Teaching of Chinese `not good enough'
Better quality teachers needed, seminar told
SIRIKUL BUNNAG

http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/260905_new03.jpg

The Education Ministry is being urged to revamp the Chinese language curriculum to give the country a competitive edge over other Asian countries. Maitree Temsiripong, chairman of the Chinese University Alumni, said a strategic plan was needed to produce qualified Chinese language teachers.

The trend in Chinese language learning and teaching has really become a cause for concern, he said.

``Students take short courses _ from six months to one year _ and turn themselves into teachers. Chinese language education is of such low quality in the country,'' he told a seminar on the development of Chinese-language learning in Thailand which saw more than 100 businessmen, executives of Chinese schools and representatives of the Thai Chamber of Commerce attend.

``At present students can barely communicate in Chinese.

``They can't understand complicated or legal documents,'' he added.

Chinese languages, including Mandarin, were the most popular internationally these days.

Thais have realised their importance and know that to be more successful in business terms in China they must learn to speak, read and write Chinese.

China and Thailand have developed closer ties on all economic fronts.

The two countries agreed at a trade meeting in Chiang Mai on Thursday to give trade, investment and tourism a bigger push.

They expected bilateral trade to rise to US$50 billion (2,050 billion baht) by 2010 from $18 billion (738 billion baht) currently. Thai-Chinese investment is expected to grow to $6.5 billion (266 billion baht) from $3.7 billion (152 billion baht).

Panithi Tangpati, vice-chairman of the Association for Developing Chinese schools in the North, said there was an urgent need for a Chinese-language learning development centre.

``Chinese teaching differs in each school. There's no standard curriculum to support the students who want to pursue in-depth Chinese education,'' he said.

The ministry should therefore establish a Chinese-language teaching centre and draw up a strategic plan for the development of a Chinese education curriculum for all levels, he said.

Mr Panithi also urged the government to provide a higher subsidy to the 295 privately-run Chinese language schools.

The amount these schools receive from the government is hardly enough to pay teacher salaries, he said.

Kasama Voravan, education permanent secretary, said several private Chinese schools were considering ``upgrading'' themselves to international schools.

``So they can charge higher tuition fees, which will keep the children away from proper Chinese education,'' she said.

Pang Li, first secretary of the Chinese embassy in Thailand, voiced support for the ministry's plan to promote Chinese languages.

She said Chinese languages had become so popular outside China that they were being studied by as many as 25 million people across the globe and being taught in 2,300 universities in 100 countries.

She said the Chinese government was ready to extend assistance to Thailand in this area and would help design the Chinese-language curriculum, train Thai teachers and even supply all the standard education materials and textbooks if it were asked to.

Education Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng said the government was aware of the need to promote the study of Chinese languages as part of a policy to promote bilateral cooperation with China.

However, he said the ministry will not lay down any regulations that will make Chinese schools feel uncomfortable.

I think its gonna be chinese
:)

i think Chinese

believe it or not , Chinese is the most spoken language in the world and English is the second!

But not the world speaks Chinese. I think English.
The world can speak English, not Chinese.

Ofcourse, English and Chinese.

But- if this is just for usage in the country then it would be Chinese.

English definitely ;)

Only advantage in doing business to China to speak. Otherwise can't to see how to become as important than others :)

Int'l / Global language would be as English evitablely in no doubt

Chinese (Mandarin) is important in terms of number of people speaking it (about 13% of the world speak Mandarin as a first language and only 5% speak English as a first language), BUT English is much more important because it's use is spread out around the world and is the first or secondary business language in almost all important economic centers....(as well as the dominant language on the internet, airport traffic control, sea vessels communications, trade transactions, popular movies and media, news, diplomacy (long ago finishing French) etc. :) ) It is also estimated that more than 250 million young Chinese are learning English (now that China is emerging as a world economic power..their use of English will also grow)....

I have seen Chinese Cantonese speakers and Chinese Mandarin speakers in Hong Kong and in Taiwan speak broken English to each other because they could not understand each other in spoken Chinese! They even had trouble writing to each other in Chinese characters because of a simplified writing format used in the Mainland..... English is clearly the "lingua franca" of today's world....

as the world continues to shrink because of improving technology, a common language will continue to grow in terms of use...

Chinese will be more and more important, but still English will be even more
important coz people still use English to communicate Worldwide.
Unfortunately, almost all of new generation Chinese-blood in Thailand cannot speak chinese.
Isn't it funny Chinese bld. people have to learn Chinese language as foriegn language :)

I have seen Chinese Cantonese speakers and Chinese Mandarin speakers in Hong Kong and in Taiwan speak broken English to each other because they could not understand each other in spoken Chinese! They even had trouble writing to each other in Chinese characters because of a simplified writing format used in the Mainland..... English is clearly the "lingua franca" of today's world....

A common phenomenon to be seen up to now caused a huge of dialects in many kind to China even though Hong kong had been returned to Mainland China 7 years ago yet not be solved or improved

At the result there is still have a great perplexity btw in both, writing- mostly cantonese had not with it own word and so they are felt of dysphonia in usage of difficulty, to communicating by cantonese and mandrain

Isn't it funny Chinese bld. people have to learn Chinese language as foriegn language :)

It'd be changed if the national policy is still going on. The 2nd generation Thai-Chinese will be more encouraging and motivation by both in hand, family and society.

Take time to see how they are work........................

Actually, there are more than 10 Chinese version newspaper issued at capital ;)

http://tinypic.com/dzw7yw.jpg

Japanese is a choice??

WTF?

Actually, there are more than 10 Chinese version newspaper issued at capital ;)

]



I've seen only อาแปะ and อาม่า read them :)

a tough call..but yeah, in a short term, english will still be dominating no matter what, but in a long term, who knows?

1.English
2.Chinese

Chinese is the way to go in the future...

Knowing English alone isn't enough anymore in trade and business...

in 10 years time we will have a lot more Chinese bosses, investors, clients and media...

I have seen Chinese Cantonese speakers and Chinese Mandarin speakers in Hong Kong and in Taiwan speak broken English to each other because they could not understand each other in spoken Chinese! They even had trouble writing to each other in Chinese characters because of a simplified writing format used in the Mainland.....
A great majority of mainland Chinese today speak Mandarin in addition to their own dialect, if any. I've travelled in many parts of China and have never had any problem speaking only Mandarin. Most people still prefer to speak their own dialect to each other but when spoken to in Mandarin, they respond in Mandarin, much like how it is in the U.S. when non-Caucasians would speak their own language to each other but English to others.

The only time I had problem communicating with a fellow Chinese would be here in the U.S. I've ran into a few older Chinese immigrants who have been in the U.S. for many decades and speak only Cantonese, although many have picked up Mandarin over the years.

In general though, I would say that majority of Chinese speakers speak Mandarin and foreigners are only taught Mandarin so the issue of communicating in spoken Chinese is going away rapidly, and even today it isn't really much of a problem.

As for written Chinese, the differences between simplified and traditional Chinese are MUCH MUCH MUCH smaller than most people tend to assume. I personally grew up being taught traditional Chinese and I picked up simplified Chinese in matters of days just by roaming around Beijing. Most people who are fluent in either Chinese scripts can also easily understand majority of a Chinese text written without much trouble.

As far as I know, most foreigners learn simplified Chinese, as mainland China currently dominate. Traditional Chinese is only used by Taiwan, Hong Kong and most oversea Chinese communities. The Chinese classes at my old university taught traditional & simplified Chinese side-by-side so people can choose which one they want to learn (or both) depending on how they wish to use it later in life. Again, this isn't really an issue.

English is clearly the "lingua franca" of today's world....
Agreed.

2nd most important language in Thailand of course has to be English. English is widely use around the world.
but for the 3rd importance then i'd say it's Mandarin Chinese. i think bilingual is not enough. now need to be trilingual:)

I totally agree, English is quite an important language. Not only it is widely spoken but also most books, media etc are in English. And then Mandarin Chinese and then Spanish.

I totally agree, English is quite an important language. Not only it is widely spoken but also most books, media etc are in English. And then Mandarin Chinese and then Spanish.
Spanish would be the fourth most important language in THAILAND?

I would assume after English and Chinese, it would be a Viet, Khmer, or one of Thailand's neighboring languages.

Spanish would be the fourth most important language in THAILAND?

I would assume after English and Chinese, it would be a Viet, Khmer, or one of Thailand's neighboring languages.


^oh yeh I didn't think about that :P automatically think of the most important internationally.
I'd say fourth most important, Japanese because we do a lot of business with them and kids are obsessed with Japanese manga :D

i chose others because i saw a lot of signing language w/c every1 should learn and mimic

every country's sign language is different though.

English

The most important languages

1) English
2) Spanish
3) Chinese (Mandarin)
4) Arabic
5) French
6) Portuguese

Besides the writing system,Chinese is a very boring language

LANGUAGE CLASSES: Ministry to promote Mandarin as alternative
Published on September 27, 2005

Critics dismiss plan as ‘market oriented gimmick’. The Education Ministry is planning to promote Mandarin as an alternative language for school students, and it says children may choose to begin learning the language as early as grade 1.

It is one of Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang’s latest policies, and aims to give Thailand a competitive edge in a world economy where China is exerting increasing power.

However, the policy has drawn concern from some critics who are worried that Mandarin classes will become “just another market-oriented product”.

Usanee Watanapan, head of the ministry’s translation institute, explained last week that Chaturon’s policy aimed to enhance Mandarin-teaching classes in the education system as a whole. Usanee will supervise preparation of the strategy.

“It’s not mandatory, but schools that are ready for it will be encouraged to begin Mandarin classes because it is becoming an increasingly important language,” she said.

According to the draft strategy, Mandarin teaching will be standardised in the same way as English, so that all schools in the country follow the same standard. The strategy does not cover language schools.

A central curriculum will be developed to identify what needs to be taught and the objectives at each level. “This will allow a continuity for Mandarin learners because there are currently different standards when it comes to Mandarin classes in Thailand,” Usanee said.

The curriculum, which is one of the strategy’s three main components, will be based on research and categorised into three parts: a 12-year curriculum for students who begin learning Mandarin when they enter primary schools; a six-year curriculum for those who begin Mandarin classes at secondary schools; and special courses for vocational students who may need specific vocabularies.

“We have received support from China,” Usanee said. “Chinese experts are going to work with our experts to develop textbooks based on our curriculum.”

She said that more information would also be given to the public on the HSK proficiency test – the Mandarin version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Test scores can be used to apply to Chinese universities and companies.

“China is an economic power and Mandarin is becoming increasingly important. If we try to avoid it, we will lose,” Usanee said.

At present, at least 300 Thai schools offer Mandarin classes to their students. About half of them are state schools.

“The number of such schools should increase in the future,” Usanee said.

However, the ministry has not yet set specific goals for how many more schools should join the Mandarin-teaching effort.

With the value of trade and investment between China and Thailand expected to reach US$20 billion (Bt824 billion) this year, Mandarin is being seen as a powerful economic tool.

“Mandarin-speaking graduates from my faculty get good jobs,” said Associate Professor Pornpan Juntaronanont, a deputy dean at Ramkhamhaeng University’s faculty of humanities and head of the faculty’s Mandarin division.

She said she could not agree more with the ministry’s plan to promote the teaching of Mandarin because it was now closely associated with economic power.

“Also, Mandarin links you to the rich culture of China, and when you know one more language, your view broadens,” she said.

Usanee went on to explain two other main components in the Mandarin promotion strategy: the development of teachers and cooperation among relevant organisations.

She said China would send native Mandarin experts, while Thai teachers would receive scholarships to study in China.

The Education Ministry will also push a plan to pair up schools in Thailand and China as “sister schools”, so that the Chinese schools are able to assist their Thai counterparts in the development of Mandarin classes.

Songsri Sirikhetkorn, an official for the Oriental Knowledge and Language School, which offers both Mandarin and Japanese, welcomed the ministry’s move. She said she had no concerns about any impact on her school’s business.

“On the contrary, I think more students will come to us for tutorial classes,” she said. Aside from Mandarin classes, her language school also teaches Mandarin calligraphy, Chinese painting, and how to play the Chinese dulcimer.

A lecturer at Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of education, Sompong Jitradab, was concerned that Mandarin classes are becoming “fashionable”, and that many people will jump at the opportunity they offer for reaping profits.

Urisara Kowitdamrong

The Nation

In Thailand, IMPortant languages...i'd say 1.) of course Thai 2.) English 3.) Mandarin Chinese 4.) Japanese 5.) ...
Khmer and Laos are widely used in the Northest part of the country but not that imporant for trading imo because most of them can speak Thai.

Just curious, so how many forumers, here, speak and write Chinese?

Besides the writing system,Chinese is a very boring language

i'd beg to differ on that point
if you go to a higher level of Chinese language
you'll realise that it is a beautiful language
a very interesting indeed...

whether or not the new generation of Thais find this boring or difficult
they will have no choice but to learn it on top of English one day in a very near future

i'd suggest that you follow up some famous Chinese literature such as ???? (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) ??? (Dream of the Red Chamber) ??? (The Water Margin) ??? (The Journey to the West) for a start

also, you can go deep on the story behind the development of various
?? yanyu ?? suyu ?? chengyu ??? jiaguwen ??? wenyanwen

or read up the ????? (300 Tang Poems)

this will not only give you an insight into the Chinese culture but also its rich history and social fabric

Just curious, so how many forumers, here, speak and write Chinese?

i do speak and write Chinese Mandarin, both simplified and traditional Chinese.
but i'm lousy at speaking Chinese dialects such as Teochew, Hokkien or Cantonese

i do speak and write Chinese Mandarin, both simplified and traditional Chinese.
but i'm lousy at speaking Chinese dialects such as Teochew, Hokkien or Cantonese
ya it is understandable that most Thai (or Thai-Chinese) can't speak Hokkien and Cantonese. I will be surprised if they do, in fact.
I believe most Thai-Chinese knows Teochew (they called Tay-Jiu) pretty well.

If French is as popular/common as Chinese in Asia, I will definitely vote for it. It's a beautiful and articulate language. (mais seulment si ...)

If French is as popular/common as Chinese in Asia, I will definitely vote for it. It's a beautiful and articulate language. (mais seulment si ...)

Yea, it is one of the most powerful language in the world

I think French is still of the second importance language here in Loas nowadays ;) even to acknowledgement by Thai's culture that why we called foreigner as " FARANG " :)

Besides the writing system,Chinese is a very boring language

Boring to be that it's kind of complicated construction, in term of traditional Chinese, to be used and thought particularity ;)

i speak perfect Mandarin... :sleepy:

I known But Me too Lah~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :D

actually Hokkien and Teochew sound very similar. and most words are the same.
as for Cantonese, hmm...i think people (elderly) in Chinatown can speak it lah. :) but of course, most of Thai-Chinese are Teochew.

For me, i can understand a little bit of Mandarin and Teochew. and can write...about 300 characters..maybe. :)...

So about how many Thai-Chinese are there in Thailand and what percentage do they make up in the total Thai population?

It seems to me like there are a lot of Thai-Chinese in Thailand. Are most of the Thais who are learning Chinese Thai-Chinese or Thai-Thai?

I met a few Thai students when I was at BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University). Although majority of the students are still Koreans, the number of Thai students are rising. All the Thai students I met had really long Thai surnames though but they did mention something like the Thai government in the past had forced Thai-Chinese to adopt Thai surnames.

So about how many Thai-Chinese are there in Thailand and what percentage do they make up in the total Thai population?

It seems to me like there are a lot of Thai-Chinese in Thailand. Are most of the Thais who are learning Chinese Thai-Chinese or Thai-Thai?

I met a few Thai students when I was at BLCU (Beijing Language and Culture University). Although majority of the students are still Koreans, the number of Thai students are rising. All the Thai students I met had really long Thai surnames though but they did mention something like the Thai government in the past had forced Thai-Chinese to adopt Thai surnames.


Not sure how many % of population in Thailand are ethnic Chinese. Chinese people have been here thousands of years. So, it's anyone's guess really.
Of course there were pressures from previous (fascist / nationalistic / militant) dictatorship governments for Chinese immigrants to assimilate and adopt Thai names. especially after the World War and when there were fear of communist insurgents then perceived as threat to established Thai institution of Buddhism and monarchy.
Despite that Chinese culture flourish and they are accepted as part of the mainstream culture. The long surnames are usually given by Buddhist monks, usually Sanskrit or Pali which Theravada Buddhism use. So, in the older days people usually go to temples and get their names with the monks blessing! I guess it's similar to OS chinese in HK or other countries who converted to Christianity and adopted christian names.

BTW it's interesting to note that the Education Minister who advocate the teaching of Mandarin was once openly member of the Communist party that was suppressed by the govt in the 70s. Now he's a minister and a deputy PM!

Yea, it is one of the most powerful language in the world

I think French is still of the second importance language here in Loas nowadays ;) even to acknowledgement by Thai's culture that why we called foreigner as " FARANG " :)

Yes, French is a beautiful language but declining rapidly as a world language....just as an example, on my tours all over Vietnam and Laos last year, all the young guides told me that almost all young people want to only learn English as a second language (even though that area has a French colonial background and Chinese influenced culture)....the few local French-speaking younger tour guides are in VERY heavy demand because French tourists visiting former french Indo-China often need them to look around (but French speaking younger guides are becoming more and more rare)...some oldest local guys know how to speak French in that region but its dying out fast...I bet in the next generation French will be a rare thing in that area, just like old guys in Taiwan (who speak Japanese from the Japanese colonial days in Taiwan) are becoming a much rarer thing...

French is still important in places like Haiti, Reunion and Western parts of Africa (not exactly world economic centers) and bits of Louisiana state, Quebec, 20% of Switzerland and French areas of tiny Belgium (and of course French possessions like Martinique, French Polynesia and New Caledonia), but its days as a world language are over....its a beautiful language like Portugese (and Portugal was once a world Superpower, but thats also long over)....

So about how many Thai-Chinese are there in Thailand and what percentage do they make up in the total Thai population?

.

I just found this article that might answer your question

The largest number of non-Tai peoples were the Chinese. In 1987 an estimated 11 percent of the total Thai population, or about 6 million people, were of Chinese origin, which meant that Thailand had the largest Chinese population in Southeast Asia. Assimilation of the various Chinese communities was a continuing process. Chinese were encouraged to become Thai citizens, and in 1970 it was estimated that more than 90 percent of the Chinese born in Thailand had done so. When diplomatic relations were established with China in the 1970s, resident Chinese not born in Thailand had the option of becoming Thai citizens; the remaining permanent Chinese alien population was estimated at fewer than 200,000.

As for now I think there are at least 10 millions chinese bld. citizen in Thailand :)

^that's interesting, largest total OS chinese population in SE Asia.

Yes, French is a beautiful language but declining rapidly as a world language....just as an example, on my tours all over Vietnam and Laos last year, all the young guides told me that almost all young people want to only learn English as a second language (even though that area has a French colonial background and Chinese influenced culture)....the few local French-speaking younger tour guides are in VERY heavy demand because French tourists visiting former french Indo-China often need them to look around (but French speaking younger guides are becoming more and more rare)...some oldest local guys know how to speak French in that region but its dying out fast...I bet in the next generation French will be a rare thing in that area, just like old guys in Taiwan (who speak Japanese from the Japanese colonial days in Taiwan) are becoming a much rarer thing...

French is still important in places like Haiti, Reunion and Western parts of Africa (not exactly world economic centers) and bits of Louisiana state, Quebec, 20% of Switzerland and French areas of tiny Belgium (and of course French possessions like Martinique, French Polynesia and New Caledonia), but its days as a world language are over....its a beautiful language like Portugese (and Portugal was once a world Superpower, but thats also long over)....


I saw one documentation TV program earler that The Old British-English ( Ancient dialect ) is come out from French indeed.

No suprise why does still be as remarkable language for several century till to now ;)

Quebec for the example, sustain the root of it's culture consistency to French even as part of Canada

Are most of the Thais who are learning Chinese Thai-Chinese or Thai-Thai?

I am one of the many Thai-Thais who happened to learn Chinese.
On the other hand, many young Thai-Chinese these days don't even speak Chinese (as their parents seldom use / do not know Chinese anyway)

I just found this article that might answer your question

The largest number of non-Tai peoples were the Chinese. In 1987 an estimated 11 percent of the total Thai population, or about 6 million people, were of Chinese origin, which meant that Thailand had the largest Chinese population in Southeast Asia. Assimilation of the various Chinese communities was a continuing process. Chinese were encouraged to become Thai citizens, and in 1970 it was estimated that more than 90 percent of the Chinese born in Thailand had done so. When diplomatic relations were established with China in the 1970s, resident Chinese not born in Thailand had the option of becoming Thai citizens; the remaining permanent Chinese alien population was estimated at fewer than 200,000.

As for now I think there are at least 10 millions chinese bld. citizen in Thailand :)

There maybe more than this. If you include the group of mix Chinese blood with Thai, like me, it must make something about 60 percent of population of Thailand. Chinese language must be easy to learn for Thai people as they are both monosyllable language and most grammar is quite the same. The difficulty may lie on remembering many many Chinese characters. In my opinion, English is still the second most important language for Thai people, but for the third language you can choose one among Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish or Malay. :)

yeah, im 100% chinese(3rd generation),who cannot speak chinese at all.

I think English.

I think English.

yeah...English as for the whole nation.
But....It gotta be Thai for me.....coz I natively speak Laos!! :)

More and more Chinese teaching school being established at metropolis

Class fees seems not too high for study

http://tinypic.com/eam93b.jpg

Chinese for all? Well, maybe not
Published on October 08, 2005

Allow market forces to decide whether Mandarin should be given prominence in our education system. Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang’s half-baked idea of promoting Mandarin Chinese as an alternative foreign language for schoolchildren throughout the country may place an unnecessary burden on state-run school administrators, who are already bogged down by persistent failure in teaching English properly.

And yet the minister sees it as urgent that Chinese be taught in many schools as early as the next academic year, with all high schools to offer Mandarin by 2008.

This ambitious programme was announced soon after Chaturon and the country’s top education officials conceded last month that our schools sorely lacked well-trained English teachers. This utter failure forced the Education Ministry to consider a halt to the obligatory English lessons that now start in Prathom 1 at most schools.

Chaturon said schools should be given more latitude with English teaching, because many of them were unable to provide quality tutoring in the subject to youngsters. It is not difficult to understand why. As many as 80 per cent of teachers who teach English in primary schools nationwide do not have a degree in English or an English-teaching certificate. Even more worryingly, a recent survey found that more than half of those teachers had a poor grasp of the language.

Another survey, compiled by Thailand’s English Language Development Centre, indicated that Thai students’ average TOEFL score in the one-year period ended in June was 201 out of 300 points, ranking them above only Cambodians, who averaged 200 points, out of students in Southeast Asian countries. Such a dismal showing should call for an all-out effort by Thai educators to improve English-language training.

This is shocking given the fact that English has been taught in Thai schools for as long as anyone can remember. By the time the typical Thai graduates from university, he or she will have studied the language for maybe 15 years on average. Yet a very low percentage of university graduates are able to hold a conversation in English with any confidence, let alone the ability to use the language in a professional setting.

Apparently, our phenomenal failure in teaching English as a second language has not stopped Chaturon from coming up with the big idea of introducing Mandarin - a language that has not been taught widely in this country for many decades now - into the high-school curriculum. Even most Thais of Chinese descent have long since abandoned the language of their ancestors.

The rationale for Chinese-language studies is a well-worn one: proficiency in Chinese will give Thais a competitive edge in exploiting economic opportunities offered by China, whose economy is the main driving force of the global economy. Meanwhile, millions of Chinese - like other peoples around the world - are now striving to master English, which they recognise as the world’s truly universal language. Introducing Chinese in a big way will distract schools from what should be their primary objective, improving the teaching of English, the world’s unchallenged lingua franca, and could drain resources that would otherwise be made available to help improve English proficiency among students.

It would be better to let market forces decide whether Mandarin should be given prominence. At present, about 300 schools, half of them state-run, offer Mandarin as an elective third language. It might make sense for students in northern provinces like Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai to learn to speak it, given their geographical proximity to China. Or for business professionals dealing with Chinese counterparts to learn to converse in Chinese. Or even Thais of Chinese descent to get in touch with their cultural roots if they so desire. But for almost everyone else, English should still be the single most important second language. In the school system, Chinese should rank equal to such other elective third languages as Japanese, French, German and Spanish.

Better to teach students to speak one foreign language well, intelligibly and confidently than to teach them to speak too many languages equally embarrassingly.

English is the most important by this time.
But Chinese would be the second most important in the future.

I would also say Spanish since more people in the world speak Spanish, not Ting Viet or Khmer.

i think for Thais...........
are Chinese and English............

Chinese is being determinated as the FIRST foreign language for the Thai and it'll be scheduling to primary and high schooling prior be 2008 to start


全球競學中文泰國訂為第一外語　．劉振廷、吳翊菁

新一波中文熱，由泰國和美國開始延燒。泰國政府宣布將中文訂為第一外語，並在二零零八年前將漢語課程納入二千所中、小學裡。《美國新聞與世界報道》將「學中文」列為美國人今年五十項改善生活之道的第十二項。美國已在俄勒岡州設立第一項從幼稚園到大學的中文學習計劃﹔紐約市中英雙文公立學校上課率為全市之冠。美參院擬撥十三億美元給公立學校學生學中文。

http://www.yzzk.com/image/yzlogo.gif

English
I took Chinese for 3 years, and i think it's wayyyy toooo hard to master as a foreign language.

I think English is the second important language in Thailand. Because we started to learn English since we were in kindergarten. The third one is Chinese and the forth one is probably French or Japanese.

Now, English absolutely
Next about 30-50 years may be Chinese

i think in a few years Arab would be important.............
but now English for sure..........

English is universal language so in the future, it's still English that is important.