Philippine English Teachers In Pattaya Schools

[sakaew]

Today, my wife's friend came to lunch.

She criticised her kid's English teachers, because they are non-native English speakers.

In the not-so-far distant past, I recall seeing complaints on TV about this very topic.

My wife pointed out that when our lovely kid came from Buriram 3 years ago--aged 3--she had exactly ZERO English.

She has attended Burapha school for 3 years....she has had Philippino/Philippina English teachers since that time.

Her current teacher is a very personable young guy...who uses simple magic tricks to capture the kids' interest.

My daughter LOVES him .

Now, her English is near native speaker level.

My kid's 3 teachers--a different one each year--have been excellent, dedicated, very competent teachers.

They are polite, kind, and are obviously concerned about their students.

In the event that someone is dubious about this point..please PM me.

Come and meet my kid...any reservations will be instantly dispelled.

For the disbelievers, I have no connection whatever with Burapha, except as a satisfied parent.

[toenail]

Your child will have a Filipino English accent, that's all. Though Filipinos speak English, certain vowels are pronounced a bit differently. If you child enjoys the teacher and is learning, that is the most important part; however, you need to get her on a program on the computer where she can listen to the correct pronunciation of words.

http://learn-to-read-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

[somtumlion]

Your child will have a Filipino English accent, that's all. Though Filipinos speak English, certain vowels are pronounced a bit differently. If you child enjoys the teacher and is learning, that is the most important part; however, you need to get her on a program on the computer where she can listen to the correct pronunciation of words.

http://learn-to-read-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Or you can talk to her regularly - that always helps lol

[PoodMaiDai]

If you have to choose between your child learning great English from a Filipino and *maybe* having a Filipino accent vs a Thai teacher who has no real understanding of English or how to teach them.... it really isn't a choice. Besides, if you speak with your child enough to point out the accent differences, you should be fine.

[Thailaw]

You are thus far looking only at spoken English, and most educated Filippino teachers are proficient at spoken English. Accent may be an issue/problem, but not in any measure a serious one. But serious issues/problems will arise in your child's English proficiency as your child grows, unless he/she is taught by a native English speaker. The English spelling/grammar of most college educated Filippino teachers is atrocious to say the least. And the quality of the colleges/universities in The Philippines is not as good as an average high school in Europe or the US. I would much rather have an English teacher from Singapore, where the schools and education are of a much higher quality, than from The Philippines. And, of course, the ability for schools in Thailand to attract quality teachers with the pitiful salaries that they pay is part of the problem, and explains why they have Filippino teachers teaching English in the first place. Please don't deceive yourself or others by basing your entire assessment of English profiency and a teacher's ability to teach/develop it on spoken English. There is much more to it than that, and you just won't get it from most Filippino teachers. Your wife's friend understands the issue far better than you do.

[tropo]

And the quality of the colleges/universities in The Philippines is not as good as an average high school in Europe or the US.

I think you're going a bit far by suggesting a university in the Philippines is of a lower level than an average high school in Europe or the US.

[PattayaPhom]

With a population of 91 Million the largest export from PI is labour. because of their history their English is almost perfect abeit with an American twang. Good teachers and workers in general....Considering the state of some of the UK/USA/Dutch teachers I have seen, they are nothing more than sexpats and have to teach so they can get money to stay with their latest tilak....Fillipinos however are genuinly interested in working and take pride in what they do.

[BugJackBaron]

With a population of 91 Million the largest export from PI is labour. because of their history their English is almost perfect abeit with an American twang. Good teachers and workers in general....Considering the state of some of the UK/USA/Dutch teachers I have seen, they are nothing more than sexpats and have to teach so they can get money to stay with their latest tilak....Fillipinos however are genuinly interested in working and take pride in what they do.

With the salary they pay Fillipinos, they can't afford to be sexpats. By the way neither can most native English teachers.

I saw one Fillipino English teacher throw a hissy fit when a British colleague corrected her English.

They are NOT the same as Western teachers and , as was mentioned, make a lot of mistakes in written work.

There you go - I fed the troll

[tropo]

With a population of 91 Million the largest export from PI is labour. because of their history their English is almost perfect abeit with an American twang. Good teachers and workers in general....Considering the state of some of the UK/USA/Dutch teachers I have seen, they are nothing more than sexpats and have to teach so they can get money to stay with their latest tilak....Fillipinos however are genuinly interested in working and take pride in what they do.

It's way over that now. It's 103,775,002 (July 2012 est.) according to the CIA world factbook... and that doesn't include about 10 million living outside the Philippines.

English is an official language of the Philippines as part of the 1987 constitution. All laws are in English - even parliament is held in English.

There's nothing wrong with the American "twang" of Filipinos speaking English.

American English is English. American English is easier to understand for most than British English.. apart from the uncommon received pronunciation (Queen's English). I don't think too many British English teachers in Thailand speak with this upper class accent.

[uptheos]

I don't think too many British English teachers in Thailand speak with this upper class accent.

I don't understand many of the British English teachers and I'm a Brit.

[fakename]

You should really count yourself as being lucky, she could have had a teacher from England!

[RabC]

I have a Filipino friend who is a certified teacher and also registered nurse, whilst there spoken English is good there written grammar is not. I agree when the kids are at a younger age then the Filipinos will be OK, but if you are hoping to have your kids take written English exams then the grammar taught by the Filipinos will fall short of the required standard.

[tropo]

I have a Filipino friend who is a certified teacher and also registered nurse, whilst there spoken English is good there written grammar is not. I agree when the kids are at a younger age then the Filipinos will be OK, but if you are hoping to have your kids take written English exams then the grammar taught by the Filipinos will fall short of the required standard.

Are you suggesting that no Filipino English teachers know correct English grammar? Obviously the schools want to pay peanuts, but for a decent salary I'm sure you'll find good Filipino English teachers who know their grammar.

Edited October 13, 2012 by tropo

[pigeonjake]

i think if you are happy with how your daughter is being taught then thats it,

and as for the teachers not being good enough or speaking well enough,

what rubbish, brit teachers never wanting to teach english till they came here and all it is, its there way of being able to stay in thailand, simple as that,

as the op said the children love the teacher because he make learning fun and in that way they will learn better because there interested,

jake

[lostinisaan]

With a population of 91 Million the largest export from PI is labour. because of their history their English is almost perfect abeit with an American twang. Good teachers and workers in general....Considering the state of some of the UK/USA/Dutch teachers I have seen, they are nothing more than sexpats and have to teach so they can get money to stay with their latest tilak....Fillipinos however are genuinly interested in working and take pride in what they do.

With the salary they pay Fillipinos, they can't afford to be sexpats. By the way neither can most native English teachers.

I saw one Fillipino English teacher throw a hissy fit when a British colleague corrected her English.

They are NOT the same as Western teachers and , as was mentioned, make a lot of mistakes in written work.

There you go - I fed the troll

Just in my opinion: Filipinos come to Thailand to make money to send it back home to support their families.

Some foreigners who're working as English teachers from other countries are married to Thais, got kids and therefore spend their salaries here in LOS.

I've met many Filipinos who didn't understand my British colleague and me when speaking "normal".

Majority of them just want to make money, not too many are worried about the Thai kids' English proficiency.

If more than two are in our office, also called ERIC department, they speak Tagalog, all day long.

.

Planning to rename our department to TRIC center.

Again that's my own opinion, I've gathered in many years here.

Edited October 14, 2012 by lostinisaan

[tropo]

Just in my opinion: Filipinos come to Thailand to make money to send it back home to support their families.

Some foreigners who're working as English teachers from other countries are married to Thais, got kids and therefore spend their salaries here in LOS.

I've met many Filipinos who didn't understand my British colleague and me when speaking "normal".

Majority of them just want to make money, not too many are worried about the Thai kids' English proficiency.

If more than two are in our office, also called ERIC department, they speak Tagalog, all day long.

.

Planning to rename our department to TRIC center.

Again that's my own opinion, I've gathered in many years here.

I think you'll find even some Americans who would find two Brits difficult to understand if talking "normal". They can also have a problem with Australians and other English accents. This is not an indication of them having poor English skills.

Either way, it's usually untrained English teachers trying to make a living. What is the difference if they spend it on their families here or send it back to the Philippines?

BTW, a large number of Filipinos don't speak Tagalog as their first language. My wife is often talking away in Cebuano to her friends here and a Tagalog speaker would not understand them.

Edited October 14, 2012 by tropo

[petercool]

IMHO by far the best way to improve English skills is reading and if a child reads, reads and reads, correct grammar becomes natural. I am English by birth but never studied English grammar per se beyond the age of about 10 but I earned a very good living writing in English which I put down to my voracious appetite for books when young. Spoken English has so many accents and a Filipino accent is far from being the worst.

[JSixpack]

I've met many Filipinos who didn't understand my British colleague and me when speaking "normal".

That's because what you call "normal" is Brummie or Geordie. Most of the Brits in Thailand speak a dialect of some kind. Proud of it, too, and contemptuous of Received Pronunciation. It's somehow wrapped up with footie and Brit class warfare.

Filipinos can have better English than the majority of "native" English speakers. Or not--it depends on the Filipino and his/her education.

Accent isn't everything and as noted above can be overcome, except by most Brits, though Tony Blair and Gordon Brown did quite well. If a kid is both happy and learning, that's what's important.

[saengsureeya]

I don't think too many British English teachers in Thailand speak with this upper class accent.

I don't understand many of the British English teachers and I'm a Brit.

Well basically that's what I posted yesterday.......about the native English Welsh and Scottish teachers.......and therefore my post was removed.