University teaching shows why Thais' command of English is so abysmal!

[webfact 68,938]

University teaching shows why Thais' command of English is so abysmal!

 

Picture: Thairath

 

BANGKOK: -- If you have ever wondered why the Thais' level of English is so poor you need look no further than the so called top teachers!

 

An online drama about a study program on television shows a course full of the most basic schoolboy errors.

 

And these were supposed to have come from university level professors, reports Thairath.

 

Now the professor who taught the course has blamed the printers rather than taking responsibility!

 

The course, via cable TV and satellite on the DLTV 15 channel, has been panned by Facebook critics.

 

Among the howlers is one section that refers to the translation of the Thai "khun pen khon angrit reu?" . It says the "frequent" mistake is "Are you an England?" but the correct version should be "Are you and England?".

 

Of course, this should be 'Are you English?'

 

In another "frequently made mistakes section" the teacher tells the students the translation for "dichan chorp len kilaa tennis" (I like to play tennis (a woman speaking)) is not "I like to play penis".

 

That, the teacher says is because "penis" means "urination" (transliterated as "piss" in the Thai letters.

 

The politer Thai word for urination is "patsawa".

 

For the translation of "kheun rot" (get in/on a vehicle) the frequent mistake is given as "go down the car" while the correct version is said to be "get on the car".

 

Of course neither is strictly correct though you could get on a bus!

 

Getting on a car would indicate climbing on its roof.

 

A Thai Facebook poster who put a sample of the appalling errors online said: "Want to know why Thai kids are so poor in English? Look no further than the teaching. I nearly fainted when I saw this!"

 

Thai Rath online caught up with the "ajarn" (professor) who delivered the course, who was not named. The ajarn said that the slides had been in use for years and had been checked by a top university for accuracy.

 

Instead of blaming the university, however, or admitting to making a mistake themselves, the ajarn did the best they could.....and blamed the printers.

 

Tragically, even the Thai word "khoi" as in "may khoi dee" (not very) was misspelled.

 

Source: Thairath

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-12-06

[jpinx 3,583]

There are so many versions of English (Spanish also) that it is hard to know where to set the standard, but there is no doubt that most Thai "English Teachers" are hard pressed to have a conversation in English with a native UK English speaker.

[bluebluewater 1,380]

They can't find their ass with both hands nor can they get out of their own way but, without fail, it's someone else's fault!

[djayz 5,665]

Here we go again... if I had ฿ 1 for every time people pointed out the absymal level of English here, I'd be a millionaire by now! 

If the teachers haven't mastered the language, then how are they expected to teach their students?!?!

 

Teachers and professors who have their positions partially thanks to family connections and are never observed by neutral peers with the aim of improving standards. They have no motivation to improve themselves as teachers nor to help their students improve their (students) lot in life. The language center I work at observes all teachers once and sometimes twice a year and conducts regular student feedback surveys. All with the aim of 1) keeping teaching standards up and 2) to check student i.e. customer satisfaction with the teaching staff. 

This could easily be done at the public schools and universities. 

 

[cooked 5,899]

I occasionally see bits of German lessons on a remote corner of Thai TV. Not much better.

[pookiki 2,528]

Are you English is the 'correct' answer??!! <deleted>!

[Ceruhe 722]

Nothing everybody already knows about, next.

[Kasset Tak 2,636]

The 3 Thai English teachers (all three of them have Masters degrees in teaching English) working here in the college are struggling with the easiest of conversations and basically they use Thai when they speak with me... on the other hand we have teachers in the animal science (I teach animal science and animal feed in English) and plant science departments that use or at least try to use as much English as possible when they speak with me!

[Charlie1 335]

I noticed that many Thais try to speak a not understandable "American English". They should be taught only by UK native speakers - the teachers, I mean.

[Saraphee 553]

Should the 'native speakers' all be vetted for a common accent - what should it be?

The difference between a Thai Glaswegian and a Thai Brummagem, for example, should render the whole thing even more imcomprehensible

[pookiki 2,528]

6 minutes ago, Charlie1 said:

I noticed that many Thais try to speak a not understandable "American English". They should be taught only by UK native speakers - the teachers, I mean.

All from Liverpool, right?

[djayz 5,665]

7 minutes ago, Saraphee said:

Should the 'native speakers' all be vetted for a common accent - what should it be?

The difference between a Thai Glaswegian and a Thai Brummagem, for example, should render the whole thing even more imcomprehensible

Their accents are the least of their problems.... ?

[damo 338]

Easier to ignore them when they don't speak english. Leave them be.

[Dexlowe 4,467]

The printer may very well have made mistakes -- sometimes deliberate, as in several examples I can give of printers and others, in their supreme arrogance, changing my copy because they thought they were right and I was wrong (despite strict instructions to alter nothing). But it doesn't excuse the fact that the professor (or whoever) had a responsibility to check the final version of the study program before it was printed/published. After all, it's their reputation on the line (not that they seem to care, sadly).

[IMA_FARANG 3,596]

Wouldn't be better to say, "I do not speak English WELL rather than I do not speak English GOOD".

Or is that just my American born English ear?