Published: Friday July 23, 2010 MYT 3:51:00 PM
Tongue tied: Is Facebook hurting Thai language?
BANGKOK (AP): Facebook and Twitter are being blamed for the poor language skills of Thai students - and the Culture Ministry is suggesting a return to the bygone tradition of writing letters.
A national survey conducted by the ministry found that four out of 10 Thai youths think "proper Thai" should only be used at formal occasions. Roughly a third of Thai youths are not concerned about the misspellings, abbreviations and grammatical mistakes that are common in text messaging and social media conversations.
"We must preserve our national language. If nobody sees its importance, then we're doomed," Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombut said Thursday, while announcing the results of the survey.
"Writing on Facebook, Twitter and mobile phone messages distorts the language," he was quoted as saying by the Thai Post newspaper. He added that more should be done to encourage writing letters the old-fashioned way. "Nowadays kids do not write letters anymore. They forget the correct way to write."
The survey polled 6,500 youths over age 13 nationwide. It did not include a margin of error.
His comments came ahead of Thailand's national language day, which will be celebrated July 29.
"Sometimes I don't understand what Thai kids are saying in their mother tongue," the culture minister said. "But our duty as government is to conserve the good parts of the Thai language."
- Blind student successfully crosses Penang channel
- Karpal tells Tunku Aziz to cease attacks on DAP
- Government to maintain food subsidies
- All eyes on Najib’s new Cabinet
- Hundreds train attention on spreading awareness on AIDS
- Hills in Cameron Highlands ‘raped’ at an alarming rate
- Gunung Perdah ravaged for development and left exposed
- Kedah to freeze logging activities pending review
- Expert: Be very sure you need a mastectomy
- Blind man wants to raise awareness on retinal diseases
- Student activist Adam Adli arrested over his remarks at May 13 forum
- My teacher, my friend
- Tee’s appointment had nothing to do with Umno, says Khaled
- Home garden talk a hit with Malaysians
- Karpal: Abolish the Senate
- Adrian Cheng: updating a Hong Kong family empire for a changing China
- Wall Street Week Ahead: Correction talk gets old as rally sails along
- China April housing inflation quickens to two year high
- EU cites Chinese telecoms Huawei and ZTE for trade violations
- Yahoo to vote on $1.1 billion Tumblr buy: AllThingsD
- Dow, S&P end at records, stocks mark fourth week of gains
- CEO: Catcha Media won’t be taken private - for now
- Sarawak politically-linked stocks rally
- Jala: GST could add up to RM27b to country’s income
- Analysts say UMW Holdings’ O&G offering was widely anticipated
- Matrix Concepts’ IPO oversubscribed by 11.3 times
- Instacom wins RM200m job?
- SFSS set to be largest shareholder of Bintulu Port
- Northport buys two new quay cranes
- Bursa Malaysia closes on Friday
- Swimming: Phelps throws cold water on comeback report
- Golf: Choi edges sizzling Nordqvist for LPGA lead
- The missing link
- Khairy to look into matters after review
- Kevin smashes 400m freestyle national record to take gold
- Rizzua set to be the next big thing to come from Sarawak
- Shahidatun is leaps and bounds ahead of her rivals
- James claims victory over rivals in Shanghai
- Chong Wei continues to stay focused despite all the changes
- Apacs extend Chun Seang’s contract for another year
- Denmark’s Hoyer is new president of the BWF
- Indonesian coach: Individual sponsorship will revive our shuttlers’ fortunes
- Kumar: Pakistani players are livewire of KLHC
- Training for young goalkeepers
- Izwan steers Sapura to third place
- Security guards 'chopped up like meat' at Cheras condo
- Be wary of banking Trojans
- Hills in Cameron Highlands ‘raped’ at an alarming rate
- Retract your statement, Guan Eng urges Zahid
- Pakatan ceramah held at Esplanade despite police not approving permit
- Five men assault friend at Johor police station
- Bring back English schools
- Student activist Adam Adli arrested over his remarks at May 13 forum
- Tee’s appointment had nothing to do with Umno, says Khaled
- Karpal: Abolish the Senate
- Be wary of banking Trojans
- Security guards 'chopped up like meat' at Cheras condo
- Expert: Be very sure you need a mastectomy
- My home, my school
- Blind man wants to raise awareness on retinal diseases
- Bring back English schools
- Bring back English schools
- Home garden talk a hit with Malaysians
- Pakatan ceramah held at Esplanade despite police not approving permit
- Six new Perak exco members sworn in
RSS
