English language skills still badly lacking

Let me cite three recent personal experiences:

I am having some business with the Dept of Labour. I went there, they scrambled to find a translator and did and when I left, one said: “When you go to a government office, you will need to bring a translator.” How about: “We really need to improve OUR English.” If the government cannot teach its staff to speak English (the official second language), what do you expect to teach children in Thailand’s schools?

Emporium is a high-class shopping centre in mid-Sukhumvit with at least 40 per cent of the customers in it at any one time, are English-speaking foreigners. I approached the fish counter and asked, “Do you have green prawns?” A smile but no answer – “mai khao jai”, of course. If a shopping centre in Bangkok’s prime area cannot train staff to speak English who can in this country? No English – no sales.

Lastly, a recent proposal for all Thai schools to speak/ practice English for one day shows that the government does not understand how a foreign language is learned. Constant repetition all five days is necessary because on the weekends, Thai students will only speak Thai and lose what they learned on Wednesday or Friday if the one-day regime is actually used. I tried to learn Thai on Saturdays in Hawaii from a native speaker and was stymied because outside of class there was no one to speak with in Thai. Most everything I learned on Saturdays was lost. I do speak three other languages, by the way.

Thailand is headed for a rude awakening in three years.

David 

Bangkok