About Tenglish, Dunglish and other coal English
We Dutch are quite convinced that we speak excellent English and laugh hard at the Tenglish of Thai. However, the coal English, which we usually speak, is also far from correct. With our Louis van Gaal as an exponent of this as a shining example.
We had just prepared ourselves for some lessons to the children of this very friendly primary school, there between the rice fields. It would be 3 to 4 lessons, spread over the day, as we were used to.
As the owner of a hotel in the Netherlands, I immediately notice the lack of training of the staff of every hotel in Thailand.
Thai students' English
In general, the knowledge of the English language of the Thai population is not very good. I notice that myself in my contacts and also on this blog, people regularly complain about the poor knowledge of English, which is so important to Thailand that it should actually be the second language.
The Dutch speak the best English, Thai do not score well
Just like last year, it appears that the Dutch have the best command of the English language. With a twelfth place, Belgium falls just outside the top ten. Thailand scores low with place 53 in a ranking of 80 countries, according to the ranking of EF Education First.
"Him say" and other Tenglish
In the Thai language there is no room for past tense or plural. They have also deleted the nouns (masculine, feminine or neuter) and articles. Why make it difficult when it can be easy? This ensures that Thai also speak their own 'kind of' English that is always precious to listen to. For example, a sentence that begins with "Him say" can be about a man or a woman. It could be someone who is saying something now or has said something in the past.
Language sensitive
Many who have ever visited Thailand will have noticed that names, and certainly place names, are often written in different ways. Of course I do not mean the Thai, but the Roman spelling as we know it and which is indicated in the English language in Thailand.
Recently, Lung Addie met a Thai man named Oei who was on "holiday" in Thailand. You would say nothing special, but for this person it was exactly 5 years ago that he had been to Thailand. He studied, lived and worked in Australia for 10 years.
Reader question: English course in Ubon Ratchathani
I have a dear friend in Ubon Ratchathani and we see each other every day via Skype and other communication channels. I've been on holiday a few times, in other words, it clicks. The only problem is the language. She speaks poor English and is eager to learn it. So far in Ubon none
find a teacher. Is there anyone among the readers of Thailandblog who knows a school, course or teacher in Ubon?
My Mate Nate: Thai students speak bad English (video)
The American Nate Bartling shows in a comical way that Thai students speak bad English. But the students don't appreciate his joke (losing face?).
Education minister: Lack of knowledge of English language and critical thinking among students
The education minister recognizes the lack of critical thinking and poor English proficiency among Thai students.
A few years ago, there was a serious shortage of English language teachers in Thailand. Foreigners could therefore obtain a work permit fairly easily.
Concept confusion in different languages
Languages remain a fascinating subject to study. A language lives and adapts over the years, partly due to rapid social changes and new developments in many fields, such as technology.
The Ministry of Education intends to cut the salaries of foreign teachers who teach the English language. To compensate for this, 500 Thai teachers are sent on a 6-week course to better master the English language.
The Dutch have an excellent command of the English language, Thai, on the other hand, very poorly
The Dutch are very proficient with the English language. Of the countries where English is not the native language, only Sweden speaks better English. Thailand is doing very badly. Of the 70 countries surveyed, Thailand ranks 62 at the bottom of the list, according to research by education company Education First (EF).
Foreign languages while traveling
One of the nicest things when you stay abroad is and always will be the language.
Utreg near Africa
Have you ever gotten a little tired of talking to Thai bar ladies? Starting with the general “Welcome” followed by the vocabulary: “What's your name” and “Where do you come from”?