Teaching hours and how they affect performance

What is the right number of hours for a teacher?

I read stories of some teachers working near 12-hour days constantly and that can’t be good for you. Some people thrive on that kind of pressure but I’d say it’s not the norm.

Why I work in a language centre

Thai high schools? Never again buddy.

The benefits of a good language centre far outweigh those of a high school. The freedom, work conditions and financial package make it the best option for me.

So, you want to teach English in Thailand?

First impressions of a novice

A couple of months into teaching at a school in Pattaya, I think I've learned a thing or two about living and teaching in Thailand.

Confessions of a new teacher

What I learned in the first five months

I'm Karisa and I couldn't be more of a cliché: a blonde, American, recent college grad who decided to go teach in a foreign country! Don't be too impressed with me; I'm hardly unique in this expedition to teach English abroad.

Teaching a six-hour Sunday class

A world of classroom activity and the odd jaded colleague

I've now taught two sessions of a Sunday 6-hour class at a language school near Ekkami here in Bangkok, and I think I have a pretty good feel for what it's all about.

Thailand is no longer a place to teach

Postbox letter from James

I do still look on Thailand as my ‘home’ and have a wife and house there, so my post is not sour grapes against the country itself but rather at the reality of what’s going on.

The teacher's diary revisited

One teacher's descent into madness. Now updated for 2011

The diary is the heartbreaking four-week journal of Mr Jim Elmdon - a teacher who came to Thailand and failed miserably. Keep a box of tissues handy.

The harsh reality

Postbox letter from Ralph Sasser

When a student inevitably fails the semester final exam and/or has poor grades, the foreign teacher is instructed to dumb down the exam and let the student retake it so he/she will get a passing grade or retake it several times if necessary. If the teacher refuses to give the exam until the student passes, the foreigner teacher is deemed incompetent and terminated.