Viet Nam vs. Thailand

[jai yen yen]

I have been to Cambodia and southern Vietnam and have noticed they speak English much better than the Thais. I don't know if this is because of their schooling or natural abilities and desire to learn.

[Barney]

Not sure how the post has denigrated into a who speaks better english but,

The vietnamese are learning english and it is improving in the major urban and tourist areas but I imagine Thailand would be the same and it is the poorer rural areas that do not have the english skills. They really have no need to learn english and if you ask them about world affairs they have generally no idea, and don't care that someone is in conflict in another country, they are poor and just trying to survive.
They hone their life skills and language for what gets them by and english ain't high on the list. Not that the older people are not trying to teach the little ones english becuase they do understand that education is a means off the farm.

All the Vietnamese engineers we have employed all speak and read english and are graded when they do the language course as A, B or C. if they are required to translate our western instruction either technical or safety they need to be at least B. English is taught in university. Once you get to the tradesman level the level of english drops off dramatically. I will give the Vietamese their due, they just get on with things and are really trying and the country is rapidly moving out of 3rd or 2nd world status. I have not been in Thailand permanently long enough to judge there progress but with what contact i have had for employment their engineers are good at english. There is no chip on a Vietnamese shoulder as far as wanting to expand there knowledge and learning as I found in some Thais and Chinese and they willing to learn from all people and are absorbing all things to improve not only themselves but the benefit of the country.
What education a child gets any where is still basically and unfortunately down to the economics of what the parents can afford. My 2 kids are enrolled in the Vietnam/Australian school in HCMC. Middle of the road cost compared to fully private expat schools. A lot of vietnamese kids and Koreans.
The MIT university out of Australia has been in Vietnam for many years and has built a large campus.

Perhaps they learn english easier because their written language is in our alphabet.

[mortiboy]

This is going off topic really.Now we are into Education Thailand :roll: I think there is already a topic concerning this else where on the forum.
But anyway, Last year, I did a 5 month education project teaching English.Two schools,Both same problem.
There was only one Teacher could converse in English.He was Teaching English, but was also PE teacher.
He was very industrious in his work. Tried his best.
But the learning books, Just a joke. I dont know who chooses these books, my guess not farang.
Way over their head.I never used them. Made up my own projects. Bought few books myself.
But also, the kids tend to be lazy, and easily distracted. Especially the boys.
To compare with other Asian countries, I cant comment.How would I know?
All I can say is from what I hear, English vocabulary in Thailand is worst out of the ASEAN group
Maybe here is some info..........http://asiancorrespondent.com/76664/tha ... questions/

[mortiboy]

"Perhaps they learn english easier because their written language is in our alphabet.'
Exactly. If only Thailand same, I can do the conversation, but read it .... Phew! no way
Be good to read the news " Thai RUK"

[Aardvark]

From the Bkk Post today ... http://www.coconutsbangkok.com/news/tha ... to-retire/

[DRILLER]

miss, i thinks the well travelled members have the experience.

i for example have experienced the asean countries & have concluded a long time ago that the thais are the worse english speakers.

as for reading english, forget it.

I am not trying to get you banned nor have I ever tried to do that, I just want some facts.

Prove that Thailand lags behind Laos, Burma, Vietnam and Indonesia, for example, in teaching English. Furthermore, prove that it is easier for foreigners to teach in those countries. Until you can provide proof, I do not think your statements are valid. You need more than word of mouth to back up your words, n'est-ce pas? You may be right, but....

[fatbob]

In Thai visa today, as if we didn't know this, Thailand ranking last with its neighbors.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/679 ... paign=news

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Well, if they are going to use Vietnam as a neighbour of Thailand, they should also include nearer ones such as Cambodia, Laos, and Burma . Until they do it is wrong to say that Thailand ranks last with its neighbours.

China...really? How many people did they interview/test in the rural areas of that country?

However, one would think that Burma should rank ahead of Thailand owing to its British colonial past.

[Macca]

Quite surprised to see Vietnam rate higher than Thailand.
Never been but just assumed Thailand to be a more developed country and have a far higher tourist rate, after all it is the "Hub of Asia".