Thailand ranks near bottom in English proficiency: survey

[sprq]

The focus on English needs to change to a student centered approach instead of the old teacher centered model. Kids enjoy discussion and giving opinions and that can't happen when your in a class of 50. I did an interesting lesson the other day in my tutor school asking the students "What makes a good school". Opinions were discussed but the common threads were they wanted smaller classes with teachers that care about the students........one example given by a young lad in how bad his school was, told the story of an english class teacher who was rambling on and nobody could understand. So he put his hand up and said, " sorry teacher I don't understand could you explain that again". The teacher shouted at him and said " why don't you listen and then you will understand". So the system is weak from the ground up with poor teaching practices with only a glimpse from some excellent educators in small pockets around Thailand. The hope I have is for the students I teach, to try and give a few hundred kids a chance in the future to get good jobs and support their families.

What you say is good, but it is full of grammatical errors, especially in punctuation and capitalisation. Sigh.

[MrMo]

Re-inforcing old news.

I did suspect that Kazakhstan was the other of the 53 Asian countries which, along with North Korea, ranked below Thailand on English proficiency.

Don't blame the kids. Kids can't learn the language if teachers can't teach it.

Don't blame the teachers. Teachers can't teach if they haven't been taught how to teach.

This goes right to the top of every self-interested, complacent government (i.e. all of them) Thailand has had over the past 40 years.

[noikrit]

I wonder how many of these critics of Thais and there inability to speak English here in Thailand can speak any Thai themselves !! alt=cheesy.gif width=32 height=20> Get over it !! This is thailand , It's their country !! Now ... Back to the bar CHOKDEE KRUP ! alt=wai.gif width=20 height=20>

That's right, life is spent in a bar alt=blink.png width=20 height=20>

It is if you own it

[lostmebike]

I wonder how many of these critics of Thais and there inability to speak English here in Thailand can speak any Thai themselves !! alt=cheesy.gif width=32 height=20> Get over it !! This is thailand , It's their country !! Now ... Back to the bar CHOKDEE KRUP ! alt=wai.gif width=20 height=20>

That's right, life is spent in a bar alt=blink.png width=20 height=20>

It is if you own it

Perish the thought

[Raybo]

When I was stationed in Thailand in the 60's, I think a greater number of Thais spoke English than they do now,

Because understanding English was a must to work on the bases.

There were about 50,000 American servicemen in Thailand.

It seems ladies the ladies of the evening learned english faster than most. Necessary business tool.

I just returned from a 1 month visit and although my wifes family is fairly fluent in English , I found the rest of the country

Is far behind in English skills.

Chulai 6768

[ChrisY1]

Schoolclasses are too full... sometimes one teacher with fourty kids. Most of the education is merely reproducing. Improving the teacher's education would do much good. Facilitate it and challenge the teachers to improve themselves. The taxanomy of Bloom f.i. will not mean anything to the average teacher in Thailand.

The heaps and heaps of English courses often are done by unskilled staff.

"Schoolclasses are too full... sometimes one teacher with fourty kids."

Some even have fivety.

"The taxanomy of Bloom ...will not mean anything to the average teacher in Thailand"

Probably Bloom never heard of a "taxanomy" either.

I love it win people jump in to criticize the language skills of Thais and shoot themselves in the foot while doing so.

Yes...agree !

[tingtongteesood]

I come here to read 'news', not 'what everybody who has been here more than a week knows already'

[pablodiablo]

on the other hand go to cambodia and see how many children under ten speak a good standard of english you would be amazed, cambodia seems to realize, that an educated society is a successful society, but an uneducated society is a controllable one, after all, if all thais were smart who would pick the rice?

[boone57]

OP! So how many languages do you speak?

[JoeThePoster]

[dao16]

This is the first time I have heard her speak English (and 1st time I have heard Abisit, too). Her English isn't that bad, really, even if she does have a relatively strong accent. Nothing to freak out about, though. Abisit, though, was educated at Oxford, so I always expected him to speak very well.....Ms. Yingluck went to some state uni in the US. Not that the universities made all that difference, but let's just say that Abisit received an elite education.

(I can't stand any of the political parties here, so doesn't matter to me who wins this pissing contest)

Edited November 7, 2013 by dao16

[lounger]

English proficiency is not helped by the daft article in yesterdays Bsngkok post ppresumsbly syndicated from America saying hand writing is going out of fashion and perhaps need not be taught. Of course the Thais would jump on this as a perfect excuse to cut a few classes

I didnt read the full article but maybe it was only cursive ( longhandas opposed to capital letters) that was in debate but even so lets slow down progress, the idea that all notes will only be exchanged on an electronic device is too scary to contemplate..

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[sprq]

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?

"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."

What do you mean? This to me is complete nonsense. If "English-speaking countries" means countries in which English is an official language, then there are certainly not 88 of them. If it means countries in which English is the first and only language, there are less than a dozen. If it means something else, what is that?

[lostmebike]

[MaxYakov]

IMO, some of the best english language speakers are bar girls......

And they've managed this in spite of having incapable teachers

Steady on old chap - perhaps "mostly incapable" would have been a better choice of phrase....................!

I vote for "Incapacitated".

[apalink_thailand]

55 and on the way to 60. The DECLINE over the past 20 years is staggering.

And yet...there are so many English teachers here now. Hmm.

[exalll]

Been to Cambodia three times recently. On average, their English is much better than Thai's. And to boot, they all seem to be attending classes after work. In general they are studying English, French, Thai and World History. All while working, all on their own Nickle.

I hear this all the time. I live here and just do not agree. Sure, in SR where everybody lives of the tourist Dollar English is widely spoken. Travel 5 minutes into any direction and nobody speaks English.

Well, surely that's how it should be? Five minutes out of Siem Reap and you're in the sticks where everybody is a farmer who has no need for English.

Last week I visited a community forest in Kampong Speu. The head of the community committee (a farmer) stood up to give a welcoming speech and it was in English.

I regularly have real conversations in English with tuk tuk drivers in Phnom Penh. I have never heard a tuk tuk driver in Bangkok get beyond "boom boom" and "massan". I have heard reports of some Bangkok tuk tuk drivers who can manage "Thai girl - vely good"

Visit restaurants and bars in Cambodian cities that cater to tourists/foreigners and you will always be served in English, usually in good English. Visit similar places in Bangkok and you may be lucky, but quite likely not.

[MaxYakov]

on the other hand go to cambodia and see how many children under ten speak a good standard of english you would be amazed, cambodia seems to realize, that an educated society is a successful society, but an uneducated society is a controllable one, after all, if all thais were smart who would pick the rice?

Did you mean "what" (would be used) to pick the rice?:

[Hecate]

Thailand really deserves to be at the bottom of the list. It's not like Kazakhstan or Algeria are filled with English-speaking foreigners. The easiest way to fix this problem would be to stop threatening English teachers with jail for tutoring or volunteering without a work permit. Thailand is squandering a huge resource--many foreigners like myself have TESL qualifications that they are not using because they don't want to work full-time and they don't want to go to jail. Many others at least speak English fluently. I suppose the rationale for this is to protect Thai jobs, but that's not working. While it may be saving the jobs of a few Thai English teachers who don't know what they're doing, it is seriously undermining the entire business community. Will they get it in 2015?

[BwindiBoy]

All the while Thailand is the centre of the universe, Thais will never learn a second language.

The HUB of the Universe, surely... ;-)

[BradinAsia]

English is only the international language of diplomacy, banking, computing, medicine, business, science, technology, research, why should Thai be bothered learning it? Everyone knows Thai more important, lakorn always in Thai and so are the menu's.

Also, don't forget, English is the language for all communications in international aviation.

The flight crew of a Russian plane landing in Bumfluk, Egypt (or anywhere else) use only English.

[sultan2011]

On a recent trip to Pattaya I could find nobody who spoke English in "BigC", "Pattaya Klang" when I was trying to buy a mobile phone..i was just ignored with a bad attitude. At least in "Homepro" they can say "No Have Mister"!

[BwindiBoy]

Thailand ranks near bottom in English proficiency

And PM Yingluck's interview with CNN proved it beyond a shadow of doubt.

Before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XJonMclsEw

After:

Chalk and cheese, one is stumbling and the other appears very articulate with a strong British accent.

So are you saying people in Thailand should vote by listening to their "ENGLISH" ACCENTS?

And before you bring it up - i am not supporting any political parties. Just pointing out that your comments regarding the "British Accent" and "Thai Accent" has nothing to do with leadership in Thailand.

That's a bit harsh to interpret "stumbling" as "Thai Accent" - that's pretty racist really!

[lostmebike]

English is only the international language of diplomacy, banking, computing, medicine, business, science, technology, research, why should Thai be bothered learning it? Everyone knows Thai more important, lakorn always in Thai and so are the menu's.

Also, don't forget, English is the language for all communications in international aviation.

The flight crew of a Russian plane landing in Bumfluk, Egypt (or anywhere else) use only English.

Bumfluk, haven't been there for a while

[indyuk]

English is only the international language of diplomacy, banking, computing, medicine, business, science, technology, research, why should Thai be bothered learning it? Everyone knows Thai more important, lakorn always in Thai and so are the menu's.

Great point. However I think that you left out Aviation and Navigation (oceanic and Space)

[jackcorbett]

Here are some of my observations. Number one--Thai Television typically dubs English, German, etc movies into Thai. So just imagine John Wayne or Clint Eastwood strutting around speaking Swadi Krap. A couple of my German friends once told me that the reason Germans do not speak English nearly as well as the Dutch is that German television typically dubs foreign language movies into German whereas Holland doesn't. So Dutch kids become well versed in English from the time they are knee high due to the huge popularity of American and English film productions. I find that most Germans I meet here in Pattaya speak English very well. That being said, nearly every Dutchman I've met here speaks letter perfect English.

About one year ago I met a young American who's teaching in Vietnam. He told me he makes at least double teaching in Vietnam what he would in Thailand.

Unwillingness of many Thais to learn from foreigners. Here's a typical example. I will often go to a spa at a five star hotel. Oftentimes I will be the only person using the spa. This spa is utterly gorgeous, but oftentimes towels and massage robes are strewn around the place. When I talk to Thais running the place about such clutter detracts from the overall appearance of such a beautiful place, I get such answers as this, 1. "Many (rich) customers don't care". S. It's the (dirty) Chinese or (unruly) Indian hotel guests, 3. We don't have time to police it because we are too understaffed. I say 80 % of this is pure bullshit. At either end of the lockers in the dressing room there is a closet type of affair and there's a little plaque on each one instructing the spa's guests to throw their towels in there. The problem though is, although this plaque is very attractive the lettering instructing the guests to dispose of their towels in the bin inside the closet is one color of brown whereas the color of the plaque itself is another color of brown so the instructions are very difficult to read. I've brought this to the attention of one manager as well as a couple of the women running the spa, and of course nothing has been done about it nor do I expect anything to be done. And not only have I pointed this out to the women, an Italian whose locker was next to mine did as well. But what do we know? He's Italian and I'm American.

A couple of weeks ago I saw a Chinese man from Hong Kong in a quandary on what to do with his towel, so when I politely showed him where the bins were he thanked me, then he put his towels into one of them. A few days later I spied a Russian man wandering about the spa wondering what to do with his used towel. Same result....I showed the hotel guest and he thanked me for it. But a few days after that one of the girls running the spa came in with a hotel guest who was about to get a massage. I listened to her instructing the guest that he should take his clothes off in the dressing room, put then in a locker and wait for his masseuse to come collect him. But she never told him where to put his discarded massage robes or used towels. Later I politely told the manager of the spa about this important omission, but I am certain that nothing will come of it. Again, what do I know? I'm just an American.

This now brings two other points, and that is one of face and a lack of social mobility in Thailand. I talked to one of the women running the spa who both my girlfriend and I get along with very well. She is not a manager, however. She basically told me that I could complain to a manager (about the strewing of towels and other paraphernalia throughout the spa area) she couldn't. It was not her place to give advice to a manager, she told us. But being a guest of the spa I could (because customer comments were welcome). The problem here once again is I'm American. And once again, it's a question of either or....if an inferior employee tries to give advice or an inferior falang does it still causes the manager to lose face because in either case the Thai employee or the foreigner is trying to tell the manager how to do his job. In countries such as the U.S. initiative and common sense are typically rewarded moving enterprising employees promotions and higher salaries, In Thailand the enterprising employee is likely to be punished. Face is everything whereas critical thinking, in this case "our mission is to do everything possible to reduce the clutter in the spa" is not desirable because if we make any changes we will be showing someone up who's in authority.

[sprq]

I had an issue with double billing with AIS. Long story short. .. I went through 3 "English speaking" service reps who could only tell me I had outstanding amount. But when is acknowledged and asked which service that amount was against 2 hung up. The third kept answering "yes, yes. You have outstanding balance 510thb" I finally asked her to stop trying and had my admin assistant call to get a clear explanation of the charges.

This is an an example of a a major Thai corporation's official offering of English customer support. The standard is so low that any deviation from the script threw them into a tizzy.

I have to say this is one area where I find Thai English proficiency to be very good, at least with the major corporations True and Bangkok Bank. Their customer support on the phone is usually of a high standard of English proficiency as well as of relevant assistance.

Elsewhere, of course, things are different.

[lips]

I do agree that in the last thirty five years the standard of English around SEA region is low as compared to the time I wen to school in the mid 60's. This has become a major problem even the local teachers were not themselves well versed in English at public schools not to mention the number of students in each class. Many cannot afford to send their kids to private learning centres. Nowadays, the trend is to speak the local language and if they don't go out and work overseas, they feel they don't need to speak much English.

We've got to instil that it is the international language of the world and the internet, and that knowing another language makes the difference. Easy to travel and for personal use.

I'm glad my kids do enjoy learning English and are daring enough to speak to foreigners or native speakers.

Everybody around this region should think that knowing English can be useful, fun and easy to live with.

[lovelaos]

If this is correct and I don't doubt it. I have 1 question.

What are all these 'degree qualified' English 'teachers' in the Kingdom doing from day to day?

[sprq]

Thailand ranks near bottom in English proficiency

And PM Yingluck's interview with CNN proved it beyond a shadow of doubt.

Before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XJonMclsEw

After:

Chalk and cheese, one is stumbling and the other appears very articulate with a strong British accent.

So are you saying people in Thailand should vote by listening to their "ENGLISH" ACCENTS?

And before you bring it up - i am not supporting any political parties. Just pointing out that your comments regarding the "British Accent" and "Thai Accent" has nothing to do with leadership in Thailand.

It does. In today's world, national leaders should be proficient in English for the sake of representing their people well on the international stage. This should be a consideration for the Thai voter, especially given the importance of face for Thais. Just look at the difference in face given out by these two!

Edited November 7, 2013 by sprq