Why English teachers should also know Thai

After spending many years developing software and mobile apps to deal with the exact problem S Tsow mentions in his letter, I can certainly agree that pronunciation problems arise for Thai speakers of English. To help improve English lessons, we should understand why these problems arise. For example, there is only one composite “sh/ch” sound in Thai, not two distinct sounds, and the “r/l” equivalent phonemes are often interchangeable without causing too much consternation. 

An English teacher with basic knowledge of the Thai language understands that students often fail to add the “s” sound to plural words because there is no equivalent in Thai. The teacher would also know why the use of articles (a, an, the) can be conceptually difficult.

Finally, I think we need to understand that acquiring a second language is complex and demanding. When people make overarching statements such as, “Don’t worry about grammar – just speak”, they are in fact doing language students a disservice despite their good intentions. The English tense system is complex, but inherently gives meaning. Put another way, if you change the tense, you change the meaning (and losing your final “s” sound in pronunciation can change the tense).

Neill deHaan