Speaking English: Thailand vs Philippines

[Oishii]

I don't know, but is English not a second official language in the Philippines?Sent from my i-mobile IQ X using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

English is the only common language spoke in the Philippines. Having over 7000 Islands, with more than 3000 of them inhabited, they all speak differently. So, they use English as their official second language.

There is even a tribe of peoples living in the mountains to the north of Manila who's only language is English. This tribe still wear loin cloths and worship a wooden idol and bless it with the blood dripping from a freshly killed chicken. They were taught English by missionaries who went there to teach then Christianity. They didn't change their religion, but changed their language.

[cbluck58]

Since the Philippines are the third largest English speaking country in the world , it is hardly a pertinent comparison.

[Shancloudy]

In Philippines it's more easy to understand the lesson if the teacher will use english. Honestly I always got the lowest score in one subject it was "Filipino subject or Tagalog subject"...

[Nobbie49]

Why all this hoobra over Thai/Philippino English skills? What is the point of having good English language skills like the Ph yet your country is still a basket case?

[David48]

From the OP ...

There are plenty of good Filipino English speakers teaching English in Thailand ...

There some here who may contest that statement in part or whole.

.

[malcoml]

I think this is one of life's great mysteries as to why Thailand being a place for tourists speaks the international language so poorly.

I honestly believe that up until recently Thai people were not given exposure to it at school and as Thai society relies on so much more than tourism that many people just don't need exposure to it.

My wife as an example manged to get to her early thirties and did not need to ever speak it. Bar girls and the like can speak it to an extent but many of them can not even read their own language being taken from school as young children.

I have met those tuk tuk guys in siem reap and they are truly amazing. Many have a grasp on atleast four languages. I questioned them on it and they all went to lessons that cost them about 5 cents an hour.

Pinos seem to have all taken to English as there is so many local dialects that it made sense.

[malcoml]

Why all this hoobra over Thai/Philippino English skills? What is the point of having good English language skills like the Ph yet your country is still a basket case?

The Philippines is like it is because they are a group of many islands and high levels of corruption.

The point of thenPhilippines people having good English skills is so they can get a job working abroad. Then one overseas worker can support a family at home. Philippines travelled pretty well through the GCC due to the amount of overseas workers sending money home. The Philippines is also the fastest growing economy in Asia even outpacing China.

[thailiketoo]

Mr Panther sir one reason may be, go to google and type, "List of countries where English is an official language." Thailand is not on there, I don't think. Philippines is on there I think, Check it out,

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

If you really didn't now the Philippines was a US colony and had thousands of Americans stationed at naval bases in the country for years after that.

The Philippines fought on our side during WWII and the Thais on the other side.

wrong

January 1942 The PM of Thailand, Sang Phathanothai read over the radio Thailand's formal declaration of war on the United Kingdom and the United States.

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

In case you want to strut out that tired old argument, a PM trumps an ambassador every time.

Edited December 17, 2013 by thailiketoo

[jerry1989]

As far as my experiences are concerned, Thailand:

1. pays more and hires more foreign teachers but fails to hire the "QUALIFIED" (whites and blonds could be the best to attract parents enrolling their kids)

2. provides more educational technical support

3. has been maintaining the "NO-FAIL" policy (that even a kid who can't read and write Thai makes it to grade 4

4. study grammar but lack of practical examples

5. Most don't really mind memorizing (say most students are not that serious in studying English)6

6. Most rely on learning centers for more language skills support

7. Some parents do kids' homework, if not, pay teachers to do homework at school

whilst in The Philippines:

1. poor classroom support but at least have QUALIFIED teachers, both foreigners and nationals

2. more corrupt system but resourceful teachers

3. Never to "No Fail" policy

4. An average household doesn't speak English at home but have a lot of practical exercises in schools

5. All subjects except Filipino are taught in English

6. lesser salary but dedicated professional teachers

7. studies grammar first then a lot lot lot of stories, dramas, poems...(not a conversation book)

8. National language Filipino uses English alphabets (easier to learn English)

9. Most are really obsessed to learn the language (one would be seen witty if he/she could speak English very well)

10. Much are helped and guided by parents and/or guardians for needed skills

11. Kids do their own homework, with guidance from parents (teachers, with their instinct, confiscate faked homework)

[Hardened Spanker]

Why all this hoobra over Thai/Philippino English skills? What is the point of having good English language skills like the Ph yet your country is still a basket case?

It was the fastest growing economy in ASIA in the 1st and 2nd quarters this year,hardly a basket case,why comment if you have no idea what you are talking about?

[DGIE]

I was in the Philippines a few years ago.

I had difficulty keeping up with the kids in the resort playing Scrabble. Lot of fun, but I had to concentrate.

playing scrabble, you use English words.

It is one thing to help people to learn English.

[bangkapi]

One of the most sought after jobs in the Philippines these days is that of "Call Center Agent" with a whopping salary of 11-20,000 pesos per month.

I used to hear a lot of Indian accents when I called a financial institution or telecommunication company's service center.

The past couple years, I have mainly heard the Filipino accent.

[DGIE]

In a great many cases in Thailand, English class is 1 or 2 hours per week in classes with 50 screaming kids who couldn't care less, also often with Thai assistants who couldn't care less about doing their jobs. This is a very large part of the problem.

correct!

[DGIE]

Being predominantly Catholic, The Philippines has a greater affinity to the West generally and particularly the US!! There are many cultural and religious differences between Thai's (predominantly Buddhists) and Western/Anglo Saxon cultures!! In shopping malls in PI you will hear English/American music, whereas in Thailand, you will hear Thai music! The Philippines are much more open to Western culture than Thailand! Filipinos are proud to speak English and the Thai's scared to speak English!! The Filipino's think it makes them more worldly and the Thai's thinks that it will diminish their 'Thainess' - as if that is something to be proud of??!! I could go on but.......

you are right!

[DGIE]

Why all this hoobra over Thai/Philippino English skills? What is the point of having good English language skills like the Ph yet your country is still a basket case?

The Philippines is like it is because they are a group of many islands and high levels of corruption.

The point of thenPhilippines people having good English skills is so they can get a job working abroad. Then one overseas worker can support a family at home. Philippines travelled pretty well through the GCC due to the amount of overseas workers sending money home. The Philippines is also the fastest growing economy in Asia even outpacing China.

I don't agree with the last sentence in italic. You should have said, fastest in corruption!

[DGIE]

Questions from the poster:

1) Is it that the Philippines set more budget aside for this part of education?

2) Do they hire better/more qualified foreign teachers?

3)Does the Philippines pay better wages?

4) Is the education system more professional and less corrupt than in Thailand? I'm just thinking out loud (so to speak) but there must be some reason for it?

Answer:

1. Philippines can afford to set more budget for education but the government priority is to corrupt so the allocated budget is just a small fraction left from corruption.

2. They don't hire foreign teachers. How can they if the government cannot even give better wages to their teachers?

3. Thailand pays far better wages/salary than Philippines that's why there are lots (estimation-100,000+. Enormous!) of Filipinos here.

4. It is indeed more professional but worst in corruption.

Even donations from other countries to typhoon victims didn't escape the watchfulness of crocodiles in Philippine government.

Edited December 17, 2013 by DGIE

[connda]

I spent time in the PI while in the Navy. The PI and the US have had close ties since WWII. Folks from the PI can join the military, eventually granted citizenship, many live in the US. They just have closer ties to America than Thailand. And Filipinos have a much broader 'world-view'. They understand what is happening in other countries. I didn't see the self-centered, nationalism that I see here. So there is incentive to learn English. They tend to find jobs in global companies and corporations, where English is the basic business language. I know a lot of Filipinos who speak excellent English. And I've had many Filipino friends. There are some really good people over there.

[Hardened Spanker]

I've just come back from a trip to Bali,Indonesia and guess what?Everyone speaks perfect English there as well,at least as good as the Philippines if not better without the silly accent!

The truth is it's just not cool or "Gangsta" in Thailand to speak English and that suits the governments just fine,keep 'em stupid,uneducated and therefore much easier to manipulate!

What has not speaking English to do with being stupid and uneducated? Silly accent? Oh God we need a thread on that. We could have a poll what is the most difficult accent to understand as opposed to the silliest accent.

You talk about what not speaking English has to do with being uneducated?It is learnt for 10 or more years by EVERYONE in school in Thailand!

You then go on to post a video with the title "Funny French Guy Learning American Accent",with Steve Martin,a 100% born and bred American,as Inspector Clouseau!

And expect us to take you seriously?

[pinebits]

Questions from the poster:

1) Is it that the Philippines set more budget aside for this part of education?

2) Do they hire better/more qualified foreign teachers?

3)Does the Philippines pay better wages?

4) Is the education system more professional and less corrupt than in Thailand? I'm just thinking out loud (so to speak) but there must be some reason for it?

Answer:

1. Philippines can afford to set more budget for education but the government priority is to corrupt so the allocated budget is just a small fraction left from corruption.

2. They don't hire foreign teachers. How can they if the government cannot even give better wages to their teachers?

3. Thailand pays far better wages/salary than Philippines that's why there are lots (estimation-100,000+. Enormous!) of Filipinos here.

4. It is indeed more professional but worst in corruption.

Even donations from other countries to typhoon victims didn't escape the watchfulness of crocodiles in Philippine government.

Is the Philippines more corrupt than Thailand? It is the same. International schools in the Philippines hires foreign teachers of course but the public school doesn't as you said, the government has no budget for that when they can teach good english as well. Aside from this, Filipino parents doesn't rely on the teachers alone to teach their kids english, the parents themselves are the first teacher of most Filipino kids. So by the time they enter grade school most of them can read english or the local language and for some can even count in english! Filipinos do know what's going on in the rest of the world compared to Thailand because of Philippine news station show world news both in english and tagalog whereas Thai news just shows Thailand bubble.

[sawadee1947]

...the AMERICAN influence in the Philippines was immense during World War 2 and even after that time. The presidents were dependent of USA all time

[Dennisdob]

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

[connda]

Mr Panther sir one reason may be, go to google and type, "List of countries where English is an official language." Thailand is not on there, I don't think. Philippines is on there I think, Check it out,

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

If you really didn't now the Philippines was a US colony and had thousands of Americans stationed at naval bases in the country for years after that.

The Philippines fought on our side during WWII and the Thais on the other side.

ok ok pedant anonymous member here,

but Philipines was colonised that is why they are catholic , or some branch of Christian and all speak bludy good English

Yeah, it was a Spanish colony before. Then the US took it over. I have met some people from there who speak Spanish (along with English and Tagalog). They have a saying about it...don't remember. Ask a Filipino and they will probably know it. Several have told it to me and laughed.

During one visit to Luzon, a Filipino friend said, "The Spanish gave us religion (Roman Catholicism), The Americans gave us English and Civil Service and the Japanese gave us Kamikaze drivers". I thought it was funny and he continued the conversation is fluent English, complete with the latest jokes and comedy.

They do mix there "Fs" with "Ps" though, which can be kinda funny. I had a Filipino girlfriend of mine (lived in the SF Bay area) tell me a bunch of jokes that were a play on words that Filipinos couldn't say well. Her English was flawless, so the jokes were pretty darn funny.

Here's one:

Q: What do you call two Filipino pilots?

A: A pair of pliers.

Ok, two:

Q: What do Filipino tennis players wear on their feet.

A: Tenacious.

[connda]

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

I'll agree with you to a point. There are major cultural differences too. Thais are taught not to question authority and not to lose face So independent, analytic thinking is not a trait that is developed in the school systems, nor is risk taking. And in order to learn, you need to to do both. You need to be willing to make mistakes and then learn from your mistakes. That doesn't happen here. And there are some excellent instructors here. Don't let that Doctorate go to your head. Unless those cultural issues are addressed, effective learning doesn't take place, regardless of how dedicated an instructor is.

I didn't see those issue in the PI school systems or with Filipino students. It's a different culture. So please don't arbitrarily blame it on 'poor instructors' or 'poor curriculum'. Within the education system, Thais need a 'quantum leap' in their cultural perspective .

Edited December 17, 2013 by connda

[thailiketoo]

Questions from the poster:

1) Is it that the Philippines set more budget aside for this part of education?

2) Do they hire better/more qualified foreign teachers?

3)Does the Philippines pay better wages?

4) Is the education system more professional and less corrupt than in Thailand? I'm just thinking out loud (so to speak) but there must be some reason for it?

Answer:

1. Philippines can afford to set more budget for education but the government priority is to corrupt so the allocated budget is just a small fraction left from corruption.

2. They don't hire foreign teachers. How can they if the government cannot even give better wages to their teachers?

3. Thailand pays far better wages/salary than Philippines that's why there are lots (estimation-100,000+. Enormous!) of Filipinos here.

4. It is indeed more professional but worst in corruption.

Even donations from other countries to typhoon victims didn't escape the watchfulness of crocodiles in Philippine government.

Is the Philippines more corrupt than Thailand? It is the same. International schools in the Philippines hires foreign teachers of course but the public school doesn't as you said, the government has no budget for that when they can teach good english as well. Aside from this, Filipino parents doesn't rely on the teachers alone to teach their kids english, the parents themselves are the first teacher of most Filipino kids. So by the time they enter grade school most of them can read english or the local language and for some can even count in english! Filipinos do know what's going on in the rest of the world compared to Thailand because of Philippine news station show world news both in english and tagalog whereas Thai news just shows Thailand bubble.

Hotel in the Philippines see photo.

[moe666]

If they speak such good English why is my order for food in the Philippines wrong 90 percent of the time. My daughter-in-law is part Filipino and we visited her moms family home a few years ago and believe it or not they are much like Thais if they have no reason to speak English they do not, of the 25 or 30 family members we met only 4 or 5 spoke understandable English.

I was talking to my old girlfriends daughter a few weeks ago and she had a Filipino English teacher and she said she could only understand about 10 percent of her spoken English as the accent was way to heavy, said money wasted and this is a young Thai girl who can carry on a fair English conversation. She wanted to improve her English to take the government test for a certificate in English.

[pinebits]

Questions from the poster:

1) Is it that the Philippines set more budget aside for this part of education?

2) Do they hire better/more qualified foreign teachers?

3)Does the Philippines pay better wages?

4) Is the education system more professional and less corrupt than in Thailand? I'm just thinking out loud (so to speak) but there must be some reason for it?

Answer:

1. Philippines can afford to set more budget for education but the government priority is to corrupt so the allocated budget is just a small fraction left from corruption.

2. They don't hire foreign teachers. How can they if the government cannot even give better wages to their teachers?

3. Thailand pays far better wages/salary than Philippines that's why there are lots (estimation-100,000+. Enormous!) of Filipinos here.

4. It is indeed more professional but worst in corruption.

Even donations from other countries to typhoon victims didn't escape the watchfulness of crocodiles in Philippine government.

Is the Philippines more corrupt than Thailand? It is the same. International schools in the Philippines hires foreign teachers of course but the public school doesn't as you said, the government has no budget for that when they can teach good english as well. Aside from this, Filipino parents doesn't rely on the teachers alone to teach their kids english, the parents themselves are the first teacher of most Filipino kids. So by the time they enter grade school most of them can read english or the local language and for some can even count in english! Filipinos do know what's going on in the rest of the world compared to Thailand because of Philippine news station show world news both in english and tagalog whereas Thai news just shows Thailand bubble.

Hotel in the Philippines see photo.

Can you post the link to what hotel is this? Or a link to where you got the photo from? yes carrying guns in the Philippines by security guards is normal just like the US but not guns like that.

[moe666]

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

I guess you were not a geography major in school check a map Subic Bay is not outside Angeles City but a good 80 or so kilometers away. The US doesn't have one base in the Philippines as we have an agreement with that country that allows us to use there base. We left the Philippines in I believe 1991 after the volcano explosion dumped several feet of ash on Clark Air Force Base (which is outside Angeles City) and several inches on Subic Bay and the government as for an outlandish amount of money for the rent of the two bases. The Philippines Government was feeling there oats about then and wanted the US out. I was in the US Navy for 10 years and spent a bit of time in Subic Bay and I know where it is at. And they do not speak good english

[connda]

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

I guess you were not a geography major in school check a map Subic Bay is not outside Angeles City but a good 80 or so kilometers away. The US doesn't have one base in the Philippines as we have an agreement with that country that allows us to use there base. We left the Philippines in I believe 1991 after the volcano explosion dumped several feet of ash on Clark Air Force Base (which is outside Angeles City) and several inches on Subic Bay and the government as for an outlandish amount of money for the rent of the two bases. The Philippines Government was feeling there oats about then and wanted the US out. I was in the US Navy for 10 years and spent a bit of time in Subic Bay and I know where it is at. And they do not speak good english

The Subic Bay Naval facility was outside of Olongapo City. Trust me, I knew it well They spoke English on Magsaysay Road as well as they do on Loi Kroi in Chiang Mai (actually in my opinion, better). The Filipinos I worked with on base spoke English better than virtually any Thai I've work with.

Ever go to the Florida Club. I digress...

Edited December 17, 2013 by connda

[Dennisdob]

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

I'll agree with you to a point. There are major cultural differences too. Thais are taught not to question authority and not to lose face So independent, analytic thinking is not a trait that is developed in the school systems, nor is risk taking. And in order to learn, you need to to do both. You need to be willing to make mistakes and then learn from your mistakes. That doesn't happen here. And there are some excellent instructors here. Don't let that Doctorate go to your head. Unless those cultural issues are addressed, effective learning doesn't take place, regardless of how dedicated an instructor is.

I didn't see those issue in the PI school systems or with Filipino students. It's a different culture. So please don't arbitrarily blame it on 'poor instructors' or 'poor curriculum'. Within the education system, Thais need a 'quantum leap' in their cultural perspective .

My Doctorate is in Technology and Curriculum and it is not going into my head! I have 12 years as an administrator in the USA and three years experience at an international University in Thailand. I've had teaching experience and have taught teachers from different countries to teach English in their home countries to their students. I have nothing to prove to you nor am I my trying to prove anything to you other than voicing actual facts as I have seen it in the past years. You cannot compare to my qualifications nor experiences so basically cheers! Quality of the curriculum in this country is less than desirable because my daughter attends a Thai school. Her English is better than the instructors.

To enter into a cultural background is the least of the educational problems in Thailand. If you wish to speak to me use respect and not tell me that something is going to my head it offends me talking to an unintelligent individual from some country who feels they are a little more arrogant than others.

Cheers!

[Dennisdob]

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

I guess you were not a geography major in school check a map Subic Bay is not outside Angeles City but a good 80 or so kilometers away. The US doesn't have one base in the Philippines as we have an agreement with that country that allows us to use there base. We left the Philippines in I believe 1991 after the volcano explosion dumped several feet of ash on Clark Air Force Base (which is outside Angeles City) and several inches on Subic Bay and the government as for an outlandish amount of money for the rent of the two bases. The Philippines Government was feeling there oats about then and wanted the US out. I was in the US Navy for 10 years and spent a bit of time in Subic Bay and I know where it is at. And they do not speak good english

I also have been to Subic Bay and played golf there also! My geography is not all that bad but my doctorate is in technology and curriculum so I apologize for not getting the correct distance from Angeles city. They have a rather nice holiday inn located in Subic Bay since you were in the Navy for 10 years and I have been there. Go outside into the city to San Fernando you will find that they have an outstanding University located there and their English is excellent. I have going there since I was a principal in the USA often for 16 years. Study their educational system but then again I'm not very good and geography or not as good as you are!

Thanks!