TEFL Phuket News

To experience why living in Thailand teaching English can be a life changing experience, consider the following story.

Johnny is a student who recently completed his TEFL certificate course with us and is teaching in one of our schools.

Recently, he had a bit of trouble on his motorbike, slipping in some loose sand. His injuries were minor - a scraped foot and knee, but they needed some attention. Johnny did his best in cleaning the wounds a little and slapping some bandages on them.

That afternoon a few of his new Thai acquaintances stopped by for a visit. They looked over what Johnny had done to fix himself up and with little word or explanation, the Thai people departed en masse. Johnny said they scattered into three different directions and reappeared after a short time with a variety of salves, bandages and other medicine. The Thai people cleaned his wounds, covered them in some various salves and rebandaged his foot and knee - this time from a position of experience.

Johnny felt so good, he said he went out to spend some time with the friends and while he was out, his landlady cleaned his apartment, changed his sheets, and tidied up generally. Johnny was amazed when he returned, initially thinking his place had been broken into, but he thought immediately that “thieves don’t normally clean this well.”

Johnny has healed well, has a nice little scar and a great story. All of the above was done without compensation or a request for return favors.

You may never have encountered the amazing compassion and kind spirit that is found in the hearts of the Thai people. It is a “secret” until you come here, live, work and one day are spontaneously touched by the “Jai Dee” (kind heart) of the Thais.

Thailand’s people are on par with her outrageous natural beauty. Their caring, compassion and kindness is unmatched.

Thanks to Johnny for the story and to the Thai people for being on the planet.

Many people are intimidated by the idea of Teaching English in Thailand without any knowledge of Thai.

Their question: I can’t speak Thai, can I still teach?

YES you can teach as knowledge of Thai is not necessary to teach English in Thailand.

In fact, speaking Thai in your classes can be a hindrance to your students’ progress.

TEFL is Teaching English as a Foreign Language. This means the language spoken locally, outside of the classroom, is not English. This is different than EFL or ESL and sometimes TESOL which are generally taught in an English-speaking country. The difference is that your class time may be the only time that your students are easily and safely (without risk of embarrassment) able to practice their English. To speak Thai with them, or to rely on their mother tongue for instruction, would mean they lose valuable English practice time and opportunity.

We view the classroom as a safe place in which errors in English are welcomed as opportunities to learn. Your role as teacher is pronunciation coach and usage advisor. As a native speaker, you have a natural “ear” for what sounds correct. English is highly irregular in some situations, and a native’s knowledge is irreplaceable for students learning to speak well.

Thai may sometimes be used to clarify a point or as an aid in definitions, but the absolute majority (99%) of your classroom time should be speaking English with your students. It is possible to use an online dictionary or translation service to give a general idea of meaning, as well. Plus Google image search can help with pictures of things, emotions or activities. There are also online videos from YouTube and other sites, which can be beneficial, but these should be pre-screened.

In our training, we emphasize maximizing student talk time (STT) rather than teacher talk time (TTT). You can speak English, your students cannot. So we engage our students, teach them a bit of new English, then set up a safe “free practice” opportunity. Thus, they learn with confidence and in an enjoyable manner, so they learn better and more quickly.

Thus, near-native proficiency in English is the only language skill necessary to be successful Teaching English in Asia.

For more information on registering for the course, click here.

Thanks for your interest and see you in Phuket soon!

Sawatdee! (The Thai equivalent of ALOHA.)