Thai students 'must learn languages'

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ASEAN COMMUNITY

Thai students 'must learn languages'

Published: 20/06/2011 at 03:03 AM
Newspaper section: News

Thai students have been urged to improve their English and also learn a third language so they can compete with people from other Southeast Asian nations when the region becomes a single economic community of more than 600 million people in 2015.

Sakkarin Niyomsilpa, a demographic expert at Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR), said Thailand's weakness was its language limitations, especially in English. He said Filipino labourers could speak better English than Thais, giving them a much better chance of getting hired in other countries.

It was now time for Thai students to improve their English and learn a third language such as Vietnamese, Bahasa, Japanese or Korean, he added.

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About the author

: Writer: Thanida Tansubhapol; Position: Reporter

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steveyinasia
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Discussion 3 : 20/06/2011 at 08:40 AM3
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Upena, school children in Chiang Mai are currently learning Chinese at primary school with much more emphasis on this language than English. I certainly agree that all Thai children need to be exposed to different languages to improve their chances later in life however in my opinion they have their priorities wrong. China as a nation is gearing up for their country to learn English as fast as possible. When I was in school I learnt French, and how much French have I required since leaving school 30 years ago......zero.
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sirron
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Discussion 2 : 20/06/2011 at 08:07 AM2
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My own experience with languages is that the ones spoken most fluently are the ones learned earliest in life. Thus my advice to language learners: Start young! Make preschool and kindergartens international, as much as possible. Reading and writing seems to come from a different part of the mind and can be learned later.
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upena
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Discussion 1 : 20/06/2011 at 06:10 AM1
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How many jobs will be lost when to the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015 since Thailand has done little or nothing to prepare?

You left out the most important language for Thais to learn - Chinese.
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Thai students 'must learn languages' | Bangkok Post: news