Thread: Need Advice on English Language Book

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We have a part time housekeeper who is trying to learn English on her own. My wife and I both want to help her but we need a book to give us some direction and don't know which to purchase. Can some of you English Teachers give us some advise on a book. The lady works a factory 5 days a week and one day a week for us. On Sunday afternoon she comes to our house and helps me with my Thai. She has no time or money to go to school. Just work and learn on her own best she can. Please give us your recommendations.

I would suggest that you buy one of those little picture dictionaries. They seem on the face of it to only be of use to children but they are really useful for building vocabulary.

Although I have used almost all the standard text books which one would find in an English language school, I cannot recommend any of them. I am sure that no competent teacher of English has ever found a book that he can recommend wholeheartedly and most of us have considered the possibility of writing our own.

Try to help her by teaching her as you would teach a very young child. Build vocabulary, explain very simple grammar and don't be too ambitious. The typical English textbook is too daunting for a beginner and personal encouragement is far better.

I'd say forget the grammar and instead going for teaching her "phrozen-phrazes". Those are things that don't vary when they're spoken and can be used in a variety of situations..

Teach her to say sentences, ask simple questions, etc. The vocab in those books has Thai definitions along with the English, so she'll learn vocab along the way.

While I'm sure there are at least some competent English teachers here, I've met very few that I'd waste any money sending a Thai to learn from. Not totally due to their incompetence, but mostly due to the methodology they're compelled to use where ever it is they're employed in this country. I could probably count on one hand with fingers left over the schools I've seen which teach anything resembling a coherent, cohesive curriculum. I mean it just is what it is, don't shoot the messenger.

She ain't a kid, so I'd ditch teaching the grammar rules. I personally feel it's a waste of time to teach Thais English via grammar rules. It only makes them more reticent to speak. Thais are taught Thai by rote and they're taught engrish in schools the same way except the grammar rules are pounded into their heads too.

This make almost every thai in the country go over every possible permutation of engrish grammar rules in their heads before they speak. You wonder why there's a time lag between you saying something to a thai and them answering, well now you know why that is...

Take some time and go look at some of those basic conversation books. You're not tryin' to teach her to talk about global warming, or solving world hunger.

You're wanting to give her a communicative baseline she can build off of. I will agree that even the best of the books I'm talking about are riddled with errors, but they're good enough for what you're wanting to do..

Drawing from my experience of being a trainer for over 8 years, I would never recommend any website for honing your English Language purely because it is superficial.The vital point to be considered is the commitment the learner has to hone his language skills. The best way to learn the English Language is by daily interaction with people who speak fluent English. The initial focus should be on developing a passion to speak in English and have the courage to make mistakes without getting too conscious about it. The learner should also be given continuous feedback which will gradually help him raise his level. The learner can then be introduced to the nuances of grammar and pronunciation.It is imperative for the learner to identify a mentor who can take him through this process.

Wow "jacobh15"; a trainer for over 8 years and the best you can add is;

• the burden is on the learner as far as commitment learning
• the best way to learn engrish is to interact daily in engrish
• the initial focus should be on developing a passion to speak engrish

blah-blah-blah

That's some of the most "canned" words 'o wisdom I've ever read, there . You must be one hellova trainer! Kinda reminds me of an idiot savant, umm, without the savant part!

This housekeeper needs only rudimentary engrish to interact with foreigners she works for. So a "purely superficial grasp" would probably suffice. As I mentioned; she's unlikely to ever wanna talk about the G8 summit, global warming or solving world hunger. I think any one of the "teach engrish to idiots" books out there written in thai for thais would meet her needs.

I also agree with "Bettyboo", social media, websites, forums are an excellent way to gain exposure to English, although how many of those are written in burmese/engrish is unknown..

"Bettyboo" - don't hold back, weigh in, join the discourse. BTW; I ain't a "tefl'er" a "tesol'er" or a "teetotaler" either...