Two types of language teacher

Postbox letter from Mark N.

Thai employers simply don't care about your bits of paper - except for the one that says you have a bona fide degree.

Horses for courses

Postbox letter from Martin Foot

I'm not really sure how much a highly professional teacher can help in your average Thai school. Even as a hypothetical it doesn't seem to be in any way plausible.

‘Sanook’, games and the Thai EFL classroom

Should teachers be entertainers?

One would think that the Thais' love of ‘sanook' would make the EFL classroom an inviting place for new EFL teachers, but the situation can be frustrating.

Mistakes that long term teachers make in Thailand

What do the old hands often do wrong?

If you have been here a year or two, you have probably made or seen all the newbie mistakes. But more pitfalls await. Here is a run-through of things you should avoid

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.

Teacher mistakes

Avoid falling into any of these teacher traps

Ajarn has put together a list of the most common mistakes that teachers make in Thailand - both new arrivals and those who have been here a while.

Clock, peanut and frog

The problematic pronunciation of many Thais

I try to have as much empathy for my students as I possibly can and I am becoming rather good at understanding the unintelligible. However, there are limits to everything and I am not a mind-reader. If a person says for example /sa-pye/, I know he or she means “Spy” (the wine-cooler or James Bond, doesn’t matter). But if someone says “kye”, I don’t automatically think of cry.

Teaching in the sticks

31 cool and awesome things about living and teaching in rural Thailand

Before we get into the list I just want to mention that everything is written in good fun. Expats and Thailand veterans will understand more than first timers. Certain sentences and parts reflect my own specific experience more so than the general one. Some of it might come across as sappy, but I've had a very positive experience in Thailand and the glass is half full for me.

Discipline in the classroom

The 800-pound gorilla no one talks about

On more than one occasion last semester when I was teaching at the local high school I walked out of classes because I wasn't able to control an unruly crowd of 35 teenagers.