My Thai Daughter

[Storekeeper]

My daughter has now been attending an American elementary school here in Japan for 8 months. She started the 2nd grade in September and didn't speak English at all. Not even a, "Good morning" ! The first 6 months she seemed to be doing OK even though I had hoped for better. She was picking up vocabulary and could even fool some that she understood more than she did. But I knew the comprehension really wasn't behind the words yet. Then suddenly ... POW ! I started to notice about 2 months ago that she was "responding" to things I was telling her. Then she started bringing home completed spelling tests with nearly perfect results when it seemed like just the week before I was beating my head in trying to get her to spell a single word right. And to top it off I finally noticed she can sound out words by herself with only a little help from me. I haven't really been helping her much ... just trying to be patient while the immersion in the school and teaching her the basics took hold. Looks like it's time for me to take it up a notch for the last 10 months we're going to be here. Damn I'm proud of this kid

[kingwilly]

excellent to hear!

[Storekeeper]

We'll be moving back to Thailand next March and she'll be going to the 4th grade. I'm going to go to one of the English teaching certification courses even if I only ever end up teaching English but to her. I'm also planning to supplement her schooling with "Home-schooling" in a couple of other subjects. We went to the library to get some books and I've started reading to her every night. When I was a young boy I fell in love with the "Black Stallion" series so I'm planning to buy the entire series and read her every single book. I was getting ready to dump all the books and flash cards I had for when I studied Japanese but I'm planning to keep them now and start her on Japanese language when she gets to high school.

[Eliminator]

SK, you could also check out the possibility of teaching Japanese to Thais, might be a money maker for you.

[Storekeeper]

SK, you could also check out the possibility of teaching Japanese to Thais, might be a money maker for you.

Check your repo for my reply.

[kingwilly]

We'll be moving back to Thailand next March and she'll be going to the 4th grade. I'm going to go to one of the English teaching certification courses even if I only ever end up teaching English but to her. I'm also planning to supplement her schooling with "Home-schooling" in a couple of other subjects. We went to the library to get some books and I've started reading to her every night. When I was a young boy I fell in love with the "Black Stallion" series so I'm planning to buy the entire series and read her every single book. I was getting ready to dump all the books and flash cards I had for when I studied Japanese but I'm planning to keep them now and start her on Japanese language when she gets to high school.

homeschooling is good but one of the main disadvantages is lack of socialization - but since you say this is a supplement to her education - then all the better

reading is SO important ! at every level and every subject ! i do despair at the fact that so many thai's read almost nothing!

sounds like she'll do well - just be careful you do not overdo the dad helping/pushign the education thing - you dont want to cause friction btwn you either!

[Marmite the Dog]

I know what you mean Sailor Boy. Some of my kids that I tutor come to Thailand with virtually no English skills. After about 6 months you look back and the advancement is incredible.

One girl who has been here a year now has gone from very, very basic to studying the Illiad in that time. It's amazing what kids are capable of.

Good luck with the little one and if she manages to take English, Japanese & Thai with her into adulthood it will give her a massive advantage when choosing a career.

[barbaro]

My daughter has now been attending an American elementary school here in Japan for 8 months. She started the 2nd grade in September and didn't speak English at all. Not even a, "Good morning" ! The first 6 months she seemed to be doing OK even though I had hoped for better. She was picking up vocabulary and could even fool some that she understood more than she did. But I knew the comprehension really wasn't behind the words yet. Then suddenly ... POW ! I started to notice about 2 months ago that she was "responding" to things I was telling her. Then she started bringing home completed spelling tests with nearly perfect results when it seemed like just the week before I was beating my head in trying to get her to spell a single word right. And to top it off I finally noticed she can sound out words by herself with only a little help from me. I haven't really been helping her much ... just trying to be patient while the immersion in the school and teaching her the basics took hold. Looks like it's time for me to take it up a notch for the last 10 months we're going to be here. Damn I'm proud of this kid

As stated, young kids can acquire language very quickly.

Her listening was also far above her speaking because of hearing you, and other.

[peterpan]

My daughters aged 4 and nearly 2 love this interactive learning site, its brilliant ! and free although I have made a donation to them.
http://www.starfall.com/

[qwerty]

Thai schools are are pretty good for some things, but I would definitely recommend supplementing your girl's education with some home schooling!

[Storekeeper]

I don't drink (very little), or chase skirts and might not do any TEFLing ... so keeping the the little lass busy should be fun for both of us. We fight like brother and sister even though I'm 36 years older than her And her Mom freaks out cause she thinks we're always getting ready to kill each other.

[aging one]

I home school my kids in English and it works well. Because English is their first language they have no trouble with grammar. Spelling is what we work on the most.

They do prefer to read and write in Thai, but the English is coming. I put them in my ENG 103 class at Uni, and they are getting the top scores with the final to be done a week today.

3 or 4 hours a week of spelling and US history and they should be fine. They love geography and their globe is a favored toy.

[Storekeeper]

Thanks to you to AO ... I'm looking forward to what hits this thread tonight when I open it tomorrow.
(Time to go watch some Sumo for now)

[Eliminator]

Sk, I was thinking you could teaching business people or even uni level to speak some conversational Japanese. I'm pretty sure it's a big respect thing for the Japanese.

[egeefay]

Kids seem to have the ability to absorb foreign languages quickly.
It's a shame Thailand doesn't spend as much time teaching English to children as they do to older high school kids.
By the time they are that age its twice as hard to pick up a foreign language.

[MeMock]

homeschooling is good but one of the main disadvantages is lack of socialization

Only if you want it that way.

my closest friend home schools her 4 children but she actively organised a group of other local home schoolers and now they have a group of about 10 different families who meet all the time for different activites. The along with things like swimming lessons, junior cricket, netball and church and these kids and the other home schooling kids that I have met are way out in front in their social skills then kids who attend the local school.

[barbaro]

Kids seem to have the ability to absorb foreign languages quickly.
It's a shame Thailand doesn't spend as much time teaching English to children as they do to older high school kids.
By the time they are that age its twice as hard to pick up a foreign language.

Yup.

It's been proven. The younger a person is the more ability their brains has to acquire a second or third language.

All language (school) probrams should have 4 year olds singing songs, and learning verbs and nouns.

I have a lot of adult student who technically are advanced, but they are so jealous of their kids that go to Internation schools, because their kids pronunciation is so much better: word stress, linking, certain sounds etc.

In the U.S. I took my first Spanish course at 14 when it was first available to take. How stupid!

[Camel Toe]

My daughter is four and very good at English. As a matter of fact she posted here two times and got torched. I doubt she'll be back. She's trolling on ajarn these days, has a post count at about 250. Just about everyone over there thinks she's Harry.

[Niteowl]

My daughter is four and very good at English. As a matter of fact she posted here two times and got torched. I doubt she'll be back. She's trolling on ajarn these days, has a post count at about 250. Just about everyone over there thinks she's Harry.

I post on ajarn, and can see how Harry could be confused with a four year old.

[kingwilly]

Kids seem to have the ability to absorb foreign languages quickly.
It's a shame Thailand doesn't spend as much time teaching English to children as they do to older high school kids.
By the time they are that age its twice as hard to pick up a foreign language.

Yup.

It's been proven.

i'm not quite sure that's true....

[Camel Toe]

Kids seem to have the ability to absorb foreign languages quickly.
It's a shame Thailand doesn't spend as much time teaching English to children as they do to older high school kids.
By the time they are that age its twice as hard to pick up a foreign language.

Yup.

It's been proven.

i'm not quite sure that's true....

Who proved it was a six year old girl who was literally lock up in some sort of closet until she was discovered by a neighbor, I think. She was sent to a language learning school but never learned to speak. This was at the time psychology was new, about 1930 something if I remember. It was determined after they poked and prodded something about the language receptors will shut down and never recover at the age of six, if the child never exercises them. Then too a child is in high gear up to that age. It's easy for them to fathom an object can have many names. What do they know one name is from Asia and another from England, one is what dad calls it and one is what mum calls it. At what age do you think a kid throws his head back and shouts, Hot damn! I live in a bilingual family!?

[kingwilly]

that doesnt 'prove' anything.....

and regarding bilingual families, evidence suggests that it is best that each parent speak the one language only, so that the child is able to discern which words 'belong' to which language.

[Storekeeper]

Update:

First I'll bring you to up to speed. I got married back in 2004 and brought my 6 year old Thai step-daughter to Japan in 2005 to attend the U.S. schools on base. And at the time she spoke not a smidgen of English. So she attended 2nd and 3rd grade at Sullivan's Elementary school and then we moved back to Thailand. She attended the first semester of 4th grade at Phichit Inter and the second semester at some cheesy school in Ban Phe, Rayong. Then we moved to Pattaya where she attended P5 and P6 at BEST Burapa. From there back to Japan for 7th and 8th grade at Yokosuka Middle School on base. From there we moved to the states where she went to the 9th and 10th grades at Bremerton High School. And finally back to Japan for 11th and 12th grades at Nile Kinnick High.

So now she's in the university application process and I'm in the same shoes AO was in last year.

This is the point where anybody who wants to offer up advice ... I'm all ears.

[Neverna]

No advice, but I'm interested in how she feels/felt changing schools so often (7 schools in 11 years?).

And how did it affect her academically?

[Storekeeper]

No advice, but I'm interested in how she feels/felt changing schools so often (7 schools in 11 years?).

And how did it affect her academically?

The only move she complained about was the last one moving from Bremerton back to Japan. As far as academics go she has a combined 3.35 GPA. She probably would have been closer to 3.5 had we stayed in the states.