Learning English for Thai

[LoneTraveler]

I did a search for the subject line and online teaching school for Thai students online came up most often. I have a Thai daughter (15) and would like her to learn English from an online course. She is now familiar with online schooling so I think she would benefit from an online English course.Does anyone have experience or know of a course with a reputation of online English. Preferably, a Thai speaker with a good grasp of the English language.

I am disappointed with the English being taught in her school. I would teach her myself if I could speak Thai. I have tried various methods and books but the lessons learned just don't stick due to lack of effort.

Thank you in advance

[parrot]

Not online, but if you live near Ban Leuam, Kru Fon speaks excellent English and has a long history of successfully teaching Thai students of most all ages. I believe she's closed for the holidays.
https://www.facebook.com/neccudon/

[fdimike]

It's very difficult teaching English to Thai students in person as most do not have any interest in learning. It's even more difficult trying to teach English online. The student has to have a real desire to learn English especially from an online source as it's boring to say the least. I've helped my M-6 niece with her online English class as she is preparing to test for a university later this month and can attest that learning English online is not easy and less than rewarding. I visited a large primary school in Kut Chop recently which developed their own online learning program. There were 20 P-6 students in the "live classroom" with about half contributing to the class. I know the Thai teacher quite well as I've helped her and others at this same school for a number of years. She speaks English quite well and is enthusiastic about teaching. The session was sent out on several internet sites for those at home to follow. I would suspect that little was learned by the "at home" students, and this was very simple English.

[LoneTraveler]

Thank you both for the information and assessment of Thais' wanting to learn English. I agree with what is said here about the desire to learn English. I have taken my daughter to weekend English classes in Udon and after 2 sessions she wanted to stop, reason too hard. I help her with in-school English homework but I want her to learn not just have me fill in the answers to which the homework is discarded the next day and she remembers little of the exercise.

She now tells me she want to learn English again and is willing to work harder. The in person course referenced here looks worthwhile but it is too far of a commute for me (60 minute drive each way). What I do hear from Thais' including my Thai wife is it is much easier to use Google Translator if they want to know a Thai to English word or phrase. The problem is they forget what they have learned from the Translator 5 minutes after using it.

I have teaching experience at the University level but not with grade school. I am trying to comprehend at what age or grade kids attend the equivalent of Jr. high or middle school as well as when High School starts. I just keep getting told kids have to go school until they are 18. So in the next 3.5 years, I hope my daughter has enough time to study and learn English, comprehensively.

[GT93]

Principally just for the intellectual stimulation, I'm currently spending 30 to 60 minutes a day studying Chinese online. I'm in the nearly 60 club so it isn't easy. Perhaps in 6 months I'll also look for an online Chinese teacher. Online courses aren't expensive if your income is farang income. I have found a very good online Chinese course.

You're supposed to review flash cards every day going over what you have learned. I think this is critical for it to stick. I also think self-discipline is critical. One of the course developers, an American, said when he was studying Chinese language at a university in China, the only revision he did was flash cards every day and he easily passed his university course because he did them every day. I think online learning is great. It isn't 100% of what needs doing but it takes a student a really long way. Serious students should do some online learning. You can replay the audio of the language being learned many many times.

The course I'm doing was developed by native English speakers who can speak Chinese. I think that's an advantage. Of course, there's lots of audio from native Chinese speakers but I like to hear a native English speaker say where to put your tongue and to chat about aspiration etc.

These guys have a lot of experience about what works and what doesn't in learning Chinese.

[fdimike]

Lone here's a suggestion that may help your daughter. What language do you speak at home with your wife and others? If it's Thai then I suggest you change to English. That way your daughter with your help will be able to practice some of what she's learned on a regular basis. They'll never really learn the language unless they are able to practice it in day to day living. Living in a rural area does not lend itself to speaking English. Granted there are some students who are just super interested in learning English and will go out of their way on their own to learn it but they're few and far between.

I personally think google translate is probably a poor choice when it comes to translation. She would be much further ahead with a good Thai - English English - Thai dictionary and the larger the better in my opinion. My niece has been using Thai Fast Dictionary along with Google.com. However, I still believe a real dictionary is better as it lets them practice looking up a word which most have a difficult time doing. Many have trouble even looking up words in Thai using a dictionary. Looking up the word in a paper dictionary will allow the student to view lots of other English language words. I've helped teach English for free here in Udon as a part of the Udon Education Foundation for more than 15 years to adults, very young and teen-age students and have always run into the same problem - the lack of a place to practice using the language. On numerous occasions we've taken our students to Central Plaza to interview foreigners shopping there to allow them to practice speaking English.
You can help her even though you can't speak Thai by simply walking with her around your house/yard pointing out different objects/plants and speaking/spelling its name and then have her repeat it. Then ask her to construct and speak a simple sentence using the words she's learned - The grass is green, The flower is pretty, The table is brown etc etc.
I hope this helps.

[LoneTraveler]

Hi to GT 93 and fdimike. Good advice. On learning Chinese on-line, I think flash cards are a very good tool to learning a new language. I used them when I was studying Thai along with Rosetta Stone Program. I was doing well and passed all the tests offered in the course. However, as time went on, most of what I learned faded away due to lack of conversation and recall. I have found most people in Udon(including my wife speak a mixture of Thai and Lao. Therefore, pure Thai is not always understood in the Northeast. The Rosetta Stone Program is very good for learning English because it has pronounced English words alongside photos. I feel to learn Thai or any new language, one has to apply themselves and practice regularly as stated in the posts here. Most students do not have the discipline to study on their own, my daughter is getting better at it though. The "rote" way of teaching and learning here is not very effective in my option.

I do have a very large Thai to English dictionary along with 2 others and a Thai medical dictionary as well as me encouraging my daughter to speak English around our home. I do point out many things and give her the English version of each item. So the tools are available, getting my family to use them without constant reminders, is the problem. I asked my wife to help my daughter to use the dictionary but wife response "google translator is easier". Also,I believe writing a word down helps to memorize it.

I also think that it is good for Thai students to learn Chinese. It used to be the Japanese language was encouraged to learn because of the business aspect however, I think that has changed to learning the Chinese language because the future of good jobs may be due to Chinese businesses being more predominate than Japanese in SE Asia, just my opinion.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Principally just for the intellectual stimulation, I'm currently spending 30 to 60 minutes a day studying Chinese online. I'm in the nearly 60 club so it isn't easy. Perhaps in 6 months I'll also look for an online Chinese teacher. Online courses aren't expensive if your income is farang income. I have found a very good online Chinese course.

You're supposed to review flash cards every day going over what you have learned. I think this is critical for it to stick. I also think self-discipline is critical. One of the course developers, an American, said when he was studying Chinese language at a university in China, the only revision he did was flash cards every day and he easily passed his university course because he did them every day. I think online learning is great. It isn't 100% of what needs doing but it takes a student a really long way. Serious students should do some online learning. You can replay the audio of the language being learned many many times.

The course I'm doing was developed by native English speakers who can speak Chinese. I think that's an advantage. Of course, there's lots of audio from native Chinese speakers but I like to hear a native English speaker say where to put your tongue and to chat about aspiration etc.

These guys have a lot of experience about what works and what doesn't in learning Chinese.

Which Chinese dialect are/were you studying? Most Chinese in Thailand speak Teochiew (Swatow region of China in Fukien Province). I studied Cantonese at a high school for a few years. Along with the 9-10 tones in Cantonese, I found the writing system very difficult to learn.

[GT93]

I understand it's the official version of Mandarin but sometimes southern / northern Chinese distinctions are introduced. I've reached the level where over 50% of the material now has no Pinyin. They teach the reading in a fairly easy to recall method. We make movie scripts for words with regularly appearing actors and scenes. Take the Chinese word for fat: pàng 胖

I use Prince Andrew as the character for P and an aunt's house (ang - her name was Angela) for the scene (all ang final words). It's fourth tone so the movie is set on her back lawn. I easily recall the scene so I have the tone. The movie is linked to the Chinese script. With Prince Andrew I use "adult" scripts. He's copulating with a fat woman who is eating half (the second Chinese character) an apple under the full moon (the first character) on my aunt's back lawn.

The course I'm doing is Mandarin Blueprint. You might be interested to look at how they teach learning the Chinese script. The course is very input focused at present so I'm not capable of much output but the potential for output is growing. I can look at Chinese language material elsewhere (e.g youtube) and feel I've made a lot of progress.

The instruction principally comes from a Brit and an American. They are very encouraging. They, of course, have native speakers too. I now consider the role of the teacher to be even more important than what I previously thought. It isn't enough to just rely on native speakers (Thai learners can't just rely on native English speakers).

I understand Cantonese is even more difficult than Mandarin.