TALKING TO THE IN-LAWS
Conquering fears of speaking in English
Story by ANUCHA CHAROENPO, SURIN
Putthakarn Plangdee, a Matthayom 4 (Grade 10) student at Sirindhorn school, used to feel reluctant to talk to foreigners in English. But the "Surin's in-laws" project has helped her and other students conquer their fears.
A two-day language workshop, run by the Surin Red Cross Society and provincial office, gave Putthakarn the confidence boost she needed to use the language with native speakers.
Putthakarn was one of 25 students recruited from five public high schools in the northeastern province to attend the pilot project. They were taught by 10 foreign volunteers who live in the province and are married to Surin women.
"I learned a lot from it. At least I now have more courage and confidence to speak with my Thai accent to foreigners," said Putthakarn.
Learning English from talking to foreigners about their lives was better than sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher, many of the students said.
Workshop instructors took the students to tourist attractions including an elephant village in Tha Tum district, the Khmer ruins in Sikhoraphum district, Tha Sawang silk weaving village and Buthom basketry village in Muang district.
"We want the students to learn English in real-life situations. We introduced them to words used in tourism so that they could work as guides, taking foreign guests to tourist attractions," said Surin governor Poonsak Pranutnoraphan.
Mr Poonsak said learning English grammar in school was tiring and dull.
The Surin's in-laws project started in October, with the cooperation of Sirindhorn school. The governor and the chairwoman of Surin Red Cross, Patthira Sa-ngiamsak, heard some of the foreigners living in the province were keen on joining the project. Those with teaching experience were invited to take part.
One was Alfred Lomax, 74, a Briton who ran a computer company before retiring. A resident of the province for 18 years, he is married to a Surin woman and lives in Tha Sawang village.
"It's a good project," he said. "But for the next one, we should discuss what went right and wrong the last time."
Mr Lomax said many Thais are too shy to speak, and worry too much about getting their grammar right.
Bangkok Post Dec. 29, 2007
I do agree only partially. Talking to a native speaker of English and talking to a foreigner speaking English as a second language himself are two very different things. Foreigners speaking English as a second language themselves only don't blurt out too fast and don't require perfect pronunciation or grammar, coping with accents and others' first language interference. I saw from my british, australian and american teacher colleagues that they also waste too much time in "perfecting" a student's English, time better used for training spontaneous use of the foreign language by exchanging cultural views etc. in the second language using it as a bridge instead of trying to "convert" the students to it..
For example teaching with english literature isn't as good as using thai literature in English. After all it is about acquiring a second language.
