Do Thais really have to learn English in school?

[duanebigsby]

My husband and many of my friends are fluent in English.

None studied overseas.

About 15% of my seniors (=12th grade ) are strong enough to study in regular classes in the US.

Another 40% or so could be in classes in the US in less than a year IF exposed to English more. The rest frankly have little interest. They can function with basic stuff but not complex thinking in a foreign language )

Your students are far ahead of mine if the numbers are right. I'm in Chiang Rai which isn't really touristy yet.

Each year the enthusiasm for learning English from students seems to be increasing though, so I hope it's a positive trend.

[jdinasia]

My husband and many of my friends are fluent in English.

None studied overseas.

About 15% of my seniors (=12th grade ) are strong enough to study in regular classes in the US.

Another 40% or so could be in classes in the US in less than a year IF exposed to English more. The rest frankly have little interest. They can function with basic stuff but not complex thinking in a foreign language )

Your students are far ahead of mine if the numbers are right. I'm in Chiang Rai which isn't really touristy yet.

Each year the enthusiasm for learning English from students seems to be increasing though, so I hope it's a positive trend.

Zero tourism where I am, I just work for one of the most exclusive (elite) schools in the country. The school accepts 1 in every 200 applications to study here. Edited July 7, 2015 by jdinasia

[smotherb]

mike324 said, "Based on first hand experience, if you walk in Bangkok and ask questions on the street you are most likely to meet a Thai who can speak basic English more so than in Seoul, Tokyo, or Taipei. Although I would say Taipei isn't too bad nowadays as many kids can understand the basics, but adults I feel less so compare to Bangkok.

The link you showed proves nothing, and the way they collect data is not a good representation of English abilities of normal folks as its not done by random sampling. The way they collect data is asking folks to take the tests online to see their proficiency level. You can read on the link below why its not give a good refection of English proficiency of a given country.

http://monitor.icef.com/2014/01/global-language-survey-links-english-proficiency-to-economic-and-social-development/

Paragraph below is from the 2nd link you sent talking about how their data was collected.

"We recognize that the test-taking population represented in this index is self-selected and not guaranteed to be representative of the country as a whole. Only those people either wanting to learn English or curious about their English skills will participate in one of these tests. This could skew scores lower or higher than for the general population. In addition, because the tests are online, people without internet access or unused to online applications are automatically excluded. In countries where internet usage is low, the impact is logically the strongest. These biases would tend to skew scores higher than for the general population, excluding poorer, less educated, and less privileged people.""

The passage you quote is a standard caveat for statistical surveys. Certainly, there are potential for skewing statistics. Are you are suggesting your "first hand experience" is a more representative sample? Or, that random sampling is not the accepted statistical norm for large populations?

Please, my first-hand experience says Thailand has less English proficiency than Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, or the Philippines—all of which I have visited recently. Furthermore, my first-hand experience researching Thailand’s English proficiency among Asian nations tells me more viable sources identify Thailand as English deficient in comparison to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan than identify Thailand as English proficient.

[newnative]

Totally agree with the poster regarding Thailand's ranking with other Asian countries. Thailand ranks last in my opinion with the countries that I have visited so far: Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Singapore, Philippines, China, and Japan.

[lostoday]

It is downright dangerous speaking English. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/838667-gen-tawatchai-father-says-son-was-brainwashed-by-a-foreign-organisation/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/838672-thai-schools-told-to-screen-foreign-english-teachers-for-paedophilia/

Brain washers and kiddy fiddlers everywhere. The obvious answer is not have a brain and don't speak English.

Edited July 7, 2015 by lostoday

[gerryBScot]

Immersion Teaching - just doesn't work in relation to learning English at school in Thailand. Now if you are learning French in France or Canada or some other francophone country it makes perfect sense because you are 'surrounded' by that language. So when you hit the streets after class, it is being used in all situations. It makes perfect sense.

People use Immersion Teaching in Thailand to justify what is in fact reprehensible negligence. For example kids are midstreamed, joining a Grade 5 class in a bilingual school as new students. They are put in a class where the majority of the students have been exposed to NES teachers for at least five years; the newcomer is quite literally thrown in and is left to sink or swim. They are abandoned and the nearest thing to support that they will receive is to be sat next to the 'best' student in the class in the hope that some of the latter's magic will rub off. The 'best' student usually resents this 'responsibility' and in keeping with the shabby nature of the whole approach,'best' student doesn't receive any help or support in how to be a 'peer' teacher. In fact their role is very commplex

This is Immersion Teaching as I know it Thai style and it really sets back these unfortunate midstreamed learners.

How is Canada a francophone nation?

If you took immersion French at school in Vancouver you'd never hear it outside of class unless your parents were French, then you wouldn't need immersion.

My point is about the utter uselessness of Immersion anything in Thailand beyond swimming. You probably wouldn't go to Vancouver or Toronto if you wanted to learn French in Canada but if you went to Quebec and Ontario you would have a reasonable chance of an 'immersive' experience. The real point is that most Thai students don't use English outside of the classroom - there is little reinforcing outside school or anything requiring kids to apply what they have learned in school in English in their wider lives.

[thaibeachlovers]

I certainly would have put Singapore at the top, but I'm not sure that it's a 'native language'. Certainly all four languages/races there get equal treatment on the underground announcements, signs, warnings etc. but it takes a few days to wrap your head around "Singlish." Their written English is excellent, even more so if they've attended one of the English based schools.

I was impressed in the Philippines, that so many spoke English, even the lady stall holders.

Whatever, I'm afraid that the average Thai tourist travelling around Asia is going to be left out in the cold. Maybe it's better down in BKK.

English is an "official" language in Singapore, but it is possible to find people that don't speak it.

[thaibeachlovers]

I certainly would have put Singapore at the top, but I'm not sure that it's a 'native language'. Certainly all four languages/races there get equal treatment on the underground announcements, signs, warnings etc. but it takes a few days to wrap your head around "Singlish." Their written English is excellent, even more so if they've attended one of the English based schools.

I was impressed in the Philippines, that so many spoke English, even the lady stall holders.

Whatever, I'm afraid that the average Thai tourist travelling around Asia is going to be left out in the cold. Maybe it's better down in BKK.

I thought Singapore's native language was 'English'?

You are right though, the way they speak is so distinct you could pick it a mile off, not just the suffix lah's lor's, it's the tone and speed.

Phillippines I absolutely agree, they are miles ahead of other Asians. You look around where I have worked the past few years as an expat, the Thai's drive trucks/ cars and maybe get a few in labor, the Filipo's get the better paid office jobs.

Who says it doesn't pay to learn English?

It's not a 'native" language, but it is an "official" language.

Most Singaporeans are Chinese, Malay and Indian, not Europeans of British descent.

[smotherb]

I certainly would have put Singapore at the top, but I'm not sure that it's a 'native language'. Certainly all four languages/races there get equal treatment on the underground announcements, signs, warnings etc. but it takes a few days to wrap your head around "Singlish." Their written English is excellent, even more so if they've attended one of the English based schools.

I was impressed in the Philippines, that so many spoke English, even the lady stall holders.

Whatever, I'm afraid that the average Thai tourist travelling around Asia is going to be left out in the cold. Maybe it's better down in BKK.

English is an "official" language in Singapore, but it is possible to find people that don't speak it.

You can find people who don't speak English in London too.

[thaibeachlovers]

I certainly would have put Singapore at the top, but I'm not sure that it's a 'native language'. Certainly all four languages/races there get equal treatment on the underground announcements, signs, warnings etc. but it takes a few days to wrap your head around "Singlish." Their written English is excellent, even more so if they've attended one of the English based schools.

I was impressed in the Philippines, that so many spoke English, even the lady stall holders.

Whatever, I'm afraid that the average Thai tourist travelling around Asia is going to be left out in the cold. Maybe it's better down in BKK.

English is an "official" language in Singapore, but it is possible to find people that don't speak it.

You can find people who don't speak English in London too.

We used to have a few that couldn't speak English coming in for elective operations at the hospital I worked at in London- but they were scamming the system and just flying in to get free operations.

We weren't allowed to ask if they actually qualified for NHS treatment- well done New labour! No wonder the NHS is broke.

[Robert24]

I certainly would have put Singapore at the top, but I'm not sure that it's a 'native language'. Certainly all four languages/races there get equal treatment on the underground announcements, signs, warnings etc. but it takes a few days to wrap your head around "Singlish." Their written English is excellent, even more so if they've attended one of the English based schools.

I was impressed in the Philippines, that so many spoke English, even the lady stall holders.

Whatever, I'm afraid that the average Thai tourist travelling around Asia is going to be left out in the cold. Maybe it's better down in BKK.

English is an "official" language in Singapore, but it is possible to find people that don't speak it.

All Singaporeans speak English. If you run into someone in Singapore that doesn't speak English, it will be a foreigner.

[Phatcharanan]

Based on first hand experience, if you walk in Bangkok and ask questions on the street you are most likely to meet a Thai who can speak basic English more so than in Seoul, Tokyo, or Taipei. Although I would say Taipei isn't too bad nowadays as many kids can understand the basics, but adults I feel less so compare to Bangkok.

Your 'first hand experience' in Bangkok is hardly reflective of the bigger picture.

You would only have to look at the latest PISA and TIMSS results to fully understand.

[Somsak1782]

Do Thais really have to learn English in school?

Actually, no. We don't need English in everyday life and most of students learn English for final exam only. Once finishing high school, all knowlege vanish

It's not necessary except for students who want to work in customer service, foreign business. Even CEOs in some business their English isn't that good but they can hire translator to handle the task for them.

[fiddlehead]

in the west students study french, spanish, german etc and I've never found them to be able to speak it after graduation. just another pathetic thai bash I suppose.

who studies french???

Many kids in the state of Maine study French as Maine borders Quebec, a French speaking province of Canada.

[thaibeachlovers]

I certainly would have put Singapore at the top, but I'm not sure that it's a 'native language'. Certainly all four languages/races there get equal treatment on the underground announcements, signs, warnings etc. but it takes a few days to wrap your head around "Singlish." Their written English is excellent, even more so if they've attended one of the English based schools.

I was impressed in the Philippines, that so many spoke English, even the lady stall holders.

Whatever, I'm afraid that the average Thai tourist travelling around Asia is going to be left out in the cold. Maybe it's better down in BKK.

English is an "official" language in Singapore, but it is possible to find people that don't speak it.

All Singaporeans speak English. If you run into someone in Singapore that doesn't speak English, it will be a foreigner.

LOL. Have you ever been to the far north of the island? There are some old people there that probably lived in kampongs before they built new highrises on them that never learnt other than their local language. Not everyone in Singapore is a cool trendy.

[newnative]

_{I think Somsak1782 is rather short-sighted when he says Thais don't really need to know English except for those working in "customer service or foreign business". There are a huge number of jobs that fall under customer service and foreign business. If you are interacting in any job-related capacity with a foreigner you are doing "foreign business". Almost any business has customer service. The problem now is that most of these positions are staffed by Thais with little English. So, service is not good. And, that's not good for Thailand in the long run. If Thai students are immediately losing their English skills when they graduate, I suspect they probably did not learn much to begin with. In an earlier post I mentioned that Thai students at elementary age likely don't know what they will want to be doing as a job when they graduate so it's important they learn English from the start. The flip side to this is that it's hard to say now what will be the hot, in-demand jobs 15 or 20 years from now--but it's likely a good percentage will involve using English as the World gets smaller and more connected.}

[huawei]

It's an imperative. What an ignorant question.

[DavisH]

_{I think Somsak1782 is rather short-sighted when he says Thais don't really need to know English except for those working in "customer service or foreign business". There are a huge number of jobs that fall under customer service and foreign business. If you are interacting in any job-related capacity with a foreigner you are doing "foreign business". Almost any business has customer service. The problem now is that most of these positions are staffed by Thais with little English. So, service is not good. And, that's not good for Thailand in the long run. If Thai students are immediately losing their English skills when they graduate, I suspect they probably did not learn much to begin with. In an earlier post I mentioned that Thai students at elementary age likely don't know what they will want to be doing as a job when they graduate so it's important they learn English from the start. The flip side to this is that it's hard to say now what will be the hot, in-demand jobs 15 or 20 years from now--but it's likely a good percentage will involve using English as the World gets smaller and more connected.}

I still have M6 students, only a few months from graduation, who still don't know what they want to do! The math/science students just knew they didn't want to do Chinese or French at M4 level. Not knowing english will severely limit job opportunities for many students in the future, especially those that have anything to do with technology/sciences/international trade or tourism. Many students are not losing just their english school after they graduate. It also applies to many other subjects where schools/MoE focus on passing multiple choice exams, rather than assessing real understanding of the content. The MoE once tried open-ended questions on National tests. Many students scored zero. They could not produce a single idea on a whole paper. So they went back to the trusty multi-choice questions. They could at least get 25% by guessing, and that is about the average score in maths/science across the country

[duanebigsby]

_{I think Somsak1782 is rather short-sighted when he says Thais don't really need to know English except for those working in "customer service or foreign business". There are a huge number of jobs that fall under customer service and foreign business. If you are interacting in any job-related capacity with a foreigner you are doing "foreign business". Almost any business has customer service. The problem now is that most of these positions are staffed by Thais with little English. So, service is not good. And, that's not good for Thailand in the long run. If Thai students are immediately losing their English skills when they graduate, I suspect they probably did not learn much to begin with. In an earlier post I mentioned that Thai students at elementary age likely don't know what they will want to be doing as a job when they graduate so it's important they learn English from the start. The flip side to this is that it's hard to say now what will be the hot, in-demand jobs 15 or 20 years from now--but it's likely a good percentage will involve using English as the World gets smaller and more connected.}

I still have M6 students, only a few months from graduation, who still don't know what they want to do! The math/science students just knew they didn't want to do Chinese or French at M4 level. Not knowing english will severely limit job opportunities for many students in the future, especially those that have anything to do with technology/sciences/international trade or tourism. Many students are not losing just their english school after they graduate. It also applies to many other subjects where schools/MoE focus on passing multiple choice exams, rather than assessing real understanding of the content. The MoE once tried open-ended questions on National tests. Many students scored zero. They could not produce a single idea on a whole paper. So they went back to the trusty multi-choice questions. They could at least get 25% by guessing, and that is about the average score in maths/science across the country

I agree with everything you say except, "I still have M6 students, only a few months from graduation, who still don't know what they want to do!"

That is true for many students around the world. Life goals change, all the more reason to learn English.

I didn't know what I was I was going to do and I talked to my dad a Ph.D. in Education and he said " I'm 55 and I don't know what I'm doing next either! Don't worry it will come and you're well-rounded."

Education should prepare you to be able to make changes in your life choices, and I think a Thai student who has learned English will be far better equipped to decide for themselves.

[thaibeachlovers]

_{I think Somsak1782 is rather short-sighted when he says Thais don't really need to know English except for those working in "customer service or foreign business". There are a huge number of jobs that fall under customer service and foreign business. If you are interacting in any job-related capacity with a foreigner you are doing "foreign business". Almost any business has customer service. The problem now is that most of these positions are staffed by Thais with little English. So, service is not good. And, that's not good for Thailand in the long run. If Thai students are immediately losing their English skills when they graduate, I suspect they probably did not learn much to begin with. In an earlier post I mentioned that Thai students at elementary age likely don't know what they will want to be doing as a job when they graduate so it's important they learn English from the start. The flip side to this is that it's hard to say now what will be the hot, in-demand jobs 15 or 20 years from now--but it's likely a good percentage will involve using English as the World gets smaller and more connected.}

I still have M6 students, only a few months from graduation, who still don't know what they want to do! The math/science students just knew they didn't want to do Chinese or French at M4 level. Not knowing english will severely limit job opportunities for many students in the future, especially those that have anything to do with technology/sciences/international trade or tourism. Many students are not losing just their english school after they graduate. It also applies to many other subjects where schools/MoE focus on passing multiple choice exams, rather than assessing real understanding of the content. The MoE once tried open-ended questions on National tests. Many students scored zero. They could not produce a single idea on a whole paper. So they went back to the trusty multi-choice questions. They could at least get 25% by guessing, and that is about the average score in maths/science across the country

I agree with everything you say except, "I still have M6 students, only a few months from graduation, who still don't know what they want to do!"

That is true for many students around the world. Life goals change, all the more reason to learn English.

I didn't know what I was I was going to do and I talked to my dad a Ph.D. in Education and he said " I'm 55 and I don't know what I'm doing next either! Don't worry it will come and you're well-rounded."

Education should prepare you to be able to make changes in your life choices, and I think a Thai student who has learned English will be far better equipped to decide for themselves.

I agree that education SHOULD prepare you to make life changes. Unfortunately the wishy washy PC no fail education that western countries now appear to have is not going to prepare students for real life, unless sticking your face in a phone all day talking to imaginary friends is going to be real life.

School when I went was pretty hard- they caned us for almost anything and life was regimented, but I was able to have 3 completely different careers in my life.

I agree with your last sentence after the comma.

[tartempion]

Do Thais really have to learn English in school?

Actually, no. We don't need English in everyday life and most of students learn English for final exam only. Once finishing high school, all knowlege vanish

It's not necessary except for students who want to work in customer service, foreign business. Even CEOs in some business their English isn't that good but they can hire translator to handle the task for them.

Yes, totally useless, same as reading, driving and thinking.

[lostoday]

Do Thais really have to learn English in school?

Actually, no. We don't need English in everyday life and most of students learn English for final exam only. Once finishing high school, all knowlege vanish

It's not necessary except for students who want to work in customer service, foreign business. Even CEOs in some business their English isn't that good but they can hire translator to handle the task for them.

Yes, totally useless, same as reading, driving and thinking.

There are thousands of Thai book stores in Thailand; one or two at every mall. If Thais don't read who buys all those books?

[DavisH]

_{I think Somsak1782 is rather short-sighted when he says Thais don't really need to know English except for those working in "customer service or foreign business". There are a huge number of jobs that fall under customer service and foreign business. If you are interacting in any job-related capacity with a foreigner you are doing "foreign business". Almost any business has customer service. The problem now is that most of these positions are staffed by Thais with little English. So, service is not good. And, that's not good for Thailand in the long run. If Thai students are immediately losing their English skills when they graduate, I suspect they probably did not learn much to begin with. In an earlier post I mentioned that Thai students at elementary age likely don't know what they will want to be doing as a job when they graduate so it's important they learn English from the start. The flip side to this is that it's hard to say now what will be the hot, in-demand jobs 15 or 20 years from now--but it's likely a good percentage will involve using English as the World gets smaller and more connected.}

I still have M6 students, only a few months from graduation, who still don't know what they want to do! The math/science students just knew they didn't want to do Chinese or French at M4 level. Not knowing english will severely limit job opportunities for many students in the future, especially those that have anything to do with technology/sciences/international trade or tourism. Many students are not losing just their english school after they graduate. It also applies to many other subjects where schools/MoE focus on passing multiple choice exams, rather than assessing real understanding of the content. The MoE once tried open-ended questions on National tests. Many students scored zero. They could not produce a single idea on a whole paper. So they went back to the trusty multi-choice questions. They could at least get 25% by guessing, and that is about the average score in maths/science across the country

I agree with everything you say except, "I still have M6 students, only a few months from graduation, who still don't know what they want to do!"

That is true for many students around the world. Life goals change, all the more reason to learn English.

I didn't know what I was I was going to do and I talked to my dad a Ph.D. in Education and he said " I'm 55 and I don't know what I'm doing next either! Don't worry it will come and you're well-rounded."

Education should prepare you to be able to make changes in your life choices, and I think a Thai student who has learned English will be far better equipped to decide for themselves.

I agree with you, in the sense that we do actually change our careers many times during our lives. I'm not doing now, what I studied my PhD for. I have some useful skills though, and I think that is the main thing. Students should learn to gain generic skills during school that can be applied across the board. Learning english is one of those skills that could be applied in many careers. If I had my way, I'd send the m6 graduates out to do basic work in a variety of fields even before they started university. One of my graduates (who already has a degree) went on a 2 year cruise around the world doing volunteer work in poor countries, particularly in Africa. I didn't believe the change in her. She is so well adjusted now and that experience has led her to understand what she wants to do with her life from now on. In contrast, another has changed degrees several times as she starts one, does if for a year, then drops out.

[mike324]

mike324 said, "Based on first hand experience, if you walk in Bangkok and ask questions on the street you are most likely to meet a Thai who can speak basic English more so than in Seoul, Tokyo, or Taipei. Although I would say Taipei isn't too bad nowadays as many kids can understand the basics, but adults I feel less so compare to Bangkok.

The link you showed proves nothing, and the way they collect data is not a good representation of English abilities of normal folks as its not done by random sampling. The way they collect data is asking folks to take the tests online to see their proficiency level. You can read on the link below why its not give a good refection of English proficiency of a given country.

http://monitor.icef.com/2014/01/global-language-survey-links-english-proficiency-to-economic-and-social-development/

Paragraph below is from the 2nd link you sent talking about how their data was collected.

"We recognize that the test-taking population represented in this index is self-selected and not guaranteed to be representative of the country as a whole. Only those people either wanting to learn English or curious about their English skills will participate in one of these tests. This could skew scores lower or higher than for the general population. In addition, because the tests are online, people without internet access or unused to online applications are automatically excluded. In countries where internet usage is low, the impact is logically the strongest. These biases would tend to skew scores higher than for the general population, excluding poorer, less educated, and less privileged people.""

The passage you quote is a standard caveat for statistical surveys. Certainly, there are potential for skewing statistics. Are you are suggesting your "first hand experience" is a more representative sample? Or, that random sampling is not the accepted statistical norm for large populations?

Please, my first-hand experience says Thailand has less English proficiency than Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, or the Philippines—all of which I have visited recently. Furthermore, my first-hand experience researching Thailand’s English proficiency among Asian nations tells me more viable sources identify Thailand as English deficient in comparison to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan than identify Thailand as English proficient.

Again, its not that I don't trust surveys, its just the way it was carried out is not a good representation of the population. And on the note of internet usage, it specifically states that more developed Asian countries are connected to the internet, which also skews the result of the survey. With so much variables out there, the survey is not a good representation of English speaking abilities of folks you encounter in the city.

"Only those people either wanting to learn English or curious about their English skills will participate in one of these tests. This could skew scores lower or higher than for the general population. In addition, because the tests are online, people without internet access or unused to online applications are automatically excluded. In countries where internet usage is low, the impact is logically the strongest"

I don't see why you keep on bringing Singapore. Malaysia, and Philippines, when English is pretty much their mother tongue and shouldn't be compared.

[mike324]

The passage you quote is a standard caveat for statistical surveys. Certainly, there are potential for skewing statistics. Are you are suggesting your "first hand experience" is a more representative sample? Or, that random sampling is not the accepted statistical norm for large populations?

Please, my first-hand experience says Thailand has less English proficiency than Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, or the Philippines—all of which I have visited recently. Furthermore, my first-hand experience researching Thailand’s English proficiency among Asian nations tells me more viable sources identify Thailand as English deficient in comparison to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan than identify Thailand as English proficient.

Also I don't feel like this is consider as a "random sampling" of the population. Its more of a random sampling of "folks who wants to learn English".

And from the very beginning I say if you compare people you run into in the city, you are more likely to find Thais who are more proficient at English than other Asian countries. But if you are comparing the nation as a whole, I do agree that Thailand ranks pretty low.

[Ballbearing]

How many of you advocating compulsory English in Thai schools are doing it for valid reasons and how many are selfish ones ? - too lazy to learn Thai so better if all the Thais learn English !

Why is it called the "Land of Smiles" ? - because the majority of Thai people are happy with their lives the way they are now.

Roughly 80% of Thailand is rural so that means a bucket load of farmers - why would they or their children be interested in English ?

I live in Isaan and as a hypothetical example - you have 100 children at school and they all "supposedly" learn English.

95 of the 100 couldn't give a toss about English and 5 (probably farang children) actually try and learn.

How does the English teacher have any enthusiasm when 95% of his/her class are not the slightest bit interested ?

How do the 5% get ahead if they are dragged down by the rest.

IMHO English should be an optional subject and that way the teaching resources could go where they are needed and those who want to learn can do so,

Cheers,

BB

[kaorop]

How many of you advocating compulsory English in Thai schools are doing it for valid reasons and how many are selfish ones ? - too lazy to learn Thai so better if all the Thais learn English !

Why is it called the "Land of Smiles" ? - because the majority of Thai people are happy with their lives the way they are now.

Roughly 80% of Thailand is rural so that means a bucket load of farmers - why would they or their children be interested in English ?

I live in Isaan and as a hypothetical example - you have 100 children at school and they all "supposedly" learn English.

95 of the 100 couldn't give a toss about English and 5 (probably farang children) actually try and learn.

How does the English teacher have any enthusiasm when 95% of his/her class are not the slightest bit interested ?

How do the 5% get ahead if they are dragged down by the rest.

IMHO English should be an optional subject and that way the teaching resources could go where they are needed and those who want to learn can do so,

Cheers,

BB

I guess you dont understand that learning a second language improves overall intelligence, like learning a musical instrument.

Very strange opinion in that first paragraph...."to lazy to learn" really? 5555 thats a joke right?

Then, to go on, how would you know 95% are not interested?

Palease, stop making things up.

[thaibeachlovers]

How many of you advocating compulsory English in Thai schools are doing it for valid reasons and how many are selfish ones ? - too lazy to learn Thai so better if all the Thais learn English !

Why is it called the "Land of Smiles" ? - because the majority of Thai people are happy with their lives the way they are now.

Roughly 80% of Thailand is rural so that means a bucket load of farmers - why would they or their children be interested in English ?

I live in Isaan and as a hypothetical example - you have 100 children at school and they all "supposedly" learn English.

95 of the 100 couldn't give a toss about English and 5 (probably farang children) actually try and learn.

How does the English teacher have any enthusiasm when 95% of his/her class are not the slightest bit interested ?

How do the 5% get ahead if they are dragged down by the rest.

IMHO English should be an optional subject and that way the teaching resources could go where they are needed and those who want to learn can do so,

Cheers,

BB

So, why did I have to learn French and Latin at school- neither of which have been of any use to me? In fact I learned nothing in school that was of any use in my 3 careers, except English and maths

To pick on what you wrote- IMO Thailand is now no longer a land of smiles- I live in a Thai town- NO expats except about 3 I've seen on occasion, and hardly anyone smiles.

Rural Thailand probably loses it's children as soon as they finish school and can get on a bus to a city. It's BORING in the Thai countryside. So speaking English would be of benefit if they want a job in the hospitality industry.

I know enough Thai for shopping etc and that's all I need 99.9% of the time.

When one goes to a tourist area and the receptionist/ shop assistant doesn't speak English, that is a problem for the business, as the customers will just go elsewhere, or are you suggesting 2 week tourists should have to learn Thai to get a visa?

teaching resources could go where they are needed

Such as?

Everything I learned at school except English and math was a waste of time, yet I learned enough out in the real world to have 3 careers.

IMO you go to school to learn HOW to learn, and how to get on with other people. You can learn what you need for a job later, or at uni.

[Ballbearing]

How many of you advocating compulsory English in Thai schools are doing it for valid reasons and how many are selfish ones ? - too lazy to learn Thai so better if all the Thais learn English !

Why is it called the "Land of Smiles" ? - because the majority of Thai people are happy with their lives the way they are now.

Roughly 80% of Thailand is rural so that means a bucket load of farmers - why would they or their children be interested in English ?

I live in Isaan and as a hypothetical example - you have 100 children at school and they all "supposedly" learn English.

95 of the 100 couldn't give a toss about English and 5 (probably farang children) actually try and learn.

How does the English teacher have any enthusiasm when 95% of his/her class are not the slightest bit interested ?

How do the 5% get ahead if they are dragged down by the rest.

IMHO English should be an optional subject and that way the teaching resources could go where they are needed and those who want to learn can do so,

Cheers,

BB

I guess you dont understand that learning a second language improves overall intelligence, like learning a musical instrument.

Very strange opinion in that first paragraph...."to lazy to learn" really? 5555 thats a joke right?

Then, to go on, how would you know 95% are not interested?

Palease, stop making things up.

I did 2 years of German & French at high school - did it make me more intelligent ? - no, of course not.

I never visited Germany or France and never had the opportunity to converse with a foreigner until well after I had forgotten everything so IMHO it was a complete waste of time.

As for making things up (you do understand what hypothetical means ?)

1 I do 4 hours learning Thai every Saturday morning with the local English teacher.

2 My wife does 2 hours per day voluntary work (hairdressing / beautician) at 5 x different schools in our area.

3 We sponsored 6 x children (5 + our son) to receive 1 hrs additional English teaching per day and 2 of them lasted 1 week and the other 3 were gone after 3 weeks.

4 Last night we had 35 x teachers in our bar/restaurant for their monthly meeting / dinner / drinks.

I think based on the above I have a pretty good understanding of what goes on in Thai rural schools (at least in our area).

Regards,

BB

[newnative]

A few points for BB. Thailand may be 80% rural but only around 40% of the jobs are in agriculture fields. And, what will that percentage be in 15 or 20 years? Why limit a student to a non-English speaking job for the rest of his or her life? If 95% of a class is bored with a subject, look to the quality of the teachers and how the subject is being taught. Learning English can be a FUN subject with the right teacher and curriculum. Now, in regard to your not retaining your foreign languages. Yes, Iike you, I studied French in high school and I didn't retain it much, either. Why? First, I should have started learning it in first grade--high school is way too late. Second, I meet few French speakers in my daily life. It's totally different with English--it's the universal language so you hear it everywhere and read it everywhere. The fact that so many in the World can speak English points to them being able to retain the language once they have learned it--because they use it and are exposed to it on tv, at the movies, and so on. It would help if the Thai government pushed more for learning English, too, and mandated that more tv shows were shown in English and more shows in Thai had both English and Thai subtitles, and more English was used in signage, forms, and at government offices, etc.