Tuanyoh Nisani, teacher, Pattani Province, Thailand: “In daily life, I mainly speak Patani Malay. I do not speak central Thai that often. When I was a kid, I only spoke Patani Malay to my parents. I did not speak Central Thai at all. When I went to school, I and all of my friends also used Patani Malay; however, teachers spoke in Thai. I felt uncomfortable because I could not understand. The teacher sometimes helped translating the parts I didn’t understand. Still, it was barely comprehensible. Consequently, I come to believe that teachers should teach students as if we are teaching our own children, assisting them to be able to understand so that they can be good at studying. I can confirm that that MTB-MLE (Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education) teaching method makes us proud of our mother language which is our identity. Nowadays, we love to speak Patani Malay. We should preserve it. Previously, I just taught randomly, but after I participated in this teaching training, I now know how to teach so that students can understand. When they are capable of studying, I am truly happy.”
