Thailand embarks on program to ensure citizens speak English

[Winniedapu]

15 hours ago, NativeSon360 said:

No! It's not funny. And you are a poor excuse of an educator for having made that comment. Shame on you!

 

 

I suspect you'll find it was ironic laughter. No need to be abusive, it doesn't speak well of you.

 

Winnie

[whinginggit]

21 hours ago, soalbundy said:

I read an article in an English newspaper that said 20% of British adults had the reading ability of 8 year old's, the worst in Europe, their inability was only surpassed by the USA so perhaps we shouldn't be too hard on the Thai's

I thought the figure was more like 51.9% in the UK?

[Winniedapu]

2 hours ago, pauleddy said:

I am more or less the same as Emster! I have just retired after teaching English at Unis in three countries over the past 24 years, being an IELTS examiner, doing Teacher Training and devising exams using CEFR. I have an MBA, an MA and some other tickets.

 

Joking about perpetual cycles aside, how do I become one of these "Super Teachers", or even become involved in a minor way? Contact the BC? I don't want to teach young kids.

 

Eddy

 

 

If you're not Thai, then you aren't even in the race. Shouldn't be that way but it is.

 

Winnie

[selftaopath]

18 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

I taught for awhile at a Thai U.  One day, as class was letting out, a group of 3 girls asked whether I would tutor them.  They then showed me some study material given them by their Thai national Eng. teacher.  I looked at it.  It was bizarre.  I politely declined.  I couldn't make heads or tails of the Thai person's English homework.  

 

Another time, I looked in a library and found an English study book for Thai students.  It was chock full of ridiculous words which haven't been used in conversational English since Chaucer's time.  Why burdon Thai students with garbage which they will never use in an English conversation?

 

 

 

 

Does the oligarchy really want Thais to learn.... anything?

[dhream]

I, for one,  am glad to hear they are going to make the effort.

I don't know if I feel more sorry for the kids that don't get good teachers, or the expats who make fun of it all.

 

 

Hey, if the cap fits, wear it!
You think we laugh out of spite?
These people's own strange system of 'no child left behind' as explained by overseas educators, the people who are at the coalface (god knows how they do it, hats off to them!) expose the self defeating pretence of 'meaningful' grades for what it is. My own other half used to do all her dopey friends university assignments for them (or they just copied her, whatever) every one of them has a worthless tourism degree, none of them speak English or any other overseas language.
Needless to say, they don't work in tourism.
Thailand has a lot of growing up to do!

Sent from my SM-J200GU using Tapatalk

[lostinisaan]

15 hours ago, JIMJFOX said:

Lived in Norway, Holland, Turkey, Spain, Australia, New Zealand. Thailand is nowhere near the levels of the first four. 

Their English is taught in primary school & continued until fluency is universal. 

Thai written language is a disaster, a pile of paperclips. 38 vowel sounds? Another disaster. NO country needs English

more than Thailand. As for learning Thai, who else uses it? NOBODY!! 

Charming- yes; useful? NO! 

  

     Really amazing was the euphoric ASEAN strategy at Thai schools only a few years ago. My grade six kids at my former school had to be able to sing the ASEAN anthem in English, ASEAN camps and a lot more wasted time for nothing.

 

    Then Thailand decided to "postpone" the start for a year and now you seldom hear anything about ASEAN at schools.

 

    The only advantage some teachers now have  is a Master's, or a PhD from the Philippines without ever being there?

 

     Most citizens in European countries do speak English, so travelling is not a problem. Thailand that really needs the tourism as much as a prostitute needs customers always finds new excuses that nothing has changed.

 

   Isn't it a shame that the best English speaking people in Thailand are not the Thai English teachers, I think that a lot more bar girls are a lot more efficient in English than many teachers are.

 

   How do they learn their English? From customers and their "friends".

 

If prostitutes are able to speak an understandable English after only two years of Ping Ponging, but students can't put a sentence together after 12 years of "studying it", there must be something wrong in Rome. Or with the schools? 

 

    

 

     

 

          

 

      

   

[dhream]

Does the oligarchy really want Thais to learn.... anything?

What do you think?
Educated serfs cause the elite endless headaches. Never mind the country wallows behind the likes of Singapore (who had to get smart or perish -so lets not give them too mutt credit for educating their OWN serfs!)
Since the elite win no matter what lowly state the workers are in, why should they give a ratz about the advancement of the masses?

Sent from my SM-J200GU using Tapatalk

[NativeSon360]

24 minutes ago, Winniedapu said:

 

 

I suspect you'll find it was ironic laughter. No need to be abusive, it doesn't speak well of you.

 

Winnie

Don't try that deflection ploy with me. I know the arrogant likes of you, quite well. So get yourself "unconstipated". The abusive comment was on your part, and that shame is on you, sir. Done. Now moving progressively along with the topic issue!

Edited September 1, 2016 by NativeSon360

[Cake Monster]

I have a 13 year old child that regularly translates Biology, Science and Chemistry lessons on behalf of her Thai teachers, all in her own time at home.

Speaks volumes doesn,t it !

[Scotwight]

13 minutes ago, lostinisaan said:

 Isn't it a shame that the best English speaking people in Thailand are not the Thai English teachers, I think that a lot more bar girls are a lot more efficient in English than many teachers are.

 

How do they learn their English? From customers and their "friends".

 

If prostitutes are able to speak an understandable English after only two years of Ping Ponging, but students can't put a sentence together after 12 years of "studying it", there must be something wrong in Rome. Or with the schools? 

   

Or something right with the punters.  Have you considered the average punter may be brighter and more qualified to teach English than the average English teacher?  

[selftaopath]

15 hours ago, NativeSon360 said:

Everyone, please keep in mind, that the average Thai person does not need to speak English, in order to maintain a "respectable" lifestyle in Thailand. That's an non-disputable fact!

If you don't mind I'd like to know what a "respectable" lifestyle is for a Thai? Does that include running water in the home? Or perhaps a four wall domain? Or able to eat meals not largely made of rice? Or perhaps the family has enough money to decide not to send their young child to work in Pattaya?

[Artisi]

22 hours ago, ourmanflint said:

this never gets old!

 

 

They forgot electricity - erectlic kity.

 

Don't joke about this as this is actually what is happening in a lot of situations.

[Winniedapu]

38 minutes ago, selftaopath said:

Does the oligarchy really want Thais to learn.... anything?

 

 

The available evidence suggests they only want Thais to learn what is useful to the elites for them to learn. Obedience, respect, acceptance, low intelligence, supersitition, poverty, lack of principles, that sort of thing. Shameful but I didn't make up the evidence, I just see it for what it is.

 

Winnie

[MrJohnson]

Does it feel like Groundhog Day, or is it just me? 

 

[Winniedapu]

5 minutes ago, MrJohnson said:

Does it feel like Groundhog Day, or is it just me? 

 

 

No, it isn't just you... got any blood sausage?

Winnie

[Gary A]

In the US we have teachers that cannot be fired. (tenured). The bleeding heart liberals have lowered the bar so far that no one can fail. We have high school graduates that are semi literate at best. The worst part is that we also have university graduates who are also semi literate and the courses they have taken are absolutely useless in the job market. The excuse is that we cannot discriminate against the non English speaking students. What they fail to see is that the Asian students are always at the top of the classes even though most Asian languages are totally different than English. I don't know about the UK but I suspect they have a similar situation.

[Scotwight]

12 minutes ago, Gary A said:

In the US we have teachers that cannot be fired. (tenured). The bleeding heart liberals have lowered the bar so far that no one can fail. We have high school graduates that are semi literate at best. The worst part is that we also have university graduates who are also semi literate and the courses they have taken are absolutely useless in the job market. The excuse is that we cannot discriminate against the non English speaking students. What they fail to see is that the Asian students are always at the top of the classes even though most Asian languages are totally different than English. I don't know about the UK but I suspect they have a similar situation.

Asian people are now smarter and harder working than Western people.  Is that a surprise to someone?  It must have taken a gigantic effort to dumb down Thai students and make them almost illiterate when it comes to history and languages.  Not an easy task at all.   

Edited September 1, 2016 by Scotwight

[Emster23]

1 hour ago, Scotwight said:

Would you teach in 105 Fahrenheit temperature on the 4th floor (stairs only) a class of 50 unruly, discourteous violent children with head lice and other contagious diseases for an administration who actively does not like you; promulgates racist and xenophobic policies and participates in selling children to brothels?  If so you have a bright future in the Thai public school system.

  Sure, why not? Most of my teaching career was with severely emotionally disturbed, about 12 years of which was teaching inner city hard core gangsters, aka crips and bloods. They didn't get into my class for being rude: they were certified by psychiatrists and all sorts of qualifiers. I'm white and administration was mostly African American and there was racism I experienced from admin. Parents often were alcoholics and/or sold crack. Can I bring my own fan?

[ourmanflint]

The best way to make Thai kids learn english is to make all games companies release only English Language versions, that should help. Kids will only learn what they want to learn

[SOTIRIOS]

...well 50-100 years behind the other Southeast Asian countries...

 

...duhh...whatever happened to the 'tablets'.....

 

...and the millions and billions in educational reform....

 

...throwing money into something and not knowing where it ends up....will never help...or change anything...

 

...also...reverse the hatred and racism that so many foreigners are faced with.....

 

....'us'....and....'them' attitude.....

 

...or no reason ....or reasoning....for them to learn English or any other foreign language.....

 

[soalbundy]

5 hours ago, timewilltell said:

Thats because 40% of British children are immigdants!

immigrants and immigdants weren't included in the survey only British born

[bangon04]

What is the Thai for "Groundhog Day"  ?

[johng]

4 minutes ago, bangon04 said:

Groundhog Day

 

Ga-rund hog dey

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, whinginggit said:

I thought the figure was more like 51.9% in the UK?

only if the immigrants were included. 40 years ago or so my father in the middle of London tried asking the way to the nearest tube station he asked 5 people,4 couldn't speak English,the fifth person who could was an Irishman.

[toybits]

I had to get a new notebook computer because I laughed so hard spraying coffee from my mouth onto the keyboard.  This program is bound to fail from the onset because it is a one dimensional program.  It does not provide the context by with students learn naturally starting from the classroom, at the hallways, dining halls, when they go out to see a movie or when they converse with each other at home. Learning English cannot be compartmentalized.

 

[dunroaming]

That ship has sailed.  Much more sensible to teach Thai's to speak Mandarin now.

[kekalot]

1 hour ago, ourmanflint said:

The best way to make Thai kids learn english is to make all games companies release only English Language versions, that should help. Kids will only learn what they want to learn

 

that would most likely help a lot, English is not my first language but I learned lots before I even got to 1st grade by wanting to read Nintendo manuals and playing the games..

by the time I was in 2nd grade, which is where other kids started to get English courses, I was way ahead of class and was put in advanced English classes whenever those existed. (I actually fought to keep out of those classes to be with my friends and not a bunch of "nerds")

 

however, every time my answer to how to learn English is to play games, I always get the "haha, real funny" look.

 

kids these days are more interested on clicking like on all those inane Facebook posts or posting selfies (on Instagram or whatever else too)

so.. slightly related, I showed my girlfriend the following picture just a week or two ago..

 

 

Edited September 1, 2016 by kekalot
typos, etc

[soalbundy]

12 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

That ship has sailed.  Much more sensible to teach Thai's to speak Mandarin now.

good luck with that, that's 5,000 characters to remember, they cant even remember all the Thai letters

[nuakmuaynina]

13 hours ago, michaellee said:

Yes, indeed the southern dialect is so different, I stayed for a week the apartment rentals were not cheap almost as pricey as bkk, that place is good if you have someone otherwise you on your own with no communication at all. I'm asian so i blend in more easily and my thai's are pretty good so no problem there buying food. May I ask are you Thai or Caucasian? 

 

I am english, 5'9, blonde and covered in tattoos so I stick out like a sore thumb...

[samsensam]

On 31/08/2016 at 9:50 AM, Mook23 said:

Sufficient english:

 

One hundred baht. 

You.  Pay.  Bill. 

Short time?

Suhtoopid farang. 

 

 

 

 

up to you.