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THE SCHOOL Most schools in city areas have limited
space and cram as many students as possible into a small area.
At Srinai we have two buildings, one five floors and the other
six floors. Between the buildings is the playground with flagpole
and Buddha shrine.
CLASSROOMS Unless you are lucky to work in an air-conditioned
classroom, expect to find the rooms with large windows and double
doors. These help the wind to pass through in order to cool the
classroom. On days with no wind ceiling fans help a little to
circulate the air. Schools with older wooden buildings will also
have gaps at the top of the walls between each classroom. Although
of this helps to cool the classroom down, you now have the problem
of sound pollution. It might not always be easy to hear a shy
student speak a sentence in English. In addition, if you sing
too many English songs and play too many noisy games, the teachers
on either side might start to complain.
SCHOOL DAY Schools start with morning assembly in the
playground at 8 a.m. Some students have already been at the school
for an hour or more. If their parents work in Bangkok then they
are dropped off early. Assembly goes on for 20 minutes or more.
It starts with the singing of the national anthem and flag raising
and then continues with prayers, student oath and motto and a
talk by a teacher on ethics. The students have six 50 minute
periods in a day. Three in the morning and three after lunch.
Most schools stagger lunchbreaks because of the large number
of students. Expect an early lunch at 11.30 a.m. in most schools.
Most schools will finish about 3.15 p.m. though many students
stay on for extra lessons.
STUDENTS Most teachers that have visited Srinai School
say that the students are very respectful and show a keen interest
in learning English.
THAI TEACHERS Most
ENGLISH LESSONS Most |
PROBLEM SOUNDS:
There are some English sounds that most
Thai students will have a problem with:
Words like "house" and "mouse
will come out like "how" and "mow" if your
students have been taught by a Thai teacher. There is no "s"
at the end of words in Thai so don't expect to hear them when
your students are speaking English.
"Father" is "fatter"
in Thailand because of the "th" problem. I usually
turn this one into a joke by sticking my tongue out at them when
emphasising the "th" in "father".
Both "ch" and "sh"
are difficult for the students and are often mixed up. Are they
saying "chips" or "ships"?
The letter "r" seems to be a
problem with many Thai students despite there being a similiar
Thai letter. Is it "fried rice" they want to eat or
"fried lice"?
"X" is another problem letter.
Expect to hear "six" read aloud as "sick"
and "fox" as "fock".
Most letters at the end of words won't
be pronounced clearly. This is because Thai words don't have
little explosive sounds at the end. So, when they say "map"
their lips will remain closed after the "p" whereas
we will finish with them open. The same goes with a "t"
at the end of a word. The "t" in "rat" is
cut short when spoken by a Thai student. By all means emphasise
the "t" and "p" but make sure they don't
turn them into two words.
You will find that a number of English
words have found their way into the Thai language with a few
differences. "Sport" becomes "sa-port" and
"summer" becomes "sum-mer" with the emphasis
on the second syllable.
For some reason, English words with "l"
at then end are changed to "n" when they become a Thai
word. Two examples of this is the popular department store "Central"
which is pronounced "Centron" and "football"
which is pronounced "footbon". Oh yes, "apple"
is also "appon". |
