Potential Teacher

Guys this is the agency I am looking to do it through.

*URL edited out*

If anyone could have a look at it, that would be great.

you may very well get an increase, but be assured it will not be much...

Where can I get more information about this? What happens in South Africa is that teachers are given 10 month contracts and by doing so they bypass the yearly % increase law.

So essentially my options are limited to a 4-5 years of studying?

If your intention to teach is to finanace a "gap year" and see SEA then I would say go for it, but if this a "career move" and your intention is to become a fully fledged teacher...go back an study, then this opens up international schools who get proper expat packages...

Not particularly a career move, however I would love to save up some money and then use that money for future studying. The thing is, my families current financial situation in South Africa is good, but not to the extent where they can just pay another 4-5 years of my studying while supporting me financially. However it does open up options and the best thing you can have in life is options.

Other than that though, there is nothing keeping me in South Africa.

If you have a degree and are white, you should have no problem getting work.

Most of the lower grade English teachers don't have a degree at all.

If you are black or colored getting work as an English teacher in Thailand will be very hard for you, if not impossible.

I am white, and I did hear that non-Caucasians have a hard time getting jobs in Thailand. May I ask why that is?

So that does send me back to the drawing board. What would you recommend I do?

Heres what I recommend, get some decent qualifications, get a haircut and then get a real job that offers real opportunites for career advancement with a salary comensurate with your qualifications.

Alternatively you can ignore the above, get ripped off by some unscrupulous employment agency issuing dodgy qualifications, and find yourself in the ass end of Issan making a whopping 30k baht per month.

Cut my hair? Why do you say that?

So essentially my options are limited to a 4-5 years of studying?

My advice read all the posts in the "teaching forum" on TV and be fully aware of all the pit falls of working in Thailand...ie the contracts, work permits, scams etc etc and as far as I am aware the best money you would be getting would be in the order of THB 30,000 - THB 50,000/m if lucky

putting this in the money you understand R 10,000 to R 15,000/m, and one suspects you will end up at the lower end..

The course I would be taking stated between R8000 and R14000, obviously R8000 being the most likely. That being said, I don't have an issue earning R8000 as long as there is a way to increase the salary if I am deemed good at my job and decide to stay longer than a year.

Thank you for the support, I originally wanted to teach in South Korea, but they only employ those with degrees and being 21, I do not want to only start working 4-5 years from now. Besides, if I had a degree in teaching I would teach Sports Science/Management/Fitness since I am already a qualified Personal Trainer/Nutritionist etc.

Alas, finding work in that direction requires a bit more innovation in my country and most importantly, money.

Whoa. You do not possess a university diploma in education, but you want to teach?

Seriously? Do you think one of the better paying schools is going to hire on an unqualified instructor? Salary is commensurate with experience and qualifications. With luck, you might get a job offer somewhere in the armpit of Thailand and at a penury level salary.

The Thai government official position, and it has been stated multiple times is that a qualified teacher has an appropriate university diploma, certification for TEFL and 1 year experience. There are people who do not meet these qualifications and are employed as teachers. I do not think as a group they have anywhere near the salaries or benefits of qualified teachers.

Nutritionist? Does that mean you have at least completed a B.Sc. in nutrition and have a professional designation in South Africa? If not, you are not a nutritionist. Recommending which granola bar to eat at a gym is not "nutrition". In any case, Thailand does not offer teaching jobs for that sector unless one is teaching at a university.

I'm sorry, but you need to reconsider your goal as it is unlikely that you would be offered employment at terms and conditions you would consider acceptable, unless you were currently living in a Soweto shanty town. If you are serious about teaching as a career, go and get the appropriate training.

As previously mentioned, I was afraid of that, because I heard of a large number of under qualified western teachers in Thailand. In the OP, I stated that I would be going through an agency that teaches me what I need to know, before placing me in Thailand and yes, they do not ask for a university diploma in education. For that reason I also worry that they are just trying to make quick cash and mass place under qualified teacher in Thailand.

Do understand that I am not trying to teach while under qualified, I was under the impression the R30k I would be paying for the course would prepare me.

So that does send me back to the drawing board. What would you recommend I do?

I'd always heard about the stereotype in popular culture websites like 9gag, but I guess it must originate from somewhere.

Interesting.

My initial teaching qualification was a 1 month 120 hour course.

I certainly felt thrown in at the deep end and very unprepared when it came to actual teaching - but it taught me the basics, I learned the rest, and survived. 5 years later and I am working on my part time masters in teaching

So I would not worry about the length of the course. As for finding a job, well there are still schools out here who hire anyone with a degree vaguely associated to English.. no teaching qualification at all.

Just keep in mind that the faster a school is to hire... the more desperate they are. Think about the reasons why that might be.

Wonderful that I found someone teaching on this forum, because I have so many questions. I have read my fair share of horror stories from English Teachers posting about Thailand life. I read 3 or 4 articles on Yahoo about it, however they are dated from 2007-2009.

Wouldn't this be a better post for the teaching in Thailand forum

Probably, yet I found this website and it is very active with very detailed threads, I figured I would give it a shot.

Well, if you have come this far to make a post in TV you must be at least half serious.

Sorry I can't advise you on anything about teaching english in thailand, not my part of ship.

What I can do is offer you a word of encouragement. 21 Years old. I had my 21st Birthday here in the LOS.

Good on you for wanting to get out there, travel and have a go.

I am sure you can gain alot of info here. Don't worry about the 'narks'.

Bite of more than you can chew - and chew like buggery

Thank you for the support, I originally wanted to teach in South Korea, but they only employ those with degrees and being 21, I do not want to only start working 4-5 years from now. Besides, if I had a degree in teaching I would teach Sports Science/Management/Fitness since I am already a qualified Personal Trainer/Nutritionist etc.

Alas, finding work in that direction requires a bit more innovation in my country and most importantly, money.

Greetings everyone, this is my first post and a bit of an introduction is needed I suppose.

I am a 21 year old male living in South Africa at the moment, been here my entire life so far. Anyways, I was thinking of taking a teacher training course, this one specifically puts you in Thailand once you are done. It boasts a 98% placement chance for those that finish and 100% for those with degrees.

What does scare me however, is the relatively short period of time I will be 'qualified' in, the course listing it as taking 4 months. I've done some research and apparently there are a large number of under qualified Western teachers in Thailand, I do hope that this course will not be taking advantage of Thailand's regulations to make quick cash and put under qualified teachers in Thailand.

I do want to know your thoughts and opinions on this and what life in Thailand is like. Do you find many people from foreign countries coming to Thailand to teach English? Any and all wisdom regarding the matter would be greatly appreciated.