Is this 'how children learn to understand, or blank?'

[webfact]

Is This 'How Children Learn to Understand, or Blank?'
By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee
Staff Reporter


Scanned page from a typing book widely shared for its creative translations. Image: Karl Dahlfred / Facebook

BANGKOK — "Hello parents evening. ... Today's mother cooking something to eat some rats."

Anyone doubting frequent headlines about the state of Thailand’s English proficiency – now considered the third-worst in Asia – might only need this excerpt from a commercial textbook for proof.

Bangkok teacher Karl Dahlfred said the scanned page came from his son's typing skills book. It shows sentences in Thai and translated into English with alarming outcomes such as, “This is how children learn to understand, or blank.”

“If Thai people have qualified teachers and good materials, they can go very far in life,” Dahlfred said. “So it makes me sad when I see books with horribly incorrect English, that sometimes doesn't even make sense.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1447743035


-- Khaosod English 2015-11-17

[nikmar]

It's like the list of jobs that foreigners are prohibited from doing all over again.

[eliotness]

Just watched today a English teaching channel on DLTV, you'd expect everything to be correct, but NO, they even got a noun down as an adjective. Either they have a really serious problem or the farang proof reader needs to be sacked.

[kotsak]

"Me love you long time"

Even Google Translate would have done it better.. TIT

[jonw8uk]

"Me love you long time"

Even Google translate would have done it better.. TIT

The way its been translated i think it actually was done by google translate

See! they dont need farangs

[siliconvalley]

Wow. Boy, this really hits the nail on the heart. I have 2 Thai sons, 17/14 and a 1/2 farang son and my 2 1/2 year old daughter. The 2 boys I try to give them every opportunity. However, the mother sees they are still babies. Shut up, the 14 year old is 2 meters tall, got arrested for gun possession, stolen bike and kicked out of school at 12. The 17 year old doesn't want to be the future caretaker of what I am trying to leave my wife and daughter.

My 6year old, I ask to sweep the floor, he starts crying. My love reasoning. He is too young....

My daughter who I can discipline is self motivated. I am very frightened of my daughters future. I do not want her to go to a public Thai school. I want to be dead, before here flower is taken away from some sweet smelling handsome Thai.

The ending of this drama, The Thai Mother with all their wonderful ways can only be found if you are willing to fight....

I love my wife, I Like her Chidren, I Love and Hate Thailand.

Edited November 17, 2015 by Maestro
Removed off-topic part of the post.

[Lupatria]

And at the same time the minister in charge of education comes up with the brilliant idea to replace all foreign English teachers with Thais while only 6 of 43.000 are fluent in that language. If morons run the country you just increase the number of morons obeying and serving them.

[Kasset Tak]

I tried to attach some pictures from the English textbook this college choose to use last semester for PWC 3 but I have no idea how to post pictures here on TV so sorry, no pictures. Anyway, they stopped using that textbook after only one month, the vice director asked me the meaning of sentences like "Body massage from 100% healthy ladies only 1600 Baht" and then it was banned from the classrooms...

Edited November 17, 2015 by Kasset Tak

[rkidlad]

I've often wondered why Thais don't get native speakers to proofread.

The problem is the hierarchy system. Someone at a higher level has studied abroad, etc, and has an inflated opinion of themselves. No one would dare question them even if they knew for sure they were wrong. The person who studied abroad probably thinks they can't do any wrong.

Many Thai websites offer an English translation which mostly remains Thai with a little bit of poor English. No offence, but it's very typically Thai. Offer an English option to look multinational and professional without checking the actual content. "It looks good; ergo, it is good"

Edited November 17, 2015 by rkidlad

[Trentham]

Just watched today a English teaching channel on DLTV, you'd expect everything to be correct, but NO, they even got a noun down as an adjective. Either they have a really serious problem or the farang proof reader needs to be sacked.

[smirk] I think you mean "an" English teaching channel...........

[AyG]

the vice director asked me the meaning of sentences like "Body massage from 100% healthy ladies only 1600 Baht"

Vice director? He can't have been very knowledgeable about vice. Surprised he made it to director level.

[irwinfc]

that's what you get for using Google translate! fortunately, it rarely gets worse than that. sadly, it's almost the norm.

[oneday]

Thailand is just plain stubborn. It is their Achilles Heel.

How many people have seen English thranslations at all kinds of businesses (rich or poor) that are either wrong, funny or just make you scrunch up your eyes and go "what the heck?".

It would be so simple to find someone who could at least tell them if it makes sense. Most of us don't even need to read or speak Thai to get the jest of what they are trying to say so it's not that difficult to find a native English speaker to tell you if you are at least in the ballpark.

A prime example comes from the Pattaya city government trying to translation "no left turn on red light". I can't remember the exact government English, but it's atrocious.

[h90]

I've often wondered why Thais don't get native speakers to proofread.

The problem is the hierarchy system. Someone at a higher level has studied abroad, etc, and has an inflated opinion of themselves. No one would dare question them even if they knew for sure they were wrong. The person who studied abroad probably thinks they can't do any wrong.

Many Thai websites offer an English translation which mostly remains Thai with a little bit of poor English. No offence, but it's very typically Thai. Offer an English option to look multinational and professional without checking the actual content. "It looks good; ergo, it is good"

I always wonder in German restaurants...Menu is so complete wrong that it hardly can be understood. No one ever tried to figure out the correct thing with either Google or tell the next German customer (which are many per day) that he get some free Sauerkraut and beer if the corrects the mistakes in the menu.

Even a silly German can correct it from 60% wrong to 98% correct.....It is a kind of arrogance in not doing so.

[swifty5x5]

It's the same with English movies with Thai subtitles a few is three or more not two or three times.

[lostmebike]

Tip of the iceberg I'm afraid.

And a government recommendation that NES teachers should start on 18K Baht a month is just about to increase their ever-decreasing access to real English speakers.

This subject is flogged to death at least once a year yet the 'poo yais' do nothing about it. Maybe they are the problem here.

[Tywais]

I tried to attach some pictures from the English textbook this college choose to use last semester for PWC 3 but I have no idea how to post pictures here on TV so sorry, no pictures.

Posting Images - Guidelines

[GerdT]

Not everything is really that bleak as made out here. I agree it is a bad, actually a very bad example how to teach English, but on the other hand anything positive here wouldn’t get a favourite response when initiated by Thais. But there are examples of local schools that try to improve when it comes to teach English.

Here is an example of one school and as said there are more that try to move things ahead.

www.mythaischool.eu.pn

[apetley]

that's what you get for using Google translate! fortunately, it rarely gets worse than that. sadly, it's almost the norm.

Local Teacher's memorial.

[kkerry]

Years ago the Bangkok Post ran a weekly series of full page advertisements in English from a Thai government department, promotional material clearly aimed at an English audience. Every single paragraph full of glaring mistakes. The advertisements went on for several months with the same basic errors week after week. All that money spent on advertising yet no budget for a native English speaker to do even the most basic of proofreading...

Nearly every time I have been asked to help a student with some English homework, I have found many basic errors in the textbook they were issued. Once, one book was so riddled with errors in its multiple choice questions I filled in some more suitable answers. The workbook came back with all my simple corrections marked as wrong despite the book choices not making any sense at all. Anyone who has seen some of the textbooks out there will know what I mean, questions with answers that seem like they have been lifted from Google translate...

Edited November 17, 2015 by kkerry

[carlyai]

"Me love you long time"

Even Google Translate would have done it better.. TIT

At 70 years old, I would like that comment....... the next morning.

[jonaz]

Just watched today a English teaching channel on DLTV, you'd expect everything to be correct, but NO, they even got a noun down as an adjective. Either they have a really serious problem or the farang proof reader needs to be sacked.

*an?

[MILT]

Looks like a google translation....LOL

[Gillyflower]

oneday.......

I think you mean "gist" and not "jest".....although perhaps much of what one reads is a jest.

[Gillyflower]

A Thai lady once showed me her English language book....it was hysterical. In polite society, one says, "I have to go piss now". Again, in the same polite society, "I defecate now". As she happened to be in 'polite society' at the moment, we all practically rolled on the floor and begged her not to do it in front of us. When the right occasion arose, she also talked about her 'pussy'.......that also she had learnt from her book. As you can imagine, we had a lot of fun out of this.

[mrwebb8825]

guess that would explain the sign posted a few years back on the Nakhon-Nayok/Rangsit Road by the Department of Pubic Affairs.

[Artisi]

The amount to absolute rubbish translation in Thai books to English I have come across in kids stories which are already available in English is unbelievable to the point a large number of Thai books with English translation given to boy by well meaning people have been trashed - no point passing them on

[gaijinsomchai]

The good news is that Thailand will soon be free of all those no good farang teachers. As you can clearly see the Thais are well on top of things when it comes to English.

[Jeremy50]

Translated the Thai nickname for kids [noo] into rats. Even mice would have been better. Only one sentence translated nearly correctly 'shower before you go down to eat dessert'. Although 'come down' is written correctly in the Thai sentence, they somehow still end up with 'go'.

[carter1882]

For a language where nuu means me/I/ you/mouse/mice/rat and plaaw means empty/nothing/ plain/not.....no wonder Google translate is cerebrally challenged! I have made plenty of money over the years at translation so long may Google translate be completely <deleted> useless!