It really was a wonderful scene when Khun Tope, the school photographer, and I visited Veera and Yankie’s house. I wanted to meet these twins who had joined our Intensive English Programme 6 months ago.  When they joined they had very little English and I wanted to see how they were coping online as they moved to mainstream Grade 4 at Prem International School, had IEP really prepared them well?

 I met the family in the garden playing with their new dog. I sat and talked to the Hong Kong family with a translator but wow the girls needed no translator at all!  They were so full of life,  happily chatting about their new life in Thailand.

The girls were really excited to have somebody at their house from school and gave us a tour. Showing me where they did their online learning with timetables all carefully pinned to the walls. The girls are so happy to be going back to school face-to-face, especially as they would now join the Prem mainstream school.

The girls were in IEP for just six months and in that time their English language skills grew to what I hear today, talking effortlessly and eloquently in English. Their parents explained to me that when they arrived from Hong Kong the twins had almost no English at all and they could not believe the difference from then to now.

The family enjoy their new natural surroundings at Prem and where they live. The children collect animals from the rice fields i.e. the crabs and fishes that I can see in front of me on the table crawling around! The parents were pleased to see the girls have taken responsibility for their dog and cat as well as learning each day online. Each day the twins go out and ride their bikes, play with neighbours and they explained to me how none of this could happen in Hong Kong. They enjoy their life here so much that they are not going back to Hong Kong.

Veera and Yankie loved telling me about the crabs they had collected from the rice fields. Where they were found, what they eat and how they can bite! The girls even knew the sexes of the crabs and explained all the facts to me: they are quite the experts!

This family gave us one of the warmest welcomes I have had while in Chiang Mai, a lovely family within the Prem School Community, who are thriving with a Prem Education…. as the girls say we have good learning, good teachers, and wonderful animals in the jungle!

Liz Hammond

Director of Development