Online school targets Thais seeking to improve their English

WITH the aim of enabling Thai students, officials and the next generation to increase their understanding of English and speak the language with confidence, Teerakorn Ananthothai and a friend established an online English school two years ago, at www.globish.co.th.

Globish allows people to learn English via the website or a mobile application based on the Android and iOS environments. 

Teerakorn, who is chief technical officer of Globish Academia, said the online academy allowed users to choose a teacher from the website and receive one-on-one English coaching via the site or mobile app by way of online conferencing. 

The website allows students that have registered to learn English anytime, anywhere – and with any coach that they want, he said.

“We provide an online English course to support anyone who wants to become confident and proficient in English, and who wants to be able to learn the language anytime, anywhere, to support their lifestyle and be able to study when they have the time available to do so. 

“Students just have to reserve three-hour periods of study and choose a coach who is available at those times, before entering the class via the website or mobile app. They can then practise directly with a native English international coach, and practise their English with confidence for their personal development,” the chief technical officer explained.

He added that the website now had more than 400 English coaches from Europe, Asean and the US, including individuals from the Philippine and Serbia who gained a certificate in teaching English, had training from the website and received a Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which is an international standard for describing language ability. 

Chuecheewan Wongsaeree, chief operations officer of Globish Academia, said www.globish.co.th had started to provide online English courses a couple of years ago.

It offers a beginner’s course that allows students to practise English conversation for daily life and making new friends; a course for students wishing to go to an-English speaking country; a business course for those who need English to support their work; an intermediate English course; and advanced English, in which registered users can create freestyle topics to communicate with their coach. 

Globish’s online English courses cost from Bt2,220 per month, with 12 sessions per course and students spending around 25 minutes per lesson studying online. 

The website also provides pre- and post-course testing for participants, she said. 

“I believe Globish is a modern online English-course programme that helps make it easy for Thais to enjoy studying English and to be confident about speaking and understanding English. The company also plans to create a marketing channel focusing on social media, and expects its online English courses to reach 20 million Thai people by 2020,” the COO added.

Teerakorn, meanwhile, said there were currently more than 400 active students participating in the courses. 

The company also provides online English training to corporates and organisations such as S&P, MFEC, PWC and the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. 

It also has plans to expand the business to Vietnam and Laos next year, he added.