“before you mock on our country, maybe you can make some research regarding the fluency of Filipino people in the English field. sorry for that. maybe some of us are not really English major or or not really good in it but even 3-4 years old can speak English. We must observe and check first rather that saying that we are cheap. please read the articles to make you know about us or visit this website”

It’s wonderful that Filipinos share a passion for the English language, but the paragraph above demonstrates nearly all of the grammatical and contextual errors for which Filipinos are known.

By James, Bangkok on 2013-04-03

before you mock on our country, maybe you can make some research regarding the fluency of Filipino people in the English field. sorry for that. maybe some of us are not really English major or or not really good in it but even 3-4 years old can speak English. We must observe and check first rather that saying that we are cheap. please read the articles to make you know about us or visit this website http://ph.news.yahoo.com/ph—world-s-best-country-in-business-english.html

Well, people will now have to think twice before mocking Pinoys’ use of the English language.

The Philippines was named the world’s best country in business English proficiency, even beating the United States, according to a recent study by GlobalEnglish Corporation.

GlobalEnglish has released early this month the results of its annual Business English Index (BEI), the only index that measures business English proficiency in the workplace.

For 2012, results showed that from 76 represented countries worldwide, only the Philippines attained a score above 7.0, “a BEI level within range of a high proficiency that indicates an ability to take an active role in business discussions and perform relatively complex tasks.”

“This is particularly interesting because the Philippines, a country with one-tenth of the population of India, recently overtook India as a hub for call centers. Over 400,000 Filipinos are now employed in call centers, roughly 50,000 more than in India,” the study said.

The Philippines, which scored 7.11 and the lone country in the intermediate level, were joined by Norway (6.54), Estonia (6.45), Serbia (6.38) and Slovenia (6.19) in the top five.

GlobalEnglish noted that a country’s business English capability is an indicator of its economic growth and business success.

“It is not surprising that both the Philippines and Norway—the only two countries in the top five in both 2011 and 2012—are improving their economies, based on the latest GDP data from the World Bank,” it added.

Meanwhile, struggling economic powers (Japan, Italy and Mexico) and fast-growth emerging markets (Brazil, Columbia and Chile) scored below a 4.0 in business English proficiency, placing them at a disadvantage when competing in a global marketplace, the study said.

By By Louie, on March 18, 2013, Philippines on 2013-03-18

One simple fact to get the discussion back on track: whether it is right or wrong to want only native English speakers, the fact is that schools have their policies, and it’s not an applicant’s place to try to change their policy.

In my school, for example, we have 2 sections. Each follows the same curriculum and has the same number of hours taught by foreigners. It’s just that in one section the foreigners are native speakers, and in the other section the foreigners are non-native speakers, ie Filipino and Indian at the moment. I’m not saying I agree with this, but that’s the way it is, so when I am recruiting for my department, I HAVE TO accept only native speakers, or parents will start to ask “What’s the difference between the 2 sections then?”

However, just being a native speaker doesn’t make you a good teacher, as some people on this forum seem to think. We choose those that we are convinced are going to do a good job. I know that there are plenty of good and plenty of bad teachers in both categories - so would people please stop arguing for one over the other?

The article was “how to apply for a job on email”. The gist of it? - READ the ad properly, only apply if you are eligible, and give all the required information.

By Lucie, Ubon Ratchatani on 2013-02-20

I think you guys are missing the point of the value of a non-native speaker.
do you relies that the total of native speakers in Thailand is less than 1% of all the emigrants that are in Thailand at the moment? the rest are non-native speakers of English. from India, Malaysia, China, Japan, Germany, France, Italy. So hear we have everybody trying to teach English fluently in our Schools and yet they can not understand a single word when trying to socialize or do business or answer a query when approached by a non-native speaker of English. With the new ASIAN system coming up will they all speak Like Americans or British? I don’t think so.
So having non-native speakers of English Teachers will enable our future generation to cope and understand many English tones, don’t you think?

By Andreas, Bangkok, Thailand on 2013-02-19

There is a very important issue that is been missed in all these comments. The issue of tone (syntax) and accent. There is no way or nearly impossible for a Thai to speak with the fluency, speed and pronunciation like an American or Brit. It’s in their tongue. In comparability,  the African teachers who no one is making any mention of them, has a near accent and speed of talking English like the Thais. There has been countless results and confessions by Thai students, school managers and parents that they understand English better when spoken by these African teachers. The whole thing boils down to racial supremacy and skin color preference.

By Abou, surat on 2013-01-27