Teaching English in Thailand - Students Part 2
Who takes our classes? Who wants to learn English? Who will you be teaching? All good questions if you are interested in a teaching career teaching English in Asia or especially teaching English in Thailand. As a TEFL course student, it is nice to know who you might be working with.
Our students are a mix of both Thai natives and foreigners who live here or are on vacation. Here is a sampling of each:
Marci is 28 and from France. She is a manager at a series of foreign-owned hotels here in Phuket, Thailand. Many of her guests speak English and she does also. She is taking classes to improve her conversational skills so she can be more successful in her job and be more hospitable with her guests. She takes classes 5 mornings a week and has a private instructor from the school here. Their daily class can consist of a glance at the paper, which provides course content for her lesson. She is working on improving her pronunciation and usage of English in a broader, more general knowledge sense.
Nam is 25 and is Thai. She, too is a business person. She has a cute little souvenir and flower shop on the beach in Kamala. She knows speaking English is indispensable to her in being able to be a better salesperson with her foreign customers. She started in one of our group English classes and converted to a private, one-on-one class to work more intensely and make progress better. She is a very well motivated student and is a treat to have as a client.
Fung, Lek, and Fon are brothers and sister. They come from a locally established family who has aspirati0ons of them being able to study at one of Thailand’s better universities. They are 10, 11 1nd 13 respectively. The family believes strongly in education and this shows in their practicing English on each other in the evenings. It was related to us, that even their dad joins their study sessions after his work every day. So nice to experience a culture of commitment to learning - it is pervasive throughout all of our students.
Aom is a twenty-something mom who wants to travel with her husband to the US and UK. She is serious about picking up some English, but is not too interested in grammar. She is really motivated to master the everyday conversational situations she will face when traveling abroad. At times, she initiates a drill in which she asks to go over the material again to perfect the pronunication. Her smile and laughter are infectious, especially when she speaks of her daughter, Boo.
Finally, there is George. He is a Thai and maybe about 55. He is retired from the ferry business and very laid back. He is learning English in one of our small groups with other more younger students. Part-way through the class, we ask the students why they are learning. George’s response was that he always heard his passenegers speaking English, and knew a little by picking it up as he could, but he thought it was time to learn the right way. When asked why now, he said he finally had the time and would like to be able to talk to people as he met them around town. George is a very genial man and you may get a chance to meet him, if you join us for a TEFL course.
So, as you can easily see, our students are wonderful. They are a complete joy to be with and it is fun to help them reach some of their life goals. Why not make this part of your life and sign up for your TEFL now! Phuket is a paradise - especially the wonderful Thai people.
Tags: certification, course, english, people, student, teaching, TEFL, thailand