I'm Not An English Teacher, But.

[jaiyenyen]

I went along to my local High School the other day to donate some books to their library. While I was there I spoke to some of the teachers, they asked if I would like to go back to the school to talk with the English class, so they could practise their conversational English. I readily accepted, and I have to say, I'm quite looking forward to the experience.

My reason for posting is, I need advice on how to prepare for the 50 min lesson. The teachers told me that they will get the students to prepare questions to ask me about England, but I would like to have something in reserve, should the questions dry up.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Expect lots of blank stares. You should prepare a brief introduction for yourself. It will be difficult, because you do not know the type of students with whom you are dealing. They could be bright, eager M2 students, with relatively good English skills. They could also be unmotivated and bored M6 students, who are unable to tell you their age. Bring some pictures of yourself, your family, your home and your hometown in England. Thais know little about England other than the EPL teams and the fact that it is cold in England.

Have your students introduce themselves. Ask them to state their nickname and what they like. Follow up on what they like (i.e., sports, food, computer games). This will easily fill in an hour, because most likely, you'll be conversing with a class of at least 40 teenagers. Make it fun. Try to find out about the students from their classmates. Who is the best dancer? Which girl has the most handsome boyfriend?

Let us know how it goes.

[choppychugger]

Sounds to me like a lazy bunch of teachers that want to fill 50 mins of their day.

[PeaceBlondie]

Thai English teachers are beaten down by the system, and having a native speaker would provide some welcome change of pace for the students. The teachers want him to talk about England, which none of them have ever been to, where they speak real English.

Good luck.

[scyriacus]

...some of the teachers, they asked if I would like to go back to the school to talk with the English class, so they could practise their conversational English. I readily accepted, and I have to say, I'm quite looking forward to the experience....

first of all: don't forget to apply for a work permit.

quote: "Working of Aliens Act B.E .2551: "work" means engaging in work by exerting energy or using knowledge whether or not in consideration of wages or other benefit; Any alien engaging in the work without permission shall be subject to an imprisonment of not exceeding 5 years or a fine from 2,000 baht to 100,000 baht, or both." unquote

sorry, but this seems to be thai law, as posted by sunbelt on 'thai-visa' 18.06.08......

[jaiyenyen]

First of all, thanks for the replies.

I have been told that the children are aged around 15 years, and have reasonable English skills.

I am aware of the work permit situation but as this is a one off, non payment situation I think I would be fairly unlucky to get a knock on my door in the dead of night.

[PeaceBlondie]

Yes, a one-tine 45 minute lesson will not get the authorities alarmed. Keep in mind that some 15 year olds who are said to have reasonable English skills cannot answer "What is your name." Enjoy the class.

[stepenwolf1958]

Yes, a one-tine 45 minute lesson will not get the authorities alarmed. Keep in mind that some 15 year olds who are said to have reasonable English skills cannot answer "What is your name." Enjoy the class.

..."reasonable English skills"....Our "reasonable"and their is absolutely in opposite...If you are in Roi-Et i just can imagine what's that mean in reality,there...Notorious lie of Thai teachers but you will see by yourself...overestimating...

Time is flying there...Be ready to have a problems of other kind...To control them.They are too loud,often so naughty and real obstacle for ANY your idea about to organize teaching...Don't worry so much about the time ... They are flexible about the time...But all in all-you will like that kind of challenge in your life and will be unforgetable...Good idea is to use internet and to find some lessons about history of UK...(from FULL name of UK)...My kids enjoy...

Cheers mate

[stepenwolf1958]

Yes, a one-tine 45 minute lesson will not get the authorities alarmed. Keep in mind that some 15 year olds who are said to have reasonable English skills cannot answer "What is your name." Enjoy the class.

..."reasonable English skills"....Our "reasonable"and their is absolutely in opposite...If you are in Roi-Et i just can imagine what's that mean in reality,there...Notorious lie of Thai teachers but you will see by yourself...overestimating...

Time is flying there...Be ready to have a problems of other kind...To control them.They are too loud,often so naughty and real obstacle for ANY your idea about to organize teaching...Don't worry so much about the time ... They are flexible about the time...But all in all-you will like that kind of challenge in your life and will be unforgetable...Good idea is to use internet and to find some lessons about history of UK...(from FULL name of UK)...My kids enjoy...

Cheers mate

UH-HUH...forgoten...USE THE WHITEBOARD as much as you can,about vocabulary-from your lesson...retype the lesson you took from Internet and highlight SOME sentences,as the FACTS about England and what you are sure will be interesting for them...You should find SIMPLER words,to change them in text and text should be short...Short sentences they will be able to repeat...After that,you can ask them about the lesson,some simple things and allow to them to READ the answer from the lesson(you should supply them with copies,as a work sheet papers)...Then-you will see what kind of "REASONABLE ENGLISH" they have...

Let me know how it works...

[NotNew2You]

I would politely decline the teacher's request and explain to them that what they propose that you do is illegal under Thai law. And that certainly, they would not want you to do something that is illegal and put you in legal jeopardy. I would then suggest to them that they call and write to their elected representatives and do the same to the Interior Minister in Bangkok and request that the relevant Thai laws be changed so that it is clear that volunteer work is allowed without a WP and regardless of the visa held.

[PeaceBlondie]

I would politely decline the teacher's request and explain to them that what they propose that you do is illegal under Thai law. And that certainly, they would not want you to do something that is illegal and put you in legal jeopardy. I would then suggest to them that they call and write to their elected representatives and do the same to the Interior Minister in Bangkok and request that the relevant Thai laws be changed so that it is clear that volunteer work is allowed without a WP and regardless of the visa held.

Omigod, don't get me started. What does a work permit look like?

[garro]

I would advise the OP to avoid the usual introduction stuff that a lot of ESL teachers use. Things like, 'what is your name?' and 'where do you come from?' are as boring as hel_l. I think that a good introduction lesson is occupations. You can begin by getting them to list occupations before practicing different tenses (example; my occupation is....., when I leave school I want my occupation to be....). You can finish off the lesson by getting the students to mime different occupations and getting the rest of the class to guess what they are doing. If they are advanced you can get them to talk about occupations without naming them and getting the class to guess, or twenty questions to guess the occupation. You just need to write down some occupations on pieces of paper before class.

Don't be surprised by the level of noise in the classroom. This is normal.

Edited August 4, 2008 by garro

[jaiyenyen]

Again, thanks for the input guys.

As I said before, the purpose of the lesson is for the students to prepare questions about the UK for me to answer, I really just needed some advice on what to use as a backup should the questions dry up.

The Occupation idea seems a good one.

Good advice Steppenwolf1958, BTW the school is in Don Meuang, BKK

[toptuan]

Again, thanks for the input guys.

As I said before, the purpose of the lesson is for the students to prepare questions about the UK for me to answer, I really just needed some advice on what to use as a backup should the questions dry up.

The Occupation idea seems a good one.

Good advice Steppenwolf1958, BTW the school is in Don Meuang, BKK

A wonderful resource with more backups that you can use, is found at eslcafe[dot]com

Click "stuff for teachers" on the left side. I've used these activities for six years as back-up material (never know when a class is going to run short), and 99% of the suggestions are successful ideas with Thai students. Dave taught for something like 15 years in Thailand.

[fred2007]

Yes, a one-tine 45 minute lesson will not get the authorities alarmed. Keep in mind that some 15 year olds who are said to have reasonable English skills cannot answer "What is your name." Enjoy the class.

my wife holds english classes every weekend( she is thai ok) she has young kids and as you said 14-15 year olds. Now every one of her studends talks to me, they ask me what is your name, and they tell me my name is such and such.So maybe they(schools) using the wrong method to teach english

My wife does not just teach english she makes them feel comfortable, she makes them feel they are a part of a family.( maybe I take a class in english too) since I am not a native english speaker

[scyriacus]

I would politely decline the teacher's request and explain to them that what they propose that you do is illegal under Thai law. And that certainly, they would not want you to do something that is illegal and put you in legal jeopardy. I would then suggest to them that they call and write to their elected representatives and do the same to the Interior Minister in Bangkok and request that the relevant Thai laws be changed so that it is clear that volunteer work is allowed without a WP and regardless of the visa held.

that's the only legal possibility, albeit not easy. some posters complain about lawlessness in thailand, but then they advice 'stealing just a little bit is not really stealing'. i wonder. going to jail and being extradited on the 'war against unwanted aliens' is not really a problem, you will see more of the rest of the world this way.

[scyriacus]

Omigod, don't get me started. What does a work permit look like?

is this meant to be a good joke or did you ever teach legally in thailand? i guess not.........

if a work permit is not required, please state your (reliable & quotable) sources!

[scyriacus]

UH-HUH...forgoten...USE THE WHITEBOARD as much as you can,about vocabulary-from your lesson...retype the lesson you took from Internet and highlight SOME sentences,as the FACTS about England and what you are sure will be interesting for them...You should find SIMPLER words,to change them in text and text should be short...Short sentences they will be able to repeat...After that,you can ask them about the lesson,some simple things and allow to them to READ the answer from the lesson(you should supply them with copies,as a work sheet papers)...Then-you will see what kind of "REASONABLE ENGLISH" they have...

Let me know how it works...

very good advice! d'accord. and never forget: learning in thailand is NOT hard work and sweat, it's 'sanuk dii'

[Ijustwannateach]

Of course (technically speaking) the laws quoted above are correct- and all of our members are advised if they want to be super-duper legal they must obey these laws to the letter; however, they are broken almost uniformly by even the bestest of schools (almost no school does all the paperwork processing before the very, very first minute of work), and I think that a little goodwill volunteer visit is unlikely to be taken as a serious threat to the law. Until there is some link available to show us that such unlikely 'criminals' (and the schools which illegally employ them) are being arrested, we will cease on this thread to obsess about this off-topic matter and (if possible) give helpful advice to the OP about volunteer teaching.

"S"