nomade

So roadie, this is what you tell your students is it?

I like an apples? I like plum? Think about it? You're talking about generalities so there are NO articles ... countable plural nouns and uncountable nouns only!

To get back to the OP. Interesting question. Shifting countable/uncountable nouns. . How to decide whether a noun is countable or not? I think your analysis is right....fruits which are small enough to be eaten individually would be plural countable. "I like X " here means "I like [eating] X". Therefore think food portion sizes!

I like strawberries, apples, plums, oranges, blackcurrants, bananas. All of these individual fruits are small enough to be eaten by one person.

On the other hand, when you only eat a portion of a fruit this could be considered as an "indeterminate mass" and thus treated as an uncountable noun.

People do not usually eat a whole fruit like a grapefruit, pineapple, papaya, mango or melon in one sitting.

Slight twist on the above is to make the sheet of paper into a bingo grid. (9, 16, 25 squares depending how long you want the activity to go on for)

Students fill in the squares themselves ... anywhere they want. The winner is the first one to get a complete horizontal/vertical/diagonal line of answers.

The advantage of doing it this way is that you have a "winner" and don't have the problem of some people finishing before the others and getting bored.

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Another good ice-breaker for slightly more advanced (smallish) classes is to get students to make five statements about themselves. The statements can be true or false. The others have to decide whether the statements are true or not by asking questions etc.

Students love talking about themselves and I've had some really unusual "true" statements over the years. Last year one 19 year old guy in jeans said he had a false leg. The others asked him to walk about and jump up and down... which he did, so they didn't believe him. Turned out to be true though, and we got a very memorable conversation lesson in which he described how he had lost his leg in a freak car accident and spent the last year in re-education.

I did my TEFL cert 10 years ago... I don't think we had the rhythm method and the otter method in those days!

Thanks Steven, that's more or less what I expected to hear. Sounds like I'll have to buy a return ticket!

I'm really looking for a job teaching adults rather than kids and, as I don't particularly want to teach in BKK, I was wondering about the Rajabhat Universities. I know the pay is crap but I've read they are more honest than private language schools. Would you advise "wait and see" for them too?

And if anyone has ever worked in one of these places I'd be really interested to hear what it was like. How big are the classes? What kind of teaching did you do... is the syllabus set in stone or do they leave you some freedom as to what/how you teach? Do you have mountains of essays to correct? Do you have to be "present" even when you have no classes? If so what other duties are you expected to do? What about holidays?

I'm planning to come and teach in Thailand this autumn and would like your opinions as to whether it's better to set up a job before arriving or not. I have a degree and a TEFL cert + years of teaching experience so I should be able to get a job no problem, but I'd like to work legally.

From what I can see you need a non imm B visa to get a work permit. This visa can only be got outside Thailand (I think) with a letter of engagement from your employer. So that would suggest you need to have a job arranged before you arrive. Also there is the question of getting airlines to let you on board with a one-way air ticket... much easier if you have the proper visa etc.

On the other hand, I've seen lots of people recommending you look for work once you get to Thailand. It means you can meet your prospective employer and see what the place you'll be teaching at is like. Also a lot of jobs seem to require a face-to-face interview, which is understandable.

So, is it best to find something once you arrive or not? What did the old hands do?