Thailand's English Skills Lowest In S E A

[Thai at Heart]

Until people are taught the realisation that Thai won't get them very far in the big wide world, and that for the good of the country, Thai's should endeavour to learn a second language because it's good for themselves and the country, it's all rather moot.

There can only be good to come from learning a second language, period.

So logically Chinese would actually be more useful than English.....

Well let's not spilt hairs. English is extremely useful today and will remain so, mandarin is very useful also.

At the end of the day there are two attitudes that prevail.

One.. Why do I have to do it.

Two.. It's two difficult.

Get past that and let people realise that any progress is progress, not everyone gets an A, but that it's all good would be a start.

But, the nationalist line is strong.

[Commander Tamson]

[quote name="wilcopops" post="7014683" timestamp="1383892721"

 

 

"her written English was probably similar to  that of a bright UK/USA/Aus etc 8-or 9-year-old " - this is the reading age required for the Sun a national UK paper - it would seem according to your criteria se is on a par with millions of native English users in the UK.

 

This, surely, is not about how good native English speakers are at their own language or their bilingual skills. English is the recognised international language and, like it or not, that's not going to change anytime soon. Thailand is, and will continue to be, at a disadvantage internationally and as ASEAN comes into effect, if it doesn't do something about it. And soon!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[wilcopops]

Until people are taught the realisation that Thai won't get them very far in the big wide world, and that for the good of the country, Thai's should endeavour to learn a second language because it's good for themselves and the country, it's all rather moot.

There can only be good to come from learning a second language, period.

So logically Chinese would actually be more useful than English.....

Well let's not spilt hairs. English is extremely useful today and will remain so, mandarin is very useful also.

At the end of the day there are two attitudes that prevail.

One.. Why do I have to do it.

Two.. It's two difficult.

Get past that and let people realise that any progress is progress, not everyone gets an A, but that it's all good would be a start.

But, the nationalist line is strong.

"Two.. It's two difficult." - come on!!!

[wilcopops]

[quote name="wilcopops" post="7014683" timestamp="1383892721"

"her written English was probably similar to that of a bright UK/USA/Aus etc 8-or 9-year-old " - this is the reading age required for the Sun a national UK paper - it would seem according to your criteria se is on a par with millions of native English users in the UK.

This, surely, is not about how good native English speakers are at their own language or their bilingual skills. English is the recognised international language and, like it or not, that's not going to change anytime soon. Thailand is, and will continue to be, at a disadvantage internationally and as ASEAN comes into effect, if it doesn't do something about it. And soon!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

That's not the point I was making - see quote.

[wilcopops]

As a language English is remarkably democratic - no government has ever managed to interred with it's constant development. It is in short a language of the people - whoever they happen to be - there are NO RULES only conventions.

The fact is that English exists in various forms around the world none of which are particularly right or wrong. Anyone teaching English will know this. The object of teaching is in general to get people to communicate on a day to day basis. This is usually business of some kind, but it can be specialist or academic or even literary amongst others.

To judge a nation's progress on a perceived pronunciation of one letter seems facile in the extreme. I suppose next we'll have to tell the population of Eire how to pronounce "th"?.

If you are form a valid opinion on teaching English in Thailand , you not only need to know about teaching but also about the English language itself.

Wanting students to be taught correctly is not facile. It seems strange to defend teachers who cannot teach their students correctly.

The English language can easily be misunderstood when spoken by Thais. Employing teachers to mis-teach (if there is such a term) English is hardly going to improve Thai English ability.

If Maths teachers taught 1+1=3, would an observation that it's wrong be facile?

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Facile???? where did you get that from?

the whole point about English is it CAN"T be taught like maths, and i would love to hear your explanation of "correctly" as in "Wanting students to be taught correctly is not facile." You seem now to be basing your entire critique of Thai English ability on the pronunciation of one letter.

"

An interesting summary of one example of a letter mispronunciation.

I fail to see a positive contribution from your post, but am pleased to reply to the points you raise.

1) I didn't say that English could be taught like Maths. Even a quick look at my post would show that I was comparing an apparent acceptance of poor teaching in one subject, with what should be unacceptable in another.

2) there are many mistakes made by Thais when attempting to pronounce English words, which native English speakers often do their best to cope with.

A list of other problems would be way off topic, I merely high-lighted one which is published by Thais who are qualified sufficiently in English to be able to make Thai-English publications.

When 'pay, play, pray' sound identical, it would appear to be a deficiency on the part of the teaching environment, if this is not detected and attempts made to rectify it.

Instead of judging my post, perhaps you could contribute your own thoughts. After all, this thread belongs to the members of the forum, not you.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

so...what are you going to do about the Irish?

[Commander Tamson]

[quote name="wilcopops" post="7014683" timestamp="1383892721"

 

 

"her written English was probably similar to  that of a bright UK/USA/Aus etc 8-or 9-year-old " - this is the reading age required for the Sun a national UK paper - it would seem according to your criteria se is on a par with millions of native English users in the UK.

 

This, surely, is not about how good native English speakers are at their own language or their bilingual skills. English is the recognised international language and, like it or not, that's not going to change anytime soon. Thailand is, and will continue to be, at a disadvantage internationally and as ASEAN comes into effect, if it doesn't do something about it. And soon!

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

That's not the point I was making - see quote.

Apologies Wilcopops - the iPhone app was playing up. Wasn't meant as a dig at you. I'm in agreement with your latest posts.

Cheers

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[wilcopops]

Until people are taught the realisation that Thai won't get them very far in the big wide world, and that for the good of the country, Thai's should endeavour to learn a second language because it's good for themselves and the country, it's all rather moot.

There can only be good to come from learning a second language, period.

So logically Chinese would actually be more useful than English.....

What kind of logic is that?

You obviously haven't considered why people would learn either language - the reasons may overlap, but in many ways they are completely different. You may also note that it appears the Chinese are doing much better than Thailand in improving their English.

Edited November 8, 2013 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

I'm sorry but you really have to take both these reports ( http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/679951-thailand-ranks-near-bottom-in-english-proficiency-survey/page-11#entry7013634 ) with a pinch of salt and the majority of posts on this thread with an even bigger one. Talk about the blind leading the blind..........

Edited November 8, 2013 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

Another problem is some Thais lack motivation at least by Western standards, my DIL found a job at Bangkok Airways, now her dream is to become an Air-hostess, she learnt English at school, but to start with, figures and alphabet only ... 50% not understandable! 5 for instance is fy! So I bought her a tablet Samsung to download English learning softwares.

I see her every week, each time I tell her what about your English? She giggles, that's all for an answer, on the other hand she never stops to play games on the same tablet what can I do, she is 23 years old

What language are the games in? - check!

[metisdead]

If you're going to copy and paste content, provide the source of your information. One post removed.

[wilcopops]

It would have been interesting to have seen a representation of the questions to judge further what the actual item is about

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

I agree

The EPI report required respondents to have internet access etc..... the result is it really surveyed those "in the loop" as it were. It is a problem with any of these surveys that they are operated by companies with vested interests and the methodology is hardly scientific. It is tempting to assume that there must be some accuracy in the picture they present.....but actually they could just as easily be hugely misleading.

[Thai at Heart]

Until people are taught the realisation that Thai won't get them very far in the big wide world, and that for the good of the country, Thai's should endeavour to learn a second language because it's good for themselves and the country, it's all rather moot.

There can only be good to come from learning a second language, period.

So logically Chinese would actually be more useful than English.....

Well let's not spilt hairs. English is extremely useful today and will remain so, mandarin is very useful also.

At the end of the day there are two attitudes that prevail.

One.. Why do I have to do it.

Two.. It's two difficult.

Get past that and let people realise that any progress is progress, not everyone gets an A, but that it's all good would be a start.

But, the nationalist line is strong.

"Two.. It's two difficult." - come on!!!

Haha. Autocorrect.

But yes, Thais innately believe that foreign languages are very difficult. They are also taught that learning two languages at once will somehow cause a horrendous confusion.

[FangFerang]

A Thai couple, who both had degrees in English, went to the USA as hired teachers and were fired. They worked at McDonalds for four months to earn plane tickets home.

It describes the entire situation.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed. This is not about French involvement in Cambodia, Laos or Vietnam.

[backtonormal]

EP programs are purely 'cash cows' and I doubt any Thai Teacher working full time in a government city school EP program is making less than 50,000 per month and freebies (international holidays etc). Most Thai teachers in EP programs cant speak English but their assistants can. They work less than 7 periods per week and are guaranteed jobs on their seniority.

Always make me chuckle how they require Native Teachers to be young and vibrant yet all the Thai Teachers in the EP are old and past it

[soomak]

I get the impression that this govt doesn't realise that they are hurting the future of this generation of learners through a lack of resourcing of English language teaching/learning.

I think they are aware of the situation, but they don't want to change it for two reasons:

1. "Rich" Thai kids go to private schools, which results in much better English, and much better prospects in life.

All high ranking government officials send their kids to private schools...

2. Thais have a some built in aversion towards the outside world, and see themselves as somewhat special or superior nation (as funny as it sounds).

Admitting that English is the single most important language, and that being fluent in English is very important makes them look "smaller", and maybe loose face?

[Somtamnication]

One needs to only watch the hurricane disaster interviews in the Philippines on so many channels and listen to their English. It truly highlights the lack of these skills in Thailand.

[thaicbr]

EP programs are purely 'cash cows' and I doubt any Thai Teacher working full time in a government city school EP program is making less than 50,000 per month and freebies (international holidays etc). Most Thai teachers in EP programs cant speak English but their assistants can. They work less than 7 periods per week and are guaranteed jobs on their seniority.

Always make me chuckle how they require Native Teachers to be young and vibrant yet all the Thai Teachers in the EP are old and past it

It would seem that the Thai teachers are on more than the foreign teachers.... your post is full of so many poorly thought out generalizations to be dense.

[PaullyW]

One of the challenges for people (usually Thais) who have as their native language Thai who then learn English is the fact that Thai is simply a very rudimentary language which lacks many of the constructs and precision and description that English has. So, this leads to the typical scenario of Thais who can communicate technically well in English but who most often cannot construct very logical, flowing or interesting communication because their first language (Thai) and the language they use most often doesn't have (and some would say doesn't need) the level of sophistication in English.

Yingluck's English might come out perfect, but her thought process is still rudimentary, often lacking in logic, cohesiveness or what many of us would consider intelligent thought process.

When learning English as a non-native language, Thais not only have to learn English. They must also learn how to think logically, express themselves clearly and cohesively. And that's not easy, I would imagine.