Thailand ranks near bottom in English proficiency: survey

[soomak]

Don't believe every study you see. The study is done by a company which promotes English training overseas, so they have an agenda and a product to sell. Thus their numbers do not have as much credibility as if the study had been done by an unbiased source.

I also question their numbers. Infoplease says there are 190 countries in the world. Wikipedia lists 88 English speaking states, 60 sovereign states and 28 non-sovereign states , leaving 102 non-English speaking countries, not the 60 cited in the study.

Some years ago the Bangkok Post showed that in most of the ASEAN countries the ethnic Chinese controlled most of the wealth (over 80% in Thailand), so, while English is very important the weakness in Thailand may not be that significant. China is a huge expanding country, so why not learn Chinese?

Starting in about 2016 Thailand can bring in all the English speakers that are willing to come here and that the companies in the country can afford to pay, so globalization works two ways. There are many companies that do not require a high level of English.

It would be better if the Thai had more fluent English speakers, but, as much of the English training is done by Thai teachers who use Thai to teach English (especially in elementary schools) and for the most part in environments where practice with a native speaker is not possible or impractical, getting a high level of fluency will take a long time, especially up country. Then again, shouldn't the measure be how many companies require how many good English speakers and what is the shortfall? Then try to train people with skills or potential to work in those companies?

The data is here, use Google next time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EF_English_Proficiency_Index

"

The EF EPI third edition was calculated using test data from 750,000 test takers in 2012. The test takers were self-selected and no demographic information was collected on them. The tests are used by the company for marketing and placement purposes. 58 countries and 2 territories appear in the third edition of the index. In order to be included a country was required to have at least 400 test takers total.

"

They didn't include all non-English speaking countries, because they don't have data for all countries.

[SDM0712]

I haven't really followed all of this topic but I'm hoping this is in keeping.

If often mystified me with the level of English speaking peoples in Thailand why big organisations don't spend some time to get their signs right. I can almost forgive the small restaurants etc, but big companies and official organisations really should get it right.

I saw this sign in Robinsons, actually there were many in this vein.

I did try to find Vivienne to ask her why I would only get one if I bought three. But she was not available, so I thought I would ask some " informations " from " Couter", but Couter was not around, no doubt fixing the General Lee after the boys had had another run in with Boss Hogg.

Perhaps it's something to do with the 300% mark up on luxury goods.

S

[wilcopops]

I haven't really followed all of this topic but I'm hoping this is in keeping.

If often mystified me with the level of English speaking peoples in Thailand why big organisations don't spend some time to get their signs right. I can almost forgive the small restaurants etc, but big companies and official organisations really should get it right.

I saw this sign in Robinsons, actually there were many in this vein.

I did try to find Vivienne to ask her why I would only get one if I bought three. But she was not available, so I thought I would ask some " informations " from " Couter", but Couter was not around, no doubt fixing the General Lee after the boys had had another run in with Boss Hogg.

Perhaps it's something to do with the 300% mark up on luxury goods.

S

I agree - this kind of howler is really not acceptable - I've said on this and other threads that in most countries a lot of English is learned in Tertiary or post education in business. This is usually taught by private companies - language schools who teach business English etc to adults. Thailand however makes it nigh-on impossible for native speakers (i.e. foreigners) to set up a school so it is left to Thai individuals who for the most part have no idea how to either run a language school or meet the needs of industry.

once the government sees this and allows foreigners to establish schools in Thailand then thew whole language thing may take a giant leap forward.

[SDM0712]

I didn't know that. I have a good English friend who has with his Thai wife one the best language school in Patong, and they do have corporate clients. I think it just boils down to money.

However my wife has a few friends that are pilots for Thai International and one I know speaks really mediocre English. I told him that I was surprised that he didn't speak better English. He responded by reeling of in perfect English, accent and intonation, " doors to automatic , cross check, crew to landing stations". He said that's all they need to know.

I'm sure my leg was being pulled, but he was a pilot (not a captain) and this tale is absolutely true.

S

[ThePinkPanther]

If you want, you can let me have your E - Mail address and I'll forward you FOUR E - Mails sent to me at different times from their Council clearly stating that I do NOT need to do TOEIC in my situation but still AFTER these mails they persisted to refuse me a Teachers Licence unless I do a TOEIC test. However like I said, I decided to rather retire totally. Much LESS problems for me and after-all, they are the losing party in all of this. Not me.

^^^
Never heard about the any bachelor degree rule before and the TOIEC rule is across the board. A Dutch teacher at my school has actually been told to take it again as its only OK for 2 years if on a waiver.

I didn't say the rules here are sensible or correct. I don't believe many are. And they get changed to often.
But to answer.
Currently if your passport is not on the list you have to take the TOIEC.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

[wilcopops]

I didn't know that. I have a good English friend who has with his Thai wife one the best language school in Patong, and they do have corporate clients. I think it just boils down to money. However my wife has a few friends that are pilots for Thai International and one I know speaks really mediocre English. I told him that I was surprised that he didn't speak better English. He responded by reeling of in perfect English, accent and intonation, " doors to automatic , cross check, crew to landing stations". He said that's all they need to know. I'm sure my leg was being pulled, but he was a pilot (not a captain) and this tale is absolutely true. S

If you are starting a company you need basically to employ 4 thai people for every foreigner - this of course is ridiculous when the main purpose of the business to to supply native language speakers who by definition are unlikely to be Thai. All the Thai govt needs to do is make an exception for Language schools so that they can easily start up and supply teachers.

[thaicbr]

If you want, you can let me have your E - Mail address and I'll forward you FOUR E - Mails sent to me at different times from their Council clearly stating that I do NOT need to do TOEIC in my situation but still AFTER these mails they persisted to refuse me a Teachers Licence unless I do a TOEIC test. However like I said, I decided to rather retire totally. Much LESS problems for me and after-all, they are the losing party in all of this. Not me.

^^^

Never heard about the any bachelor degree rule before and the TOIEC rule is across the board. A Dutch teacher at my school has actually been told to take it again as its only OK for 2 years if on a waiver.

I didn't say the rules here are sensible or correct. I don't believe many are. And they get changed to often.

But to answer.

Currently if your passport is not on the list you have to take the TOIEC.

Sent from my phone with the app thingy.

Dunno mate. Honestly not that bothered. Just trying to help. Telling you what i know.

But hey, your retired now so no problem. This is Thailand so maybe they made a mistake. maybe the rules changed.. The TOIEC rule is fairly new. BUT you don't want to teach so cool.. enjoy your chill out retirement.

[ThePinkPanther]

This discussion, I think was very enlightening for sure. Believe me as I say that absolutely ALL, yes that's right, EVERY single comment made here has very strong merit AND does carry a lot of weight too. However everybody has missed the actual POINT being that NO ONE learns ANY language in a school. Language is taught by MOTHERS to their children and THAT without any books whatsoever. So although all the talk about allowing Pharangs to open schools and licencing English teachers easier has lots of merit there's absolutely NO solution therein as far as the Thai people's English-ability is concerned. Thais DON'T hear any English in their country ever, so now HOW could they ever LEARN the language. The sooner the Thai authorities like KRUSAPA realizes this fact the sooner correct action could be implemented to get proper English education initiated into this country.

[Spare]

This discussion, I think was very enlightening for sure. Believe me as I say that absolutely ALL, yes that's right, EVERY single comment made here has very strong merit AND does carry a lot of weight too. However everybody has missed the actual POINT being that NO ONE learns ANY language in a school. Language is taught by MOTHERS to their children and THAT without any books whatsoever. So although all the talk about allowing Pharangs to open schools and licencing English teachers easier has lots of merit there's absolutely NO solution therein as far as the Thai people's English-ability is concerned. Thais DON'T hear any English in their country ever, so now HOW could they ever LEARN the language. The sooner the Thai authorities like KRUSAPA realizes this fact the sooner correct action could be implemented to get proper English education initiated into this country.

Please be reminded that this is Thailand, and not Farangland.

People here must be able to master Thai, before laying an eye on other.

I am sure the French will agree so regarding mastering their own language, and the Spanish, Russian, etc.

[SDM0712]

................ However everybody has missed the actual POINT being that NO ONE learns ANY language in a school. Language is taught by MOTHERS to their children and THAT without any books whatsoever. .......................................

That's a fairly sweeping statement. My Thai is not bad, but I have English friends who speak perfect Thai including reading and writing and their Ma's don’t speak a work of Thai. My wife speaks word perfect English, but her Mother can't manage more than a " Hello", and she probably things that’s Thai as that's how she answers the telephone. We all learnt in School.

S

[ThePinkPanther]

SDM0712. Yea okay, granted. I was the stupid one in my erroneous statement here okay. Just read it again and you'll very easily spot the mistake. I'm stating "LEARNING and TEACHING in the same breath thus actually contradicting myself. What I meant to say was that no language are TAUGHT in any school and NOT "learned" as I wrongly said. So YES, your comment is perfectly true and correct. However, although you got your language from some or other school as you say my point was that IF you didn't really WANTED to actually LEARN that particular language the school that you attended wouldn't have made ANY whatsoever progress in teaching you the language. All the school did was to provide you with the vocabular and grammatical knowledge of the language. Applying and putting THAT knowledge into practice was ALL up-to-yourselves to do and NOT up-to the school. Nonetheless, think of it this way, if you NEVER hear a particular language, would you be able to learn and speak THAT particular language? I seriously DOUBT if you'd be able to okay. So now, just ask yourself, here in Thailand, WHERE does any individual actually HEAR English in use aside from a school. Answer, NOWHERE. So now, how on earth can Thais learn to speak English? They never have the opertunity to HEAR English being spoken.

................ However everybody has missed the actual POINT being that NO ONE learns ANY language in a school. Language is taught by MOTHERS to their children and THAT without any books whatsoever. .......................................

That's a fairly sweeping statement. My Thai is not bad, but I have English friends who speak perfect Thai including reading and writing and their Ma's don’t speak a work of Thai. My wife speaks word perfect English, but her Mother can't manage more than a " Hello", and she probably things that’s Thai as that's how she answers the telephone. We all learnt in School.

S

[Chao Lao Beach]

I am very disappointed with some of the "Good" private schools here with English Programs.

It is very motivating to send the kids to farlang land for an education, at least they learn to think critically.

[simon43]

Pharangs

Now that's an interesting way to spell the word. No common or garden 'f', but a 'ph' to boot. It actually looks rather refined. I might even start using this.

'Hey you, you, farang!'

'Kor toht, I am not farang, I am pharang'

'arai wa??'

[wilcopops]

Pharangs

Now that's an interesting way to spell the word. No common or garden 'f', but a 'ph' to boot. It actually looks rather refined. I might even start using this.

'Hey you, you, farang!'

'Kor toht, I am not farang, I am pharang'

'arai wa??'

except that as far as I'm aware all the western alphabetical systems used for writing Thai use "ph" as a "p" sound not "f"