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English teacher with poor pronunciation sparks online storm


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9 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

To be honest your fellow English teachers................ 

 

"3 from Cameroon that sound like those from England, because they were taught in Africa by  a teacher from England, and one that is half Indian and half English, and sounds like both in his accent."

 

Its little wonder they prefer to have you

 

The quality of the English school you're employed at does not strike me as being of high standard.

Actually the owner is a well respected English  teacher himself, and known all over Thailand. His is the best school in the province. My work is totally voluntary, and I'm there because I  speak fluent English.

Edited by fredwiggy
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1 minute ago, Somtamnication said:

She represents a good 95% of the Thai English teachers. I corrected a private student once with one of her sentences. "She had an accident, yesterday". The Thai teacher corrected it with red ink and a comment "She had accidented, yesterday". 

Earth Shattering info.????

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24 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

Earth Shattering info.????

Actually it's a good example of believing that a grammar rule extends to every word etc., when it doesn't. English is like most languages, there are rules and we break the rules many times. 

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Tragic. Not sure whether to laugh or cry at just how bad this is. It isn't even just the pronunciation or grammatical errors, it is the truly shocking teaching ability she has. 

 

If this is meant to be a good example then words fail me. What actually goes on in a Thai school classroom!!?? 

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15 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Many people fail to understand that Thai people are learning English as a second language and NOT first language.

 

It's perfectly normal not to speak perfect English as long as people can understand them.

 

I've known many foreigners who still can't speak perfect Thai after many years of studying Thai.

 

 

 

Agreed, also when Thais mispronounce English most of us can get the jist of what they are saying. The other way round not so, which I find both funny and frustrating at the same time.

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As the video also showed the math teacher, it is a glaring view into the state of Thai schools and their teachers. Imagine how science and even the Thai language is taught!!!

Edited by Somtamnication
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13 hours ago, Inn Between said:

If we want our kids to learn Karate, would we send them to someone who only holds a yellow belt?

Hey! Don't pick on my meagre yellow belt.

555

Seriously though, I could only teach beginners at that level, and to make it worse, I might even do damage by passing along my bad habits. The same applies to poor English teachers.

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15 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

Auditioned by who; someone who can do no better than her no doubt ?  When it comes to English they need proper Native speaking Teachers as their own Thai Teachers are near useless !

Not 'near'.....completely !

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Even native speakers should be vetted in case you get an American type of y'all or a Birmingham Brumm teacher ( I met one in Chiang Mai and even I had difficulty understanding him...he had a degree in English literature!!! ) then of course there would be the Londoner, wassat, innit, type. Standards have fallen world wide, in Bavaria I have met young Germans who are only comfortable in their own dialect and have problems with high German although this was 40 years ago so I think things may have changed since then. SMS texting doesn't help, thx, imo, lol.

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15 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That's not the point.

English is also not my first language and I communicate in English every day. But I am not an English teacher.

From a teacher we should expect good pronunciation and, depending on the level they teach, good understanding of the details of the language.

"Say it again"

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1 hour ago, pineapple01 said:
1 hour ago, Somtamnication said:

She represents a good 95% of the Thai English teachers. I corrected a private student once with one of her sentences. "She had an accident, yesterday". The Thai teacher corrected it with red ink and a comment "She had accidented, yesterday". 

Earth Shattering info.

I think you mean earth shatteringed info.

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15 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

My Daughter was greeted with " Good Evening >>> < How are you tomorrow " when she signed in this Morning

With Teachers such as these, there is no hope for the Country

I've been greeted the same way in Soi Cowboy. 

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I remember my son coming home from school and was told he was wrong when he answered a question saying "batteries"

The teacher said he pronounced it incorrectly and it should be 'bal-eries"

My son was getting so many questions wrong like this in verbal and written tests when in fact it was useless teachers.

I could have got my Labrador to do better a job.

Edited by kwak250
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15 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

For a European to learn another Indo-European language is much easier than for a Thai to learn a European language which is so different from theirs and vice versa.

 

Furthermore, there are much more opportunities for you to practice English back home than Thai people.

 

A Thai teacher should have 'good' pronunciation but one shouldn't expect her to have perfect pronunciation as a native speaker. Anyway, there are so many different English accents such as American, British, Australian so which one is considered 'good'?

 

 

Hmmm... I'm sure you've received dozens of replies. 

 

I'd like to add that Thais have what I think is a problem unique to their culture. 

 

Despite a decades long stated national program to become proficient English communicators, there are statistically almost 0 successes. 

 

If you observe carefully, you may note that even the most elite Thais (Chula, Mahidol, Thammasat), who have more money than many of us and who have travelled at least as much as many of us - STILL can't communicate effectively in English. 

 

You'll notice that their English ability seems only to distinguish them superficially as having access to foreign education or money. Their usually pathetic English ability is simply a way to distinguish their socioeconomic class. 

 

They never had any intention of communicating to people who are not Thai and hence their constant Thai-ification of English. 

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15 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

Many people fail to understand that Thai people are learning English as a second language and NOT first language.

 

It's perfectly normal not to speak perfect English as long as people can understand them.

 

I've known many foreigners who still can't speak perfect Thai after many years of studying Thai.

 

 

 

But they are not wanna be Thai speaking teachers. Over 90% of foreigners cannot speak fluent Thai MOST do not study Thai.

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1 hour ago, Curt1591 said:

Is it bad English, or bad Thai English? 
We say football; they say footbon

We say noodle; they say nooden 

The Thai language  doesn't use the 'L' sound as a final consonant.

 

'ling' or 'loom' are fine for example, as that's an initial consonant.

'ball' bill', etc aren't easy as the 'L' sound here needs to finish with the tongue at the roof of the mouth, something Thais don't do naturally.

(some Thais do it by making the final 'L' sound like a 'W')

 

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