BlackArtemis

I help a friend tutor P1 after school some times and I have seen the kids with their tablets. I was surprised that the games were actually both fun and interesting. Now, I only saw a few math games and spelling games, but they looked enjoyable. If the word games were programmable with the week's/unit's vocab, this could be effective for some.

I was originally against the who scheme, but now finding myself agreeing, a shaky thumbs up is how I feel about it. I saw kids using them and enjoying learning, but I know that some have already been lost, kids forget to charge them and I personally know the Thai teachers in charge of the kids I help tutor and their idea of a tablet involves slate or papyrus.

In the hands of a knowledgeable educator and one who has time and care to incorporate them correctly, I can see benefit. But I worry that these teachers will be few and far between.

I also want to see how long we go before critical parts failure becomes a problem, I assume with Chinese knock offs we will see this sooner than later. And also when the tech becomes too slow due to updates or new apps that take too much resources.

Bumping!

I would love to adopt him, but I have no room with a dog right now. I could take him back to the US and he would have Luukchin to play with.

Two thai poodles named after street food!

America is a region including South America, Central America and North America..... and for what it's worth there is another United States, the United States of Mexico, so be specific when you mean the United States of America.

I love this!

It reminds me of some years back -- a hispanic coworker ranting about Americans. He was upset because people from the U.S.A. called themselves Americans and that infringed upon the identity of South Americans, Central Americans and other North Americans.

I suggested to him that it should be easy enough to rectify this situation. First, we get the Americans to stop calling themselves Americans. Then, all we need to do is to convince the Russians to stop calling us Amerikantsy, convince the Japanese to stop calling us Amerika-jin, convince the Thais to stop calling us Kon-amerika, and so forth for all the folks in about 100 countries. For some reason, he just walked away in a huff.

Of course, the more logical point is, if we are not to be called Americans, then what the hell are we to be called? USAians, as some have suggested? It seems to me that calling folks from the U.K. Brits may also be fraught with ambiguities. Are all U.K. citizens considered to be Brits, even the Irish and the Welch? I don't really know, I'm just asking.

I always laugh at these people. Ask them if they identify more as "American or South American" more than say Chilean or Brazilian and they always say the later. Furthermore America is only used to name the land mass or continent they are on, unlike the US, where America is in the country's name. Granted people do get tossed into groups based on continents and land mass, such as being called Asian or Europeans. But this typically is used to talk about race or culture, not citienship.

Or have fun with them and call them American when ever you see them.

Introduce them as American and watch their reaction!

Had great fun there tonight. It got quiet a few laughs out of me, well worth the time and money!

If you are able to keep up, the Insanity program is fine, P90x if you have access to dumbells, kettlebells, or bands. However the door setups in this country makes a pull up bar a problem for the P90x program.

I might joke or flirt with a girl in public, but we're talking idle chit chat, nothing like commenting on figures etc.

However, in the clubs I would flirt with anyone, and would often get good responses. Thai guys are pussies when it comes to talking to girls. Evn the good looking ones stand around their table with their guy friends and bottle of whiskey and talk about some girl they see. Then never talk to her that night or at best have their Thai female friend innitiate conversation. Many Thai girls comment on how bored they are with this, maybe this is why Tom Boys have been on the rage for the last years, ironically they're the ones with the balls to talk to the hot girls and get good results from it.

"I think I spent like $230 in 4 days from CM to SR and back to SK'

SK ???

I don't know why I wrote SK when I meant BKK...

yet another reason to avoid chiang mai.

Everyone avoid Chiangmai at all cost's It is a crappy place to live. Trust me!

I agree, utter hell hole. Stay away!

There is still a negative perception back home. I often find myself stating my GF's or Ex's profession etc etc soon after I state her nationality.

The reality is many untraveled people think that Thailand is just rice, beaches, longnecks, and whores.

In America they think it is Taiwan. I know. I have a facebook page and all my kids and old friends are there. They know it's in Asia but beyond that and their local Thai restaurant only Vietnam Vets have a clue.

]Yeah, when I go back it's "So you speak Tawainese?"

I blame it on 1 mandatoy geography classes but learning about the civil war 6 times throughout middle to highschool....

When I worked in a government school a few years back it was 33-35, despite the cut off being 30 for the EP classes. Non-Ep were up to 45 students

Now my biggest class i 15 and my smallest 9, it started off at 3 in May.

Pls suggest a large size cruiser next time thanks mate. The honda phantom shadow would be nice. Ta

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That would be nice. I have customers asking all the time.

Yes please! I have been trying to find a decent CB550-750 for months and there has been nothing. When I heard about the new CB500 I was excited, only to find out it looks like crap. Something I can turn into a cafe style would be nice...

Don't forget about the Gen 1 celica's, you can shove a Iuz, SR20, or J series in them as well, plus they look like a little japanese Mustang Fastback.

There is still a negative perception back home. I often find myself stating my GF's or Ex's profession etc etc soon after I state her nationality.

The reality is many untraveled people think that Thailand is just rice, beaches, longnecks, and whores.

There is a bright side to this article. So many times I speak to idiots who try to argue that not wearing a helmet is safe/safer. This adequately demonstrates that 2 people in the same accident, 1 with and 1 without, do NOT come out the same. So sad for the family of the girl.

on a personal level it makes me furious when I see the pics we dont publish, of perfectly pleasant people who "didn't" think to wear one. There is nothing sadder than waking here to do the news and having a series of accidents, all with head injuries, all dead. a few weeks ago a father, mother and 7 year old, all on one bike. gone. My old Lady is on a final warning for our bike as the nipper has his own helmet but she "forgets" to make him wear it. I showed her those photos, and have told her the bike will be sold if it ever happens again. it amounts to manslaughter really, if a rider doesnt make his/her passenger wear one too. In my case.. she still insists it messes her hair up.Madness

My girlfriend came up to CM for the first time over NYE and the first thing we did was go buy her a helmet. I have taken measurements and will be buying her a proper DOT/Snell cetified one when I visit home in March. I don't care if we are on a bigger bike or just a honda dream, wear a GOOD helmet...

What's the job market like in CM for English Teachers?

Much more positions for Government and private schools, not so great if you are a certified teacher in your home country.

What type of salary should I expect?

~27-30's depending on the school. You won't be making the 50-70k of the Internationals or 100+ of prem, unless they are hiring for a librarian, or something to do with economics and you can prove your worth.

What is the best time of year to look for positions?

Now till April

Would you recommend approaching schools directly in the search for employment or are there any agencies in CM that work on one's behalf?

Ajarn.com, Tesall.com Dave's ESL cafe, but the best way is to find the school's website and search their jobs. This is easier for private/international schools. At all costs avoid agencies, they steal your money and are responsible for the stagnet salaries over the last 10 years.

Are there options for salary increases if you stay at a school for multiple contracts?

Most schools will give a raise of 1-2000Baht if you teach the following year

Is there any demand for private tuition outside of school hours, teaching members of the public etc?

High demand, but it will be illegal as you will only have a work permit for the teaching job. Do it anyway, either privates or working for someone. If you are working for someone and you are teaching classes 300B/hr with little to no prep on your end should be your aim. If you teach your own students, adjust the cost. Ie if they are government school kids you won't be able to charge as much, but their parents will no be adverse to having 8-10 kids in a class. 1200B for M-F afterschool for 1hr works out to 60B an hour for the parents, but an extra 12k in your pocket. You can find a small room to rent if need be. My Ex now has a town house behind a govt school. She has 110 students M-F and students. She has 5 teachers under he she pays and after all expenses she makes about 50-60,000B. Tutoring is the money maker here if you can't get into an international school.

What's the best method of advertising for private tuition and what is the general hourly rate?

I addressed the rate, but I would simply ask my co-teacher if I could advertise for tutoring, made a brochure and stapled it to their front pocket at the end of the day.

Your main problem is going to be communication with parents who speak little to no English. THis can be circumvented by finding one of the many school interns (Thai Uni students) who can speak English, offer then a salary to help you.

Good luck, I enjoyed it enough that I went back home at got a proper education degree, not in English before anyone jumps on my grammar. I realized that was not my strength long ago.

"I think I spent like $230 in 4 days from CM to SR and back to SK'

$230 for transport only.....sounds like it makes flying an easier option and maybe cheaper when you figure in food and hotels along the way. what's airfare now CNX to PP or SR??

No, not just transportation, food, hotel, 3 day pass at Angkor, a Tuk-Tuk shared for those 3 days, souveniers, and drinks as well.

Budget? Here you go:

Bus to BKK ~700B

Train at 5am to Poipet 48Baht, takes 5-6hrs but you don't have to deal with the road side bus stop scams and the Khao San morons who get off at each one and have to have their cig break for an extra 15 minutes. Took a bus back from SR to poipet and they wasted 45 minutes doing this shit and I missed the train back to BKK. Luckily someone gave me a free minibus/van ticket and I made a good friend along the way.

Tuk Tuk ride to border 30-50Baht (share it)

Then bust from poipet, no clue on price.

I did share a camry with 3 others for like $12 to SR.

I think I spent like $230 in 4 days from CM to SR and back to SK and I did not slum it in Cambodia, just ook the cheapest travel methods and shared things kike tuk tuk drivers etc.

This was summer of 2011

All of it is way over priced, ON, while having a decent profile tastes like crap and is 3x as expensive. I tend to buy 20lbs or so bulk of protein when I do a yearly visit to the US, turns out to be a much cheaper option. The other solution is lots and lots of grilled chicken breast. If you want a shake for post work out you can blend the chicken with some chicken stock and chug that, be careful of how much sodium is in the stock though.

Phuket health seems to have the best prices.

Awesome, I live on Sirimangkalajarn, this should be fun....

Beer Republic on soi 11 Nimm, (On the inside, the corner of the intersection, right near Sumo Sushi. And if you like Sushi, Sumo is a must.) 16 beers on tap, decent selection. It's been open less than 2 weeks.

I go to Riverside, Good View, Warm Up, and Vision. I have not been to the new Vision.

We haven't been to Riverside in a long time, but it seems to be quite popular. We went to Good View 4-5 years ago with a Thai friend at their request. We were surprised to find the food was quite good and the music was pretty good. Have not tried Warm-up (I think that's on Nimmanhaemin?) and never heard of Vision. Do they play music similar to Good View and Riverside?

Warm up plays similar stuff to riverside and good view. They have 2 stages, one inside but it gets packed and you need to have a table by 8pm or else you have no where to drink/stand. If a band isn't playing it's loud nightclub music and flashing lights, I love this, many of my friends don't. They prefer the chill outside area which also has some good local bands.

Vision seems to have more rock, I got to see Hin Lek Fai there a few months back and the rest of the bands were doing 80's music all night.

I will also mention Tiger kingdom in Town, but I do get bored since its the same sets every night.

Pentatonic in the Zoe's area is fantastic as well. All 70's-90's hard rock. Great to see a Thai with feathered blonde Bon Jovi hair doing guitar solos behind his head!

Ex was Christian so Christmas was big in the family, including caroling and church services. We would bring lots of decorations back from the US.

Current GF studied in Sweden and loves the holiday, so we are baking cookies, exchanging presents, decorating a tree this year.

I enjoy it, but I am sick of the music and decorations while out and about. Sadly it seems to have followed me here...

But it's a fun way to spend time with loved ones, so why not? Just don't let it become to big. Back in the US my family agreed to no more presents. So we all exchange baked goods etc amongst the extended family, because pie is much better than a sweater!

Halloween is my favorite holiday though, glad to see it gain traction here.

I go to Riverside, Good View, Warm Up, and Vision. I have not been to the new Vision.

Never heard a girl be called a player, is she a tom and he just doesn't know it?