Quizzed for visa extension for non-ED

[pokerspiv]

Hi guys, just thought I would post this for information's sake.

 

I live in Samui and have been studying on an Ed Visa for almost 2 years. I went to get my extension a week or so ago and for the first time I was questioned by the lady at the Samui immigration office. At first she asked me some questions in Thai, which I couldn't understand because she spoke way too fast. I asked her to speak more slowly and she told me to just write down some sentences in Thai (in roman characters). I did so and my extension was approved. Just thought others on Ed Visas might like to be aware.

 

 

[Julie H]

What did you write? 

[simon43]

Are you serious?  You have been studying Thai for 2 years and still cannot understand when someone speaks to you in Thai?  And you cannot write anything using the Thai alphabet?

 

Either your teacher sucks, or your learning skills suck, or both

[Julie H]

Are you serious?  You have been studying Thai for 2 years and still cannot understand when someone speaks to you in Thai?  And you cannot write anything using the Thai alphabet?

 

Either your teacher sucks, or your learning skills suck, or both

Thats a very mean comment 

[paddyjenkins]

Maybe he's in the remedial class....or special needs....but he still deserves an ED visa as well as our respect


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[pokerspiv]

Are you serious?  You have been studying Thai for 2 years and still cannot understand when someone speaks to you in Thai?  And you cannot write anything using the Thai alphabet?

 

Either your teacher sucks, or your learning skills suck, or both

 

I'm sure you are fluent buddy.

 

I'm the wrong side of 35 and learning a language at this age is not easy. I can hold a basic conversation in Thai, but only if the person I am speaking to speaks slowly and clearly. I can speak to someone else in Thai and they can understand me fine, but it's much harder for me to understand them. Most people don't realise how much of a difference it makes.

 

The woman at immigration was quite busy and didn't have time to quiz me like that, which is why she got me to write it down.

 

And yes, learning a new alphabet is actually a pretty advanced topic and something you wouldn't necessarily attempt before learning basic conversation, since conversation is a more important skill.

 

But hey feel free to continue your crusade against people on Ed Visas.

Edited August 4, 2014 by pokerspiv

[pokerspiv]

What did you write? 

 

"Pom bai rian passaa Thai tee Bophut song bee leaw"

 

and something else, I can't really remember

[sustento]

If you want to learn a new language properly the alphabet is the first thing you ought to learn.

[pokerspiv]

Thanks for your unsolicited opinion. So much hate for Ed Visa holders, jealous?

Edited August 4, 2014 by pokerspiv

[paz]

 

But hey feel free to continue your crusade against people on Ed Visas.

 

Don't worry, many people on TV are on a crusade against anyone that is not them.

 

Good luck with your studies and stay.

[baboon]

 
But hey feel free to continue your crusade against people on Ed Visas.

 
Don't worry, many people on TV are on a crusade against anyone that is not them.

Good one. So true!

[sustento]

Thanks for your unsolicited opinion. So much hate for Ed Visa holders, jealous?

Just pointing out the same fact that any good language teacher would tell you especially in a tonal language like Thai where it's not possible to properly represent the tones in the English alphabet.

 

Go ahead and make it personal. That wasn't my intention. Why would  I 'hate' a stranger? 

[pokerspiv]

 

Thanks for your unsolicited opinion. So much hate for Ed Visa holders, jealous?

Just pointing out the same fact that any good language teacher would tell you especially in a tonal language like Thai where it's not possible to properly represent the tones in the English alphabet.

 

Go ahead and make it personal. That wasn't my intention. Why would  I 'hate' a stranger? 

 

 

Very few Thai language schools start their beginner students with learning the alphabet. Most of us aren't learning Thai to write novels, we are learning it to go about daily business in Thailand. Learning to read is certainly a long-term goal, but short term I would consider basic conversation more important.

 

I'm not sure why you would hate a stranger, but plenty of people seem to hate Ed Visa holders here for some reason. 

Edited August 4, 2014 by pokerspiv

[craigp]

If you want to learn a new language properly the alphabet is the first thing you ought to learn.

From my year of experience on the ED visa, the Thai alphabet and writing was the main focus for the first 6 months. I wasn't fun. But you're right, they stated in order to learn the language we had to do the alphabet first. That was Walen BTW 

[Loptr]

 

 

Thanks for your unsolicited opinion. So much hate for Ed Visa holders, jealous?

Just pointing out the same fact that any good language teacher would tell you especially in a tonal language like Thai where it's not possible to properly represent the tones in the English alphabet.

 

Go ahead and make it personal. That wasn't my intention. Why would  I 'hate' a stranger? 

 

 

Very few Thai language schools start their beginner students with learning the alphabet. Most of us aren't learning Thai to write novels, we are learning it to go about daily business in Thailand. Learning to read is certainly a long-term goal, but short term I would consider basic conversation more important.

 

I'm not sure why you would hate a stranger, but plenty of people seem to hate Ed Visa holders here for some reason. 

 

 

The only person that has been defensive on this thread is you...  Why would anyone be jealous of someone on an ED visa? 

[grantbkk]

Are you serious?  You have been studying Thai for 2 years and still cannot understand when someone speaks to you in Thai?  And you cannot write anything using the Thai alphabet?
 
Either your teacher sucks, or your learning skills suck, or both

So the OP posts information someone can actually be helpful or informative we will call him "The One Percent". You posing as the Thai Language God of Higher Learning blast The One Percent thereby somehow encouraging future postings by him or his kind. So let me ask you oh wise one, are you serious?

[kriswillems]

If that is all it takes to pass a test at immigration, I think I am going to apply for a job as head of the office there.

Suppose you're Thai and you go to Europe to study English.
Suppose you've been studying for 2 years.
Suppose the European immigration officer suspects fraud and asks you a few questions in English and you can answer none of them.
Suppose that the European officer ask you to write 1 sentence in English - and you write it down in Thai karaoke.
Do you think the European immigration officer would extend your visa? Edited August 4, 2014 by kriswillems

[moe666]

 

 

Thanks for your unsolicited opinion. So much hate for Ed Visa holders, jealous?

Just pointing out the same fact that any good language teacher would tell you especially in a tonal language like Thai where it's not possible to properly represent the tones in the English alphabet.

 

Go ahead and make it personal. That wasn't my intention. Why would  I 'hate' a stranger? 

 

 

Very few Thai language schools start their beginner students with learning the alphabet. Most of us aren't learning Thai to write novels, we are learning it to go about daily business in Thailand. Learning to read is certainly a long-term goal, but short term I would consider basic conversation more important.

 

I'm not sure why you would hate a stranger, but plenty of people seem to hate Ed Visa holders here for some reason. 

 

Do not take a few comments so personal, you may get an ulcer

[Suradit69]

 

 

Thanks for your unsolicited opinion. So much hate for Ed Visa holders, jealous?

Just pointing out the same fact that any good language teacher would tell you especially in a tonal language like Thai where it's not possible to properly represent the tones in the English alphabet.

 

Go ahead and make it personal. That wasn't my intention. Why would  I 'hate' a stranger? 

 

 

Very few Thai language schools start their beginner students with learning the alphabet. Most of us aren't learning Thai to write novels, we are learning it to go about daily business in Thailand. Learning to read is certainly a long-term goal, but short term I would consider basic conversation more important.

 

I'm not sure why you would hate a stranger, but plenty of people seem to hate Ed Visa holders here for some reason. 

 

 

"Very few Thai language schools start their beginner students with learning the alphabet."

 

Not a very convincing argument  given the quality of the language schools here and, of course, it is absurd to claim that you or anyone else would  know what "very few language schools" are doing ... unless you're some experienced  country-wide language school inspector.

 

It is a matter of opinion, so there's not a definitive right or wrong answer, but there are people who believe that learning the Thai alphabet and the sounds produced by Thai letters first is far better than using some contrived non-standardized transliteration using the "English alphabet."

 

All you have to do is take some simple Thai word written using English script and have an American, an Englishman, an Irishman, an Australian ... pronounce what you've written to see that the sound produced  is going to be all over the place. Maybe less important when learning some languages, but with a tonal language like Thai, it would be vitally important to get the pronunciation right.

 

I'm guessing that very few foreign students of Thai plan on writing novels in the language, but it isn't that difficult to begin sounding out written Thai after spending a relatively short time learning how to read Thai script. That alone provides a motivation for learning the language since you spend each day seeing so many things around you written in Thai from stop signs to adverts to magazines.

 

For people who are visual learners rather that aural learners, it can be useful to try that approach. There is, or was at one time, a program using somewhat silly drawings made from Thai letters that promised that you could learn to read Thai in a day. After years of making little progress, I gave it a go. I won't say I learned to read in a day, but I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I was able to sort out the sounds and how many more words I learned by looking at all the things written in markets, shops, on TV, in the streets, etc.

 

 

If you want to learn a new language properly the alphabet is the first thing you ought to learn.

 

Have to agree for many/some people this is definitely true. Not everyone learns in the same way, but if you are a visual learning it can be far more meaningful that trying to absorb the sounds without connecting them to the letters.
 

Edited August 4, 2014 by Suradit69

[genobkk]

Never mind the trolls, this site is full of them, just like those who think giving 500,000 baht away to get 5 year visa is a good thing, most places I know u put money away or invest , not give money away to get visa

Back to issue. I have been here a very long time and still do not speak well, learning another language is not easy for everyone the fact you are trying is great. I would not even want to try to read or write it, my bad eyes would make that nearly impossible. Age makes a big difference., I took some Spanish classes in high school and still know more of that then Thai. I am not on an ED visa to clear that up, keep trying I may take a class and try again in the future


.

[paz]

If that is all it takes to pass a test at immigration, I think I am going to apply for a job as head of the office there.

Suppose you're Thai and you go to Europe to study English.
Suppose you've been studying for 2 years.
Suppose the European immigration officer suspects fraud and asks you a few questions in English and you can answer none of them.

 

I don't know which part of Europe are you talking about. That doesn't happen in my country for sure. Only paperwork counts, officers are not examiners, if they were they would demand a pay raise.

[kriswillems]

If that is all it takes to pass a test at immigration, I think I am going to apply for a job as head of the office there.

Suppose you're Thai and you go to Europe to study English.
Suppose you've been studying for 2 years.
Suppose the European immigration officer suspects fraud and asks you a few questions in English and you can answer none of them.

 
I don't know which part of Europe are you talking about. That doesn't happen in my country for sure. Only paperwork counts, officers are not examiners, if they were they would demand a pay raise.

If you don't study at a real university, enough hours per week (much more than 2), and you don't attend the lessons, you will not even get in or you'll not get your extension.
In case of fraud, you can be sure they'll go to talk to you when you ask for your extension.

How many Thais of 60 years old are studying English 2 hours per week in Europe and get a visa for this?

There's a serious unbalance here.

The current student visa in Thailand is a joke - so is the test he got and the fact that they let him pass. Edited August 4, 2014 by kriswillems

[WhamBam]

Are you serious?  You have been studying Thai for 2 years and still cannot understand when someone speaks to you in Thai?  And you cannot write anything using the Thai alphabet?

 

Either your teacher sucks, or your learning skills suck, or both

 

Hell, I speak English to some Americans and Aussies when I am in Thailand and you'd be surprised how many ask me to repeat what I said, so a Thai speaking quickly can be hard to understand too.

 

Accent and speed of speech can make a huge difference in understanding someone.

[craigp]

 

Are you serious?  You have been studying Thai for 2 years and still cannot understand when someone speaks to you in Thai?  And you cannot write anything using the Thai alphabet?

 

Either your teacher sucks, or your learning skills suck, or both

 

Hell, I speak English to some Americans and Aussies when I am in Thailand and you'd be surprised how many ask me to repeat what I said, so a Thai speaking quickly can be hard to understand too.

 

Accent and speed of speech can make a huge difference in understanding someone.

 

Are you Scottish?

[Jdiddy]

So if you train muay thai with your ED visa and you go and ask for an extension after a few years they bring out another muay thai expert to test you?

 

 

 

[paz]

So if you train muay thai with your ED visa and you go and ask for an extension after a few years they bring out another muay thai expert to test you?

 

No problem, they will take one of their examiners.

 

http://prisonfight.com/al-jazeera-thai-prison-fights-inmates-train-for-matches-against-foreign-opponents-for-a-chance-to-win-an-early-release/

 

It's a sure win for the foreigner, can get an extension for hospitalization if he doesn't make it. 

Edited August 4, 2014 by paz

[sustento]

So if you train muay thai with your ED visa and you go and ask for an extension after a few years they bring out another muay thai expert to test you?

 

 

 

Nah you just knee the immigration bloke in the goolies 

[craigp]

Exactly how many different subjects are there to choose from.? I've just googled Thai Boxing and Thai cooking and I can't find any information regarding ED visas for these subjects, although I'm aware some farang do it. I guess the only kind of test is for the language, and I'm guessing that what 95% of farang choose to do. 

[paz]

There is no published sets of subject but each school must be accredited by the ministry of education and is subject to verification at Immigration discretion.

 

Jokes aside, in reality Muay Thai and flowering ED visa are more barstool myths than anything else.

[DogNo1]

When I studied at DLI in '65, we learned a transliteration of the words first and then gradually learned to write the Thai characters. We had to memorize a daily dialogue and be ready to stand up and recite if called on. Studying the writing system early on was a good idea, IMO. I can still read the characters but find it hard to remember which class the characters belong to and what effect the tone marks have as a result. We did a lot of pattern drills in those days as well as listening in the language lab.
The communicative language learning method used later worked well for my speaking ability when I later studied Japanese but I didn't learn to read and write very well. I wish that we had devoted more time to learning written Japanese at the beginning. Now, due to my age, when I attempt to add to my Thai vocabulary it is very hard to remember the new words. Memory power is extremely important when learning a language and that power fades with age.