chonabot

I think you're wrong and she's correct

I think you're wrong and she's correct

Thanks - please elaborate?

I asked another teacher to check my test questions for the M4 finals next week.

One of my questions/answers reads like this :

1. Which one of these phrases displays expressing a preference?

a) I'd love to

b I'd rather not

c) I'm tired

d) I'm annoyed

I marked a) as the correct answer on the answer key.

She argued that a) or b could be the right answer.

IMO - I'd rather not is displaying the choice to not do something or not go somewhere etc.

I suggested that this is an antonym of preference as it is displaying a dislike of a suggestion.

She then stated that it means that someone would prefer not to do something and therefore is displaying a preference of sorts.

Am I wrong?

This is no biggie but I am curious to here your thoughts

Thank you, for not being like many people if they see a snake they must kill it,

It's now in small pieces in my dustbin....

Just kidding, my wife wanted it cut into two but she is Thai

I love all snakes, even the bad ones

One of the reasons I love Thailand is the abundance of creepy crawlies and snakes. I love them

This little beauty is currently residing in our garden.

I would be happy not to have to teach them the full 50 minutes...

Don't take your job so seriously or you will only cause yourself problems, is my motto.

I enjoy teaching them - is that a bad thing ?

Here's the dilemma for many:

1) Have your child learn English from a Thai Teacher.

2) Have your child learn English from a Filipino or other non-native English speaker.

3) Have your child learn English from an almost-sober former truck driver from US/UK/Aus.

If you chose 3, keep in mind he may miss every Monday and there's a good chance he won't make it through a full semester, let alone a full academic year.

Thankfully there is a 4th option

With application fees as much as 250,000 baht, and annual tuition as much as 1,000,000 baht, the fact that the parents know there is a "fourth option" is glaringly apparent.

On a side note, with fees, for some, at astronomical levels, I'm starting another business. I may need advertising...

I was actually talking about decent NES teachers who work in Government and private schools.

They do exist

Here's the dilemma for many:

1) Have your child learn English from a Thai Teacher.

2) Have your child learn English from a Filipino or other non-native English speaker.

3) Have your child learn English from an almost-sober former truck driver from US/UK/Aus.

If you chose 3, keep in mind he may miss every Monday and there's a good chance he won't make it through a full semester, let alone a full academic year.

Thankfully there is a 4th option

Amazing how many worthless comments there are on ThaiVisa...

Anyhow, a great Thai winery is Hua Hin Hills. Their wine is a bit pricy. Starts at 500 baht, I think. If you need a good Thai wine that'd be my recommendation.

And if you're ever in Hua Hin is recommend a tasting at their winery. It's not free, but costs 400 baht and pairs several wines with appetizers.

AAA..good golly gosh...jeeeepers

Ok - update - I mentioned this pain in the ass to the 'class leader' and they must have mentioned it to the teacher.

This week he was ready to leave on time and apologised for his previous tardiness.

I was gobsmacked but happy...go figure

Congrats!!! Guess you mean the class leading student?

Yes - I am almost embarrassed to have left it to a 15 year old to sort it out

A decent drop of Penfolds is only 600 baht........it's worth it

Ok - update - I mentioned this pain in the ass to the 'class leader' and they must have mentioned it to the teacher.

This week he was ready to leave on time and apologised for his previous tardiness.

I was gobsmacked but happy...go figure

There are lot of hard working honest Filipino teachers , they receive half the salary of a westerner and do a better job with their students .

Define 'better job'?

I'll have the pleasure of waiting for Mr small mind, this Wednesday. I will update you all here - unless you hear about it on the news first

I am no rookie and consider myself to be quite a dam_n good teacher.

The day that you think you're a 'dam_n good teacher'........................is the day that you stop learning HOW to be a 'dam_n good teacher.'

I think it takes considerably more than 4 years to reach that zenith.

Hmm...I am American (from the west coast) and everybody tells me that American's are the easiest to understand out of all the other Native English speakers. Not sure if this is true. My Thai boyfriend was explaining to me that American's speak a bit slower and enunciate the words more often. Or maybe it's from Thai's watching so many American movies? Who knows...I'm just glad they can understand me!

Funny that, my Head of English says that he understands 'English' English better than other variations, but he is a bit of an arse licker

But seriously, most Americans seem to love an audience, make a meal of their words, speak slower and as a result are easier to understand.

Often, we English NES, seem to be in a hurry to say our piece and move along, not usually a good trait.

Do Thai schools have a Parent Teacher Association to raise funds for the school via fairs etc?

Definitely not apparent in Government schools, sadly.

Spot on..the Thai teachers are eager to complete the paper chase to exaggerate their teaching abilities and increase salaries...however when most of these face something not easily cheated ie. an online toefl test for teachers of English they fall woefully short of the mark.

I would love to see this applied to Thai English teachers in my department

I would love to see this applied to all teachers, Thai and foreigners

Indeed, as a NES, I offered to take the TOEIC test, and asked if other NES teachers would take it - most declined the offer.

I was then told by the Head of English, NES teachers are not allowed to take the test...hilarious.

Your parents must be able to speak English really well if they can distinguish different regional accents!

Puyai, was your comment addressed to me? I'm confused by it My parents can certainly identify perhaps more than 20 different UK regional accents, - as can I.

My classes of Burmese students can differentiate Cockney accents from Liverpool accents, Welsh from Scottish accents....

But no-one has yet answered my initial question:

If you speak with a strong, regional accent, do you have the ability to 'switch it off' and speak "The Queen's English"? (if you're a Brit!)

Simon

I think he was referring to your students' parents - as in your third sentence

Regards to your answer, I am not qualified to answer, I only have one 'accentless' English accent

Spot on..the Thai teachers are eager to complete the paper chase to exaggerate their teaching abilities and increase salaries...however when most of these face something not easily cheated ie. an online toefl test for teachers of English they fall woefully short of the mark.

I would love to see this applied to Thai English teachers in my department

I grew up in some accent-unfriendly areas - Scotland, South Africa and Bristol ( Oo-arrr)

Fortunately my mother was an English teacher, with her help, I never really developed these regional accents.

Also I lived in the Oxford/London area for about 20 years, so I had to follow suit or be ridiculed - particularly regarding the West Country drawl.

However, I loved these places and have no issues with anyone's accent, indeed it adds colour and individuality.

But if you are teaching English as a second/foreign language, you need to give the students a fighting chance

I'd say just keep your cool.

Sometimes teachers go over time, sometimes by a lot (10-15 minutes over time is something I'm regularly guilty of if my students haven't finished their work)

If it keeps happening, then yeah maybe say something to him, but do it very politely. As it's unlikely that he's going over time deliberately, his class is probably just slow or maybe they even arrive late, or perhaps he has a class earlier in the day which is always late, thus making him go over time with them, which in turn forces him to go over time with all of his classes.

It's his problem to fix, however, you want to be polite about resolving the issue, as our working relationships with other staff are really important, and can potentially be the bane of your existence if poorly managed.

Good advice, I am aware that my next step could affect the rest of my time here, and even my reference from this place in future.

I haven't been in many Thai schools while they were in session, but it sounds like they don't have a bell that dismisses all the classes at the scheduled time. In which case, how does a school keep all of their classes' start and end times from running over each other? Sounds like chaos.

Why don't you keep them for the extra 20 minutes that the other teacher cost you? If some teacher after you gets mad about that, introduce him to the first teacher who started the problem.

Yes a school with over 5000 students, with at least 50 in a class could be classified as chaos

Thanks for the advice though

Good luck. I had this problem at the uni where I'm teaching. I followed a Thai teacher who ran over into my time by 15-20 mins. I had complaints from students after three weeks of this (class met 2x week)as attendance is a uni requirement for grades-lates and absences. After three weeks, I went in when class should have officially ended--most teachers finish class 5 minutes early because classes are back to back and some students have to go across campus for their next class. I asked politely if he could finish the class on the hour--still giving him the "5 minute grace". Apparently he felt he lost face as he got very angry. He started finishing his classes at the time requested but since then has done several passive aggressive things.

He shuts off the AC, computer & overhead visualizer, leaves all his water cups and food trash on the desk, messes with the sound system(all controls are in Thai),hides the erasers and pens to write on the board, and has changed default on the computer and several key programs to Thai language and even unplugged some of the cords (like sound ). The normal PC input slots are not used on our computers. IT has installed a bundle of cords into various intermediary devices so it's not that simple to put them back in the correct component. None of this occurred before I spoke to him. All of these delay my starting and make me look like idiot having to look for these things. I have started carrying my own pens/erasers. I have taken a photo of the correct cord placement. I finally sent an email to him and to the dept head asking if these things could be left as is when he leaves the classroom. Whenever he sees me now, I just get a dirty look.

How bloody childish

I'm anticipating a similar response, but I hope I can react as professionally as you have

OK, so you consider it serious enough for it to be taken to your dept. head. That would be your next step after ensuring the P E teacher knows you want him to finish on time.

For 'finals' in Thailand, I can guarantee that copying and other forms of grade inflation are rampant and endemic so the students will do fine. If you are really lucky, the teacher in charge of printing the exam paper will pass a copy to some of the students in the class so then they will do particularly well.

Of course you are correct here, sad but true

I will probably have a polite chat this Wednesday and expect the usual vacant grinning reply.

I assume you have mentioned it to him specifically in a polite way and he has chosen to ignore you.

If it bothers you, take it to your dept. head and leave it at that. There could be all sorts of political undercurrents you are unaware of.

I am sure it is annoying, it appears to be a slap in the face and is most certainly bad manners, but is it such a massive deal in the big scheme of things?

I think it's a big deal if I can't teach my correct lesson plan to this class, through no fault of my own.

I suppose I could do a 35 minute plan and hope they do 'ok' in the Finals?