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The weak points of Cambodians

Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:14 am
by Samouth
1. Geography
There are so many Cambodians that can't tell how many continents on earth. Not to mention, they really don't know where other countries are if you ask them to point on the map. I guess some of them don't even know how to use map. However, this makes so much sense why we are so bad with geography, at school we also learn about geography, but how you get the most out of geography subject if your school doesn't have even a map. It has so much to do with the lack of learning materials.

2. Science
So many Cambodian students are really bad at science subjects that including me, as at there is not laboratory at school. we only learn from the book, we never have done any experiments. However, there are some exceptional students who are really good.

3. Direction
We would have no idea if you ask us like Is Toul Tompong market in the south or the west of Phnom Penh. Many Cambodian i know including me really don't know about the direction in PP as well as Cambodia in general.

4. Technology
You might have seen that Cambodian use smartphone and computer a lot, however i feel that the knowledge we have about technology are way beyond to the other countries in the regions.

Anything you would like to add in the list? i just want to see how you perceive Cambodian and to see our weak points, so that we can improve it.

*Please don't troll this thread. :D

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:25 am
by Username Taken
Samouth wrote:3. Direction
We would have no idea if you ask us like Is Toul Tompong market in the south or the west of Phnom Penh. Many Cambodian i know including me really don't know about the direction in PP as well as Cambodia in general.
Yep.
When I was teaching, the students had to practice giving directions. I asked one girl (about 20 years old) to give directions from the school to Central Market (Ph'sar Thmei).
The correct answer would have been, 'Go out the school gate and turn right. Go straight ahead and keep going. You can't miss it'.
Her answer, 'Go out the gate and turn left. Go down 2 streets and turn right. Then . .'
Me: 'Wait. Central Market is that way' pointing in the opposite direction.
Student: 'I don't know. I have to go home first, then I'll know which way to go'. :facepalm:

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 11:41 am
by TheGrinchSR
I used to live in China and my wife had lived in the city for nearly 20 years before I moved there. She would ask me for directions to places rather than the other way round. Why? Mainly because until she met me, she never ventured past the end of the road near her family's home. This is in contrast to me, who went and explored as many places of possible interest as possible (at least until I concluded that there were very few places of interest at all). This despite the fact that we met in Dubai when she was working for a Chinese business out there. She would travel the world but not the city she lived in.

I later found out that this was true for an awful lot of Chinese folks. They barely leave the street they live on. I suspect that might be true here too - if you don't travel about much, you never get a sense of direction.

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 2:10 pm
by Samouth
Username Taken wrote:
Samouth wrote:3. Direction
We would have no idea if you ask us like Is Toul Tompong market in the south or the west of Phnom Penh. Many Cambodian i know including me really don't know about the direction in PP as well as Cambodia in general.
Yep.
When I was teaching, the students had to practice giving directions. I asked one girl (about 20 years old) to give directions from the school to Central Market (Ph'sar Thmei).
The correct answer would have been, 'Go out the school gate and turn right. Go straight ahead and keep going. You can't miss it'.
Her answer, 'Go out the gate and turn left. Go down 2 streets and turn right. Then . .'
Me: 'Wait. Central Market is that way' pointing in the opposite direction.
Student: 'I don't know. I have to go home first, then I'll know which way to go'. :facepalm:
I am sure that she clearly knows Phsar Thmei, but she just can't describe or tell you the right direction to go. That's why i believe that it is our weak point. We know the place, but we don't know where it is located.

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 2:12 pm
by Samouth
TheGrinchSR wrote:I used to live in China and my wife had lived in the city for nearly 20 years before I moved there. She would ask me for directions to places rather than the other way round. Why? Mainly because until she met me, she never ventured past the end of the road near her family's home. This is in contrast to me, who went and explored as many places of possible interest as possible (at least until I concluded that there were very few places of interest at all). This despite the fact that we met in Dubai when she was working for a Chinese business out there. She would travel the world but not the city she lived in.

I later found out that this was true for an awful lot of Chinese folks. They barely leave the street they live on. I suspect that might be true here too - if you don't travel about much, you never get a sense of direction.
I think people here in Phnom Penh do go around the city a lot, but the thing is that they don't know the direction of or location the place. If you just tell them the name of the place, they do can find it for sure. :)

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 2:16 pm
by StroppyChops
Username Taken wrote:Me: 'Wait. Central Market is that way' pointing in the opposite direction.
Student: 'I don't know. I have to go home first, then I'll know which way to go'.
That's classic. And kinda sad.

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 2:28 pm
by vladimir
TheGrinchSR wrote:I used to live in China and my wife had lived in the city for nearly 20 years before I moved there. She would ask me for directions to places rather than the other way round. Why? Mainly because until she met me, she never ventured past the end of the road near her family's home. This is in contrast to me, who went and explored as many places of possible interest as possible (at least until I concluded that there were very few places of interest at all).
Haha, so your wife knew better all along, look at you expending all that energy to find out why she never walked around, LOL

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sat May 09, 2015 10:59 pm
by juansweetpotato
The point as I see it is no maps in schools. How cheap would it be?

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 12:00 am
by Anchor Moy
Weak point for me: it is difficult for Cambodians to admit that they are wrong or that they don't know something - it comes back to face again I guess. On the one hand, it is quite endearing that people want to be helpful even if they don't know the answer, but it can be annoying when you ask someone "Can you fix this ?" and they say yes even if they haven't got a clue. Also dangerous when fixing electrical wiring.
What about you Samouth, will you admit it when you don't know the answer to a question ?

Re: The weak points of Cambodian

Posted: Sun May 10, 2015 1:58 am
by Samouth
juansweetpotato wrote:The point as I see it is no maps in schools. How cheap would it be?
i will try to post some pictures of schools in Cambodia where proper buildings are not available for student to learn. So it will make sense that some schools don't even have a map.