Plan to make English 2nd language vetoed

[buksida]

The Education Ministry has scrapped a plan to make English the country's second language, saying it could lead to misunderstandings that Thailand had been colonised in the past.

The ministry will make English the main foreign language instead of the second official language, Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat said yesterday.

A subcommittee on education standards development under the committee on education reform proposed in July that English be made the country's second official language. The panel hoped this would spur students to achieve proficiency in English and help place the nation on the road map to the Asean Community in 2015.

Mr Chinnaworn said the ministry had carefully considered the proposal and found it might lead to misunderstandings among people and agencies responsible for implementing the policy. Other countries that have declared English a second official language were normally viewed as former colonies, he said. Thai is the only official language of Thailand.

The minister maintained that the ministry would make a serious effort to improve English teaching and learning in schools even though the second language proposal had been scrapped.

The ministry would outline its key policies for education improvement on Friday, with the attempt to make English the main foreign language on the agenda.

The plan calls for the development of English teaching and learning at popular public and private schools to be on a par with international standards. After completing their education at those schools, students would be able to communicate fluently in English, he said.

Native speakers would be recruited to teach English to senior secondary school students, and the ministry would seek the cooperation of the Foreign Affairs Ministry to contact foreign teachers to teach the students.

The ministry would also announce its policy on revamping the school curriculum on Friday.

Source: Bangkok Post

Thought: Fears of misunderstandings about occupancy and colonisation eh? I guess the Japanese, Burmese and Khmer Empire doesn't count then ... damn those pesky white men and their language!

[PeteC]

It takes a lot of wasted effort just to reply to this, or even think about it. The movement to designate an official second language scares them to death. Not the colonization argument, but the fact by making it 'official' all kids will be forced to study it by law. Then what to do with them when they get too smart and can read and understand things they're blocked from now? Thailand's Thainess will eventually be their undoing. Pete

[poosmate]

The plan calls for the development of English teaching and learning at popular public and private schools to be on a par with international standards

What designates popular?
Lots of children go there?
Only in the big cities I would imagine and then only the most expensive.
Won't reach the poor.

[margaretcarnes]

My first thoughts were similar to Petes on reading this in the paper. Then it occurred to me that the English don't have an official second language either.
In my school days in the UK we had a mishmash of French/German/Latin depending on which school we attended - and none of it taught at an early enough age for it to be easy. With hindsight Spanish would have been more useful... the point is though that England is just as bad as Thailand in this 2nd language nonsense. Our only excuse being that we DID the colonising in the first place.
(Even that isn't 100% as we were invaded by the Danes and their 2nd language is now English!)
So I don't really blame the Thais for fearing an identity crisis - if only that were a genuine reason for this decision. Which I suspect it isn't - because there must be plenty of Brits who believe the LOS was once a colony anyway. More likely it's an excuse to continue not to address the issue of English teaching by native speakers - because by heck it would mean issuing more work permits and admitting that we can speak English better than most Thais.
Whatever happens I've no doubt that HiSo Thais will continue to send their little darlings to Europe to be educated anyway.

[Condoking]

I thought English had become the second language of the UK, only problem is that no-one knows or is allowed to discuss what the first one is (Arabic, Polish, Urdu, Hindi et al)

[STEVE G]

The ministry will make English the main foreign language instead of the second official language, Education Minister Chinnaworn Boonyakiat said yesterday.

It seems to be just a case of semantics.
Incidentally, in my partners village Thai is the second official language in their opinion, so it's perhaps a good idea to avoid that descriptive!

[Norseman]

Incidentally, in my partners village Thai is the second official language in their opinion

I think you are spot on Steve.
In Isaan I believe half of the population is using Lao as their native language and the other half is using Khmer.
Thai is their second language whether the Krung Thep chinese influenced government officials likes it or not.
Even one of Thailand's most popular singers, Siriporn Ampaiphong (sic) speaks fluently Lao, but is far from an expert in the Thai language.

[richard]

Same in my village 70kms north east of Khon Kaen

Talked at length with the headmaster of the local school and he was tearing his hair out. Kids are taught Thai and English but continue to speak Laos. Understandable as when they go home the whole family speaks Laos

Some of the elder brighter lads and lasses learn Thai and enough English to swing a job in KK or BK but the root cause are the parents. To them the kids are there to have babies and increase the size of the supporting family, work on the land as cheap labour to provide for the table and continue their village culture (the rest of Thailand and the world don't count). They are totally oblivious to the idea of providing a better future for their children.

In hindsight maybe they have got it right and their culture comes first. That is one of the reasons I love their simplistic but gruelling lifestyle. It will change but not for a couple of generations

I've tried to help but I'm an interfering farang that knows nowt

ps. At one stage I suggested my wife and son come to live in HH and get a better education. This was immediately overruled by the family. My wife is the youngest of 13 brothers and sisters and therefore almost powerless

[lomuamart]

Let these idiots conduct their international business in Thai if they want.

[STEVE G]

Incidentally, in my partners village Thai is the second official language in their opinion

I think you are spot on Steve.
In Isaan I believe half of the population is using Lao as their native language and the other half is using Khmer.

Yes Norseman, she comes from an area where they still speak Sui which is a seperate language nearer to Khmer that is still spoken in two areas, one North of Nong Ki and one nearer to Surin.
Apparently it's used by about 20,000 people in the area and in the village it's the main language with there still being some older people around who don't speak any Thai.

[BaaBaa.]

Are you sure it's called sui Steve? Sui is some sort of Chinese according to WIKI

I think my GF is from a similar area to yours, she's from Phlapphla Chai, speaks Khmer Surin.

Is "what?" "Sadoy?" in her language? I'm pretty sure I've seen SJ mention "Sadoy?" before so his wife must speak the same language.

[STEVE G]

Are you sure it's called sui Steve?

Not really!
To me it sounds more like "suay" as in the Thai word but when I say it that way the locals laugh.
I found the spelling above on the net and I'll try to find out a bit more about it. I think it's different from Khmer Surin as we know people from that way and it's not the same as far as I can make out.

[STEVE G]

I've just found this:

Today, the Kui are still known as Suay/Sui by outsiders, but they refer to themselves as Kui (Schliesinger, 2000), meaning ‘human being’ (Seidenfaden, 1952). A plethora of names from different sources refer to this tribe as Suai, Suoi, Soai, Cuoi, Kui, Souei, Kuoy, and Khmen-boran. The Kui have no written language of their own, and their knowledge has been traditionally transmitted orally (Schliesinger, 2000).

Apparently there are variations all over Southern Issan so it might be related to Khmer Surin.

[Bamboo Grove]

I think, it's spelled suay. I'm not sure about the tone and pronouncing it with a wrong tone, will probably give it a funny meaning. That's why people laugh.

[BaaBaa.]

My friends wife is "Suay Tribe"

I'll see her at the weekend and see what I can find out (Probably won't remember in the morning though )

The language she speaks is nothing like Khmer Surin, her and my GF have to speak Thai to each other but they're both from Buriram Province.