Teaching English in Pattaya area

[jackcorbett 2]

I have just recently moved to Pattaya after getting the one year retirement visa. It is my nephew, I am inquiring about however. He's 31 years old. He has a 4 year bachelor's degree in English, and he's most interested in moving to Thailand. Although I've heard there is a huge demand for English teachers here, I've also heard that teaching salaries do not cut it unless one has a pension or other main support income from his home country.

[upena 2]

Best site for ESL info

http://www.eslcafe.com/

 

pay will be enough to get by...but not party

 

read Stickman's stuff..he is a teacher in BKK and puts out weekly report on Thailand

http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/teaching.html

 

Main page for Stick

http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/

 

and Stickman Weekly

http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/week.html

 

tell nephew to expect lots of Bureaucratic BS

[CheshireTom 1,377]

All the info you need, and more, is at ajarn.com.

 

Personally, I think that Pattaya would probably be the last place that I would recommend a newbie to embark upon a TEFL career in Thailand. There are much better places to discover Thailand unless he is just looking to finance a mongering existence.

 

Tom

[JohnnyK 28]

In the ESL world Thailand is well-known for:

1) Paying crap wages

2) Not discriminating between drunk backpackers and properly qualified & experienced teachers. He's white and can stand up is often enough for them (see #1).

4) Large unruly classes eg. 40-50 students all with the attention span of a gnat

3) Extremely poor attitude toward learning (skills & education don't get you a good job, daddy does)

 

Pattaya jobs might pay 30,000 at the upper end. Not enough to enjoy the delights of funtown.

 

If he wants to experience Asia and earn decent money I recommend Taiwan.

Taiwanese are fun, smart, value learning and easy-going.

Japan offers high wages but high costs and big housing hassles.

Korea is a bit grim, not much fun.

Trust me, I've done it.

[monkeyman 1,604]

I thought I was in with a chance until I read the bit about being able to stand up.

[PokerUpFront 0]

I thought I was in with a chance until I read the bit about being able to stand up.

[sommy 0]

my friend trevor is teaching english in nakon sawan. het gets a salary of 30000 baht a month plus he teaches the occasional overtime on evenings and weekends for 500 baht an hour. says he gets girls at the disco freelancers for 300 baht st or 500 lt . hes says he baiscally able to live ok and finance his mongering but of course he will jsut get a lady once or twice a week, not every day

[Eneukman 1]

Just my own thoughts here.

 

If you are planning on teaching Thais to speak English, shouldn't you be abe to speak Thai fluently first? After all, if your students don't understand what you're saying shouldn't you be able to explain it to them in their native language?

 

Think of it the other way round. you are learning to speak Thai and imagine your reaction of your teacher couldn't explain something to you in your own language.

 

Alan

[JohnnyK 28]

Just my own thoughts here.

 

If you are planning on teaching Thais to speak English, shouldn't you be abe to speak Thai fluently first? After all, if your students don't understand what you're saying shouldn't you be able to explain it to them in their native language?

 

Think of it the other way round. you are learning to speak Thai and imagine your reaction of your teacher couldn't explain something to you in your own language.

 

Alan

No Alan, the idea is immersion. They must learn to listen as well.

You can't learn to speak properly if you never hear the language as she is spoke.

 

At the level most Thais are at, explaining is not on. Technique is to present new language in a context and start by asking simple questions designed to let students "discover" the new stuff.

 

The learning doesn't take place from explanations, it's from acting and interacting using the new language. Modeling and repetition are key.

 

The golden rule is avoid TTT "Too Much Teacher Talk". Explaining puts the focus on the teacher who really should be a guide and a facilitator (similar to how a BG teaches you about Thailand ). Don't centre the lesson on the teacher, let the students be the centre.

 

Explanation is most useful at the higher levels once some real fluency has been obtained. Most Thais, even "advanced" learners, never get there as school learning seems to disagree with their genetic make-up.

Edited August 21, 2005 by JohnnyK