Will Thailand ever create a reading culture?

[tim armstrong]

I love everything about books, their smell when new, the layout and of course reading. But at 65 I was brought up in an age of reading. New digital technologies are an inevitable evolution from the printed page. I will adapt as best I can, but will always prefer a book. Thais mostly will adapt to the digital change - and that's ok, it's just progress. more worrying is the use of language and the abbreviation of words like c u instead of see you. i hope that remains on phones only.

[Gecko123]

Even though the OP predicted people would make such posts, I'm sorry I just can't resist: My 16 yr old step-daughter can read Thai faster than I can read English.

I don't think any 'reading culture' problems in Thailand are related to the complexity of the written language. I believe it has more to do with Thailand being a poor agrarian society than anything else, and this is changing over time as Thailand moves to a manufacturing/information based economy.

As difficult as Thai is for Westerners to master, there are plenty of other languages which provide equal or greater challenges to master. Japanese has three separate alphabets and Chinese has upwards of 80,000 characters. If written language complexity were a major determinant of whether a country has a 'reading culture' problem, one would expect to see problems in these countries as well. Also, please don't forget that English has plenty of its own idiosyncracies such as non-standard pronunciation and spelling.

As well-intentioned as the OP may be, his ideas about how to 'improve' the Thai language seem to revolve around how to make it more like English.

Speaking personally, I hope that day never comes to pass.

[GuestHouse]

I recall very well from the time the little GH's were toddlers long discussions on BBC Radio 4 and in the broadsheets on the accelerating decline in reading amongst the young. What should the Government do? Are our schools failing our youth? What can parents possibly do? Are computers and video games forcing young people away from books? Angst ridden, politicians, educators, parents and more than a few kids being over analysed.

I recall too, and still have, the required reading list Mrs GH and I assembled for our children, the books we felt we wanted them to read at various stages of their development and that we ensured were packed along with the household essentials as we were assigned to different locations around the world. Our hope of course that our children would buck the trend and be avid readers.

Then out of the blue it all changed again - as it always does.

Along came someone called J K Rowling with tales of magic, wizards, witches and ignited reading amongst the young.

Of course BBC Radio 4 and the broadsheets where then filled with angst ridden discussion on 'is this appropriate reading' - but reading it was and it has sparked a culture of reading amongst that whole generation of young people, not just in the UK but across the world.

Again, take a look in Thai book stores, lots of literature, Thai and foreign translated into Thai, lots of Thai people browsing and buying these books.

[CaptHaddock]

The OP's post is a good example of a barstool opinion based on no knowledge at all. It is beyond ludicrous that the OP thinks that written Thai is especially difficult to read and therefore the cause of what he takes to be low levels of reading in the society. Chinese and Japanese are both languages whose writing systems are vastly more difficult to master than any alphabetic language including Thai. And what's more, neither Chinese nor Japanese use spaces between words to increase legibility. (Uniform spaces around each character = no spaces between words since a word is not necessarily a single character.) If Thais read less, and it looks to me that they do if only because of the absence of bookstores even around universities, then there are other, probably social and historical, reasons for it. The OP is ridiculously generalizing from the fact that HE finds reading Thai to be difficult, a fact which explains nothing more than his low level of education in Thai.

The OP should read more and philosophize less, in my opinion.

[Sayonarax]

Is reading forums classed as reading, since most people write in lazy English?

No grammar and missed used words like 'Your and You're'..

I really wish Thai's used the roman alphabet like the Malays. It so much easier!

[Chonburiram]

I recall very well from the time the little GH's were toddlers long discussions on BBC Radio 4 and in the broadsheets on the accelerating decline in reading amongst the young. What should the Government do? Are our schools failing our youth? What can parents possibly do? Are computers and video games forcing young people away from books? Angst ridden, politicians, educators, parents and more than a few kids being over analysed.

I recall too, and still have, the required reading list Mrs GH and I assembled for our children, the books we felt we wanted them to read at various stages of their development and that we ensured were packed along with the household essentials as we were assigned to different locations around the world. Our hope of course that our children would buck the trend and be avid readers.

Then out of the blue it all changed again - as it always does.

Along came someone called J K Rowling with tales of magic, wizards, witches and ignited reading amongst the young.

Of course BBC Radio 4 and the broadsheets where then filled with angst ridden discussion on 'is this appropriate reading' - but reading it was and it has sparked a culture of reading amongst that whole generation of young people, not just in the UK but across the world.

Again, take a look in Thai book stores, lots of literature, Thai and foreign translated into Thai, lots of Thai people browsing and buying these books.

Oh, dear!

How could i forget Harry Potter?

Leaving the house for more than 12h without the collected works of Rowling would have been a major catastrophe.

The daughter bought once the English version of a "Harry Potter" bec the Thai version was published too slow...

Anyway, she didn't enjoy it that much - reading for pleasure (as a kid) is best done in your mother tongue.

Btw, the layout of the Thai "Harry Potter" is nice and readable.

[Nepal4me]

Actually Willy, we don't disagree. I acknowledge that there are exceptions, in fact many of them. It's great that you and your wife have picked up reading.

I was only offering comments on the Thai level of reading and my experience in seeing how children pick it up. I have seen Thai kids learn to read Thai here in Bangkok and my kids learn here. I can see that my kids, like other English schooled kids can read at a much higher level than the Thai kids. My Geronimo Stilton example stands. It is a fact, learning the Thai script with all it's rules takes some years longer than in English to be able to read at a level of Year 4 books. You are lucky, you and your wife grew into reading. Regardless, there is a reason the kids are taught to read read read as soon as they are able.

Both Japanese alphabets are approximately as simple as the English alphabet. Obviously Chinese, which they use to a much lesser extent in Japan is another animal altogether. But as mentioned before, there is a lot of logic to the Chinese language, i.e. a root based language.

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!

[T_Dog]

If you have someone interested in reading English books, look into the Oxford series of English books at book stores like the one in Pantip Plaza in Chiang Mai. They have different levels, and my wife devoured the collection they had. Currently working on the 14 year old step son but it seems more of a forced march at this point. Hoping that the fire lights.

[sustento]

Actually Willy, we don't disagree. I acknowledge that there are exceptions, in fact many of them. It's great that you and your wife have picked up reading.

I was only offering comments on the Thai level of reading and my experience in seeing how children pick it up. I have seen Thai kids learn to read Thai here in Bangkok and my kids learn here. I can see that my kids, like other English schooled kids can read at a much higher level than the Thai kids. My Geronimo Stilton example stands. It is a fact, learning the Thai script with all it's rules takes some years longer than in English to be able to read at a level of Year 4 books. You are lucky, you and your wife grew into reading. Regardless, there is a reason the kids are taught to read read read as soon as they are able.

Both Japanese alphabets are approximately as simple as the English alphabet. Obviously Chinese, which they use to a much lesser extent in Japan is another animal altogether.

Not according to wiki

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