Thai teachers suck! It's official.

[Pompui]

Saf please clarifyyour last comment as the grammar and inuendo was a little hard to follow mate........

Sorry if that was too complicated for you. 

I meant that some foreigners who teach English aren't good enough for the job. Thai teachers have an excuse because of the system. Foreigners don't. Do you agree that foreign English teachers should excel at grammar, spelling and punctuation?

By the way, I am not commenting on the English language skills of anyone who isn't a teacher. Neither was there any innuendo intended. 

Trouble is, there are different ways of spelling English words. i.e. color - colour, Tyre - Tire.

[happylarry]

Tyre and Tire are two completely different words with different meanings !!!!
lol
HL 

[ajaxied]

Tyre and Tire are two completely different words with different meanings !!!!
lol
HL 

"Tyre (wheel), the outer part of a wheel in British English (equivalent to tire in American English)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyre

[koratbob]

Tyre and Tire are two completely different words with different meanings !!!!
lol
HL 

"Tyre (wheel), the outer part of a wheel in British English (equivalent to tire in American English)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyre

You see this is the problem, there are different meanings in so many English Words;

tyre (tīr)
noun
Chiefly British
Variant of tire2.

Tyre (tīr)
An ancient Phoenician city on the eastern Mediterranean Sea in present-day southern Lebanon. The capital of Phoenicia after the 11th century B.C., it was a flourishing commercial center noted for its purple dyestuffs and rich, silken clothing. Tyre was besieged and captured by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C. and was finally destroyed by Muslims in A.D. 1291

I am reminded of my dear father, an American that had his roots in England, he used to say "I think I will have a tonic." And I used to laugh all the time because to me he was about drink some hair tonic or some thing like it and he was talking about having a Coke or a Pepsi. 

[Isaan Lawyers]

This country is wonderful and we all know, I think, that  it could do much more.

But a major problem in Thailand is education.
Education can improve health, wealth, communities, working conditions, justice, etc and would have been of great help in the last crisis.

But reading some comments here, It looks like some people are thinking education means learning English...

[Saf]

This country is wonderful and we all know, I think, that  it could do much more.

But a major problem in Thailand is education.
Education can improve health, wealth, communities, working conditions, justice, etc and would have been of great help in the last crisis.

But reading some comments here, It looks like some people are thinking education means learning English...

The topic has narrowed for the time being, certainly. However the English language is a doorway to knowledge that someone who reads and speaks Thai only is otherwise denied. That must make it an important part of the topic. Perhaps the same applies to the use of computers other than for gaming.

Regarding spelling, we know that there is a difference between English and American spelling for some words, 'though nothing major. We know too that a word spelt the same way can have several different meanings. A proficient teacher should be able to deal with this issue. Incorrect spelling is the problem, along with poor grammar and punctuation.

[happylarry]

Tyre and Tire are two completely different words with different meanings !!!!
lol
HL 

"Tyre (wheel), the outer part of a wheel in British English (equivalent to tire in American English)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyre

I know the Americans use the wrong way to spell the noun "Tyre" but I was referring to the verb "Tire". Which means to get tired.
Anyway I was just being pedantic mate, so no worries.
HL 

[Mr Potter]

This country is wonderful and we all know, I think, that  it could do much more.

But a major problem in Thailand is education.
Education can improve health, wealth, communities, working conditions, justice, etc and would have been of great help in the last crisis.

Great stuff Seb and so true.

[Qaids]

But reading some comments here, It looks like some people are thinking education means learning English...

Agree totally.  Of far more concern is the low standard in math and science, universal subjects that should and could be taught in Thailand just as well as anywhere else.  Whether the quality of English education is high in Thailand doesn't worry me nearly so much.  Learning English clearly doesn't require any aptitude from either the teacher or student since the dumbest guys in our home countries all manage to learn it.  Isn't Chinese a better future bet anyhow?

[RS2000]

I think learning Chinese is quite popular in korat and is becoming more popular. I have recently seen and heard several Thai people talking in Chinese and talking in Thai about learning Chinese. I have no idea about the quality of teaching Chinese though.

[Saf]

I think learning Chinese is quite popular in korat and is becoming more popular. I have recently seen and heard several Thai people talking in Chinese and talking in Thai about learning Chinese. I have no idea about the quality of teaching Chinese though.

A very interesting point! The Chinese ethnic population is large and many have successful businesses. They can offer a great deal to the rest community.

[Dozer]

Qaids your comment re: aptitude  is a little off centre mate....if you are born in English speaking countries you have that language basically in-built from the day you are born ( i didnt speak Thai to my aussie born kids)
also if you wish to talk aptitude look at your post  "dumbest" or DUMB in the true and correct meaning of the word means not able to speak or MUTE,  NOT lacking intelligence! Therefore if one was DUMB obviously he or she would not be able to speak ANY language except SIGNING

Also following English ability, shouldnt the Q in Quaids be followed by a U? or should that be AN U?
cheers
dozer

[nookiebear]

I can verify Thai teachers can certainly suck.................The one I knew had more suction than a vacuum cleaner!!

[Vinnie]

Also following English ability, shouldnt the Q in Quaids be followed by a U? or should that be AN U?
cheers
dozer

No, a U is correct. 

[Isaan Lawyers]

Qaids reply was following my post. Some people here seem not to understand that education doesn't mean "learning English" whatever benefits can learning English give you. The opposite would means that Arabic, Chinese, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese or any other language speakers who isn't able to speak English isn't educated.

Education means to learn some knowledge, skills, in order I hope, to use it in life later. I would prefer children being teach how to cook healthy meals or basic health hygiene than the use of plural in uncountable nouns in English! Health and food, that is important in life.

And I don't use the word "education" as restricted to schools. You can educate yourself OUTSIDE the schools. I know great teachers who do not have a university degree. And I know people with high education that are complete morons.

If you worry about "tyre" or "tire" or if the Filipino teacher can do the English teaching job, I believe you haven't spend too much time in a Thai classroom... The real problems are mainly caused by the administration: They tell you not to fail a student. They don't care if students copy, They constantly change the curriculum without having testing it and they really care more about the parents than the students. That's my personal opinion.

Thai teachers aren't very creative and they do not challenge students. And if you don't teach Thai teachers, they won't be able to teach others. Teach Thai teachers and you will teach the whole nation.

[nookiebear]

Qaids reply was following my post. Some people here seem not to understand that education doesn't mean "learning English" whatever benefits can learning English give you. The opposite would means that Arabic, Chinese, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese or any other language speakers who isn't able to speak English isn't educated.

Education means to learn some knowledge, skills, in order I hope, to use it in life later. I would prefer children being teach how to cook healthy meals or basic health hygiene than the use of plural in uncountable nouns in English! Health and food, that is important in life.

And I don't use the word "education" as restricted to schools. You can educate yourself OUTSIDE the schools. I know great teachers who do not have a university degree. And I know people with high education that are complete morons.

If you worry about "tyre" or "tire" or if the Filipino teacher can do the English teaching job, I believe you haven't spend too much time in a Thai classroom... The real problems are mainly caused by the administration: They tell you not to fail a student. They don't care if students copy, They constantly change the curriculum without having testing it and they really care more about the parents than the students. That's my personal opinion.

Thai teachers aren't very creative and they do not challenge students. And if you don't teach Thai teachers, they won't be able to teach others. Teach Thai teachers and you will teach the whole nation.

I actually taught the thai teachers at Potipansan school in Pattaya for 2 x 2 hour after school sessions every week ...it was a damn sight harder than teaching the students

[IsaanDaddy]

Qaids reply was following my post. Some people here seem not to understand that education doesn't mean "learning English" whatever benefits can learning English give you. The opposite would means that Arabic, Chinese, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese or any other language speakers who isn't able to speak English isn't educated.

Education means to learn some knowledge, skills, in order I hope, to use it in life later. I would prefer children being teach how to cook healthy meals or basic health hygiene than the use of plural in uncountable nouns in English! Health and food, that is important in life.

And I don't use the word "education" as restricted to schools. You can educate yourself OUTSIDE the schools. I know great teachers who do not have a university degree. And I know people with high education that are complete morons.

If you worry about "tyre" or "tire" or if the Filipino teacher can do the English teaching job, I believe you haven't spend too much time in a Thai classroom... The real problems are mainly caused by the administration: They tell you not to fail a student. They don't care if students copy, They constantly change the curriculum without having testing it and they really care more about the parents than the students. That's my personal opinion.

Thai teachers aren't very creative and they do not challenge students. And if you don't teach Thai teachers, they won't be able to teach others. Teach Thai teachers and you will teach the whole nation.

Well said. 

[RS2000]

Qaids

Also following English ability, shouldnt the Q in Quaids be followed by a U? or should that be AN U?
cheers
dozer

No, IIRC, Qaid is not an English word and is not pronounced the same as QUAID (KWAID), but 'Qaids', the KF member, added the 's' to make the word look plural in the English style.

But just for a laugh, why not change QANTAS to QUANTAS?  (Yes, I know it is an abbreviation - of Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial  Services)

Education means to learn some knowledge, skills, in order I hope, to use it in life later. I would prefer children being teach how to cook healthy meals or basic health hygiene than the use of plural in uncountable nouns in English! Health and food, that is important in life.

IL
I agree with your main point about education, and teaching the teachers is very important. However, I don't think there has to be a choice between academic skills and more functional skills like cooking or knowledge of health and hygiene. Both can be taught. There is no need to choose between one or the other. And thankfully there are not many plural uncountable nouns for Thai students to worry about. 

[Saf]

Qaids

Also following English ability, shouldnt the Q in Quaids be followed by a U? or should that be AN U?
cheers
dozer

No, IIRC, Qaid is not an English word and is not pronounced the same as QUAID (KWAID), but 'Qaids', the KF member, added the 's' to make the word look plural in the English style.

But just for a laugh, why not change QANTAS to QUANTAS?  (Yes, I know it is an abbreviation - of Queensland And Northern Territory Aerial  Services)

Education means to learn some knowledge, skills, in order I hope, to use it in life later. I would prefer children being teach how to cook healthy meals or basic health hygiene than the use of plural in uncountable nouns in English! Health and food, that is important in life.

IL
I agree with your main point about education, and teaching the teachers is very important. However, I don't think there has to be a choice between academic skills and more functional skills like cooking or knowledge of health and hygiene. Both can be taught. There is no need to choose between one or the other. And thankfully there are not many plural uncountable nouns for Thai students to worry about. 

Spot on. In any event, teaching cookery in preference to academic studies would serve only to keep the poor of Isaan where they are now, poor. They need other skills if they are to have a better quality of life and help this country improve.

I understand the comments to the contrary but I still believe that fluency is English is a necessary. Apart from improved job opportunities the students would have access to much greater knowledge than they have now, limited to sources in Thai and Lao. It's obvious that the standard of education for the masses is poor but it's not the fault of the teachers. It's down to wealth distribution and politics and that should be the starting point for improvement.

I will leave to to your discourse on the legitimacy of the word 'Qaids' but I believe that there was a movie by that name and it is also an English word, the plural of 'qaid' ( no complexity with that plural!  ) with two other possible spellings, 'caid' and 'kaid'. I'll also leave others to Google the word to find the sources or look in their own English language dictionary. 

[YimBob]

My experience with thai-teachers teaching English in a little murban(my own village)   

last april 2552, in the kids holidays, I teached "Englid" for free for the kids... for two reasons, first give somtething to some kids who needs, and practice for my self for be teacher in the future in Loz.. I'm from DK so not native Enlishspeaking  so its up the hills for many years from now to reach my goal, teach tenth grade. I hav'nt a TEFL yet but soon I will...
I teached the kids "8-13yr" pronounce instead of grammar, ahh only basic grammar.
Then the school started again and the teaches find out that I had teached...
now the funny begins... We live very closed to the school and one day "THE Englishteacher" invited me to see how he teach. After five fruit-words on the blackboard he managed to spell banana "babana" !!!!!!!! I know you guys easily can find some wrongspelling wrong grammar in this post, but I will never teach over my skills.

So I agree with Seb (again)..  it has top priority to get better teachers

[Loz]

Thai teachers have to take a "TKT" Teacher Knowledge Test" for English. I have for two years taught a "remedial" class for teachers who failed the pre-test and these are teachers with 20+ years experience teaching. I am glad they are working at passing this test but sad that with so many years under their belts they still lack such proficiency.

But back to the OP. This is not about English per se. It's over all subjects. And it's hardly surprising to anyone who's spent more than a year in a teaching position in any mainstream school. Thailand is a land of minimums when it comes to service, as far as I see. Think about it... People who deliver "good" service seem outstanding here! where as in the west good is the normal expectation and outstanding is something seriously above and beyond. That same slip shod manner in which you are treated at the restaurant, by the internet service provider, by the BIB is not really much different is schools. In the same way as there are some "professional" cops, there are some "professional" teachers. and in the same way some fall short of the "prescribed" standards, (tea money for example) there are teachers who let the side down as well.

It would require a significant cultural shift to address these problems because the "System" already exists just as the policing system exists. The application of the system is what is in question. Addressing that would be, I suspect, as easy as irradicating prostitution, polygamy and drugs.

 

just my two penneth...

[Dozer]

Loz mate...you are living proof of an exception to the rule...simply because i agree whole heartedly with your latest post...well done enuff said cmon Thailand up wiv ya sox (good inglish ya?)

[Dozer]

RS n Qaids excuse my ignorance but if its not an English word could you please tell me what it means? is it anything like klarts?

[Dozer]

Seb u r absolutely right and i am sorry for getting side tracked by personal beliefs and experiences. Of course all subjects should be schooled and the teachers of those subjects should be screened as to their knowledge of said subject.Sadly the teacher's, teacher's, teachers are also victims of a less than satisfactory selection criteria and as we have all stated, a less thansatisfactory educational system
dozer

[Qaids]

RS n Qaids excuse my ignorance but if its not an English word could you please tell me what it means? is it anything like klarts?

I heard of it from a list of q-without-u words accepted in the board game Scrabble (list might have come with the game).  These words are useful for (and only for) getting rid of 'q's while playing Scrabble. 

According to dictionary it's an alternative spelling of 'caids' and means Muslim leaders (a good way off from klarts I'd say!)   

I just chose it for a name because of the odd spelling, no connection to its meaning.