.. Posted October 11, 2005 Report Share Posted October 11, 2005 ...try something even more difficult! +++++++++++ Mandarin taught in all schools by ?08 Published on Oct 6, 2005 Programme to be phased in from next school year if proposal met with approval from Chaturon. The Education Ministry has announced that all high schools across the nation will have to introduce Mandarin classes by 2008, if a proposed plan is approved. Khunying Kasama Varawarn na Ayutthaya, permanent secretary for education, yesterday said a new strategy to promote Mandarin and improve the teaching of the language would soon be submitted to Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang for approval. ?With his approval, the strategy will be implemented from the next academic year,? she said. By 2007, each educational district will be required to have at least one high school with a Mandarin class. By the 2008 academic year, the proposal requires that all high schools across the country offer classes in Mandarin. Kasama said the government would help the schools in regards to Mandarin teachers and teaching materials during the first three years. After that, she said they would have to start running the Mandarin classes on their own. ?By then, we also plan to select an outstanding school from each province and appoint it as the centre to promote the teaching of Mandarin in its respective province,? she said, adding that the model school would coach others on how best to teach Mandarin. Kasama said a Mandarin Teaching Fair would be held in December when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Thailand. At the fair, experts from China will offer advice on how best to provide Mandarin classes, Kasama said. Representatives of big companies that invest in China will also give talks on the importance of being versed in Mandarin to the future economy, while instructors from Asian schools with outstanding Mandarin classes will give lectures on how best to teach the language. Cultural activities including Chinese brush painting, a singing contest and a speech contest will also be offered for children to show their talent. The fair aims to show that Mandarin is a language that is relevant to people?s lives and about which there are many good examples to learn from, Kasama said. ?Schools with existing Mandarin classes can come and learn more techniques, while those that have no such classes can seek advice,? she added. ++++++ Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 At least it may mean less farang english 'teachers'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 teaching Mandarin the Thai way! the kids of some Thai friend go to a private school teaching mandarin from Phor 1. after 2.5 resp. 1.5 years mandarin classes (with a chinese teacher!)they can sing 2 mandarin children song, but do not know what it means (i have explained it to them and now they know). but they can not even say the most simple sentences in mandarin (of course their parents can't check on that as their mandarin does not exceed ni hao and wo ai ni). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 My wife has been involved in the Mandarin programme somewhat. Makes sense (in Thailand anyway), since she has two degrees in English and has been to both England and the States. So they put her through sort of an introductory course in Mandarin. Now she is supposed to advise the Madarin teachers in several provinces! :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 Good luck to the kids and parents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidflux Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 Thai kids might actually find it easier to learn than English. Unlike most farangs, they have the ability to hear, differentiate, and pronounce the different tones that are pretty much essential in speaking asian languages. Quite a few of my thai friends speak multiple languages, and almost all of them say English was the most difficult to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 Agree totally liquidfix, Actually I found Thai not hard to pick up given I had already training in madarin's 4 tones DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted October 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 The tonality is the easy part and Thais will have an easier time of that aspect. The issue is that it is a whole different way of thinking. Chinese language is conceptual, not phonetic so things do not directly translate. AND there are 10K+ characters that one needs to know to be 100% academic fluent. A minimum of 2200 characters are needed to simply read a newspaper. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 chinese has similar grammar, sentence structure and compound words (for example dianhua: telephone = electric words) as Thai. the tones are of course a bit different and many Thais struggle in the beginning to get it right. now if they have also to learn read and write; this is a totally different chapter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted October 12, 2005 Report Share Posted October 12, 2005 Question #1 ... and a biggie. The main problem with teaching English in the public schools is the lack of qualified teachers. The average Thai English teacher in a primary or secondary school was not an English major! I've met some who were not even English minors. They simply got assigned to teach English because no one else wanted to do it, and they were the youngest teachers. So the question: just where is Thailand going to come up with enough teachers who are even remotely competent in Mandarin? Very few Thai Chinese speak Mandarin, since they came from southern China or Hainan Island. It's as different to them as say German is to Danish. Easy to announce you are going to do something. It is quite another to be able to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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