Education

Criticism over bad English lesson in Thai online class

Published

Wednesday, May 20, 2020 12:06

PHOTO: Nation Thailand

Thai schools are pushing for online learning to slow the spread of the coronavirus, but a recent English lesson posted online is just proof that basic English levels remain poor in the country. The video of a Thai teacher with poor pronunciation spread across the internet, with some saying she should be a student rather than a teacher.

The teacher went back and forth from Thai to English for some of the lesson, but when she spoke in English, much of it was unintelligible. The Pathom 6 class was recorded for Distance Learning TV, or DLTV, with a live class. Many students seemed to stare blankly during the lesson. Even a native English speaker can’t understand much of what she’s saying.

On the Thai Visa thread, some people say that the teacher tried her best to speak English, adding that many foreigners spend years in Thailand and cannot speak Thai. Others rebutted, saying that while she’s trying her best, she’s teaching a language to students and “should get it right”.

People on social media have gone back and forth about the teacher’s video. But some say the teacher is being bullied and came out with the hashtag #saveครูวัง.

กุว่ามันไม่ใช่เรื่องของaccentนะมันเป็นเรื่องของpronunciation กุดูมีความรู้มะ จริงๆที่จะบอกคือมันเป็นแบบนี้อ่อ มันคันหูนะ

Posted by Ploy Wongphon on Sunday, 17 May 2020

(The Thaiger thinks a lot of the criticism is unwarranted as most of her English was ‘OK’, albeit with a Thai accent)

SOURCES: Nation Thailand | Thai Visa

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News Categories: Education Thailand

Related Topics:classes Coronavirus Education English English standards online

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9 Comments

Mario

Wednesday, May 20, 2020 at 3:52 pm

Shameless people with many degrees might comment like that.W

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- Seattle2k
  
  Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 5:15 am
  
  Might comment, like what?
  
  Not sure how she got her TEFL/TESOL certificate
  
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Alan Lockhart

Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 7:39 am

Nothing new here my kids go to Thai school and learn English and they say the teacher does not know how to speak properly lucky my kids learn from me and their English is very good being half farung helps maybe when they are old enough they can teach proper English in schools

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Belly

Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 7:46 am

Most of “native english speakers” cannot speak any
another language and their “english” is far away from any formal teaching standards.
Keep calm and STFU 🙂

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Terry Spence

Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 9:25 am

Having taught over 20 years at elementary through college in Canada, I attest that the majority of my foreign students knew a better English than a high percentage of natural born English speakers! In China while attending a function, the Senior English Teacher was addressing a room of young Chinese teachers. They turned to me asking if I could clarify what was being said. I replied that I was unable to comprehend even half of what he was saying. In China and Mexico I rely on a native speaker teacher, I respect the effort and difficulty it is to teach in a foreign and although comfortable with French and Spanish tones/ phonetics, Asian tones are exceptionally difficult. I comment her for her effort, keep at it.

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Barry

Friday, May 22, 2020 at 6:59 am

The sad thing is Thailand is bursting at the seams with native English speakers (retirees) but they aren’t allowed to work for some reason. Just expose the kids to native english speakers often enough and the kids will pick it up. And no, these English speakers don’t need to have education degrees or even four-year college degrees. Most kids learn their L1 from their parents, who may have only basic schooling, and yet the kids pick up the language and become fluent in it.

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James

Friday, May 22, 2020 at 1:34 pm

The lady is doing as best she can, the people who employ her should be the ones being criticized. One thing for sure, i would never take Thai lessons from an English person.

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Doc

Friday, May 22, 2020 at 2:04 pm

As a native English speaker who teaches bachelor through doctoral degree students at a Thai university, this instructor’s English is suitable for the grade she is teaching. Should she be able to converse with native speakers, her accent will become less pronounced.

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terry

Saturday, May 23, 2020 at 10:56 pm

That teacher should take an English course….lol..

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Caitlin Ashworth

Caitlin Ashworth is a writer from the United States who has lived in Thailand since 2018. She graduated from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies in 2016. She was a reporter for the Daily Hampshire Gazette In Massachusetts. She also interned at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia and Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida.

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