Uncle Bob

5 minutes ago, muzmurray said:

 

I agree with all of the above, with just one caveat. I find that some NNES teachers perpetuate errors because they have either not been taught correctly or they have not worked hard enough on their pronunciation.

I agree wholeheartedly: pronunciation is the hardest part to get right for me. I think 4 years of training (some of our teachers are NES, others have 20+ years in teaching) will do me more good than an 8 week TEFL course in Thailand would.

4 hours ago, muzmurray said:

 

Yet you are Dutch and want to come here and teach in the medium of English ? L2 teaching L2, possibly an L1, (without an education degree), would be more knowledgeable about the nuances of the English language?

 

(Though your English does look to be very good)

One more thing: all Dutch teachers of English have to pass the Cambridge Proficiency Exam at A/B level. This is comparable to IELTS 9++ . Many L1 speakers will not pass this test, I can assure you.

4 hours ago, muzmurray said:

 

Yet you are Dutch and want to come here and teach in the medium of English ? L2 teaching L2, possibly an L1, (without an education degree), would be more knowledgeable about the nuances of the English language?

 

(Though your English does look to be very good)

I have done a so called TEFL course in Thailand as well, a long time ago. The level of the native speakers in my class was really abominable. They all had terrible accents (not RP), knew nothing about grammar, literature or teaching and generally had IQs far below teacher level. Nuances of English? I think I was more knowledgeable of them than all those L1 speakers together... Also, being an L2 gives me the advantage of knowing the difficulties that learners of English can have since I have had them myself. Too bad I'm not Thai :)

21 hours ago, Scott said:

I am not sure how relevant that is to the topic, but I never had a lick of interest in working period, and I suspect a large percentage of people are in the same boat.   

It is relevant because of the fact that if no one cares about the students, only about the paycheck,  no urge to change things will develop.

I too want to teach in Thailand but I have chosen to get properly certified (teacher education in the Netherlands) first so that schools and students I will work for in the future are getting what they are paying for i.e. a well-trained professional with the right attitude and knowledge. Not just some bum who likes Thailand and wants to play teacher so he can stay a little longer. People without the proper teacher education should not be allowed to teach in any country, it is a profession, not a hobby. Would you like to have the brakes of your car serviced by a someone who drives a car of the same brand you do? Compare this with: Let him teach English because he speaks the language... It's stupid and one of the reasons the system in Thailand is what it is at the moment; a total disaster.

"You never had a lick of interest in teaching until now. This is just some job that keeps you in Thailand. "

So true for about 95% of TEFLers....

Well said, too bad nobody's listening...

Isn't this fake news? It will never happen!

I am Dutch and I'm affraid that there is a lot of truth in these reports. I am pretty left-wing myself but I always vote for the SP (socialist party), a party that is not muslim-hugging and has in the past been accused of being racist when they were very critical of mass immigration. I hope that they will win the elections and take action. I have no faith in types like Geert Wilders, he is a stupid and dangerous man. But he will probably win the elections by landslide....

"bringing unity and progress to the nation"

I thought that the army was about defending the country in case of an attack.

4 hours ago, robblok said:

I really don't see the harm here, but I understand red reporters like the two mentioned in the article would bend something like this into a anti junta rant. This has been going on this way long before the junta and now its bad all of a sudden. 

In the Netherlands there are "open dagen" at the army every now and then and it's exactly the same. Not my cup of tea but it isn't Thailand only...

About time, I was there in 2000, it was already a rubbish dump then, never went back but I can imagine how the place must look nowadays. National Park, my #ss!

R.E.N.T.

Ban pickups, 16-year olds and Cambodians!

Could have built a 4 million Baht home and have 1 million in the bank.... Just saying....

You gotta love this country, always in for a good joke!

3 minutes ago, transam said:

So your forefathers that fought under a flag are not as important as your iPhone...?

I do not own an iPhone or other smartphone.

Nationalism causes war PERIOD. My forefathers fought under a flag to enslave Indonesia and other colonies, not really proud of that...

Anyway, they were stupid to act like that and should pay the damage done. This is not Italy...

This is 2017, it is a piece of cloth... Pay damages, NEXT...

Go and ask North-Korea for advice, or China...

. oops

Stupid question maybe but why don't you just sell the condo and have money in your bankaccount?

9 hours ago, Reigntax said:

 

Unfortunately the road map starts at military headquarters and shows a one way major highway straight to Pyongyang. 

Or Beijing... The difference isn't that big...

Don't worry guys - there is a ROADMAP

Just now, SaintLouisBlues said:

Only if you believe that belief in a god or gods is an essential characteristic of a religion. I don't. It's evident that many State-sponsored ideologies have many of the hallmarks of what we usually call "religion"

I totally agree on that one!

From the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha is said to have said:

"So, as I said, Kalamas: 'Don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, "This contemplative is our teacher." When you know for yourselves that, "These qualities are unskillful; these qualities are blameworthy; these qualities are criticized by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to harm & to suffering" — then you should abandon them.' Thus was it said. And in reference to this was it said.

"Now, Kalamas, don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness' — then you should enter & remain in them.

In other words: find out for yourselves what is good, healthy and leading to happiness!

9 minutes ago, SaintLouisBlues said:

Or, more generally, all religions borrow from one another. Monotheism is a Jewish heresy of polytheism, Christianity is a heresy of Judaism, Islam is a heresy of Christianity (Arianism, to be specific) and so on. Then, when they co-mingle, they borrow. And since we're now coming to understand the chemical reactions in the brain that lead to religious experiences, the similarities between religions that appear never to have had much contact and therefore cross-fertilization are more understandable

In all those religions you name there is the central belief in a God or Gods. Buddhism doesn't have that. So it does not really fit in with most religions.

6 hours ago, lvr181 said:

They are not worthy of being named the Royal Thai Police! The inclusion of the word Royal is an insult to the monarchy!

Mwaah, I don't share your enthusiasm of the latter institution. It has never helped Thailand develop democratically, always approving the various military coups.