Thailand Schools Learning English

I am Donald Patnaude originally from Chicago but living and teaching in Bangkok, Thailand since 2001.

I've taught English to more than 6,500 people here ages 4-60 years old and from all walks of life. Mostly I've taught teenagers Mathayom 1-6 students for four years in three Thai government secondary schools. I had also worked for several language centers and have taught English to young learners, teens and adults. Now I am the Marketing Partner in Thailand for Paris based English Attack!

After having witnessed everything from young pregnant girls and girls who have been raped, a boy who is alive today but had 1/3 of his brain removed because he had delivered ice on his motorbike at 4:20 A.M. before coming to school and had an accident. His 14-year old friend on the same bike wasn't as lucky. These boys had to help their parents in the family business every day before going to school. Then you know the rest. Yep! Gangs, drugs, prison etc.

Thailand ranks near bottom in English proficiency.

In the globalized world, English is used in an outer and expanding circle and therefore plays a vital role in the global economy. Many parents believe that learning English can give their children chances of getting a good job and a hope for having a better standard of living. However, as the national examination or what is called “Entrance Examination” in Thailand influences teaching and learning, the use of multiple choices for grammar rules and reading is emphasized in the classroom. Little attention is paid to developing students’ speaking and listening abilities since they are not assessed in the University Entrance Examination. Most of the time, L1 is the language used in the classroom, resulting in both opportunities for and threats to developing communicative competence and learning English. The notion of standard English is viewed as that used by the inner circles, leaving attention for English as used by a larger number of users in the outer and expanding circle. Therefore, this article suggests and discusses some pedagogical implications and trends for developing Thai students’ communicative competence and skills and attitudes towards English in the globalized era, in the hope of preparing Thai students for the arrival ASEAN economic community in 2015 in which English is regarded as a working language.

I want to try my best to help some of these vulnerable students so that they will have a better chance as they grow older and they too will hopefully be able to contribute some good deeds into their communities. As marketing partner in Thailand for English Attack! I've put together a plan with the two co-founders at the Paris office.

In recognition of this reality, I have created a very special campaign for all government secondary schools (M-1/M-6) under which schools or students pay only 1 Baht per day per student (365 Baht per year per student = $12.00) if there is a minimum of 200 license purchased per school. I will give FREE teacher's licenses to the English teachers teaching these students.

A very important rationale behind the 1 Baht campaign is that signed-up students can use English Attack! every day, including during long holidays, not just during the school year.

Regular price is 2,988 or about $100.00

Teacher's licenseses are 4,188 Baht or about $140.00

With your careful consideration and generous donations I hope to raise enough funds to help 2,000 teenage students to learn English in 10 Thai government secondary schools. I also estimate about 40-60 teachers will receive the teacher's passes for FREE. We want them to be able to have fun while learning with the English Attack! Online Learning platform. That is less than $13.00 per student for a year of unlimited learning and this platform has follow up games which ought to keep them wanting to learn English. I am also trying to find some local corporations to sponsor some competitions to help keep these teenage learners motivated.

For your kind donation of any amount that you can freely donate will guarantee one needy teenage student to have the chance to learn or improve their English language skills for 1-year with unlimited use of the English Attack! platform.

Donald Patnaude

Krung Thai Bank Branch: Ban Khaek Intersection (Siyak Bankhalk)

016-0-36466-3