Thai officials to slash number of foreign English teachers

[Liquorice]

A Thai English teacher told me it was sports day today and they were having a palace through the city. (Parade)

[tuanku]

Hopefully they will get rid of the trashy teachers trying to teach English when English is not their first language. Half the time I can't even understand when the Filipino English teachers at my son's school try to talk to me in English.

The filipinos are light years a head of any randomly picked thai teacher.

So are the Chinese. We have a Chinese teacher come for a year each year and each one of them can out English every Thai teacher in the school.

There is only one problem associated with Filippino teachers teaching English in Thailand; this is that Thai students don't understand what they are saying.

Could be because they are speaking English - chicken and egg sort of thing. I have worked with Irish, Scots and Northern English teachers, all of whom had strong regional accents. It didn't stop them being effective teachers and having the Thai accent overlayed with a bit of a Glaswegian one is quaint and doesn't really make them any harder to understand.

[Mister Fixit]

I've noticed Thai culture produces a lot of people who have trouble seeing beyond what is in front of their face.

Only just noticed it? How long have you been here? Two months? It's been like that for centuries. It's an inbuilt 'defence' mechanism.

Khit mahk mai dee ...

[LannaGuy]

The best of all worlds for teaching English to Thais would be teachers who are very fluent in both Thai and English.

'very' fluent? either you are or you are not! horrible English

[Jingthing]

The best of all worlds for teaching English to Thais would be teachers who are very fluent in both Thai and English.

'very' fluent? either you are or you are not! horrible English

I don't agree. There are different levels of fluency. Very fluent is simply a way of expressing a high level of fluency. Duh!

Edited November 13, 2015 by Jingthing

[loogkreung]

Lots of emotion from teachers wishing to save their tin pot jobs. Why bother? Can't you feel the blatant racism and xenophobia here? Leave them to their own backwards third world land and stop wasting your time.

[Mister Fixit]

Why is everyone so upset?

TiT and so nothing should be taken seriously!

The wind soon changes direction and everything will bend the other way.

Years ago Taiwan would hire English backpackers with no teaching qualifications just to have their kids listen to genuine English.

Maybe that's what needs to happen here?

A lot of people would say it already IS happening here - and has been for years.

[Nerone]

Hopefully they will get rid of the trashy teachers trying to teach English when English is not their first language. Half the time I can't even understand when the Filipino English teachers at my son's school try to talk to me in English.

did you read the articles:

"The Education Ministry wants to cut back on foreign teacher recruitment to slash costs and focus on giving intensive language training to the Thai teachers.

Under the "train-the-trainer" program, a group of 500 Thai teachers who teach English in government schools nationwide will take part in an intensive six-week training course taught by English specialists from the British Council."

You will regret not having philipinos anymore...

[mikosan]

I saw the Deputy Education Minister speak at the FCC in Bangkok a while back. He seemed like a really smart guy, who I thought could really do some good in transforming the Thai education system.

Then I read this....

Oh dear.

When I was 'teaching' English here 5 years, the school I was at ran 'Teach The Teacher'. Once a week one of the farang teachers had to 'teach' the Thai teachers English.

That lesson teaching the teachers was more problematic than even my lowest ranked pratom class.

The Thai teacher had absolutely no interest in learning and often just sat their talking among themselves, playing on their phones and would almost never participate for fear of losing face.

Well, with respect, I am most concerned that you were teaching English in the first place, given the inadequacies in your English, as seen above. Maybe the Thais have the right idea. Train and employ people who can actually teach English properly?

I remember my first experience of one of those "teach the teacher" activities; I was "teaching" around 10 Thai lady teachers, the idea/aim being more of an informal Q&A session on things (stuff) that the ladies came up against and didn't really understand. One question that was asked (chucked at me) was: "What is a thong"? (honestly - no bs). I was tempted to throw it back at the lady in question: e.g. "what do you prefer..." but resisted the temptation. I chickened out with the Australian version of flip-flops.

Maybe that's the answer they were expecting and quite right you are. However, as their 'teacher', maybe you should also have told them that is was an item of underwear, worn by both men and women and described it. I really don't see the issue.

[Jonmarleesco]

I do believe they're serious.

[Johnniey]

A Thai English teacher told me it was sports day today and they were having a palace through the city. (Parade)

Could you say it in Thai, the language of the country you live in?

[oncearugge]

I wonder ?

Why is it that these "wonderful" foreign English language "teachers" have failed (over how many years? ) to teach Thai children to read, write and speak English?

As a child I learnt French and German from "foreign" native speakers and Latin from an English teacher !

I still have the GCE certificates to prove what I achieved !

[Johnniey]

The best of all worlds for teaching English to Thais would be teachers who are very fluent in both Thai and English.

'very' fluent? either you are or you are not! horrible English

I don't agree. There are different levels of fluency. Very fluent is simply a way of expressing a high level of fluency. Duh!

No, it's fluent or not.

[Jonmarleesco]

The best of all worlds for teaching English to Thais would be teachers who are very fluent in both Thai and English.

'very' fluent? either you are or you are not! horrible English

I don't agree. There are different levels of fluency. Very fluent is simply a way of expressing a high level of fluency. Duh!

I think Mr LannaGuy - whose text, admittedly, is missing a few capital letters - was making the point that the adverb, very, in that particular context, is surplus to requirements.

[DaveinAsia]

I must admit I didn't read ALL the replies, but from the few I did, I guess most respondents are English teachers....

I also admit I didn't do nor intend to do any research on the subject, but just my thoughts and observations:

1. Thailand is NOT the only country in the world that has its own language - I am not going to list all those countries

2. Thai people are NOT the only people who are not proficient in English - I had difficulties communicating in English in France and Germany, and I am not talking science talk - I am talking about asking driving direction in Germany or direction to the right train platform in France... In both places not in a small remote village, but in BIG cities, and not only elderly people, I was actually trying to ask young people who seemed to be students. BTW - the only person in the French train station who was able to answer my question was the toilets attendant!!! Even in the US of A - it's getting harder and harder to get around if you don't speak Spanish...

3. I am pretty sure that in MOST countries in the world, the foreign language teachers (be it English or any other) are locals, and not imported teachers.

4. I don't think that in the 10 or so years that foreign English have been widely employed all over the country, the level of English of the Thai students has improved to actually support the idea that foreign teachers are any better than the Thai teachers - now I can already imagine some of the TV members' responses to this like "the students are not listening to us" or "they are not interested" or "the school administrations / regulations / local teachers / janitors restrict our success"

Face it. This is Thailand. The official language is Thai. All documents are and will probably ALWAYS be in Thai. There are about 65 million Thais. Not all of them, not even most of them will ever NEED to interact in any other language. The ASEAN threat that Thais are going to lose their jobs if they can't master English? B******it. There have been import / export in Thailand for years. Who ever need to, find the way to communicate.

Well said! Maybe they are realizing here now that English is not as necessary as they thought back in the day when they thought it was. I think the computer craze and introduction of the net sent many countries on a paranoia trip believing that they all needed to learn English very well, because the net and computer language was all in English but as time went by and automatic translators made their appearance on the net and keyboards with Thai script were made, it became clear that English in Thailand is only needed around foreigners and only about 5% of Thais are engaged with foreigners in one way or another. 95% of Thais don't really need English, unless they want to listen to some quality Irish/English music of course or perhaps a Hollywood flick, but it seems that Lady Gaga and Deuce Bigalow don't need too much understanding of our language anyway, 55555.

[Bkk4Ever]

I wonder ?

Why is it that these "wonderful" foreign English language "teachers" have failed (over how many years? ) to teach Thai children to read, write and speak English?

Oh... If I could teach them to write and read... Instead of that, I see each of my classes only once a week for a speaking lesson. I do my best but I'm not a wizard...

Just don't judge all of us as one

[TheKnave]

I'm glad the source of this article was Coconuts, it has eased the Mind-Blown experience at least a little bit.............

D​ont want to rain on your parade its headlines in the Unmentionable other English language paper

Still its utter madness!

Both articles make it pretty clear it's a long-term plan and it is something that should be aimed for. Of course it is better to use well-trained local teachers than rely on foreign teachers forever. The headline that Coconuts uses is typical of the sensationalism of gutter rags.

Utter nonsense. Thailand has had decades to train local teachers; never have, never will. Six-week intensive training course? My *ss.

Anyone who doesn't recognize this as part of a greater plan to thin the farang herd is delusional. Anyone who plans to retire in Thailand needs their head examined, and anyone who is already retired there on an extension of stay had better start looking at a Plan B quick-like. Tourist visa long-stayers and English teachers are but low-hanging fruit...

I hate what has happened to Thailand, and take no comfort from what appears to be calamity for those who trusted it to be a safe haven during their retirement.

And, given the lack of concern or compassion for even foreigners with families there, I can only hope that the increasing obstacles will not prove insurmountable.

Thailand is done, although the very wealthy will be able to hang on at least for a while. Small comfort.

[thailanddogerator]

APRIL'S FOOL !!!!

[TheKnave]

This is a pretty good idea. As if the British Council is doing the intensive 6 week training course I'd imagine that it'll be CELTA or similar that the Thai teachers are going through. Not only will it improve their English significantly, but it'll teach them how to teach more effectively.

As it's meant to be for the best English teachers at each school it'll likely be heads of department, or teachers who have the full support of the head of dept, and so they'll have the authority/status required to teach the other teachers.

"Slashing" the number of foreign teachers wouldn't be a good move at this stage, but long term that's where Thailand needs to head to. Also they didn't say if by foreign they meant NESs or non-NESs. As they need better Thai teachers, they can't rely on every school having foreign teachers, there simply aren't enough to go around, and so it just increases the inequality between the rich & poor schools.

My personal view is, and has been for a long time, that Thailand needs to spend money on teaching the teachers if they want to be successful. Foreign NES teachers are more expensive and often only stay teaching in Thailand for a few years. Comparatively Thai teachers start on less than half of the salary most foreigners are paid & can increase their ability over a career of 30-40 years, rather than just 1-5.

The current problem is though, that they start at such a low level that even after 30 years they're usually not as effective at teaching as a NES is after 3 years experience. Which is why the teachers need to have their level increased, courses like this one will help, but it's only (hopefully) the first step, the next step being reassigning foreign teachers from high schools to universities where they can teach the teachers. Thailand needs to look forward to the next generation, as it's already too late for this generation.

Nicest thing I can say is,"myopic".

Six weeks to teach a non-English-speaking Thai 'teacher' to speak, let alone *teach* English is ludicrous.

Again, this move has nothing whatsoever to do with improving English in Thailand, and everything to do with ejecting an easy target, as part of a more general campaign against long-staying foreigners, particularly those of perceived limited means. At first...

[SABloke]

Could save a lot of money if government schools hired direct rather thsn through agencies

[TheKnave]

Fair enough. If the current bunch of farang rejects scraping a living on the English teaching circuit were any good, Thailand wouldn't score so poorly for English speaking. Let the locals have a go.

Couldn't have anything to do with students' motivation, or that of school administration, could it?

Obviously, you've never set foot in a Thai school.

Daft post of the day.

[ev1lchris]

I don't think Thai people can't do anything on their own. They sure as hell didn't build the Skytrain and Central World.

I don't think they will be able to learn English without the West.

[puukao]

LOL......You LOOSE all you backpackers trying to stay here.....YOUR never going to become good at English. I could care less.

(one of you will get this).

OK, now we will see less threads, "I flunked out of high-school but want to live in Thailand forever...can i just teach English?"

Or the classic, "If I teach in Thailand, will this make me a real teacher back in my home country? I'm like a professor!!!"

Then we have the fallback, "I'm dating my student(s) and helping them learn after class. Should I ask for a raise?"

Remember, back in 1853-54 after America went to Japan.......there was big time xenophobia......have we considered maybe they DON'T want to learn English????

[TheKnave]

As an Everton supporter I often get called "deluded" but this beats all.

Six weeks is enough?

I can understand the need to be self-sufficient and not to rely on western teachers. But there's a lot more to it than a short "intensive" course for a few Thai teachers.

How about instilling a desire to learn in students.

The problem with learning is that one has to make mistakes in order to correct them and advance. But making mistakes in speech incurrs loss of face. Thais regularly kill each other, and kill foreigners over such.

Do you think even young Thai students will readily accept making obvious mistakes in front of their classmates, so they can slake their thirst for English proficiency?

This is why many Thais can read, and even write English, but not even carry a basic verbal conversation.

The few government officials who CAN speak English, were educated abroad, mostly at second-or-lower tier universities in the US...

[TheKnave]

British Council got a FAT contract ... didn't they?

"This message brought to you by the letter 'U', as in neighboUr, coloUr, etc..."

Padding the contract, I guess

[NeverSure]

I saw the Deputy Education Minister speak at the FCC in Bangkok a while back. He seemed like a really smart guy, who I thought could really do some good in transforming the Thai education system.

Then I read this....

Oh dear.

When I was 'teaching' English here 5 years, the school I was at ran 'Teach The Teacher'. Once a week one of the farang teachers had to 'teach' the Thai teachers English.

That lesson teaching the teachers was more problematic than even my lowest ranked pratom class.

The Thai teacher had absolutely no interest in learning and often just sat their talking among themselves, playing on their phones and would almost never participate for fear of losing face.

Well, with respect, I am most concerned that you were teaching English in the first place, given the inadequacies in your English, as seen above. Maybe the Thais have the right idea. Train and employ people who can actually teach English properly?

I strongly dislike it when people criticize English on here because I like to fly along and not worry about it. However since you started it will you please remove at least some of the four commas you put into that terrible first run-on sentence? While you're at it please remove the question mark from your last sentence because it contains no interrogative.

Thank you, and you asked for it.

Cheers.

[ddavidovsky]

They've also reduced the number of school hours. Clearly they actually don't want the children to be properly educated.

The people are being dumbed down. Makes them more controllable.

[yasorab]

I have lived in Thailand 18 years and have a fair grasp of spoken Thai now. I have 2 step daughters here both at high school. At last report my elder came home with what would be considered a beyond fantastic score for both written and spoken English far and away better than her comprehension would allow, I decided to go to the parents evening and ask how she managed to attain such a good score. When I confronted the teacher conserned and asked the question I was astounded with her reply !! 'Mai Caw Jai' I not speak English so good !!!! I rest my case. Let the teachers who speak English (foreigners) do their job because left to Thais they will crash and burn !!

[50baht]

Everyone this is great News, just CHILL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8SBtkvMVC0

[TheKnave]

Any comment would be superfluous.

Better include the proper attribution, or 85 year-old Trink will whip your *ss...

Honestly, the nerve of these newbies...