More foreign English teachers set to be hired as Thais aim for better than basic English

[Joker Man]

????????  They might want to say.. I SSSSpig Englissh little pit 

[Matzzon]

All is probably a very good idea. The big problem is that they have to learn basic english to be able to advance. That´s where the impossible factor is hidden.

[Number 6]

There is thankfully no way in hell obec and public schools will allow people without degrees to have a go at it in public school classrooms.

 

To the posters stating old people could be employed. They really can't. While they tend to be far more responsible they can't relate to teens and this carries over into all sorts of areas. They also lack the stamina to stand 7 hours a day, 20 hours a week. It takes the <deleted> out of even me at my age. I'd gladly continue to employ someone 60 on. I would consider hiring an experienced teacher who was thin, alert and active. There's no way I'd hire some old geezer at 67 coming out of retirement.

 

Finally, to teach late teens and run classrooms at a B2 level takes 3-4 years experience imo.

[Ventenio]

got a friend who works in a school in a big city.  i asked him to tell me about it...

 

1.  Everyone at school will ask you for money, almost every day.

2.  Kids will get loud and if you have an assistant, well, usually the noise stays loud

3.  after months and months, you are really only teaching each class a few hours.  only the motivated kids learn a little bit.

4.  people get mad if you are late, dress bad, act bad, and all of this is way more important than how to teach

5.  he said some people get gate duty, i guess meet kids or parents or something early in the morning 

6.  Filipinos range greatly from horrible to OK, but they all make basic mistakes every few minutes.  not like a farang at all.  remember, the best filipino has worse english than the worst native speaker.  maybe some exceptions.  yea, maybe a better teacher but shouldn't be teaching english.

7.  30,000 to 40,000.  ok, work a year and you get a few months off before all your money is gone.  

 

I've spent at least a few hours at an ex-gf's school and she said many teachers quit and the stress is very bad.  everyone is tired.  but we don't talk anymore.  i think she's in columbia or somewhere.  

 

my opinion is that if their parents don't care about English, they won't until maybe college when they really understand English and money.  Plus, I don't think the best farangs are teachers.  most seem a little shady.    I don't have a passport from a native country, which is good because I see how it makes people go a little mad trying different ways that show no fruit.  forget the saying.  maybe bear no fruit.   

[Sydebolle]

Well, the THB 30K salaries do not really attract the professional upper crust - to start with. 

English is spoken in England only and has deviations in American, South African, Australian, Canadian etc. Still native speaking and hence certainly a pool of qualified teachers. 

Once it comes to the (rather present) Philippinos I dare to say, that that "English" is more a kind of Phinglish than English.

A free-of-charge start to each and every Thai kid would be to STOP providing sound tracks on cartoon broadcasts (Cartoon Network, Boomerang etc.). Most kids watch the stuff and all broadcasts are sound-tracked in to Thai. 

If you would broadcast those cartoons, all the kids would have a working commando of 1) oral English and 2) oral Japanese. Not a substitute but definitely an entry ticket to foreign languages. 

For the time being its giggling and blushing, losing face and Thinglishization which is a shame to the extremely poor education standard of this country! 

[Ashto]

5 hours ago, Chazar said:

Nigerian English speaker seeks  employment

I have a Nigerian acquaintance here whose English is excellent. He could teach in a country where English is a native language. 

[Number 6]

17 minutes ago, Ventenio said:

got a friend who works in a school in a big city.  i asked him to tell me about it...

 

1.  Everyone at school will ask you for money, almost every day.

2.  Kids will get loud and if you have an assistant, well, usually the noise stays loud

3.  after months and months, you are really only teaching each class a few hours.  only the motivated kids learn a little bit.

4.  people get mad if you are late, dress bad, act bad, and all of this is way more important than how to teach

5.  he said some people get gate duty, i guess meet kids or parents or something early in the morning 

6.  Filipinos range greatly from horrible to OK, but they all make basic mistakes every few minutes.  not like a farang at all.  remember, the best filipino has worse english than the worst native speaker.  maybe some exceptions.  yea, maybe a better teacher but shouldn't be teaching english.

7.  30,000 to 40,000.  ok, work a year and you get a few months off before all your money is gone.  

 

I've spent at least a few hours at an ex-gf's school and she said many teachers quit and the stress is very bad.  everyone is tired.  but we don't talk anymore.  i think she's in columbia or somewhere.  

 

my opinion is that if their parents don't care about English, they won't until maybe college when they really understand English and money.  Plus, I don't think the best farangs are teachers.  most seem a little shady.    I don't have a passport from a native country, which is good because I see how it makes people go a little mad trying different ways that show no fruit.  forget the saying.  maybe bear no fruit.   

This sounds very petty. I doubt your *friend* is a quality teacher and doubt further still he's teaching at a quality school.

 

Yes, loads of stress and heavy workload if you take the position seriously. You lurch from loving and hating your job weekly. Most are in it here in Thailand for a visa, paycheck or both. But there are teachers that strive through all of it to bring meaning and purpose to their craft and something of lifelong value to their students.

[globalspark]

I can say with confidence English has gone backwards by 100 miles in this country.I am currently staying in a 4 star hotel well that rating can be questionable and the whole would not know 10 words complete disgrace.An example my room phone in the middle of the night and when i asked reception if they knew why.The blank look on their face said it all.I could go on but better stop on that note

[BritManToo]

38 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

They also lack the stamina to stand 7 hours a day, 20 hours a week.

Good job you're not a math teacher.

[Number 6]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Good job you're not a math teacher.

If you taught you'd know each day differs in the number of contact hours. Honestly a 7 hour day wou6be absolutely brutal even for a 30yo. But 4 hour days quite standard, five hours normal and pulling one six hour day a week not unusual. 18-20 contact hours is considered manageable. Then there's 20 hours office and another 30 at home hahahaha.

 

And judging by that sentence *good job* you're not an English teacher.

[phetpeter]

I worked legally in Thailand for over 14 years, but, as soon as I reached 59 I was blanked. Only the university hire me at peanut wages, and when at 61 let me go, for two idiots who could speak some Thai making the whole thing a joke!, China snapped me up and now earning a decent salary KSA, who state age isn't important but, your skills are! Yearn to work back in Thailand, but for a salaries my wife, child and me can be comfortable on. Shame on them. In my home city, I would work for 40K. But knowing that they will milk the funds, it ain't going to happen, plus it is being dragged down by employing other nationalities that are happy to be down trodden by Thai employees.

[phetpeter]

'While they tend to be far more responsible they can't relate to teens and this carries over into all sorts of areas. They also lack the stamina to stand 7 hours a day, 20 hours a week. It takes the <deleted> out of even me at my age. I'd gladly continue to employ someone 60 on'.

Why would you think a teacher should be standing 7 hours a day, when a Thai teacher can't manage any time, my experience is the first thing a Thai teacher does is sit down in class, switch on a mic, and talk, then tells the students to do some-task and wanders off down the corridor to have a nibble and a chat. 20 hrs a week doesn't relate to 3-4 hours of classroom time a day. and there is no reason for a teacher to be standing for more than 50% of each lesson. What you forgot to mention older teachers are much better relating to teens as their years of teaching has them aware of all the excuses if they have been in country for a while. The sad fact is the salaries on offer without expenses for accommodation, transport, visa and WP payments is shameful. Considering that the amount the government give each school for their foreign teachers means schools only have to find another 10K to give a better salary, plus a little bit more from the cake and coffee fund for accommodation. Showing some respect also wouldn't go a miss, standing gate is a joke, and shaming, as is thinking you should stop teachers leaving early if no class or exiting the school during working hours while the Thai teachers go out shopping and eating! (Note agreed that there are exceptions to the rule, so please don't paint all the same colour, and also in old age it can be impossible to not get some belly, although those who need plenty of beer at the end of the day it isn't what should be seen or smelt!)

[phetpeter]

1 hour ago, DiJoDavO said:

don't you all know if your salary is 30k ish, you are way better off than your Thai colleagues in school who have way more work to do compared to the foreign teachers. 

You all have nothing to complain about.

Oh! you are in dreamland, let me assure a Thai government employed teacher earns a lot more than that once the reach the 10 year plus mark, plus they receive annual increases, travel expenses, holiday and sick pay, low interests loans ..should I go on. Look in the car park at the age of the cars, plus other interests in local businesses, farmland and school concessions inside the school, and the snack carts outside the gates. And don't get me started on the school directors!

[KhaoYai]

7 hours ago, champers said:

BP reporting that the Phillipines Embassy has been consulted with a view to bringing in more Filipino English speakers as teachers.

Right, so as usual, the kids will not be taught the official international language - they will be taught the American version of English. This leads to confusion - more than people realise.  My gf's son come's home and asks for things like an eraser. As a native English speaker I would know what he means because I know most of the differences but his mum doesn't.

 

The whole point of an international language is to provide a method of communication that everyone understands. In my local area of England we use some words/names that are unique to the local dialect.  We would never use them when talking to someone from a different county, let alone country. Likewise, students learning English should be taught the correct version of it.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, phetpeter said:

Oh! you are in dreamland, let me assure a Thai government employed teacher earns a lot more than that once the reach the 10 year plus mark, plus they receive annual increases, travel expenses, holiday and sick pay, low interests loans ..should I go on. Look in the car park at the age of the cars, plus other interests in local businesses, farmland and school concessions inside the school, and the snack carts outside the gates.

Don't know about that, my cousin is a junior school teacher of around 20 years, and she gets around 25k/month.

[ukrules]

7 hours ago, champers said:

BP reporting that the Phillipines Embassy has been consulted with a view to bringing in more Filipino English speakers as teachers.

I'd like to see lots of Indians filling the job of language teachers, mainly for a laugh

[Stokakrishna]

Native speaker doesn't mean  the level will be higher.

Most those native English speakers speak only one language.  Many Europeans teaching (not English, speak 2, 3 or 4 languages!!)

 They have better understanding of learning languages so might be way better teachers

[phetpeter]

11 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Don't know about that, my cousin is a junior school teacher of around 20 years, and she gets around 25k/month.

She may be a contract local teacher, Not all teachers become government employed, it is a sticky path and takes about 4/5 years of being moved around and checks to get a the government contract (Job for life), some don't make it, some just want to work were they are. but, once excepted to can request your school.

[simon43]

5 hours ago, crickets said:

32k a month, no holiday pay, difficult visa and permit process. Good luck on finding native teachers.

Yep, I no longer teach in 'bricks & mortar' schools.  At 60 years old, few would take me in Thailand.

 

Never mind.  Now I only teach English and Science 'online' to young Chinese students. My monthly net income (granted, I work long hours out of choice and $ greed!), is more than 4 times that 32k salary, with an easy and cheap visa and WP (Lao PDR) ????

[EricTh]

18 minutes ago, KhaoYai said:

 

The whole point of an international language is to provide a method of communication that everyone understands. In my local area of England we use some words/names that are unique to the local dialect.  We would never use them when talking to someone from a different county, let alone country. Likewise, students learning English should be taught the correct version of it.

 

Unfortunately, there is not a single standard but two standards i.e. British and American.

 

Heck, we don't even have a single metric system for feet and meter.

 

American English movies are far more pervasive than British English movies unless you like to watch Mr Bean.

 

 

[JGV]

this is trotted out every couple of years as a pr exercise - Thai teachers will undermine any effort to improve English in their schools because they can't teach it and they don't want foreigners taking any of the money tree that corruption gives them to buy cars and homes and they refuse attempts to train them - no financial incentive

[zydeco]

11 minutes ago, EricTh said:

 

Unfortunately, there is not a single standard but two standards i.e. British and American.

 

Heck, we don't even have a single metric system for feet and meter.

 

American English movies are far more pervasive than British English movies unless you like to watch Mr Bean.

 

 

And frankly American culture is far more important than the British. American business, science, technology, entertainment, and arts entirely overwhelm anything emerging from Britain. There are 320 million Americans compared to just 60 million or so British. BTW, no country or people "own" a language. It will develop as it will, often splintering not only into different dialects but entirely different languages. English may soon follow Latin, with different regions of the world adopting its usage initially, only to have it morph into a separate tongue. 

[Rimbuman]

7 hours ago, Airalee said:

It’s gonna be tough for them to find teachers that are able to properly mispronounce English in the “Thai way”.

 

For example...if I write my name using the Thai alphabet using the letters that create the proper pronunciation of my name, they can pronounce it, but tell me that it isn’t correct because it’s not the Thai way of pronouncing it.  They then go on to tell me how it is supposed to be spelled in Thai in order to have their misspelling match their mispronunciations.

 

 

 

 

Very funny ????

[Rhys]

As long as the administrators with non-English teaching backgrounds are at the helm with super size egos and poor English skill...they will always suck up...

[Benmart]

The education system seems to suffer from the usual illnesses: Corruption, apathy, greed, nepotism, ultra-nationalism, suspicion and superstition.

[Dolmance]

Repeat after me:  "Me so hungry."  "Me so lost."  "Me eat long time."  "Me look for restaurant."  "Me like Coke."  "Me want coke." 

 

I am a certified teacher.  I know what I'm doing.

[geisha]

Thé Burmese who deliver my water speak English.

[Ventenio]

3 minutes ago, geisha said:

Thé Burmese who deliver my water speak English.

Speaking English correctly or incorrectly is another matter, but I'm sure she knows a few words.  OK, tell her friends, "She speak English good when deliver my water," and her friend will say, "OK, goodbye, deliver water to he speak good bye bye."

 

well, these are English words.  

[Huckenfell]

I am a retired person, English grammar school educated. I have got plenty of spare time and would love to help teach young kids English. I am not overly anxious on wages, but without a work visa this is not possible. I am sure that somewhere in Isaan there would be a small school that would appreciate my help, something that i would happily do.

[Huckenfell]

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

I'd like to see lots of Indians filling the job of language teachers, mainly for a laugh

ha ha ha , just watch all the kids madly shaking their heads from side to side.