Basic advice for beginners (and not only beginners)
Postbox letter from Gregor
Beware of agencies that offer a visa and work permit after a 3-month probationary period. A 3-month "probation" is nothing more than illegal work and forcing teachers into visa runs.
Native English-speaking teachers should respect themselves
Postbox letter from James
Don't let yourselves be exploited and milled by the system. Do not accept job offers below 70,000 baht per month.
A qualifications conundrum
Can you help out and offer some advice to this teacher?
I have been in Thailand for many years and I used to teach without a degree. Over the years I worked in a variety of schools and universities. I now find myself about to finish a postgraduate degree in education but the path ahead is far from clear.
Why become an English teacher?
A job that brings challenges and rewards every single day
When it comes to picking your dream job, some options just leap out at you. Wine taster, travel writer, movie critic: who wouldn’t fancy any of those? Teaching, on the other hand, is a more maligned profession.
Different teachers, different styles
Sometimes showing the students tough love doesn't work.
My teaching colleague was just a bully who could only intimidate the younger students. ‘Find something unique that the kids are interested in, then you will be halfway there’ was some of the best advice I ever got.
Those first time teaching nerves
How not to prepare for your very first class
I’ve read about how some of you love this work whilst others almost sneer at the very suggestion that we teach for the love of it. This is just a short recollection of how I really failed to prepare for what was one of the most challenging jobs of my life.
Will I find work in Thailand?
Is there a definitive answer to this incredibly common question?
I wish I could look at the main scenarios, the reasons teachers ask if they will find work in Thailand, and give everyone a straight "yes, you will" or "no, you won't" answer. But unfortunately it's nowhere near that straightforward.
Home or away?
Where is the best place to do a TEFL course - Thailand or your own country?
A good question that occasionally pops up on social media is “should I take a TEFL course in Thailand or in my home country (USA, England, etc)? I’ve noticed that the question never really gets a decent answer, so I turned to a dozen or so of Thailand’s TEFL course providers and asked them for their input.
In defence of the edutainers
A young teacher's perspective on teaching in Thailand
Most of the English teachers in Thailand seem to be slightly older so it’s understandable that they would view energy, positive reinforcement and affability in the EFL classroom with disdain and denial.
Good adverts last a lifetime
A good teacher can have a lifelong impact on their students
Looking back almost fifty years, I can remember what subjects I liked and disliked at school. Most of the subjects I liked was down to the fact that I liked the teacher teaching it.
