To boost English proficiency, stop dubbing into Thai
You cannot learn to speak a foreign language unless you hear it spoken by native speakers. As I struggle to learn Thai, I am well aware of this fact. Yet most Thais, including children supposedly learning English in school, never or rarely hear it spoken
Even in the visual media they are insulated from the language by the ridiculous dubbing of films and cartoons.
The use of subtitles instead would serve two purposes. It would familiarise Thais with the accents and nuances of the English language, and it would improve their reading of Thai. I suspect it might also increase their enjoyment, since the voices they would hear would be appropriate to the action taking place.
Keith Barlow
