Bangkok– Thailand`s Ministry of Education has prepared the first lesson of the Malayu language series to be distributed to officials to help them overcome the language barrier while they work in the three Muslim-majority southern border provinces.
Patttani Malayu, also called Yawi, is a dialect of Malay that is spoken throughout Thailand`s southernmost provinces.
Permanent Secretary for Education Charuaypon Torranin said that the first Malayu-language lesson series in the form of CD and DVD disks has been prepared for government officials working in the violence-ridden southern border provinces.
The first lesson contains 140 Malayu words used in everyday life, Mrs. Charuaypon said, noting that the Ministry of Education will make 13 additional self-learning lessons offered by native speakers or Thai teachers to cover about 500 frequently-used words.
The lessons will help government officials working in the far south learn more about Muslim culture and they will be able to better communicate with local people.
The first lesson will be published and distributed to 20,000 officials in the region.
Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country, but the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat have Muslim majorities of Malay ethnic origin. (TNA)-E004
Source: www.etna.emcot.net (10 Mei 2007)
