Phil's Front Page Comment July 3rd 2009
This
month we've got new articles from Tom Tuohy, Phil Roeland,
Ben Finklestein, Steve Schertzer Tony Dabbs and Geoff
Richards. Enjoy the read. You'll find all our monthly
contributors in the ajarn writers
index. There is also
an
update from Dave Montgomery on his life
teaching in the North Eastern region of Thailand. And don't
forget to enter our Macmillan Education
competition, where you can now choose your
EFL book prize.
More
Steve Schertzer
The ajarn monthly writers (or bloggers as it were) often
receive quite a number of e-mails in response to their
articles. This month, Steve Schertzer shares some of the
feedback he got from his June blog.
Read
the
article /
View the
writers index
Tony Dabbs - Health Matters
Ajarn.com's
resident health insurance guru, Tony Dabbs, breaks down the topic of
health insurance and analyzes each important aspect.
Read the article /
view
the writers index for more Tony Dabbs health and health insurance
related articles
The Cost
of Living
Darren from Bangkok is the latest entry in the 'cost of living'
section. Although he feels that 25K would be enough for a single guy
in Bangkok, he wouldn't like to survive on that amount as a married
couple. I'll certainly second that.
Dave's Journey
Dave, our man in Issan,
is back with another very detailed update on life in the North East of
Thailand. Apart from being the school's superstar farang teacher, Dave has
now become the head of the IT department and the unofficial teacher trainer
for computer software applications.
Phil
Roeland
This month Phil draws on all his teaching experience and
asks one simple question - what makes the ideal student? All
I can say is may each and every one of your students have
the nineteen characteristics that Phil has come up with.
Read
the article /
View
the writers
index
Doom
or Gloom?
Is the current teaching situation in Thailand going to Hell
in a hand-basket? Of the 13 comments so far, ten of you say
it most definitely is and three people have never had it so
good. Why not add your two cents to the debate and send an
e-mail to philip at ajarn.com
Geoff
Richards
Another double helping of Geoff Richards - this month Geoff
tackles the topics of repetition (an argument about what
students really need) and writing your own readers.
Read
article
/
View writers index
Ben
Finklestein
I
hope it wasn't a dodgy red ant's egg omelet that kept Ben
from writing a June column, but he's back this month to sing
the praises of Sukhumwit soi 38. When it comes to Bangkok
street-food, there's no place like it.
Read Ben's
article /
view
the writer's index
Welcome to
ajarn.com's newest site sponsor
OLA
Inter offers teaching positions, Thai courses with a
one-year study visa and a few other things. Check out their
website
here.
Latest
Immigration News and Changes
As of June 1st 2009, Thai immigration has ruled that you are
allowed to perform four consecutive border runs (allowing
you 15 days each time) after which you MUST leave and
re-enter the kingdom via an international airport. This will
get you a 30-day visa and then you can start doing border
runs again (I think)
Visa
/ work Permit FAQ
/
Ask
us a question section /
Visa Guru
Tom
Tuohy
The
author of 'Watching The Thais' looks back at some of the
best and worst classes he's ever taught, both in Thailand
and in other countries and regions such as Saudi Arabia,
Japan and West Africa.
Read
the
article /
View the
writers index
Steve
Crawford
Ajarn.com's man in the know
reports back on an interesting conversation with a Ministry
of Education official and news of a Teachers Council of
Thailand 3-day seminar in Pattaya. And more to the point,
what exactly does it hope to achieve?
Read
the
article /
View the
writers index
Bangkok on 30K a month?
Teachers are often told that 30,000 baht a month is more
than enough to live on in Bangkok. For many schools and
employers, 30K seems to be the magic number. Let's put
things to the test. Ajarn forum member Hollow has
volunteered to document every single baht and satang he
spends for a whole month. After you've read that. you may
want to look at ajarn's
cost of living
survey to get even more facts and figures.
