejudice between two culltures.

Based on language research, the learning curve to learn another language is from the time a baby is in the womb until age 7. After the age of 7, the learning curve begins to drop dramatically.Think of bilingual children who ability to speak 2 or several different languages comes from parents who speak 2 or more languages in the home.

The other crucial point is that children in such a pilot program would have the opportunity to speak English everyday and not limited to a 1 hour classroom. After class now, children go back to their native Thai language and forget about the rest. Also, it would help to o reduce the natural shyness

they have with trying to speak English outside the classroom to begin with.

Thailands approach to learning English or another foreign language is completly butt backwards.

We all learn to speak our natisve language in the Home where ALL native languages are spoken.

We certainly do not learn to read or write first do we. Wle Learn To Speak First..What could possibily be more logical or natural than that. Who would pay for this you might ask. Well that would be a joint financial effort on the part of the Embassies involved and the Thai Ministry of Education.

Please please - there is no embassy of England

[kerryk]

This is an ongoing argument, and for Thais neither working in jobs that require them to communicate with foreign citizens, nor seeing the likelihood of leaving Thailand for foreign climes – this includes for holidays, remember – learning any foreign language, whilst useful, is hardly essential. For all others, like it or not, English is the language of global communication.

The Indians' grasp of English is first class, but unfortunately, their accent is often lacking. Singapore and Malaysia are much better examples.

While I agree that local teachers should be more than capable of teaching the language to Thai students, it's a sad fact of Thai educational life that few are anything like competent enough to do so. Foreign ambassadorial staff are expected to learn the local language with local teachers. It therefore stands to reason that those in the frontline need to learn English from qualified native speakers. And I do mean native. Not, as is so often a case in point, Filipino English speakers.

And apart from the fact that a native English speaker from Texas being described as a white hillbilly could possibly be construed as racist, Dr Kuldeep, a degree in English Literature is completely irrelevant to language skills. It is one in English Language that should be required.

As asides: if we discount the Japanese occupation of Thailand as colonisation – naturally, that produced no benefits for Thailand – the nationalists in the colonisation argument do tend to ignore the fact that any one of the colonising powers could have colonised Thailand, had they wanted. The question these nationalists should be asking is: why didn't they?

And Britain colonised, rather than occupied, North America, which, until the War of Independence, was not the USA.

The only place the Japanese occupied in Thailand was in your mind. The Kingdom of Thailand became a signatory of the Tripartite Pact.Thailand previously signed a military alliance with Japan. Thai forces contributed to the Japanese war effort, helping out in the invasion of Burma 1942.

Edited April 6, 2012 by kerryk

[lovelaos]

Oh no, Mr. cut and paste is here ^^

[mackes]

Sorry, Thai is not very good at all. Illogical and vague. Cute though.

I don't agree, Thai language is structured and logical. There is a clear sentence structure

with Object, subject and modifiers. Especially compared with some other western

languages with lots of exeptions and an order that is not logical at all.

However, Thai doesn't seemed to have developed as most other language has. Maybe that is

a result of (or an explanation to) incapability and aversion to speak other languages.

Thai language misses a lot of grammar such as tense and numerous forms which forces

them to use a lot of more words than english to describe things in the modern society.

So it is not efficient. But logical in structure? Yes.

[GazR]

The system must change: Last time, the most Thaksin did was give the schools a coat of paint, so don't expect much progress.

Unfortunately the MoE doesn't listen to Thai teachers - let alone farang - so they waste time insisting on Bachelor degrees which will not actually improve things. Of course, the real agenda is to keep the language barrier firmly in place while continuing to exploit the people to the max.

Meanwhile, the informal education system is dominated by money-grubbing ignoramuses and managed by farangs and others who have sold out / given up.

It's pretty sick really.

[mackes]

The language barrier will definitely keep people away from information.

George Soros (US capitalist from Hungary) once explained his huge investments in telecom Infrastructure

for eastern Europe with "Internet is the guarantee for freedom and democracy in my home country."

Without a common language much of the Internet information is not as accessible so of course a barrier is in the

interest of those exploiting. So we can add another argument for necessity of teaching the english language

in Thailand: Ensure and enhance democracy!

[xthAi76s]

Sorry, Thai is not very good at all. Illogical and vague.

I don't agree, Thai language is structured and logical. There is a clear sentence structure

with Object, subject and modifiers. Especially compared with some other western

languages with lots of exeptions and an order that is not logical at all.

However, Thai doesn't seemed to have developed as most other language has. Maybe that is

a result of (or an explanation to) incapability and aversion to speak other languages.

Thai language misses a lot of grammar such as tense and numerous forms which forces

them to use a lot of more words than english to describe things in the modern society.

So it is not efficient. But logical in structure? Yes.

I see, yes, I agre with your points.

[GazR]

Reference re apparent lack of structure: "it's a tonal and atonal language" (atonal - i.e.one or more combinations of simple sounds are often used instead of more conventional/complex grammatical systems ref. wikipedia > Thai language

[Thai at Heart]

Reference re apparent lack of structure: "it's a tonal and atonal language" (atonal - i.e.one or more combinations of simple sounds are often used instead of more conventional/complex grammatical systems ref. wikipedia > Thai language

Eye und-hur-sa-tand

[xthAi76s]

I actually know quite a lot about Thai (as I speak, read and write it) and about other Eastern and Western languages, so I understand. I've spoken Thai for a number of years, since I used to come here as a child...

Actually, my comment about lacking structure was a comment I made lazily.

What I intended to get across is that Thai is messy. Thai has, for example, a complex writing system taking from Khmer, Sanscrit and Pali but with a very, very large percentage of rules that simply don't apply anymore. More irregular spellings than regular ones. A spoken language that very often does not reflect the written one -- mostly because there was not a marrying up of the two as the overwhelming majority of speakers were poor, illiterate and did not learn/follow standard. Tons of overlapping letters to represent the same sounds -- which have rarely been cleaned up in thousands of years. In other words, very little language evolution.

It's well documented that Thais spend much more time learning to be proficient in Thai than some of their neighbors do in their own languages. Also, it is also documented as a theory (among professional linguists) that the lack of interest in reading and writing among Thai native speakers is due, at least in part, to these difficulties and irregularities of the language.

For example, when the Vietnamese introduced a new, more efficient writing system, it enabled them to learn Vietnamese language very rapidly. The same is true for Korean. One of the old Korean kings introduced a new script (the one currently used) to take the place of the Chinese pictograms used prior. Korean written language is now said (among linguists) to be one the most logical and phonetic in the world. Thai one of the least.

That's what I meant to say. No dig on the Thais here, but they need to get a literary tradition going to clean up their spoken/written systems. They need a tuneup.

Edited April 9, 2012 by xthAi76s

[mackes]

I actually know quite a lot about Thai (as I speak, read and write it) and about other Eastern and Western languages, so I understand. I've spoken Thai for a number of years, since I used to come here as a child...

Actually, my comment about lacking structure was a comment I made lazily.

What I intended to get across is that Thai is messy. Thai has, for example, a complex writing system taking from Khmer, Sanscrit and Pali but with a very, very large percentage of rules that simply don't apply anymore. More irregular spellings than regular ones. A spoken language that very often does not reflect the written one -- mostly because there was not a marrying up of the two as the overwhelming majority of speakers were poor, illiterate and did not learn/follow standard. Tons of overlapping letters to represent the same sounds -- which have rarely been cleaned up in thousands of years. In other words, very little language evolution.

It's well documented that Thais spend much more time learning to be proficient in Thai than some of their neighbors do in their own languages. Also, it is also documented as a theory (among professional linguists) that the lack of interest in reading and writing among Thai native speakers is due, at least in part, to these difficulties and irregularities of the language.

For example, when the Vietnamese introduced a new, more efficient writing system, it enabled them to learn Vietnamese language very rapidly. The same is true for Korean. One of the old Korean kings introduced a new script (the one currently used) to take the place of the Chinese pictograms used prior. Korean written language is now said (among linguists) to be one the most logical and phonetic in the world. Thai one of the least.

That's what I meant to say. No dig on the Thais here, but they need to get a literary tradition going to clean up their spoken/written systems. They need a tuneup.

When I was talking about structure I was refering to the spoken language.

I totally agree about the written language, it is messy. Someone claimed that it was intentionally kept complicated to keep the poor away.

[Bangkokhatter]

Good thread this. I had a chat with my girlfriend about the upcoming ASEAN 2015 and it's possible implications. She had heard about it but not what it could mean in the future. I pointed out to her that it could well affect her 7 year old daughters future job prospects and how important it was for her daughter to learn English to a decent standard.

Well her daughter has been staying with us during the school holidays and I must say it's bloody frustrating. She has no real enthusiam for learning. Am not a teacher but am native so believe I have the ability to teach her conversational English and as I passed O'Level Language back in the day, can question or correct her grammar, however I do believe proper teaching is a skill and the ability to pass on your knowledge makes a good teacher stand out.

Her mother used to teach English in P2 , but has now moved onto teaching Thai to foreigners ( better pay ) and she has been doing some pratical lessons during the holidays with her, but still her apparent laziness to learn shines through. I even suggested we should leave the cartoon channel set in English language, any aide helps after all,

I was always led to believe that children were like a sponge for knowledge, but am now thinking maybe its the way they are taught that leaves them bored with any kind of learning at such a young age. If that is true then it's sad.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Actually not at all, as long as he were volunteering - I know an American who's done exactly that for around 4 months of every year for the past ten years with the Police Hospital at Ratchaprasong.

If the sponsoring Thai organization is motivated it isn't hard at all.

Well, I hope he is legal.

Well since he's working with the **Police Hospital** where most of the patients are **police** or connected to them, one could answer either "of course he is" or "he doesn't need to be" with equal validity. . .

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I was always led to believe that children were like a sponge for knowledge, but am now thinking maybe its the way they are taught that leaves them bored with any kind of learning at such a young age. If that is true then it's sad.

It's a rare school system that allows kids to preserve their natural creativity and curiousity. Their usual function is to prepare citizens to fit into the mainstream political/economic system, thus the emphasis on conformity and obedience. This is true back home just as much as it is here, but here failing to prepare students for the future needs as Thailand develops.

Best options for those who want otherwise - independent critical thinking - are well-informed home schooling, Montessori and Waldorf/Steiner schools, to a lesser extent those based on Summerhill, Nikitin, and Freinet.

[osiboy]

i was told by my grandmother that the best pronunciation of english was by the people of west wales ,.....anyone else heard this ?,.............. i dont think that bringing indians to teach here is a good idea, their pronunciation is awful , " ve vill be talking today about how vondervul vorieng language is "!

[Bagwan]

Just thinking slightly outside the box here. If Thai was only spoken what happens when Aircraft Controllers don't speak English? Some people open their mouths without knowing or maybe wanting to know reality.

An air traffic controller in Thailand may well speak Thai to the pilot(s) of a Thai aircraft. All other nationalities are spoken to in English. Same same all other countries.

Rather than worry whether speaking English will affect Thai culture I suggest that the Prof looks around him. Crappy American fast food stores and pop music have done that already.