Will Thailand ever create a reading culture?

[Nepal4me]

I've lived here in Thailand for many years and have watched kids grow and learn to read, my kids and others. It's really very sad that Thai kids for the most part will never become readers and don't have a script that is easy for a child to learn.

Reading is not just difficult for foreigners, it's difficult for Thais too when they are young. The Thai script is complicated at best. 44 (42 active) consonants and 32 vowels (more or less depending on who you talk to). Many of the consonants are redundant, there is no separation between words, the tones are derived from letter order, class of consonant and tone markers.

If you read about what it takes to make a reader, in the West they say if a child is not reading by themselves by 5 or 6 at the latest, they will never become readers. We have Dolch sight words that 4 year olds should be able to read, another level for 5 year olds, 6 year olds etc. In Thai, you could say they have an equivalent but it's really basic even by the time they are 7 years old. What happens is Thai kids only are able to read more or less fully by the time they are 8 - 10 years of age, usually closer to 10. The level of reading for an English child of 8 years of age compared to a Thai child is hugely different. Thai kids miss that window of opportunity, they don't fully learn to read until they're beyond the age where reading gets instilled and lifelong readers are created.

There are exceptions and some Thai kids can read well by the time they are 6 but those are exceptions to the rule. I know some posters will say, "my kid can read well and he is 5" but that is anecdotal and is not the normal case.

I've watched my kids grow up here and can see how hard Thai is. My kids go to an English school so obviously that's a big advantage in reading English but my wife spends a lot of time teaching them to read Thai. They are fairly good at it because we have a reasonably structured home learning environment, they're below their Thai school friend's level, still respectable but they're light years ahead in reading English.

Even the material that is available seems not to the right age. 7 and 8 year olds love reading Geronimo Stilton books, there is nothing in Thai reading that is along those lines. By the time kids are able to read Thai, they are already 8 to 10 years old and are not interested in reading Thomas the Tank Engine type books because they are too simple in their story lines.

It seems to me, the only way to fix this is to restructure the written language. Make it a more friendly structure. Drop many of the redundant letters and create spacing between each word would make a huge difference. I'm not suggesting that this will ever happen and this is just a for-fun thought exercise but does anybody know of any academics that have put together a "suggestion" for a more user friendly reading environment?

Any thoughts on how to make the written language easier?

[manarak]

very unlikely - TV and mobile devices are ubiquitous and Thais' brains have not been trained to read.

[krisb]

I do agree spacing between their words would help even me. Its a bloody hard language to learn. Even when you think you get why they use a certain letter, another similar word or way it sounds uses another similar letter. Like kor kwai, kwat, kun. Still confuses me. Why also use a vowel like sela a before a letter like ror rua is also confusing. No wonder kids find it hard. Space the words, and write the letters in the order they sound.

Imagine how the Chinese feel! Now theres a really hard language to learn.

As for reading books, I never notice this, mainly because my daughter is too young to read. Now I will pay attention to that thankyou!

[Costas2008]

OP, my wife's kids at the age of 15 and 16 are experts in reading Comics.

Wham Bam Booooom, that's the only thing they know about.

At this age and still can not read a proper Thai text or book.

They have the will, but not the capability.

Costs me a fortune on books that they never read.

And that is because of the inadequate learning at school.

Still at this age they are their homework consists of making nice posters with different colours with lots of drawings and not enough words.

You are saying about the Thai alphabet being difficult.

What about the Chinese.

More complicated but the kids and adults do like reading.

It's not a matter of making the written language easier, it's more to give these kids better education.

[thailiketoo]

http://mentalfloss.c...ntry-reads-most

Hours reading per week per person

1. India — 10 hours, 42 minutes
2. Thailand — 9:24
3. China — 8:00
4. Philippines — 7:36
5. Egypt — 7:30
6. Czech Republic — 7:24
7. Russia — 7:06
8. Sweden — 6:54
8. France — 6:54
10. Hungary — 6:48
10. Saudi Arabia — 6:48
12. Hong Kong — 6:42
13. Poland — 6:30
14. Venezuela — 6:24
15. South Africa — 6:18
15. Australia — 6:18
17. Indonesia — 6:00
18. Argentina — 5:54
18. Turkey — 5:54
20. Spain — 5:48
20. Canada — 5:48
22. Germany — 5:42
22. USA — 5:42
24. Italy — 5:36
25. Mexico — 5:30
26. U.K. — 5:18
27. Brazil — 5:12
28. Taiwan — 5:00
29. Japan — 4:06
30. Korea — 3:06

[robertthebruce]

I must admit, I ain't a reader also, when it comes to books or articles, I just skim across them, never been a reader, if anyone goes on about a book, I wait for,the film to come out, it's easier and less time consuming..

But that's me..

[thailiketoo]

I do agree spacing between their words would help even me. Its a bloody hard language to learn. Even when you think you get why they use a certain letter, another similar word or way it sounds uses another similar letter. Like kor kwai, kwat, kun. Still confuses me. Why also use a vowel like sela a before a letter like ror rua is also confusing. No wonder kids find it hard. Space the words, and write the letters in the order they sound.

Imagine how the Chinese feel! Now theres a really hard language to learn.

As for reading books, I never notice this, mainly because my daughter is too young to read. Now I will pay attention to that thankyou!

Howsmartdoyouhavetobetofigureoutthatyoudon'tknowpoop?

[krisb]

I do agree spacing between their words would help even me. Its a bloody hard language to learn. Even when you think you get why they use a certain letter, another similar word or way it sounds uses another similar letter. Like kor kwai, kwat, kun. Still confuses me. Why also use a vowel like sela a before a letter like ror rua is also confusing. No wonder kids find it hard. Space the words, and write the letters in the order they sound.

Imagine how the Chinese feel! Now theres a really hard language to learn.

As for reading books, I never notice this, mainly because my daughter is too young to read. Now I will pay attention to that thankyou!

Howsmartdoyouhavetobetofigureoutthatyoudon'tknowpoop?

So whats your point?

Are you trying to be funny or troll me?

[giddyup]

I must admit, I ain't a reader also, when it comes to books or articles, I just skim across them, never been a reader, if anyone goes on about a book, I wait for,the film to come out, it's easier and less time consuming..

But that's me..

I don't think a movie is made for every book that's been written. Books make you think and use your imagination, movies and TV are just chewing gum for the brain.

[JLCrab]

I do agree spacing between their words would help even me. Its a bloody hard language to learn. Even when you think you get why they use a certain letter, another similar word or way it sounds uses another similar letter. Like kor kwai, kwat, kun. Still confuses me. Why also use a vowel like sela a before a letter like ror rua is also confusing. No wonder kids find it hard. Space the words, and write the letters in the order they sound.

Imagine how the Chinese feel! Now theres a really hard language to learn.

As for reading books, I never notice this, mainly because my daughter is too young to read. Now I will pay attention to that thankyou!

Howsmartdoyouhavetobetofigureoutthatyoudon'tknowpoop?

So whats your point?

Are you trying to be funny or troll me?

[thailiketoo]

I do agree spacing between their words would help even me. Its a bloody hard language to learn. Even when you think you get why they use a certain letter, another similar word or way it sounds uses another similar letter. Like kor kwai, kwat, kun. Still confuses me. Why also use a vowel like sela a before a letter like ror rua is also confusing. No wonder kids find it hard. Space the words, and write the letters in the order they sound.

Imagine how the Chinese feel! Now theres a really hard language to learn.

As for reading books, I never notice this, mainly because my daughter is too young to read. Now I will pay attention to that thankyou!

Howsmartdoyouhavetobetofigureoutthatyoudon'tknowpoop?

So whats your point?

Are you trying to be funny or troll me?

You wrote, "I do agree spacing between their words would help even me. Its a bloody hard language to learn."

I wrote, "Howsmartdoyouhavetobetofigureoutthatyoudon'tknowpoop?"

Is it clear now?

[Nepal4me]

Chinese is obviously a completely different system so it's hard to compare to a letter based system like English or Thai. But it has some logic to it, for example "water" will be a root word and then words like "ocean", "river", "lake" will include the root word of "water" but have additional symbols around it. Kids seem to be able to read Chinese, I don't know what level a 6 year old can read Chinese compared to a native English kid.

[tartempion]

OP, I concur.

I am even persuaded that Thais in general lack behind in knowledge because too much time and energy is spent at school in mastering reading and writing, not enough time remains to learn other essential knowledge. Add a few other considerations with negative connotations and we might understand why Thais are not the brightest lot on earth.

I also noticed that raising kids is not thought anywhere on this planet, thus this Thai related problem is secondary really.

I don't think your good suggestions will be implemented any time soon in this country.

In order to remedy somewhat I am pushing our 3,5 young girl to learn our ABC and we read daily from children story books I brought with me, before bedtime. My wife shows her the Thai letters.

I read a lot on my iPad and I gave her an older one, she has English stories she often look at and her favourites are Peppa Pig YouTube stories. She learns new words every day thanks to Peppa Pig.

Maybe the dear general might get some insight in the biggest problem Thailand is facing, but does anyone know?

Not much more I could add to this now.

[katana]

I wouldn't have thought the Thai script is any harder to learn for a Thai child than the English alphabet is for UK/US/AUS kids. There may be 44 consonants, but a lot of them have the same sound. As others have said, Chinese with their 1000s of language characters seem to do ok. The lack of reading in Thailand is more likely cultural, unrelated to the script.
Also, it was my impression that Thai has the advantage that pronunciation is more consistent with spelling than it is in English eg the 5 vowels in English, A E I O U, don't accurately represent all the sounds. Thai with its higher number of vowels gets closer in this respect.

Edited August 25, 2014 by katana

[sustento]

The Bwana Force is strong in this thread Luke.

[Kwasaki]

I must admit, I ain't a reader also, when it comes to books or articles, I just skim across them, never been a reader, if anyone goes on about a book, I wait for,the film to come out, it's easier and less time consuming..

But that's me..

I don't think a movie is made for every book that's been written. Books make you think and use your imagination, movies and TV are just chewing gum for the brain.

That's right not every book, that why every book that's written is not made into a film, books are very boring for some people and I'm one of em, I like a film.

I use to read the bible at one time in my life but it only put me to sleep.

[robertthebruce]

I must admit, I ain't a reader also, when it comes to books or articles, I just skim across them, never been a reader, if anyone goes on about a book, I wait for,the film to come out, it's easier and less time consuming..

But that's me..

I don't think a movie is made for every book that's been written. Books make you think and use your imagination, movies and TV are just chewing gum for the brain.

I hear what you are saying and totally agree, but I admit that I have always hated reading, hated school and studies etc etc, fortunately I am confident and have managed to speak my way in life...

Like I said, it just bores me....

[Chonburiram]

My wive kids started to read Thai from kindergarten, in civilized Thailand, that means from the age of 3... private, unexpensive(?), Thai/Christian school... textbooks were, like Napalm4me suggested, with spaces between every word, like: "The train arrives", " Gaa sees the train arriving", " Gaeo and Gaa waiting for grandfather", " Grandfather arrives by train" and so on...

23 years later, the daughter ( after A LOT OF READING... ) is going to be a medical doctor.

In rural Thailand... bury all your hopes...

[Gringogazzer]

I do agree spacing between their words would help even me. Its a bloody hard language to learn. Even when you think you get why they use a certain letter, another similar word or way it sounds uses another similar letter. Like kor kwai, kwat, kun. Still confuses me. Why also use a vowel like sela a before a letter like ror rua is also confusing. No wonder kids find it hard. Space the words, and write the letters in the order they sound.

Imagine how the Chinese feel! Now theres a really hard language to learn.

As for reading books, I never notice this, mainly because my daughter is too young to read. Now I will pay attention to that thankyou!

Howsmartdoyouhavetobetofigureoutthatyoudon'tknowpoop?

Spaces between the words would speed up the reading process tremendously. The above for an example.

When spaces are there, there is no need for the brain to read the whole word as it reckonizes the shape of the word and anticipates what it is through shape rather than reading it. Thus reading fluently.

When road signs in the UK were 1st produced they worked out that putting the wording all in capitals took the driver longer to distinguish than having a capital with lower case because you don't have to read the whole word with the latter.

BIRMINGHAM

Birmingham

I see Thai people struggling with this aswel. Running their finger along the script trying to distinguish each word. It seems to slow Thai people down, but not quite as much as myself, looking for the vowels.

[sustento]

"Will Thailand ever create a reading culture?"

When will the West ever stop trying to tell the rest of the world that they're doing it all wrong?

[AYJAYDEE]

"Will Thailand ever create a reading culture?"

When will the West ever stop trying to tell the rest of the world that they're doing it all wrong?

I'm gonna start a contest to see who can identify the most ways TV posters can find to look down on thais!

[benalibina]

"Will Thailand ever create a reading culture?"

When will the West ever stop trying to tell the rest of the world that they're doing it all wrong?

I'm gonna start a contest to see who can identify the most ways TV posters can find to look down on thais!

[geronimo]

The difficulty of learning a language is cancelled out if it is the native language. However hard it may seem to us, a native speaker will have no problems learning it. Until you radically reform the Thai ed system, you will not produce readers.

[khunjamesjohnson]

Maybe they would do better if school administrators didn't steal 35% of the budget.

I read that Thailand spends more per student on education than Germany!

Imagine that.

[AYJAYDEE]

Maybe they would do better if school administrators didn't steal 35% of the budget.

I read that Thailand spends more per student on education than Germany!

Imagine that.

http://data.uis.unesco.org/index.aspx?queryid=190

[neverdie]

"Will Thailand ever create a reading culture?"

When will the West ever stop trying to tell the rest of the world that they're doing it all wrong?

I'm gonna start a contest to see who can identify the most ways TV posters can find to look down on thais!

Screenshot_2014-08-25-14-19-49-1.png

?

[willyumiii]

I disagree on one point..and agree on most of your other points.

"If a child is not reading on their own by 5 or 6 years old they will not be a reader"

As a child I hated reading until after I finished school and was no longer required to read.

Now I am an avid reader.

I devour at least 500 pages a week in my spare time reading novels just for enjoyment.

I do agree with your reasons for Thais not enjoying reading.....the structure of the language makes it difficult for everyone.

My wife was never a reader until she learned to read in the English language.

Now like me, she enjoys reading a good novel in English.

I have never seen her read anything in the Thai language for enjoyment.

So, you see, my wife is also proof that you can become a reader after the age of 6!

[casualbiker]

I read somewhere that Laos (a similar language to Thai) realised some time ago that it's language needed updating so they implemented a similar process of rejigging the language.

[casualbiker]

"Will Thailand ever create a reading culture?"

When will the West ever stop trying to tell the rest of the world that they're doing it all wrong?

I'm gonna start a contest to see who can identify the most ways TV posters can find to look down on thais!

Do you both consider reading to be a bad thing!!

[Gecko123]

Maybe they would do better if school administrators didn't steal 35% of the budget.

I read that Thailand spends more per student on education than Germany!

Imagine that.

http://data.uis.unesco.org/index.aspx?queryid=190

Ayjaydee:

Thank you for providing this reference material. Very interesting.