gummigut Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 I'll agree 3-months is a very short period of time to expect him to catch up. 3-months IS enough time, in my opinion, to acquire the rudiments of English so you can start Total Immersion at home. This is the hard part. Not so much for the kid but the folks around him (mother / sisters) not to speak his native tongue with him. Maybe set aside designated hours he can speak Thai, but you really should totally immerse him at home. It'll be a huge ass struggle, but it will be worth it. If he can't find the words, have him look it up in a Thai/English dictionary and try to communicate the idea. If he get's a translation from his mother/sister, it's too easy for him to forget it after he used the specific phrase. I have the same problem learning Thai. I can easily ask for the sentence I need, but I can't retain the information. If I breakdown the idea in words, and look them up, it takes 10 times longer, but I'm learning faster, and I'm retaining individual words I can use for different sentences. It's not just learning English, but being proficient to process the words without translating. Until he's doing that for a substantial number of words, his classroom progress is going to be the shits and I don't think that should be the focus (as I believe you rightly pointed out). His language skills are the first priority. Immersion is the way to go, but it ain't easy <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
check_bin_krap Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 You are so right Gummigut. When ex and step sons came to Norway (first ex, and then 1 year later step sons), we lived with my parents and 2 brothers. They all had to speak Norwegian everywhere, and learnt it fast. If they all came at the same time, maybe more difficult. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlton68 Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Hey TB, it's not that easy. For others it takes many years at school and lots of practice to master a foreign language. Three month is not that much. Maybe he is still shy to talk cause he doesn't want to do mistakes. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Hi I agree with you 100% in setting up "no Thai" zone, especially at home. Must be done or he will never be that good. A girl from Thailand came here when she was only 10 and I was told that it took her over a year to be able to communicate beyond, "I am hungry". She has Thai parents who refused to speak Thai to her for 2 years, when she got most communication, the they started speaking Thai again so she does not forget. I am trying to speak French now and I do have empathy for this child, however I feel that a child can learn faster than the poor old woman like me. Jasmine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Hi, It is not an easy job to raise a child. Like my previous post, the child must be in an environment that speak no Thai. It is not going to be easy but in the long run, he is better off. I have seen many Thai kids who take longer than 3 months to learn to communicate very basically, however, I also have met a kid who could do it fluently in less than 3 months. The difference is that the last one had no other way to communicate, he was stuck in a boy's school (boarding school, on purpose) and 24 hours there for 2 months taught him well. Used to be a few scholarship from Thailand that requires boarding school stay, and IMO, it was the best set-up. Anyhow, good luck, it is difficult but worthwile, I am sure. Jasmine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2004 Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 # months is not long. Some children, it takes years. Look at adults, how many Falangs in Thailand can speak Thai? For those that can speak Thai, how long did it take? As for the student, you mention he thinks he is on holiday - has he been there only a short time? If so, the novelty of the place has to wear of before he can settle down. Do not expect him to learn English very fast. If you push him too much, he might have problems afterwards. I suspect he is processing some things, but is overwhelmed. Look at him as a baby - he has to become familiar with the words before he will express himself in English. I suspect he is learning, but has not reached the point of expressing himself - give hime time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted July 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2004 Hi Three months is not a long time ..but with a lot of one one with his support teacher he is way behind what the school thought he should be . His mom speaks thai a lot with him and i tell her to try English as much as she can (she is learning as well) so not a big help just yet. Just have to keep working at it every day with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gummigut Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 <<sorry, this post is a stream of consciousness. Got too much to do myself, and I really shouldn't be writing this because of my work backlog Also seems like I'm telling you what to do, sorry. This is just one suggestion >> Yah That's the hard part. The Thai mother who can be strong with their child seems to be the rarity. She really has to stop speaking Thai with him. I didn't have to learn English, but I'm an asian-american. Prior to 1968, immigration from asia was severely restricted. So most of the asians my age were FOB's (immigrants). I've seen a lot of my friends pick up English from many different levels. The longest it should take for him to be able to sit in a classroom and get most of what's going on should be about 10-months in my opinion. Something that may be hindering your kid is the fact that you are doing his homework. He should be doing his homework. I know you say you are helping him, but I can't help but think about what % you are actually doing for him. Grades should really be secondary. I remember my friends having to do their homework and they HAD to struggle as their parents knew diddly squat about school (with the subjects and could not speak English). He's got to feel the need to speak English, yet feel he is being supported by the folks around him. The hard part is enforcing and re-inforcing English at home. There needs to be a rewards/punishment based system. In several of the Int'l schools here, only English is to be spoken on campus. There are several systems for enforcement. One of them is that the kids are divided up into groups. If a teacher hear anything but English, then he collars the student and records their group. The group with the fewest infractions gets recognized at assembly and get special crap. You've got a single kid though and not a group. I wouldn't make it monetary based reward as you'll be straight out of pocket when his English skills are at an adequate level. If he's seeing Thai friends 15 hours a week, then everytime he's heard speaking Thai during the time he should be speaking English could cost him 5 minutes. Could be TV instead, Playstation, blah blah blah. Just some suggestions. Good luck!!! <<burp>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted July 2, 2004 Report Share Posted July 2, 2004 Hi TB, I feel for you, but lets look at it from your sons point of view. He has been torn from his 'comfort zone' in BKK and forced to adjust to a very different culture in one of the craziest cities on earth (IMO, anyway). We can debate whether Sydney is crazier than Bangkok later, but I do sympathise with his plight. In my own case, my parents split up when I was about 9 years old, and it completely fucked up my schooling in the important years leading to high school. One minute, it was just addition and subtraction, the next we were supposed to know how to do algebra and similar nightmarish maths - shit that I should have learnt in the period that my darling parents were busy taking turns dragging us out of school in an informal custody battle. To this day, I have yet to forgive my mother (amateur Freudians take note: this may have had some bearing on my apparent 'committment phobia'.....). On the plus side, it would appear that your son has all the support systems that many of us lacked - the most important thing is that you both continue to support him, regardless of the letters and numbers on report cards. You are building a human being, not a laptop computer. If I'd been told that I had to repeat a year of school, I would have been crushed, but it probably would have been a good thing. I waltzed off to Uni at 17, but the gaps in my Maths ability continued to haunt me throughout my studies. Hope this helps. Cheers, Artie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrX Posted July 5, 2004 Report Share Posted July 5, 2004 idealized learning milestones like " to learn English in 3 months" or whatever are rubbish and insult and undermine his individuality. Take him out of school immediately!.. just let him hang out until his language is ok then discuss with him (in English!) the next step..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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