webfact Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Min of Education to launch training to improve English teachersBANGKOK, 18 November 2015 (NNT) – The Ministry of Education has planned to launch a training course for English teachers to sharpen their skills, who will in turn inspire students to improve their English language proficiency.Deputy Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin said the ministry is developing a training program for English teachers in cooperation with the British Council. Around 500 teachers with high levels of English proficiency across the country will be selected to participate in the six-week course, which will last from March until April 2016. The 50 best-performing teachers will train the next group of participants.Meanwhile, Adviser to the Deputy Education Minister Michael David Selby stressed the need for educators to motivate students to learn English. Mr. Selby commented that many Thai people still lack interest in English.The ministry will assess the program by the performance of students taught by educators who took part in the program. If the training proves successful, the ministry will declare it a policy for the second semester next year. If the project needs improvement, it will be revised until the course achieves its objectives.-- NNT 2015-11-18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhys Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Well bless them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just1Voice Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 The phrase - "An exercise in futility" comes to mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Gravy Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Well I would really like to see the 6 week program and what it entails. If it has anything that resembles previous attempts of grammar, grammar and more grammar, then it is doomed before it starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaywalker Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Deputy Education Minister Teerakiat Jareonsettasin could start by adding his name on his fancy name thingy on his desk in English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trogers Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 "The 50 best-performing teachers will train the next group of participants." Talking about dilution... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaywalker Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Well I would really like to see the 6 week program and what it entails. If it has anything that resembles previous attempts of grammar, grammar and more grammar, then it is doomed before it starts. I never taught English in Thailand, just maintenance training to the RTA. I truly do pity any English teachers, if their experiences were anything like mine. I gave it up a few years back, after being involved with the RTA off & on for over 10 years. My last contract was 9 months long. I finished the contract because I said I would, though I was almost ready to go find a tall building with a low balcony. Never again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuchulainn Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 ................Around 500 teachers with high levels of English proficiency ......................... To be a teacher of any subject, surely one must have a high level of proficiency in that subject? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ldiablo Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Thai teachers can't even inspire students to learn Thai. Good luck with your delusional launch as they're going to need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaywalker Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 "The 50 best-performing teachers will train the next group of participants." Talking about dilution... lol Kind of like a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. When I was in the Army, we tried this once as some sort of training, where the same message got passed around to 20 people, one by one by word of mouth. The final message was NOWHERE NEAR the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornishcarlos Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 My wife teaches private English lessons, plus she helps her students with their other subjects if asked. She is constantly asking me what are the teachers doing at the schools, as her students seem to not even know basic things !! Example, yesterday a 15 yr old didn't know the months of the year, in Thai, but expected to know them in English ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worgeordie Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Will these be used to replace the native English speakers,they said a few days ago they did not want !, regards worgeordie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginjag Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Thai teachers can't even inspire students to learn Thai. Good luck with your delusional launch as they're going to need it. If they were taught at university Properly with good English masters 4-5 years should easily be enough time to produce the perfect teacher. Many bar girls in 1 year can speak better English than the 5 years teachers at uni. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just1Voice Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 My wife has a distant cousin who went to work in the bars at 16, with a fake ID of course. She's now around 31 or so and speaks fluent English, Russian and Chinese. She can also read and write them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoilSpoil Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 So when the Thai English teachers have their deserved and necessary holiday break, they are required to attend a 6 week cram course? Save their souls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dageurreotype Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 (edited) Well I would really like to see the 6 week program and what it entails. If it has anything that resembles previous attempts of grammar, grammar and more grammar, then it is doomed before it starts. An emphasis on pronunciation would be better. And that's not going to happen with the mangled barely intelligible drivel I've heard out of the 'professional' teacher's mouths. Edited November 18, 2015 by dageurreotype Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotsak Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 This never gets old Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesetat2013 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Seriously though? Thainglish is what is normally taught and NO 6 week course will ever be sufficient enough to break any Thai teacher of teaching Thainglish. 6 weeks is a holiday were they will be forced to listen to lectures while talking in Thai to the other participants. If they do actually learn better pronunciation they will surely forget it once they get back in their own schools and with their peers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunchbob Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 What exactly is the British Council? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsensam Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 nice little earner for the BC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewsterbudgen Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 What exactly is the British Council? British cultural representation. A throwback to the world's greatest empire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connda Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamgeorgeallen Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 "The 50 best-performing teachers will train the next group of participants." Talking about dilution... lol ha ha, well put. still wondering if all the tourist police now speak English. I read somewhere they were all to speak English in 6 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connda Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Another project destined for failure: The Blind Leading The Blind. Propagating broken English ad-infinitum for generations to come. As always, the 50 'best' teachers will be selected based on status, family-standing, and money. Here's a better idea. Require native Thai teachers with their Masters Degree in English or Education to take two full years of English language training from qualified Native English Speakers, or require them to attend 'immersion' English language courses in English speaking countries. No exceptions. Hell, that makes way too much sense, now doesn't it. The ministry's idea may get off the ground, but will have a Hindenburg ending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutchings1963 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 To every body it is April the 1st again today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 This never gets old She will definitely make the top fifty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DM07 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 "The 50 best-performing teachers will train the next group of participants." ...so we start a new round of "Chinese Whispers"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lupatria Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 "The 50 best-performing teachers will train the next group of participants." Talking about dilution... lol We call it: "Chinese whisper". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emster23 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Pouring from the empty into the void. Repeat after me: "No hab" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connda Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Thai teachers can't even inspire students to learn Thai. Good luck with your delusional launch as they're going to need it. If they were taught at university Properly with good English masters 4-5 years should easily be enough time to produce the perfect teacher. Many bar girls in 1 year can speak better English than the 5 years teachers at uni. There is an ironic truth to what you just stated. Perhaps the MoE needs to recruit their Freshmen English Majors from bars in Chiang Mai, Pattaya, and Phuket. In 10 years, the English proficiency of the average Thai student will increase 5 fold, and bars can add to their revenue by offering English tutorial programs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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