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Thailand falls to 74th place in EF English Proficiency Index 2019


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On 11/7/2019 at 5:01 AM, Youlike said:

Just have a look at the young staff in ALL thai shops....there's nobody at all who speaks english....even not in the most hi-so malls.

 I find the young ones that they don’t even understand a simple sign language,no idea whatsoever 

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There are thousands of native english speaking expats in Thailand, many of whom are retired with plenty of time available.

 

If if if the Thai government would actually encourage interested expats into doing a day or two a week of volunteer teaching at Thai public schools it might just help.  Instead the Thai govt tries to scare these people away by making it very difficult , if not illegal, to volunteer teach.  I 

 

The kids need to actually practice/learn listening and speaking english with a native speaker.  Many expats speak little or no Thai so they do sort of "force" the kids to communicate in english.

 

Also of course there would need to be some background checks done to keep the perverts out of the schools.

 

Perhaps a long term visa could be granted to these expats who volunteer xx hours a month/year etc.

 

This of course won't solve the problem but it certainly could be one small step forward and a win win for the Thai kids as well as the expats who might well find it to be a very enjoyable and fulfilling role to fill as a volunteer english teacher.

 

 

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10 hours ago, gimo said:

   You obviously have a lot of info / experience regarding Malaysian schools . I only spoke about assumptions regarding Singaporean teachers .

In Singapore the requirements to become a teacher are higher than Malaysia's. After their GCE 'A' Levels, future teachers enrol into Singapore's only teacher training institute for a 4-year degree in education course. Those who wish to teach primary school students have to choose one academic subject whereas those who wish to teach secondary school students have to choose two academic subjects, such as English and Mathematics.

Depending on the academic subjects that they have chosen, the degree granted would either be Bachelor of Arts (Education) or Bachelor of Science (Education).

In Malaysia, those with good GCE 'O' Level results can apply for a degree in education course, whereas others would go for a diploma in education course at teacher training institutes. Whereas those who have STPM (Malaysia's equivalent of the GCE 'A' Levels) qualifications can apply to take a degree in education course at local universities, specialising in teaching  of English as a second language, for example.

So you see, most of the primary and secondary school teachers in Malaysia and Singapore, have never studied overseas.

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8 hours ago, pomchop said:

There are thousands of native english speaking expats in Thailand, many of whom are retired with plenty of time available.

 

If if if the Thai government would actually encourage interested expats into doing a day or two a week of volunteer teaching at Thai public schools it might just help.  Instead the Thai govt tries to scare these people away by making it very difficult , if not illegal, to volunteer teach.  I 

 

The kids need to actually practice/learn listening and speaking english with a native speaker.  Many expats speak little or no Thai so they do sort of "force" the kids to communicate in english.

 

Also of course there would need to be some background checks done to keep the perverts out of the schools.

 

Perhaps a long term visa could be granted to these expats who volunteer xx hours a month/year etc.

 

This of course won't solve the problem but it certainly could be one small step forward and a win win for the Thai kids as well as the expats who might well find it to be a very enjoyable and fulfilling role to fill as a volunteer english teacher.

 

 

It is a plan with a lot of merit, which has the potential to make a difference, particularly in the smaller (rural) schools.

 

However, it will be opposed by the teaching "profession" as it will highlight their weakness in English.

 

By definition, as it would use volunteers, it would have no budget to be "managed", and so will find no favour with the educational establishment.

 

As an aside, isn't it amazing how corruption extends it's tentacles into just about every aspect of life in this society!

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On 11/8/2019 at 7:30 AM, soalbundy said:

Well I don't know where Prayut got that from, I've just read my British/Thai son's school report. Points out of 50, English language 49, Thai language 20. 

20 isn't all that bad. Most of my Thai students struggle to get 50% in their Thai-based subjects. For Thai language, they must learn a lot of archaic things, including writing very difficult poetry. For Thai social/history, they must rote memorise everything in their textbook. Any child that has spent a considerable amount of time with good western teachers really learn to hate their Thai subjects, mainly because of the teaching and learning methods. Having said that, the majority of those students will learn in International programs in Thailand or go overseas anyway. 

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20 hours ago, Traubert said:

In China the kids are only taught to pass exams. The oral element of the exam is only 5% of the mark. Consequently you have A grade students who cant string a spoken sentence together.

 

Is it the same in Thailand?

And if they can't pass on their own, there is always this..

https://qz.com/96793/chinese-students-and-their-parents-fight-for-the-right-to-cheat/

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On 11/8/2019 at 7:24 AM, ramrod711 said:

I think the time has passed for english to be the first alternative language for Thai people.

Maybe...maybe ...

 

English is a relatively easy language to learn and Thai schoolchildren can not do it for a lot of reasons already written above.
They do not care being the main reason.

Learning Chinese will be something much more difficult than the English language and will only be possible if you start in kindergarten.

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18 minutes ago, Assurancetourix said:

Maybe...maybe ...

 

English is a relatively easy language to learn and Thai schoolchildren can not do it for a lot of reasons already written above.
They do not care being the main reason.

Learning Chinese will be something much more difficult than the English language and will only be possible if you start in kindergarten.

Many Thai kids start learning English in kindergarten. By the age of 18 a good number is not able to have a simple conversation in English.

 

To not be able to speak/pick up any Chinese they would have to start learning while still in the womb...

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18 hours ago, RedPill said:

Ok good, different languages can vary in importance for different industries

 

... english has not been past by time, it's the one language the world has more or less agreed on to communicate.

 

What language are we speaking on this forum? 

 

Just a quick example, look at the Philippine over sea workers ... it opens doors and careers for them.

 

 

I'm not arguing, I'm not even disagreeing. I did say that learning any language can be rewarding. I'm Canadian, lived on the west coast, never learned more than the most basic french even though it is one of Canada's official languages. I also didn't learn any other languages but you expect Thai people to learn your language. Why didn't you learn Japanese in your home country, because you saw no need, all I'm saying is that they are no different than you, they see no need, I'm sure you aren't unreasonable enough to expect 70,000,000 Thais to learn another language for your convenience.

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13 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

English is a relatively easy language to learn

Actually, English is one of the most difficult languages to learn if it has no resemblance to your own language.  i.e. Thai along with other script/tonal languages.  English is as difficult for them as learning Japanese, Chinese etc is for native English speakers. 

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