Schools in the Buriram area?

[daleph]

Has anyone any up to date advice on what schools in the Buriram area , close enough to Lahan Sai to be viable , that would be suitable for a 9Yr english girl, for the short term.

In the long term, as and when money arrives , then other options would be available with regards to international / private schools

Thanks in advance

Dale

[Starman]

I am guessing that as you said "English girl" that she does not speak any Thai. If that is the case then there will most probably not be any suitable schools around Lahansai.

I teach in a large private school just outside of the main town of Buriram. Even here the only subject that is taught using English, some of the time, is English.

As a non Thai speaker, if that is the case, she will have big problems.

Let me know if I have got the wrong end of the stick and I will advise again.

[davu]

A 9 year old, alert girl should be speaking adequate Thai inside of 6 months judging by my own experience in Switzerland.

[Starman]

Quite possibly she will be speaking Thai well enough to communicate. Not to forget that there are also different ways to speak Thai depending on who you are talking to. She will find it very difficult to keep up. She will also have problems with the reading and writing side of things.

9 years old is a young age to change schools full stop. Let alone changing culture and language too.

[daleph]

Starman, you have the stick the right way round ;-)

OK, so my best option, as this is not happening straight away, get her Thai lessons here in the UK pronto, so when we do de decide the move, she can speak thai.

Are the 'international' schools all situated around BKK then?

[davu]

hmmm, we moved to an area with completely different language, instead of panicking about our kids not understanding French and forgetting their English/ German, we just sent them off to school. Painless process. The Thais themselves have problems with reading and writing things, so join the club. I would be more concerned about the quality of local schools, the kids never learn to ask 'why' and turn out completely intellectually lazy. I am going for home schooling with our 4 year old soon, maybe you want to go that way?

[daleph]

Davu, out of interest, what is the approx cost of the home schooling, for the first year, finances will need to be 'balanced' after that, there will be no problems.

[Starman]

The difference between moving kids from an English and German environment to a French environment is totally different. They are, after all, all part of the Indo-European languages group of which Germanic was part of. They also use the same symbols when writing and counting. Linguistics and phonetics are also similar.

If you moved a Thai child to Laos or Cambodia to study the process would be equally as painless. To move a German, French or English child, who has never come across any South East Asian languages before, will create problems for the child.

To say that Thai people have problems writing and reading things shows ignorance.

I agree that home schooling is a good idea but only in part. Nationality aside, I myself as a teacher and parent, think it would be best to split between schooling and home schooling. Children also need to learn social skills.

My ten year old daughter attends a government school here in Buriram. When we all get home we go through what she has learnt. I deal with the English and Maths and my wife deals with Thai and social science. Things are going very well.

[Starman]

Daleph........Most of the International schools are usually around the big cities. Bangkok has a lot and I believe Chon Buri and Pattaya have a few.

As far as I know there is one in Khon Kean.There is also St Stephens in Korat. This obviously would involve boarding.

These schools are not cheap though.

If your daughter is outgoing then I would consider bringing her here to Thailand for the English school summer holiday to see how she gets on. If she picks up a bit of conversation around the village then she could go on to learning the Thai alphabet.(76 symbols in total.) It is, after all, easier to start learning to read a language if you can speak a bit first. This would be better than just sitting her in a classroom with no idea of what is going on. If she does not do so well with the language then you will know.

Thai schools are just due to start a new school year, my first day is actually today. The second term starts at end October beginning of November. Some schools may accept her in the middle of a term others will ask you to wait until the start of the second term. Some schools may even ask you to wait until next May(2013).

Looks like you have a while to choose.

[davu]

this is a thread for itself.
Mr Starman, I don't actually feel ignorant, I beg to differ. Ignorance is a word I might use in extreme circumstances, I at least am still able to learn. How many Thais do you know that have a library? They can read but don't want to. Book buying and reading is much higher in Vietnam for instance, maybe thanks to their having adopted the Latin alphabet. One of the strongest instincts in a child is the ability to learn languages. Maybe you, like me, have problems learning Thai, but I know plenty of kids that are 100% bilingual, it's an age thing. Obviously a professional teacher has an invested interest in having kids to teach so this kind of argument always comes from teachers. They are capable of much more than you give them credit for.
  The old refrain about social skills keeps coming up all the time. It just isn't true, home schooled kids are used to talking to all sorts of people, not just people in their own age group (if the parent is doing his job properly). I went to a classic grammar school and came out antisocial as did many of my colleagues. there are plenty of studies confirming this.
In the end it is up to everyone to decide if they will really be able to invest the time needed to get the kids educated.
  Costs: there are so many different possibilities out there that this is up to you. Many of the organisations of hard line Christian based, they don't want to have kids growing up with an open mind, which for me negates the whole point of home schooling.
 

[daleph]

Thank you for all the useful info, given that i do have some time on my side, first steps i will take will be to get her some thai language skills over here in the UK.

I will also look into home schooling, not keen to board her....

Any other thoughts gratefully received

thanks

Dale

[Starman]

Mr Davu....On the contrary. I can speak, read and write Thai. I started learning when I was 28. Hardly an age thing really.

I have been teaching English here for over 14 years. My vested interest, not invested interest, is in the students learning to communicate in English.

Thailand, Issan especially, is full of bilingual kids. I actually know many tri lingual kids. The point is that English and Thai are miles apart.

You mention Viet Nam as an example.You mention the use of the script. Well I can tell you now there is absolutely no way that Thai language could ever be written in Latin script.

Buriram does no say what it should. Surin, Muang, Nong Ki, Ban Kruat just to name a few cannot be written in the Latin script, and why should they be anyway?

By the way......once the 76 symbols of the Thai language have been learnt it is by far easier to learn to read Thai than it is any European Language.

Perhaps the world languages should adopt Thai script.

In a previous post you said that Thais have problems reading. Then you ask how many Thais have a library. If one has a problem reading it means that they are unable to read.

If that is hat you meant then that is showing ignorance to the bigger picture.

[davu]

I don't generally swap insults on forums but the word arrogance comes to mind. Another word beginning with A comes to mind also.
I didn't say you couldn't speak Thai, did I?
You sound like a school teacher for sure, it is in their vested interests to assume that people are ignorant if they disagree with them. That or to accuse them of being ignorant.

[ischme]

Interesting little thread.

Do get them on here sometimes.

[Happylarry]

I don't generally swap insults on forums but the word arrogance comes to mind. Another word beginning with A comes to mind also.
I didn't say you couldn't speak Thai, did I?
You sound like a school teacher for sure, it is in their vested interests to assume that people are ignorant if they disagree with them. That or to accuse them of being ignorant.

I can see why you chose your signature.

Are you trolling on this thread for a reason ? You have added no value whatsoever to the OP's thread of "schools in the Buriram area".