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English skills of Thai kids


no rite way

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Not yet....we're just getting started a few days ago. Furthest I got was making the flashcards, upper and lower case. Very poor result. The cards ended being used for scrap paper, to show how interested he is and his mom who asked me to help. Attention span is short and so are tempers when each of them doesn't understand that I can't teach him in a week what he hasn't learned in 5 years.

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Hi,

 

"that I can't teach him in a week"

 

That sounds familiar. My wife goes through phases of wanting to learn English, but always gets annoyed and quits after 1-2 weeks since she hasn't become fluent yet.

 

And obviously it is my fault she doesn't speak English as I only speak Thai to her. Right, the fact that you refuse to take lessons and refuse to reply in English to me has nothing to do with it.

 

Can't win :(

 

Sanuk!

 

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While my wife doesn't blame me for her poor english skills (although much better than when she arrived in the U.S. in October 2008), she does blame me for not being able to find a job ( she briefly worked with another Thai friend cleaning houses but her cleaning skills weren't good enough and they lost their 2 clients). Her 4-5 Thai friends in the U.S. don't work and tell her she won't be albe to find a job. While the extra income would be nice, a full time job would require our 2 and a half year old son be placed in day care/pre-school and that would take more money than any wages she might make. I keep telling her that, if she continues her english studies, gets a GDE and takes 1-2 years of training in some field, she could get a good job, with good wages and benefits. She can't think past the next year. Since we still have a house in Chiang Mai, I imagine she will go back in October with the son for 6 months, with the son going to a Thai pre-school and she can make 200-300 baht doing massages and I will supply her with enough money to live on. I and her 3 kids will stay in the U.S. I am committed to seeing her youngest kid make it to college (in about 5 years). And then, I imagine the wife and I will move back to Thailand, at least until our son is 14 and entering High school. I really thought my wife and I were on the same page coming to the U.S. for the kids education, not so that the wife could get a great job and make lots of money (obviously, coming in October, 2008, just after the September financial meltdown, didn't help). I guess that almost all thais are short sighted, even when it comes to their kids.

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Chilli, my point is that many Thais seem to think that Farang = English speaker. I've even heard English called "Phasaa Farang"!

 

 

Yep, heard that on several occasions too.

"What? You speak different languages in Europe?"

Sigh.

 

To boost command of english, they should first of all stop dubbing all movies into thai.

With subtitles that should also improve thai reading skills.

 

My 8 year old son hasn`t started english classes yet. But due to exposure to the language from the telly and online gaming, he is perfectly able to have conservations with other online gamers.

 

In my country it is cool to know and use english.

More and more english terms are incorporated into our language.

If you buy a new gadget, you`ll usually have to read the manual in english.

Most stuff on the internet: english.

 

So it is hardly surprising that young generations with this massive exposure combined with the "coolness factor" tend to be very good english speakers.

 

However, traditionally, german was our 3rd language.

German is now uncool. Nobody watches german television any more because there now are so many programs to choose from.

There is now no german exposure any more except from the class room.

And students are reluctant to even speak it although virtually everybody was taught it at one time or another.

Seems somewhat similar to thais and speaking english.

 

 

 

 

 

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My mother, grandmother and great grandmother always spoke German to each other when I was small. Same when my grandmother's cousin came to visit. Then for some reason - when I was around 6 or 7 - they more or less stopped and just spoke English. Accordingly, my German fluency rapidly vanished. :(

 

My grandmother and great grandmother also spoke Hungarian. That didn't get passed on at all, except for a few words.

 

It irritates me a bit, since kids pick up languages so easily. Unfortunately, they lose them easily too. Think of the young Farang kids you've seen in Thailand who were virtually native speakers of Thai. After they leave Thailand, odds are they will forget it completely.

 

Television is a good idea though ... get cartoons in ENGLISH, not dubbed into Thai. Make the kid learn as he laughs. Some of the English is bound to rub off. (Just don't get Popeye!)

 

 

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If I can accept that my wife will never aqcquire enough english skills to get a decent job in the U.S., I still believe that, over the next 5-7 years (the time that we have left in the U.S. before moving back), she has a decent base to build on, and she doesn't mind me correcting her. I have mixed feelings about the family speaking Thai at home, particularly now, when they are out of class for 10 weeks. I couldn't talk any of them into taking english summer school courses and, by the time school starts again, it will take a month to get back to the point they were at when school ended for the summer. On the other hand, I want my 2 year old son to speak, read and write thai. While its going to kill me not to see him for 5-6 months this winter, he will be going to pre school in thailand and learning the language through immersion. My wife can bring back enough thai children's books to keep him occupied for a year. I want to keep his thai skills sharp enough to be able to go to a thai school full time for a couple of years, when he is 10-14 years old.

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My Dutch friend, living in Berlin, married to a Chinese lady (long story) has their daughter speaking German, Chinese, English and Dutch. The mother made sure she spoke Chinese!

The daughter complained, "...why learn Chinese as I am German...", but the mother endured and the daughter is very, very intelligent!

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