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.

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. 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 is a business person with 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 a group English class and converted to a private, one-on-one lesson to work more intensely and make progress more quickly. 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 aspirations of the kids being able to study at one of Thailand’s better universities. They are 10, 11 and 13 respectively. The family strongly believes in education and this shows in their practicing English with each other in the evenings. It was mentioned to us, that even their dad joins their study sessions after his work every day. It is nice to experience a culture with a 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 terribly interested in grammar. She is 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 pronunciation. 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 younger students. Part-way through the class, we ask the students why they are learning. George’s response was that he always heard his passengers 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.