english is the language of war. basically all military manuals and weaponry use english thanks to most of it being produced in or for america.

is an odd step by the general getting everyone tested. cant imagine many will pass, and then what? pay a fine? then pay again for not being able to pass the fittness test?

12 hours ago, greenchair said:

Well I did and it said to match to. 

So English to emulate their job would mean having enough English skills to match the need of their job. Their job is conning foreigner to part with their money in a very nice way. 

Sorry that you don't have the English skill to understand emulate. Perhaps you need some lessons down at the bar. ????

Please sir, I suggest you take a further look at the context of the word as it doesn't seem to be the correct usage to me. 

What's the going rate to bribe the Tester for a resounding pass?

Surely they dont need mandatory English tests to learn 5 words.

Only English they need is !! how many baht you give !!

hmmm....."someone dumb like me" ......who controls the thai army and Thailand itself ?..... pull the other one

Well, hope the Army will hire native English speakers with a real educational background ...... 

English Lessons in Thailand.mp4

13 hours ago, greenchair said:

Well I did and it said to match to. 

So English to emulate their job would mean having enough English skills to match the need of their job. Their job is conning foreigner to part with their money in a very nice way. 

Sorry that you don't have the English skill to understand emulate. Perhaps you need some lessons down at the bar. ????

I'll drink to that

English test: 
1) What your name?
2) Where you come from?

3) 1000 baht please

Pass

 

Fitness test:

1) Stand up

2) Sit down

Did you split your trousers or pop a shirt button?

Yes = promotion
No = Pass

I wonder who is going to teach them.

40 years ago, any drunken buck private in the boondocks could at least ask "Wassa yu name?"

Most bar girls speak better English than the average Thai

Just now, LannaGuy said:

Most bar girls speak better English than the average Thai

True....but they also stump in a monthly revenue, high superior to the average Thai wage!!...This helps!!

It was only a couple of months ago that Prayuth declared that Thai WILL be the international language.  Did that Luk Kreung kid make them look stupid? 

14 hours ago, greenchair said:

Well I did and it said to match to. 

So English to emulate their job would mean having enough English skills to match the need of their job. Their job is conning foreigner to part with their money in a very nice way. 

Sorry that you don't have the English skill to understand emulate. Perhaps you need some lessons down at the bar. ????

Emulate = match by imitation thus the original statement could have been enhanced with a different word....

15 hours ago, landtrout said:

 

     Speaking of putting 2 words together....

 If you are yourself a native English speaker, you might want to look up the meaning of the English word "emulate".

 

To "emulate" your post, I was wondering the same thing.................

I am not a native English speaker either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16 hours ago, Encid said:

Why would it be considered important for Army battalion chiefs to be tested for their English competency?

You do'nt know who will take over next and will need to go visit Foreign leaders :)

16 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Enough said.

Do I need to say any more !

Haha choose the right word: a.jogging 

                                                     b.joking

I thinkkkk it must be A. Good answer.

You past the test.

IMHO Prayuth deserves credit for admitting his command of English is not good, and doing something about it with his future officers.

11 hours ago, whaleboneman said:

Maybe they're planning an invasion?

Ah but we've got an aircraft carrier now.......

2 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

Well, hope the Army will hire native English speakers with a real educational background ...... 

English Lessons in Thailand.mp4

And a work permit......

16 hours ago, greenchair said:

Well I did and it said to match to. 

So English to emulate their job would mean having enough English skills to match the need of their job. Their job is conning foreigner to part with their money in a very nice way. 

Sorry that you don't have the English skill to understand emulate. Perhaps you need some lessons down at the bar. ????

One probably can't "emulate a job"...actually there is not much that one can "verb + a job".

Instead, one could say that these ladies learn English in order to "boost their income"

11 hours ago, whaleboneman said:

Maybe they're planning an invasion?

Or maybe they are planning...to be invaded!

With the US these days, one never knows.

And even though most Americans speak Spanish, there are still some who speak English...anyway there are much more so-called English teachers available around here than Spanish ones, which may explain the choice...

 

49 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

One probably can't "emulate a job"...actually there is not much that one can "verb + a job".

Instead, one could say that these ladies learn English in order to "boost their income"

I did not say emulate a job. 

I said, bar girls speak excellent English to emulate their job, which is to get foreign customers. 

Meaning English is equal to or matched to the need of their job. 

I guess if you are a non native speaker, I should have taken the loooonnnggg way and said. ..

Bar girls speak excellent English to emulate the needs of their job.

In which case I would not be able to use a comma and complete the sentence. ..

Which is getting foreign customers. 

18 hours ago, greenchair said:

That is wonderful news. 

However, I hope it is a speaking test and not a written test. 

It amazes me that the bar girls in pattaya all speak excellent English to emulate their job.

But a highly educated government worker can't put 2 words together. 

Transform thailand to be English speak, the economic rewards will be had by all ?????

So maybe retired bar girls can be offered jobs teaching English?

I wonder if the PM Chan O Cha knows that there is a way to learn English in a short period of time and you could appear to speak good English.

I have done quite a bit of research (not academic) on learning foreign language. I have seen shop assistants in busy duty free shop speaking good English because they polish their limited amount of English so well, that they appear to speak good English. 

It's more like "Working English" they wouldn't be able to communicate beyond what their works require.

The Police, Immigration and Custom who have regular contact with tourists can very easily pick up a lot of good English expressions if they are taught how to do it.

So they will be given a list of expressions to listen to over and over until they understand. They will be taught these are the answers you most likely encounter and what they mean.

Of course first they will be told this is not going to be difficult just give it a try.  You just put in a little effort.

If they encounter strong accents making it difficult for them to understand, they should know how to tell the tourists, "Look, I am having a bit of problem with your strong accent, could you write down or perhaps repeat very slowly". 

Sometimes they look lost when they couldn't understand what was spoken and to avoid loosing face they ask more questions. Just get them to write it down or repeat no need to feel lost of face, tell them even Farangs have problem understanding accents sometimes. 

17 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

Excuse me, what is pointless?

 

Are you suggesting that the ability of anyone, but especially people in senior positions in any walk of life, to speak foreign languages is pointless.

He means pointless because nobody will fail the test , brown envelopes etc.

23 minutes ago, greenchair said:

I did not say emulate a job. 

I said, bar girls speak excellent English to emulate their job, which is to get foreign customers. 

Meaning English is equal to or matched to the need of their job. 

I guess if you are a non native speaker, I should have taken the loooonnnggg way and said. ..

Bar girls speak excellent English to emulate the needs of their job.

In which case I would not be able to use a comma and complete the sentence. ..

Which is getting foreign customers. 

I am not convinced that being a native speaker gives an edge, even though the local school authorities do certainly think so.

Many natives, the world over, are far from mastering their own language...just look at Trump, or W Bush before him...

Having said that, I am still not comfortable with "emulate their job" and would rather go with "emulate their co-workers" for example.

Also the "needs of their job" could be replaced by the "requirements of their jobs"...and finally "getting foreign customers" could be replaced by "attracting foreign customers".

But then again I am not a native speaker...

14 hours ago, Guitar God said:

For a country who wants their citizens to be able to compete in the global market and speak an international language, why are 100% of the TV shows either in Thai or dubbed in Thai?

 

The Netherlands has one of the highest rates of fluency in English of any country in Europe. 

They don't dub any movies or TV shows, they'll all subtitled. 

 

If Thailand had even one English language channel it would be a free way for Thais to learn English. 

 

 

Perhaps The Nation could print articles that show keywords, describing their meanings and showing the Thai word equivalent?

Ditto.

 

I don't want others to be dumb like you either...

13 minutes ago, Brunolem said:

I am not convinced that being a native speaker gives an edge, even though the local school authorities do certainly think so.

Many natives, the world over, are far from mastering their own language...just look at Trump, or W Bush before him...

Having said that, I am still not comfortable with "emulate their job" and would rather go with "emulate their co-workers" for example.

Also the "needs of their job" could be replaced by the "requirements of their jobs"...and finally "getting foreign customers" could be replaced by "attracting foreign customers".

But then again I am not a native speaker...

That's right  you are not a native speaker, so don't tell me how to speak my own language. 

The story is about the need of government workers, especially heads, to have English speaking abilities. My post was to point out that bar girls have better English than highly paid government workers. 

Only a non native speaker would turn this into a grammar lesson and the anamolies of hiring a native speaker over a non native speaker.