RichardThailand Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) A friend just mentioned to me that he's been told his school are now expecting the new requirements will be: 5 times a week, 5 hours a day. Has anyone else here tried asking their language school what the new requirements are going to be? Now I know that at least one school is expecting 25 hours / week it would be interesting to hear what the other schools have to say. Edited August 13, 2014 by RichardThailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monk213 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 My school still thinks I don't need to leave the country until next year haha, but if this is true, 5 hours a day 5 days a week, goodbye Thailand. That is overkill, 8 hours spread across 2 days is fine, I am already at a point where I don't even speak English anymore but that amount of time is ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I have read that it has been confirmed for Bangkok it will be 8 hours a week doing 2 hours a day in order to get apporval from the Ministry of Education. There has been no confirmation for other locations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardThailand Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 I have read that it has been confirmed for Bangkok it will be 8 hours a week doing 2 hours a day in order to get apporval from the Ministry of Education. There has been no confirmation for other locations. Hopefully others who are now studying will go to their school admins and get some more first hand information. If they do as my friend has been told then it's a huge game changer for I assume almost 100% of the people who are now studying Thai with that visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 The 25 hours sounds like it would be for full time study and might allow for a one a year extension. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monk213 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 The 25 hours sounds like it would be for full time study and might allow for a one a year extension. See this is the problem, even a global moderator on the biggest visa related website for Thailand doesn't know what is what, nobody does. The Junta has sat their together and come up with a handful of changes and nothing has been passed down correctly, nobody knows whether they are coming or going. How long before the dust settles and we know where we stand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardThailand Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 The 25 hours sounds like it would be for full time study and might allow for a one a year extension. See this is the problem, even a global moderator on the biggest visa related website for Thailand doesn't know what is what, nobody does. The Junta has sat their together and come up with a handful of changes and nothing has been passed down correctly, nobody knows whether they are coming or going. How long before the dust settles and we know where we stand? Well really all that's needed is for a person studying at one of the larger schools to go to a school and ask the administrator. I have already posted the result of the answer my friend was given and he is studying at one of the larger schools. I thought the 29th is the day when we're all going to hear something more official. I would assume if you're the owner of a large language school you already know the answer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monk213 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 The 25 hours sounds like it would be for full time study and might allow for a one a year extension. See this is the problem, even a global moderator on the biggest visa related website for Thailand doesn't know what is what, nobody does. The Junta has sat their together and come up with a handful of changes and nothing has been passed down correctly, nobody knows whether they are coming or going. How long before the dust settles and we know where we stand? Well really all that's needed is for a person studying at one of the larger schools to go to a school and ask the administrator. I have already posted the result of the answer my friend was given and he is studying at one of the larger schools. I thought the 29th is the day when we're all going to hear something more official. I would assume if you're the owner of a large language school you already know the answer. As I have mentioned my school seems to think I don't need to leave for Laos until 2015 and still going for the 4 hours a week. Others say 25 hours, others say 8, my point is nothing is certain and everyone from teachers, students, moderators and immigration folk all say different things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 The 8 hours came from one of largest language schools here based on info they got from the MOE. But that was for Bangkok only. Other provincial MOE offices may have different requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monk213 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 The 8 hours came from one of largest language schools here based on info they got from the MOE. But that was for Bangkok only. Other provincial MOE offices may have different requirements. Great so as of now Bangkok students know how many hours they must study, but for the rest of the country it is all hearsay. The MOE is doing a great job I must admit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubonjoe Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Off topic posts and replies have been removed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likener1 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Isn't the point of an ED visa purely to learn the subject matter, not as a means of staying in Thailand ? If the new rule, as it may be according to "ubonjoe" is to be 8 hours per week then really its just still allowing it to remain as a way to stay for many. If Immigration enforce testing, unless the questions asked etc are totally random and at the individual officers discretion, they will produce a standard set of questions and tasks to perform, reading, writing and question answering to ensure consistency, a lack of which has been widely debated on T.V. The schools will then teach their students to pass based on this standard, rather than teach the actual subject in its entirety. 15 hours per week as a minimum would ensure that it was really primarily for people to learn, combined with rigorous checking of attendance records. Anything less than 15 hours (3 hours per day, 5 days per week or other combination) is not tackling an issue which they profess a desire to do. I have no issue with people who use/misuse ED visas, not my business - just with the idea of a crackdown that is not really one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Holly1956 Posted August 13, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) As far as I know this is not the case and my wife is the Director of a Language School. She is waiting to find out the definative answer from either the Ministry of Education or the Department of Immigration. The last we heard, is that they were going to double the time from 4 hours a week to 8 hours but we have no confirmation of that either. She is trying to find out, if as they say after 1 year you must leave Thailand, then how long must you leave for. Nothing seems very clear at the moment as depending on who you ask depends on what answer you get. My wife would also like to add, that to learn a language for 25 hours a week is information overload. It would not be our recommendation to have so many lessons in such a short space. Edited August 13, 2014 by Holly1956 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordaci Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Just got the schedule from my school, about to begin the course end of this month and they say i have to attend 3 x 2 hours/week. Think its the biggest one in Samui. Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliebadenhop Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) I just got my ED visa paperwork back this week, and it clearly states 160 hours a year. I was told that this is the minimum. Edited August 13, 2014 by charliebadenhop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmyp Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I am a fan of immigration and the dept of ed requiring at least 5 hours/wk of Thai language, even 10 hours/wk seems appropriate to me, but 5 hours a day??? That's getting silly. Actually, the "natural method" over at AUA in Bangkok requires their students to do 5 to 6 hrs a day... Are you talking about AUA? Their philosophy (for those of you who don't already know) is to sit and listen to the language, and through several hours of exposure per day, we absorb the language like we absorbed our mother language when we were kids. It's a totally goofball approach, I think, but that sounds like the school that would be requiring such a block of time. The other schools don't even have a curriculum that could give you 5 hours per day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsuptome Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) It's not impossible that some school out there might require all its students to study 25 hours a week, but there's no way this will become an ED visa requirement in the near future. My school told me that the MoE was talking about requiring 8 hours a week but it was not set in stone yet. For 25 hours the schools would need to massively overhaul their curriculum, no one in the government has told them to do so, and if they did, it would take a lot of time. Most language schools can support you for a visa that lasts for 90 days and is extendable every 90 days for up to one year, after that you are expected to go to a Thai Consulate in another country and acquire a new visa to continue your studies, you are not expected to spend a significant time outside of Thailand, there just is no provision for obtaining an ED visa from inside Thailand at this time. As far as I can tell there are a lot of rumors and speculation going around but the actual rules are pretty clear. Edited August 13, 2014 by itsuptome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhnomKhnom Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 USA State Dept language school for Thai is 8 hrs a day for 5 day week for 9 months. This includes some treatment of Thai culture and living situations and Thai history. Most real language instruction includes the culture because of the strong tie between culture and language. Thai is very difficult to learn and repetition over closely spaced lessons is the educationally sound way to go. That means the student should be learning spoken Thai by oral practice daily three to five hours a day. Writing and reading is more of private, individual study, must accompany oral practice, and to expect success in six months to a year, no less. Any other time demands less that that is just token. A real language educator would say ridiculous for less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paz Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 USA State Dept language school for Thai is 8 hrs a day for 5 day week for 9 months. This includes some treatment of Thai culture and living situations and Thai history. Most real language instruction includes the culture because of the strong tie between culture and language. Thai is very difficult to learn and repetition over closely spaced lessons is the educationally sound way to go. That means the student should be learning spoken Thai by oral practice daily three to five hours a day. Writing and reading is more of private, individual study, must accompany oral practice, and to expect success in six months to a year, no less. Any other time demands less that that is just token. A real language educator would say ridiculous for less. Good for the US state Dept, the purpose of that is, I suppose, well paid diplomatic/official work. Nothing to do with setting reasonable schedules of private, voluntary education, that has to accommodate students of all ages, backgrounds and objectives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggt Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Started off with the turn around in/out visa runners...now the noose tightens around other visa abuses...the New Thailand...enjoy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdlancaster Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I think the difference between thebstate department school and learning in thailand is I don't need to be in class 5 hours a day for immersion training. I did that in france for french and it exhausted me..many students just stop listening after the 3rd hour. .. maybe im wrong but I believe the state department learns in D.C. and... of course you are getting paid to learn.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsuptome Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 How is the noose tightening exactly? Sensationalist Thaivisa headlines do not a tightening make. The 90 day ED visa thing has been around for a long time. The 8 hours a week has too, as a possible future policy floated by the MoE that my school said was not even close to happening. This 25 hours a week thing is a troll, a wind-up, or a wild misunderstanding. At the end of the day I'm not really sure what is tightening up. Seems like nothing except the 30 day run. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardThailand Posted August 13, 2014 Author Share Posted August 13, 2014 (edited) How is the noose tightening exactly? Sensationalist Thaivisa headlines do not a tightening make. The 90 day ED visa thing has been around for a long time. The 8 hours a week has too, as a possible future policy floated by the MoE that my school said was not even close to happening. This 25 hours a week thing is a troll, a wind-up, or a wild misunderstanding. At the end of the day I'm not really sure what is tightening up. Seems like nothing except the 30 day run. The 25 hour thing is NOT a troll or a wind-up. Anything can be misunderstood but it seems to me that it's difficult to misunderstand being told something as simple as the 5 hours a day and 5 days a week. A new price was also mentioned to my friend but I did not include this. The price was around 3 times what people are paying now. Anyway I do agree that there seems to be total confusion. All I am doing here is relating what I was told by a reliable friend and asking what others have been told. I guess the day is fast approaching when we will all find out for sure. Edited August 13, 2014 by RichardThailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendywire Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Troll or not it's completely unfounded either way. This people is the problem with this forum. The comments get out of hand and people actually believe what they're writing as gospel. I didn't believe the keyboard warriors before and I don't now. The old saying of I'll believe the organ grinder rather than the keyboard monkeys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigman Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 My school still thinks I don't need to leave the country until next year haha, but if this is true, 5 hours a day 5 days a week, goodbye Thailand. That is overkill, 8 hours spread across 2 days is fine, I am already at a point where I don't even speak English anymore but that amount of time is ridiculous. Personally. ..i think it is a joke.! I would like to see this fellow (who will decide to put something so stupid ..in life)to spend 5 hoirs a day learning English hehehe. I can bet that he will need mental institution after 6 month of learning. I just refuse to believe in such nonsense. Even in schools around the world student should not be spending more then 90 min. in the same subject because thus start to work backward. .. Yes...it is not just ridiculous. ..It is stupid. Of course it can be another excuse to say to us goodbye. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monk213 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 My school still thinks I don't need to leave the country until next year haha, but if this is true, 5 hours a day 5 days a week, goodbye Thailand. That is overkill, 8 hours spread across 2 days is fine, I am already at a point where I don't even speak English anymore but that amount of time is ridiculous. Personally. ..i think it is a joke.! I would like to see this fellow (who will decide to put something so stupid ..in life)to spend 5 hoirs a day learning English hehehe. I can bet that he will need mental institution after 6 month of learning. I just refuse to believe in such nonsense. Even in schools around the world student should not be spending more then 90 min. in the same subject because thus start to work backward. .. Yes...it is not just ridiculous. ..It is stupid. Of course it can be another excuse to say to us goodbye. I forget the study now and probably cannot source it, but there is a clear cut off point on average where there is a huge drop off in a persons attention span and thus information not being stored. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiggiCM Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 I dont know how all the time bring up this nonsense, 25 hours per week even not have a university student with different subjects, I guess you sit in a bar with some beer already and decide to see on what train the TV members jump all the timne, I will start a treat, a friend of mine was told by Immigration officer that back to back Visa runner will be shot directly at the borde if they have more than 4 stamps in passport, For sure a lot of people willask here it is true and some will even write, yes this backpackers deserved it, How can all this nonsense treat be opend here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokke66 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Isn't the point of an ED visa purely to learn the subject matter, not as a means of staying in Thailand ? If the new rule, as it may be according to "ubonjoe" is to be 8 hours per week then really its just still allowing it to remain as a way to stay for many. If Immigration enforce testing, unless the questions asked etc are totally random and at the individual officers discretion, they will produce a standard set of questions and tasks to perform, reading, writing and question answering to ensure consistency, a lack of which has been widely debated on T.V. The schools will then teach their students to pass based on this standard, rather than teach the actual subject in its entirety. 15 hours per week as a minimum would ensure that it was really primarily for people to learn, combined with rigorous checking of attendance records. Anything less than 15 hours (3 hours per day, 5 days per week or other combination) is not tackling an issue which they profess a desire to do. I have no issue with people who use/misuse ED visas, not my business - just with the idea of a crackdown that is not really one. Speaking for myself, I know that 3 hrs a day 5 days a week will fry my brain, and work opposite to Your intention. Still speaking for myself, as there brighter brains out there than mine, I think 4 hrs a week would do fine for me, and 8 hrs may be on the edge of whats usefull. Of course in addition to the 4 or 8 hrs a week at the school, its obvious that it takes a lot of homework. To me the Thai language is so different from both my native language and english that I believe its lots of work and repetition to have it sink in, but long school ours would most likely just give me a major headacke and no gain. This is my honest opinion no matter how many flame me :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickmanchester2 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 i went to school today with my brand new ed visa and my hours are as follows tuesday and thursday 12-2pm They asked me if I wanted to go in for first lesson tomorrow, but as I still had jet lag, they said tuesday is fine. There will be tests every 3 months at immigration and also you need a pic of yourself in your house/apartment whatever and also a pic with your teacher. 2nd year of the visa, you will have to leave thailand to Laos or somewhere to get a new ed visa 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post falkan Posted August 13, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted August 13, 2014 beautiful a whole new generation of farangs speaking thai fluently, wait a couple of years and thais will regret this hahah..... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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