Video: A Thai Student Gives Advice On How She Became Fluent In English

[webfact]

How a Thai student became fluent in English

Source: http://www.srinaiweb.com/?p=324

[gkinbkk]

Aww bless...outta the mouths of Babes!

She has a very bright future I'm sure.....

[pedro01]

lol - that's sweet.

[MaxLee]

What a bright child...

[hyperdimension]

Which school does she attend?

[Kananga]

Guess they are American cartoons...

While taking nothing away from the child's achievement (she's got a better understanding of the importance of English than the Education Minister) , it is shocking that this is such a rarity in the 21st century in Thailand.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Kananga

[ThaiRich]

This child has more of an insight as to how to learn English than most directors of English departments and school owners.

[smileplur]

It says โรงเรียนศรีวิทยาปากน้ำ

Sri Wittaya Paknam

She's cool!

[skybluestu]

It says โรงเรียนศรีวิทยาปากน้ำ

Sri Wittaya Paknam

She's cool!

Correct, she won a recent national speech competition http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Home-can-be-the-best-place-to-learn-English-30188659.html

[Greer]

Excellent - this girl will go far at whatever she puts her mind to. Very confident and speaks direct to cam - thats very good in a kid of her age.

[siampolee]

The school memntioned is near my home and the school and its staff have a very good reputation..

[jerrysteve]

Remarkable..There is always one that is the head of the rest of the pack.

She converses with her mother in English...How very fortunate for both the child and the mother.

This young person is a real winner!

[rics21]

My friend's son won the second prize for this speech competition few years back. Its just like another dictation/ memory test.

Too bad the Thai government isn't focusing on teaching English as a 1st language. And Thai as a mother tongue. All subjects should be taught in English.

Sent from my XT910 using Thaivisa Connect App

[NBD]

So it's basically practice and applying oneself then, rather than fruit carving, flower arranging and parroting a well meaning but ultimately hopeless teacher who has never been outside Thailand... Who'd have thought!?

Good on her, and I hope others can follow her example.

[MaxLee]

Well, unfortunately, this cute little girl is alone, the majority always want SECURITY, which means follow the masses, even if it's their downfall

[samsara]

sounds like her ability has precious little to do with schooling, but rather the result of resources/attention at home. hardly to be celebrated by thais. shes an exception, hardly a rule. most thai kids never have to speak/listen to a word of english away from school.

and, yes, the speech competition is just a memory/pronunciation exercise. you can tell this speech is also quite rehearsed.

[Baerboxer]

What a lovely young little girl. It's great to see this and you can only hope this becomes much more common. She speaks better English than some post graduate students I know!

[candyman123]

Her voice sounded very American so didn't understand a word she said!!!

But good for her if only all students would take example...... would love to teach more students just like her.

[sprq]

Yes, it was rehearsed rather than spontaneous, but she nevertheless obviously knows what she's saying, has good pronunciation and obviously could converse with any of us given the chance. She already sounds better than most Thai English teachers, probably because her parents speak good (American) English . She'll go far.

[samsara]

Yes, it was rehearsed rather than spontaneous, but she nevertheless obviously knows what she's saying, has good pronunciation and obviously could converse with any of us given the chance. She already sounds better than most Thai English teachers, probably because her parents speak good (American) English . She'll go far.

but so will tata young's kids...

parading this girl around as some apogee of the thai school system is disgusting and so typically thai "false", where face>progress. of course the girl can speak some english. for all we know her parents have her study abroad during school breaks. notice how she says virtually nothing about her teachers/school

lets go interview her classmates/teachers and see how they can speak. o, thats right, they cant because the thai school system fails the students in every way possible.

this is reality:

this one is even better. teacher zach can't even speak english himself.

Edited August 24, 2012 by samsara

[DoctorG]

what a delightful young lady.

[khaowong1]

Wow.. I like her.. she has a lot of charisma and believes in what she is doing. Good for her.

I know teacher Paul is trying, but c'mon. How about a natural English speaker.

Do Brits know how hard it is to understand what Brit's are saying.

[blazes]

So far, no one has provided information as to how she came to have such a good accent and general grasp of the language. Is one of her parents English-speaking? Both? did she learn English with her parents only, or in school?

It would be helpful to get the basic facts. Too bad if she is just a one-off.

[Towzak]

She is very good indeed and I would say an exception. Good luck to her!

A colleague and myself were often asked to tutor students for speaking practice and stand in as judges. We admitted they were good exercises for speaking and pronunciation but in reality they were merely recitals. Memorising The Three Little Pigs is all well and good but as far as conversational English goes they were worthless because the very same child exhibits a blank face when you ask them where they live, or how old they are. On one occasion the Thai teacher informed us that they did understand what they were saying and that they would be asked questions on their speech. However, we could not ask them just a random question...oh no! the questions had been given to the students beforehand and quite obviously the answers memorised along with the speech. You won't be surprised to learn shortly after our disapproval we were 'let go'

[burnsie]

Yes, it was rehearsed rather than spontaneous, but she nevertheless obviously knows what she's saying, has good pronunciation and obviously could converse with any of us given the chance. She already sounds better than most Thai English teachers, probably because her parents speak good (American) English . She'll go far.

but so will tata young's kids...

parading this girl around as some apogee of the thai school system is disgusting and so typically thai "false", where face>progress. of course the girl can speak some english. for all we know her parents have her study abroad during school breaks. notice how she says virtually nothing about her teachers/school

lets go interview her classmates/teachers and see how they can speak. o, thats right, they cant because the thai school system fails the students in every way possible.

this is reality:

this one is even better. teacher zach can't even speak english himself.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect App

3 little pie eaters and a yank in defense, I feel sorry for Roger, he'll be running around like a blue ar$ed fly!!!!!

[chris1dna]

Bout the cutest thing I've seen in a long while. Good in her.

[Somtamnication]

So this is turning into a Yank vs. Limey and viceversa. Ridiculous.

On topic. This girl is an EXCEPTION, period. 2 Thai English teachers at my school cannot hold even an elementary conversation (Weather, trees, toilet), so there is no hope for the students.

This girl did the Thai thing, rote, memorized everything. But she is far from fluent.

She is, however, the best student I have seen, at her grade level, in the 8 years I have taught at local schools. She is a winner.

She did mention one secret: speak it at home. But that is an impossibility. Pure luck her parents and sister speak English.

[Scott]

This thread will not go down the road of British vs American English.

Stick to the topic.

[leafmould]

On the srinaiweb link there is a translation of what she's saying but my wife got pissed off while reading it cos after talking about her mum and sister it says she starts talking about seeed bilingual books that you can buy from many stores. Blatent lies and manipulation of children!

[Somtamnication]

LOL.

Well, my son watched (please forgive my transgressions) teletubies while a toddler, then moved up to Fireman Sam, Bob the builder, etc etc... then Little Einsteins. All great cartoons for children. Very good education shows for little ones.

And now, when he plays alone, he will humm some of the classical tunes on Little Einsteins.

Now, at age 6, he kicks my ass at games and argues with me in English.