Jump to content

yingyo

Member
  • Posts

    304
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by yingyo

  1. Thanks for the info, it's not for me.

    I would guess the subjects would be something like History, Geography, Biology, Business Studies, ICT and then I guess the non-electives: Math, English, and a 2nd Language (Thai).

    If students in the UK do this and then go on to do the A-Levels, which I presume are another 2 years, is there any international option to do them, such as the iGCSE?

    I presume that in the UK the GCSE's are what are called the O-Level exams. Do English universites usually accept people with only GCSE's or is it based solely on A-Level results?

  2. What for engine to get to running temp.

    Go through the gears from low rpm to high, then engine break back down. A highway at night is good for this.

    Stop. Let the engine cool down for 10 mins.

    Repeat a few times.

    The oil being at running temp and not sitting at one rpm like a highway cruise would be the main thing. Change the oil and filter after 150km.

    Modern engine don't need the break in they did 40 years ago.

  3. More information from a Thai school that seems to tutor for the exams:

    http://www.aims.co.th/IGCSE/#10

    The ages seem young compared to what one would expect for finishing highschool.

    "International General Certificate of Secondary Education or IGCSE is usually taken
    by 14 to 16 years old students to prepare for higher academic work including AS Level,
    A Level, and International Baccalaureate (IB)."

    It's a bit confusing understanding what exactly they are. For example in the UK do they do the GCSE's at ages 14-16 and then the final two years of highschool to get their 'A levels'??

  4. I'd rather be in Latin America but for a variety of personal reasons it is better for me to be here now... can't say I love it anymore though, especially after learning Thai language.

    I am rather surprised at the last sentence. I love it here, the only disturbing fact is that I can't learn the language,. It is simply too foreign and difficult for me, although I do speak a number of languages apart from my mother tongue. It's a pity, but I still wish to remain here!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I understand your confusion and I would have been confused about this before I started learning Thai. I learned Thai in part to bridge the cultural-linguistic divide but it has mostly made the gap bigger. Now I can speak with an intermediate-advanced level and have conversations on a variety of topics. I can read and write as well. However, many Thai people are not open to speaking Thai with farangs (I really appreciate the ones that are!).

    Speaking Thai has made me realize how much Thai people do not accept farangs in their culture especially compared with Latin America. For example, even if a Thai person knows only 5 words in English, he/she will use these words instead of speaking Thai normally... I will still get laughed at as a farang... "farang! farang!" I see how discriminatory Thai people are (I am making a generalization here) and that many Thai people do not really respect foreigners here, what they want is our money. I find Thai people to be quite insincere.

    I wish I did not feel this way, but I do. I am presently writing this from Laos and I think the people here are more sincere, open, and genuine... they speak Thai to me in Laos with no problem, just like I am a normal person, how bizarre is that!

    I used to live in Latin America (in a variety of countries and cultures including Ecuador, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Argentina) and I found the people much more open, receptive, interesting, and intelligent. Sorry to be negative about Thailand in a sea of so much ThaiVisa negativity, but I call it as I see it.

    I have never had that experience with thais and the language thing

    Of course you haven't.

    The tinted glasses of yours include built in earplugs.

    Thailand is heaven. Thais are perfect. They love us foreigners.

    Repeat to fade as usual JD,

  5. I'm interested in learning about the iGCSE Certificate available in Thailand.

    They are the same as the GCSE's people do in England. First question, in the UK they use the term A levels and O levels. Kind of like the M3 and M6 exams.

    Is the highest one of these the GCSE's? So the final exam at the end of highschool at age 17/18 are the GCSE's?

    In Thailand, one can do the iGCSE exams through two licensed companies, The British Council and International House.

    http://www.britishcouncil.or.th/en/exam/igcse

    http://www.ihbangkok.com/page/55-ih_bangkok_igcse_exam_preparation.html

    http://www.britishcouncil.org/registration_guide_2013_for_web.pdf

    The exams are surprisingly cheap. Around between 5k-7k per subject. Presumably one would do about 8 different exams. So under 60k baht total unless I am reading it wrong.

    2nd Question:

    How many subjects does one usually study for the GCSE's?

    Do these typically only have one exam each, or may there be a different number of exams for different subjects?

    3rd Question:

    Are these the exams they take in International schools here?

    4th Question:

    It takes about 2 years of study to prepare for the exams. Courses are available from the British Council and International House.

    Has anybody here got experience of either teaching or studying them, or know anything about them. I am interested in finding out the average number of lessons per week per subject. And the approx. cost.

    For example: GCSE Math Course. 6 hours per week, duration 2 years. Cost, xx,xxx baht per semester.

    GCSE Biology Course. 4 hours per week, etc. etc.

    Does anybody know of the approx cost of a 2 year course per semester? I have just emailed both BC and IH to enquire, but would be very interested in any experiences from people here.

    And finally, for a Thai national who is a native English Speaker, would it be a viable (or advisable) option to leave Thai highschool at age 15/16 in order to study these course with BC or IH in order to sit the GCSE exams 2 years later?

    I believe that Thai Uni's consider 5 GCSE exam passes to be equivelent of the Thai M6 Cert.

    Thanks for any insight you can give me.

  6. ^ Actually you can rent a van to drive yourself no problem. We did when my family was over.

    But yes, there is no doubt that the van driver was a Thai, and that he would have been outta there faster than a sour plum should there have been an accident.

    "And if the van had run you down he would not stop"

    How could you possibly know that except in your biased imagination

    Even the Thai police flee mate.

    Link

    When will you first be coming to Thailand?

  7. Also consider an ATM card from Kasikorn that includes their accident insurance.

    It was 200b p/a, then went up to 400b p/a, perhaps it's more now. Debited directly from your account each year.

    This will cover around 5000b in any hospital after an accident. That is enough for x-ray, doctor's check up and any medication.

    A friend had an accident in Ratchada in BKK and they were taken by ambulance to Pra Ram 9 hospital, an expensive private hospital more akin to a 4 star hotel. Showing the ATM cards covered all checks, x-rays, follow ups, ambulance, medication.

    Good to have for a few hundred baht a year.

    Of course also get first class vehicle insurance.

  8. I remember a similar thread and from memory it was very expansive, something around 18 000 baht(there abouts) and i think it was Tokyo Marine (is that the name? or something alike) who offered it.

    It completely depends on the bike.

    What bike do you want to insure OP?

  9. Probably farangs doing the card skimming.

    Quite a popular activity of some Eastern Europeans and English.

    Yeah sure Sherlock. The Nigerians, assorted Arabs and Africans, Chinese, Taiwanese and EU boys would never dream of doing anything like this.

    The typically have different types of scams.

    The Africans are typically more hands on in terms of getting to know their victims convincing them to hand over money for something or other - black magic money boxes, facebook scams of someone coming in to marry them then get stopped at customs and need money to get through etc.

    Chinese and Taiwanese are generally caught being based here but working online using credit card details of their own nationals that are taken from their home countries, usually a lot of them and amounts in the millions of $$.

    Most ATM scammers are either East European gangs, some hiring gullible EU lads for the final withdrawal, or a few English wannabe gangsters trying their luck with cheap equipment.

    • Like 1
×
×
  • Create New...