What is 'siro'?

"What is 'siro'?" our translaor asked. After a few minutes trying to determine what the lady was asking, Rita finally realized she was trying to say "zero," as in the number before "one." Her teacher insisted that the word would be pronounced as if it began with the letter "s" and the vowel "i". Many Thai people know at least some English, but most cannot speak clearly enough for Americans to usnderstand.

Rita Johnson uses Bible stories to teach conversational English to children in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Almost everyone in this beautiful country in Southeast Asia has a desire to learn English. When asked why they want to learn English, most of them just reply that they think it will be good for them to know. One lady said that it was necessary for her to deal with "fa-rang" or western people in her laundry business. She wants her children to learn also.

Many of the students have a limited understanding of the language and most have a vocabulary of basic words, but their pronounciation is not understandable to most westerners. This is because their teacher is also Thai and their speech has a strong flavor of the Thai language. One of the translators who is in a doctoral program at a university in Chiang Mai, Thailand, came to Rita with the question,

This is the reason they are eager to find a "fa-rang" to help them learn. The primary object of teachng conversational English is to help the student pronounce the words like they are prnounced in the United States or Australia. Children seem to catch on to this more quickly than adults.

Reading Bible Stories

Alphabet cards work well in helping the children associate words with letters of the English alphabet. (See the picture of Rita and her students.) Rita gets right down on the floor with the bare-footed children. They go over the letters of the alphabet several times.

The children come after school three days each week. They cheerfully give up play time to learn from the lady from America. Most of them have English classes in their elementary school, but they still want to learn to speak like the fa-rang. Usually there are ten or more students. Classes are not rigid; no grades are kept. The children learn at their own pace and they enjoy learning to talk like the fa-rang.

Reading of the Bible Stories is really the important thing to Rita. If she can help them learn to speak English correctly and at the same time teach them about God and His love, Rita will have served the children well! She has learned that after attending the English class for two or three weeks many of the children will attend worship on Sunday mornings. The Lord has prepared the hearts of many of the children for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

With a little encouragement, some of these children will grow up to be leaders in the Lord's churches in Thailand and Southeast Asia.