Why don't the Thais speak good English?

[Iltis]

Originally Posted by MrDK

. After a six-pack, my German improved dramatically BTW.

555555...i think it would also work the other way around...so next time make sure to take 12 beers with you. then you and your swiss/german partner can choose what language you want to use....555

[marc26]

Originally Posted by t0rn

English is taught in thai schools, even upcountry, probably not to a high standard but then not much is, as most need to leave at 12 to go working/money has run out.
Most countries I've been in SE Asia there has been a desire to learn english though often not the funds to do so.
I think the Thai's shyness goes against them in this respect, compared to Burma where it's normal to be approached by people asking if they can spend a little time speaking to you in english (I'm normally happy to do so - where else would I have learned that "I'm going to point percy at the porcelin" was a normal phrase ).

we deal with alot of Swiss banks in my business and even the traders that came over here and deal with us on a dialy basis were just ok at English

[t0rn]

Originally Posted by marc26

we deal with alot of Swiss banks in my business and even the traders that came over here and deal with us on a dialy basis were just ok at English

Us europeans can be very shy when asked to speak another language, I understand Spanish but damned if I'm going to actually speak it ...

[marc26]

Originally Posted by t0rn

Us europeans can be very shy when asked to speak another language, I understand Spanish but damned if I'm going to actually speak it ...

oh, for sure. im not too sure i would be so confident myself

[Raval]

Originally Posted by Hobbsy

I dont see thailand as a particularly bad english speaking asian nation.

The chinese know very little (except in hong kong for obvious reasons) and most business regions in asia speak good english (HK, Singapore & KL with the exeption of Shanghai where they may know "ok" and "yes/no" at best).

And i'm sorry but the korean's i have met only knew: "manchester United" and "Park Ji Sung" (there were only 2 of them and 1 of them seemed to offer me his girlfriend but my korean is poorer than his english i only know kekeke fromonline gaming lol).

Yes.. I agree and what to think about the Brazilians...... 1 of the biggest countries of the world..... Very few speak English.

[LivinLOS]

Originally Posted by viper

But we must not forget that Thailand has never been colonised - well not in the last 800 or thousand years or so - unlike most of the bordering countries around it.

Yeah those Japanese were just hanging out building a railway and a bridge those years huh !!

Thais spin the truth.. Dont buy into it..

You could also argue that apart for the ego / face issues Thailand would have benefited immensely from colonial influence. Imagine where Thailand would be today with rule of law, equal treatment under that law, transparent equal representation in governance, roads library's schools etc.

Singapore didnt do so badly..

Its not a popular view these days, and I guess un PC to say so.. But British colonialism in much of the world was the best thing that happened to it. It happened at the right time to export a working social system over societies that were lacking in basic structure.

[LivinLOS]

I was going to quote a few people but theres enough who use the same points I can just be general.

Although the OP is written in a way that smacks of arrogance theres a very valid point in there. Countries that have a population that have a good grasp of English have a competitive advantage over countries that dont. Same as people that have a grasp of English (and other languages of international business, Mandarin being a prime example) will have a advantage over others. Thailand is a poor country, theres not reason why they shouldn't prioritize this in education to create a better workforce and stronger economy.

English is 80% of web pages, English is the language of all manner of systems from flight control to most of the financial markets. It is becoming the Esperanto of the world (but watch out for the Mandarin as I say) so it makes sense to learn it to get ahead or to teach it to get your population ahead.

Then you have the cynic in me that says that those that make the decisions about Thailand actually want to keep its artificial class structure in place. Thailand has a small elite a very small middle class and a huge proportion of very very poor. The elites make the choices and it serves them well not to allow the very poor to get ahead, it serves them well to keep them as subsistence agricultural workers (49% of the population work in farming and barely feed themselves). They dont want social upheaval and a modern society where thier privileges and sweet deals are challenged. I am of the opinion that's why they are so anti farang, as we rock the boat, dont only employ the 'right sort' of people, dont go on the old power networking systems, educate poor rural adopted kids, etc etc etc

[K2]

Originally Posted by LivinLOS

Imagine where Thailand would be today with rule of law, equal treatment under that law, transparent equal representation in governance, roads library's schools etc.

Painful to imagine the missed opportunity ... perhaps if the women had been less accommodating, then Thailand may have ended up being 'colonised' - biggest failure in last 30+ years has been to upgrade the education system.

English taught by Thai teachers themselves who cannot hold a basic conversation in English does not help - lack of English TV programming and near xenophobic nationalism also stack up against good language skills.

Its not rocket science to see the success of HK, Singapore, Malaysia perhaps largely due to having good English, although sadly The Philippines still has not reached its potential (due to insidious corruption) despite its excellent English skills.

[maideepuchai]

Those that depend on English-speaking tourists, seem to speak enough to separate the tourists from their money.

Giving the difficulty for most Thais to get a decent education (this was changing under Thaskin, but who knows now), it's a tribute to their intelligence and work ethic that they learn enough to get by.

Take the average European or American (North, South, Central, etc) and stick them in Japan and see how many of them speak Japanese with any degree of skill.

[Dodger]

Firstly most Thais do speak more than one language fluently. The majority of Thai population come from Issan and speak their own language and also learn to speak Thai. Most of these I have met also have a smattering of Laos/Mandarin and English.

Secondly they ARE taught English in school, but leave early or attend irreguarly so never learn to be fluent. But then why should they as the majority never come into communication with english speaking people and as well known Thais do not generally travel outside Thailand.

Third aspect here is the op and most other posters have made their conclusions from the Thais they meet in the tourist area's of the country, this is not the majority of the population. They do learn english quickly from phrase books, it simple they have already been taught the basics principles in school.

Those Thais that consider their children will be in an employment position of working with foriegners do usually have the funds to send then to college, where their english is improved upon. As it is seen as being a basic skill to assist in international trade. Tourist area workers also see the benefits of learning english and do so very quickly to get on, how many times have you met a bg that has recently arrived with no english speaking skills, to meet her again on your next trip and she is fluent in bg English.

And as for the French failure to speak English, you would think after being at war with us for over 100 years they would have picked up the odd word or two, like 'surrender' or 'you win'

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by K2;

Painful to imagine the missed opportunity ... perhaps if the women had been less accommodating, then Thailand may have ended up being 'colonised' - biggest failure in last 30+ years has been to upgrade the education system.

English taught by Thai teachers themselves who cannot hold a basic conversation in English does not help - lack of English TV programming and near xenophobic nationalism also stack up against good language skills.

The direct answer to the OP's question is because the English teachers in LOS are mostly Thais, who have had little exposure to English-speaking farangs, and therefore, cannot speak English very well. That is why any farang can get a job as an English teacher there.

It is not because English is not taught in the schools. As Torn pointed out, all Thais are taught English from the first grade. But since the teachers can't speak it well, they don't really learn to speak it much, and have no one to speak it to until they come in contact with tourists.

I have sometimes been amazed when I have been with a girl, who was fresh off the farm, and spoke no more English than a few words, when there would be something written entirely in English(like house rules posted on a board at a bungalow), and she showed me that she was able to understand every word of it. Written English was no problem for some of them. But harder to understand me speaking it. And they simply didn't no how to say the words. But they learn surprisingly fast, when exposed to English speakers on a regular basis. Even then, English pronunciation is hard for them, but just try pronouncing Thai, and you will find it it hard for you, too.

Originally Posted by K2;

Its not rocket science to see the success of HK, Singapore, Malaysia perhaps largely due to having good English, although sadly The Philippines still has not reached its potential (due to insidious corruption) despite its excellent English skills.

I think it is more fair to compare Thailand to Phillipines(economically) than to HK and Singapore, because they are Chinese and the Chinese have the work ethic, and were English colonies. The Chinese Thais I have met speak excellent English. My current Thai teacher who is Chinese Thai is 26, and only left LOS 3 months ago, for her first time living in a farang country. She speaks English better than a lot of farangs, and with only a very slight accent. She is much easier for me to understand than most of the Irish, Scots, and a good number of Brits I've met. There is an Irishman on this Board(no names mentioned), who I've shared a few meals with, and quite honestly, I would nod as if I understood him, but I understood very little of what he actually was saying to me.

[marc26]

this is just one piece of advise that i would give anyone with a thai gf
speak to her in correct english and write your SMS as grammatically as you can to her
im not saying be a drill seargent or anything but my gf has an amazing desire to learn and read and write English, but i dont think she is a minority in that. i think the vast majority of these girls are very eager to take teachings and advice

[ub2yoo]

Originally Posted by marc26

this is just one piece of advise that i would give anyone with a thai gf
speak to her in correct english and write your SMS as grammatically as you can to her
im not saying be a drill seargent or anything but my gf has an amazing desire to learn and read and write English, but i dont think she is a minority in that. i think the vast majority of these girls are very eager to take teachings and advice

That's good advise. In the beginning I found it charming and I also started a bit talking like this.

Now we really try to speak proper english and I correct her as much as possible.

It's not only that if I schedule a meeting at work and I start suggesting to the guys: "can do number 9 ?"

So, better get it all right and straight. It works both ways :-)

[nacha]

Originally Posted by t0rn

English is taught in thai schools, even upcountry, probably not to a high standard but then not much is, as most need to leave at 12 to go working/money has run out.
Most countries I've been in SE Asia there has been a desire to learn english though often not the funds to do so.
I think the Thai's shyness goes against them in this respect, compared to Burma where it's normal to be approached by people asking if they can spend a little time speaking to you in english (I'm normally happy to do so - where else would I have learned that "I'm going to point percy at the porcelin" was a normal phrase ).

really?
a TG told me that the children are only learning Thai in the school...
she is teaching english her daughter by herself!
does this depend of the school or maybe the time she had been at school??
but it`s good when they are learning english at school!!

Originally Posted by MrDK

I do speak some German and after while it turned out better that I spoke German than they English. After a six-pack, my German improved dramatically BTW.

55555
where have you learned german, lars?

Originally Posted by t0rn

Us europeans can be very shy when asked to speak another language, I understand Spanish but damned if I'm going to actually speak it ...

especially english in your case, t0rn 55555

no, but it is true! imho mostly the older people having this problem, because most of them didn`t learn english...

[JayBee]

Originally Posted by Dodger;

Firstly most Thais do speak more than one language fluently. The majority of Thai population come from Issan and speak their own language and also learn to speak Thai. Most of these I have met also have a smattering of Laos/Mandarin and English.

Good point! Many speak Khmer also. Those Isaan girls are quite multi-lingual!

[Dame]

Originally Posted by Dodger

Firstly most Thais do speak more than one language fluently. The majority of Thai population come from Issan and speak their own language and also learn to speak Thai. Most of these I have met also have a smattering of Laos/Mandarin and English.

Secondly they ARE taught English in school, but leave early or attend irreguarly so never learn to be fluent. But then why should they as the majority never come into communication with english speaking people and as well known Thais do not generally travel outside Thailand.

Third aspect here is the op and most other posters have made their conclusions from the Thais they meet in the tourist area's of the country, this is not the majority of the population. They do learn english quickly from phrase books, it simple they have already been taught the basics principles in school.

Those Thais that consider their children will be in an employment position of working with foriegners do usually have the funds to send then to college, where their english is improved upon. As it is seen as being a basic skill to assist in international trade. Tourist area workers also see the benefits of learning english and do so very quickly to get on, how many times have you met a bg that has recently arrived with no english speaking skills, to meet her again on your next trip and she is fluent in bg English.

And as for the French failure to speak English, you would think after being at war with us for over 100 years they would have picked up the odd word or two, like 'surrender' or 'you win'

Hahaha.

Careful now - you can get branded a racist for lighthearted quips like that.

[nacha]

Originally Posted by Nuntanabkk

And don’t talk about English fluent, even if my Thai is also not that fluent or perfect.
Did you already try to speak Thai, and then you will know English and Thai are different tones.

what?? you must be joking?!

but i guess learning English for a Thai must be easier than learning Thai for other people (like me )

[Dame]

Originally Posted by LivinLOS

Yeah those Japanese were just hanging out building a railway and a bridge those years huh !!

Thais spin the truth.. Dont buy into it..

You could also argue that apart for the ego / face issues Thailand would have benefited immensely from colonial influence. Imagine where Thailand would be today with rule of law, equal treatment under that law, transparent equal representation in governance, roads library's schools etc.

Singapore didnt do so badly..

Its not a popular view these days, and I guess un PC to say so.. But British colonialism in much of the world was the best thing that happened to it. It happened at the right time to export a working social system over societies that were lacking in basic structure.

Political Correctness died a death several years ago. The herd are always slow to catch on to shifting social paradigms. They were the slowest to embrace it, and will be the slowest to ditch it. The biggest PC thugs I know these days were the vilest racist bastards that made it necessary in the first place.

Although our colonialism was often harsh and brutal - not to mention lucrative - it's legacy is generally positive. I wonder how the emerging middle class in India feel about India PLC? Most grateful, I would suggest.

[Captain]

Originally Posted by Dodger

And as for the French failure to speak English, you would think after being at war with us for over 100 years they would have picked up the odd word or two, like 'surrender' or 'you win'

5555. Going back to 1066 Dodger, where were you at Hastings? Winning or losing side?
It is strange all people have a selective memory, remembering victories, forgetting lost battles. In London you have Waterloo station, In Paris Gare d'Austerlitz.
We Flemish rmember trashing the French in 1302, but forget the spanking we got 25 years later.

[Nautilus]

Languages with tones, high and low aint easy at all.

One wrong pronunciation and it means something else.

I was told to learn Mandarin when i was young, i gave up after a couple of weeks. I still cant speak Mandarin or even write. It's just too hard.

I agree with what Nuntanabkk said.

Oh btw Nuntanabkk, your English is good.

[Dame]

Originally Posted by bangladiver

ahh the view that thais should only live and work in a way that helps you or fits into your view of the world, thats really original thinking dame

you give to beggars, so the country should learn english

if in 30 years when instead farang women are selling themselves to asian men will your view change as to which language should be the first choice

seriously despite its excesses at times (which is entirely their perogative) i love the proud nationalistic view many thais have - i wish my home country had even a tiny bit of that

thai is the dominant language in thailand - you avoided the question as to whether you speak it

I think you miss the point somewhat, as do many others. It is an irrelevance to ask me what languages I speak, same same for almost all farang. How do I use "language" to explain to the (presumably) leprosy victim on Beach Road, who only has one limb, that this is farang arrogance to want Thailand to change? What do I tell him?