Thailand ranks 62nd out of 70 in English skills

[Prbkk]

Unsurprising on one level because no one doubts that it is true; on the other hand a shocking indictment of those with responsibly over a 30 plus year period....politicians, bureaucrats, academics.

In the current political environment it's hard to see things getting better any time soon...more likely vassal state status with China and some crazy plans to teach Russian in the hospitality industry.

It has reached the stage where I can't buy anything vaguely complicated without a translator/personal shopper. My recollection is that was not the case even 20 years ago ( perhaps the purchases were simpler...shoe bigger etc)

[hugh2121]

I wonder where England ranks?

Probably very high as it is a genuine English test as opposed to American.

[Jeremy50]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

And where would you rank? "Must of"? You might mean "must have" or "must've" if you prefer. Sorry for going all grammar police on you, but you're not one to judge others' proficiency in English.

'Sorry for going all grammar police on you' Oh dear.

I am sorry to be such a stickler for correct grammar. It sounds a bit archaic, but if you are going to present yourself as a 'grammar policeman', it's best not to take any chances.

[hugh2121]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

They should have paid someone to be pushed back up the ranking, someone was penny pinching here,

On a more serious note, Thais don't think that acquiring another language is necessary or important

as 90% of them will never ever will have to use another language in their life time...

than come the natural ability to learn foreign language, something the Thais are greatly lacking.....

as 90% of them will never ever will have to use another language in their life time...

Because they don't have the necessary skills or mind set to get a job with a large worldwide company where English is a must for daily international correspondence.

[Laughing Gravy]

More obsessive ranking. Less concern on some organization on ranking and improving English skills at grass root levels are needed.

[hugh2121]

English is just not considered important to the life of the average Thai. I'm shocked to see Indonesia ranks much higher. Where is Laos and Cambodia?

Cambodia is 69/70. Laos isn't included.

Also in the bottom 10 with Thailand and Cambodia are: El Salvador, Qatar, Mongolia, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Libya.

Full list at: http://www.ef.co.uk/epi/

Lao isn't included because french is the second official language for........................ civil servants

If you go once in Laos you will be surprised to see " Poste et Telecommunication " in front of the main post office in Vientiane or " Le Primaire" in front of a school in a village ...

Is Lao not to be a part of ASEAN who have declared that English is to be their official language.

[hugh2121]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

And where would you rank? "Must of"? You might mean "must have" or "must've" if you prefer. Sorry for going all grammar police on you, but you're not one to judge others' proficiency in English.

This is a Thai bashing topic not English bashing, we are allowed to innit?

[Hawk]

Yes the government is right, social media is spreading lies again.

[hugh2121]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

They should have paid someone to be pushed back up the ranking, someone was penny pinching here,

On a more serious note, Thais don't think that acquiring another language is necessary or important

as 90% of them will never ever will have to use another language in their life time...

than come the natural ability to learn foreign language, something the Thais are greatly lacking.....

There are a significant proportion of Thais who speak a second language fluently (e.g. Lao, Khmer or a Chinese dialect). Living on Koh Samui my experience is that many Thais want to improve their English but the education system, rather than their willingness or ability, is letting them down. In fact I find it is the foreigners here who dismay. Very few make any real effort to pick up more than a few basic Thai phrases despite living here and expect Thais in their own country to communicate with them in English.

Whilst I would agree that Thailand has the right to adopt any form of written and spoken language it chooses, more foreigners would try to learn their language if they used written characters the same as most of the rest of the world. It's rather like trying to learn two languages with many of their characters being pronounced the same but you have to use the right one. Thais would also find it easier to learn languages they may need in later life.

[Baerboxer]

I wonder where England ranks?

Considerably higher than Australia, US, Canada, India and Scotland and Wales

[ilostmypassword]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

Usually, I don't nitpick over someone's language usage but you seem to be asking for it. You ought to have written "...must have cheated..."

[TEFLKrabi]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

They should have paid someone to be pushed back up the ranking, someone was penny pinching here,

On a more serious note, Thais don't think that acquiring another language is necessary or important

as 90% of them will never ever will have to use another language in their life time...

than come the natural ability to learn foreign language, something the Thais are greatly lacking.....

I agree with all except the final point. I think many Thais have the ability to learn a foreign language but they have poor teaching and poor motivation. If you look at the Entertainment areas for example. the girls pick up snippets of many different languages and most of them have very little education. Ok, their spoken English or German may not be perfect but we understand them and the key to learning a language is using it and making mistakes so you can learn more.

[ronwparker]

I find this whole thing ridiculous-who tested whom and when.

I am English and I speak the correct English-how can England score below the USA and Australia-who both have corruptions of the English language?

Publish the method and sample chosen to to be even considered!

But I agree about the fact that even university graduates in Thailand speak poor English(and Thai school teachers are worse).

Ron

[Srikcir]

There are 193 member states in the UN. So why only rank 70 countries?

[Krataiboy]

At my Kasikorn branch there is only one staff member who can speak even basic English. The poor girl ends up doing most of the donkey work, as when falangs arrive at the bank they naturally gravitate to her. Yet all the counter staff, she tells me, went to university and "speak English".

This self-deception which believes the lie, as songwriter Lorenz Hart put it in another context, is at the root of Thailand's appallingly low ranking in the English-speaking league table.

The fear of losing face is a major handicap to the Kingdom's social, economic and political development and accounts for many of the problems in Thai society, from an under-performing workforce to one of the worst records for violent crime on the planet.

Thailand throws more money at its educational system than just about any country of equivalent size, yet is clearly not getting the desired result of equipping its citizens with the skills needed to face the challenges of today, let alone tomorrow.

The latest proposal to reduce classroom learning hours, where much time is spent on rote learning and chipping away at the natural creative talents of the young victims, is overdue and welcome. The quality of teaching and what is taught matters more than the quantity of hours spent slogging away at school work and homework.

Unfortunately, many of the extra-curricular activities now being offered to children after the school home-time bell rings seems more to do with churning out obedient little citizens loyal to country, religion and king (nothing wrong with that, in moderation, of course) than producing the creative and challenging individuals required to really make the Kingdom the hub of a thriving ASEAN bloc.

But brushing up on students' inadequate English is not on the menu. Why not? English is not only the official language of ASEAN, but also the lingua franca of the commercial world. and additional English lessons - particularly conversational English - should be one of the options offered to children who stay on after school.

I gave additional English lessons to all my children, including four Thai stepchildren, and the results speak for themselves. My youngest daughter has better English skills than her Thai English teachers and her elder sister has won a coveted place on an English-Chinese programme run by one of Bangkok's top schools for gaining university entrance.

Their story is by no means unusual. I know plenty of English-speaking falangs who have had similar rewarding experiences - success stories which give the lie to the widely-held view that Thai children are less intelligent than other Asian youngsters. They are not. They are simply being held back by a sub-standard educational system, which hopefully is now being transformed for the better.

I for one would be delighted to volunteer as a helper for after-school English conversation sessions - as, I am sure, would many other English-speaking falangs- if only somebody in authority would stop worrying about red tape and losing face and give us the nod.

Edited November 4, 2015 by Krataiboy

[DavidBonnie]

Blaming the Thai people is a little like blaming prison inmates for having poor fashion sense.

The Vietnames government invested in teaching English in their schools and you can see that it has paid off.

Many people have commented on the low ability of Thai teachers and I can further add the experience of attending an INSET weekend at which Thai PhD professors lectured us (a staff comprising at least 50 % MA/PGCE holders) on the subject of English acquisition.

All I will say is that having missed the beginning, I believed that I was witnessing a parody and laughed several times at not only the very poor Tinglish and incomprehensible 'dialect' but at the child-like presentation of some very, very basic ideas using pictures of squares and triangles.

Education is bought here in Thailand. Exam scores are paid for, colluded over, cheated to attain and shared by friends, teachers and the PTA WHO WIELD ENORMOUS POWER.

No student, even one who never attends a class CAN be graded at lower than 50% (the pass rate). Wealthy and influental people insist that their child achieve a high GPA score and an IELTS Band of 6. Failure to offer said grades will always end with a termination, either of the Thai teacher of the foreigner involved. The student is never held accountable.

Education is in terrible trouble here and the school day has just been reduced to give the kids one more hour in which to bow and scrape to their betters and learn obesiance and servility.

Prayut is a great man (it says here)

[Srikcir]

Here are the 70 countries. US and UK are not on the list.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sweden-at-top-middle-east-at-bottom-of-efs-global-ranking-of-english-skills-539730692.html

[waldroj]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

And where would you rank? "Must of"? You might mean "must have" or "must've" if you prefer. Sorry for going all grammar police on you, but you're not one to judge others' proficiency in English.

Gentlemen

As I have already said (#35), I don't think this result is too bad, and I certainly don't think anybody must of cheated either.

But, I do think you have identified one of the real nuances of the English language that, I believe, only adds to its strength, as well as to the woes of anyone trying to learn the language.

That is: where a person (whose first language is English) comes from; how they speak the language; and, the words they use and consider to be acceptable in everyday speech.

It would be fair to say that much of the English speaking world today owes a large part of its English-language history to migrations of people out of rural England, mainly from the 17^th century onward (most notably: North America, South Africa; Australasia). Many of these migrations predated both the notion of what is now considered “Standard English” in a country and the general acceptance of English Grammar.

Many parts of England at this time spoke quite distinct local dialects, and people took these speech patterns with them when they migrated to the new lands (usually forming isolated and close-knit local communities that preserved and reinforced these speech patterns long after they were lost in their home regions as England modernised during the Industrial Revolution).

One of the true strengths of English over time has been its ability to absorb new words, and to recover old words and the speech patterns of the isolated communities as they were integrated back into the larger community of English speakers. Local speech patterns remained the core for communities, but other speech patterns were also acquired as communication methods developed. Classic examples of this would be the Yankee “Twang” or the Australian “Drawl”, both quite distinct yet still members of the wider English-speaking community.

In this context, one such group of words applicable to this argument are: Would of; could of; might of; must of. Although not “Standard English”, they are for many people, still quite acceptable in everyday use.

An interesting observation on this (by an Irishman) is at https://stancarey.wordpress.com/2012/10/23/would-of-could-of-might-of-must-of/

[cancan70]

The fact that Thailand ranks so low will come home to roost when the full impact of the Asean Community kicks in at the end of this year. Maybe then the power that be will want to rethink their stance on giving English such a low priority in the education of its students. It always amazes me that with so much of the GDP of Thailand based in the tourism industry that so few people in this industry can speak or understand English, let alone write it!

[crazydrummerpauly]

Have you ever met a Thai English teacher? If you ever do you will not be surprised at this standing.

I live with one, and her English is excellent - better than the mumbling incoherent crap i hear coming out of the mouths of many Brits.

[blazes]

I was in Malaysia last week & the locals speak English very well. They also do a lot of things better than the Thais. How well some nations progress when others just keep going backwards.

Well, Malaya did after all have the advantage of being ruled by the British at one time in its history. Ditto Singapore.

two cheers for the British Empire...

[wabothai]

Which English is talked about?

Australian is very hard to understand. The easiest is American and Canadian. English from certain parts of England is hard and sometimes not to be understood.

[JAG]

I wonder where England ranks?

Considerably higher than Australia, US, Canada, India and Scotland and Wales

But not, sadly, when it comes to Rugby Union!

Edited November 4, 2015 by JAG

[ratcatcher]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

Usually, I don't nitpick over someone's language usage but you seem to be asking for it. You ought to have written "...must have cheated..."

You are somewhat slow today "ilmp', the grammar police have already been by, taken the offenders to court and the judges have already parsed sentence.

[Jonathon]

I wonder where England ranks?

One thing is for sure, the ranking is decreasing daily.

[exalll]

This list is nonsense. No way Cambodia comes below Thailand. Heck, it even comes below Mongolia!!! Nonsense

[Pawpcorn]

I for one would be delighted to volunteer as a helper for after-school English conversation sessions - as, I am sure, would many other English-speaking falangs- if only somebody in authority would stop worrying about red tape and losing face and give us the nod.

Well, keep in mind it's illegal to volunteer (AKA "work" in the legal sense) without a work permit, which, of course wouldn't be possible if you're here on a Retirement Visa...

Actually doing what you suggested, from the kindness of your heart (to help! to volunteer your time...! to try and help improve someone's life...!!) without a work permit is quite illegal, and all it takes is ONE phone call (from a Thai [motivated to do so for any number of reasons] to the local BiB), to have you arrested and/or deported, without recourse.

Just another sad reality, here in LOS...

Edited November 4, 2015 by Pawpcorn

[JAG]

they must of cheated to rank that well ...

Usually, I don't nitpick over someone's language usage but you seem to be asking for it. You ought to have written "...must have cheated..."

You are somewhat slow today "ilmp', the grammar police have already been by, taken the offenders to court and the judges have already parsed sentence.

"Parsed" - most excellent sir!

[trainman34014]

I know a Thai English teacher that speaks very good English. She tells me that Thai Kids don't learn because they are lazy and can't be bothered. I asked her if she ever tried conversing with them in English and she said 'Oh no; i not allowed, only write on blackboard and mark papers'.

There is little hope and eventually they will fall to the very bottom........like they do with most other things !

[ShinMusashi44]

I find this whole thing ridiculous-who tested whom and when.

I am English and I speak the correct English-how can England score below the USA and Australia-who both have corruptions of the English language?

Publish the method and sample chosen to to be even considered!

But I agree about the fact that even university graduates in Thailand speak poor English(and Thai school teachers are worse).

Ron

The very fact you used the words "corruptions of the English language" shows how clueless you are about the language. The very nature of the English language is a corruption. Most words are from Latin, Greek, French, Dutch,Norse, etc. The whole language is a corruption. You speak no more a correct form than any other country. Do you really think English hasn't changed in England over the years? In fact, American English is less changed that England's English. American tends you used older/original words and pronunciations, while England has changed in the last 150 years. Most changed in England came from the upper class wanting to sound different from the lower class. So they mispronounced words on purpose to sound different. Over time, the lower class copied the upper class. So the mispronunciation became the normal pronunciation. In the 1800s England used to praise American in how unchanged its English was. The US still uses older words like gotten, Fall, Trash/Garbage while England has since stopped using them.

Also a lot of spellings have changed in England, but English people think Americans are the ones that changed. But, it's England that changed.Program is the spelling in the English language and has been for many years. Programme is the French spelling. English CHANGED to the French later. It's similar to the pronunciation of the word, schedule. The way Americans pronounce it (skedule) is the original pronunciation in English. English people have since switched to the French pronunciation of (shedule). The word is Greek in origin and has a strong SK sound, just like in the word school. Which is another Greek word. Again take the word color. English people always say, why did Americans drop the U. Well they didn't. Color is a Latin word and spelt as color in Latin. the U was ADDED to make it look French. As you can see, the English like to change things over to the French way. So my point is many things Americans do that you think is changed or wrong, is in fact the original way. So maybe next time you should educate yourself of the language YOU think you speak better than others.

I'm also no trying to say either are better or more correct. Everyone is correct within their region. The very nature of the English language is about change and adding new words and pronunciations. Most words were spelt differently before and the pronunciations were different too.

Edited November 4, 2015 by ShinMusashi44