Thai officials to slash number of foreign English teachers

[duanebigsby]

expatbrit

"The Irish could throw in a few "Hurling" references and the New Zealanders could use a few Cricket idioms to confuse the h**l out of the Yanks"

In hockey, a desparate team can "pull the goalie" allowing an extra forward onto the ice. The phrase "pulling the goalie" has become an slang idiom

meaning to masturbate.

How many English speakers would know that? lol

[bermondburi]

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.

Why ?. It will always be better to have a native speaker doing the teaching. When I went to school, the French teachers were always French. That way you get the correct pronunciation and inflexion as well.

I've yet to meet a Thai who understands future tense.

Most Thai teachers of English that I know have a better understanding of English grammar than many native speakers and know that there are only two tenses in English, and no such thing as the "future tense". That said, their pronunciation is generally appalling and there will always be a need for Thai students to learn this from native speakers if they want to use English for anything except basic communication.

Twelve tenses in English plus going to as another future one. Plus your passives and they start to add up.

[dageurreotype]

My ex Thai university professor today attempted to commandeer me into a project dreamt up be the local prosecutor's office (?) during which a group of Thai teachers would have to complete a crossword in English (? again). I told him it was a pointless exercise and they'd be better off listening to the BBC World Service to improve their godawful pronunciation. I'd told him a Burmese woman I'd come across at some temple in Bagan had taught herself near perfect English this way. He was skeptical and said the reason she spoke English was more likely the affect of having had the British there

[tribalfusion001]

My ex Thai university professor today attempted to commandeer me into a project dreamt up be the local prosecutor's office (?) during which a group of Thai teachers would have to complete a crossword in English (? again). I told him it was a pointless exercise and they'd be better off listening to the BBC World Service to improve their godawful pronunciation. I'd told him a Burmese woman I'd come across at some temple in Bagan had taught herself near perfect English this way. He was skeptical and said the reason she spoke English was more likely the affect of having had the British there

He may have a point about the British being there, but we left in 1948!