Can Anyone Be An English Teacher In Thailand?

[balo]

I just talked to my friend from the Phillippines who told me they have many farang teachers at their school in BKK. And to my surprise most of them were not from English speaking countries, they came from Germany, Holland and the Phillippines.

So I'm a Norwegian and my english skills are not perfect but I'm willing to give it a try.

I have never teached before but I have a feeling whats it like...

So what are my chances if I go for it? I need a job !

Edited August 20, 2008 by balo

[gampaan]

I'm looking to find more about this myself, but what I have heard, and read, my sister-in-law teaches in Korat, and they are looking now, what they really want is "native" speakers of English.

[jumnien]

Are you white? Do you have a heartbeat that can be documented by a local health professional (not necessary, but desireable)? If I think of any other qualifications, I'll let you know.

[twschw]

Do you have a degree? What other qualifications do you have? I am sure that you could find a job somewhere but it will probably not be at one of the better schools nor for a good wage.

[Ski_Goong]

Do you have a degree? What other qualifications do you have? I am sure that you could find a job somewhere but it will probably not be at one of the better schools nor for a good wage.

I live "near" Korat. Of all the English teachers in know in Korat (about 20), I would only consider 3 to be "native" speakers. My wife attends Rathchapat(sp) University and hates her English class. She can not understand her teacher's heavy accent and her teacher have made several mistakes.

So, I think if you are white and are willing to work for peanuts, you'll have a job.

Ski.....

[PeaceBlondie]

If I may chime in to this chorus, yes, anything is possible in Thailand, but almost nothing is outstandingly excellent about teaching English here.

Strikes against you are apparently

1. No degree

2. Not native spekaer

3. Perhaps not well trained in English grammar, teaching methods, etc.

In your favor

1. You are in Thailand and willing to work for peanuts under impossible conditions

First, take a TEFL course and see how you do.

[ajarnmark]

If you are white, you can teach.

Education standards are really bad here and almost anyone having white skin teach english here, well maybe for peanuts.

I know a Russian guy (white) and a Nigerian guy (black) teaching english in bkk. They are making somewhere between 20-30k per month.

[garro]

I find this forum really bizarre sometimes. On one hand, you have the teachers complaining how tough things are here for native speakers with qualifications, and yet you have other threads telling non-native no-qualification teachers that it's easy here. It is must be confusing for those desperate people who want to stay in Thailand without any teaching experience and no degrees.

I think that the reality is that the OP will be taking a big chance by deciding to teach in Thailand, because there is a lot going against him. But I'm sure there will be plenty of other non-native speakers - who left school at seven, and couldn't speak a word of English but memorised a few phrases the night before their first class, and now make 300,000THB a month - along soon to tell him otherwise.

[PeaceBlondie]

garro is right, and I was being too kind. Nobody has discussed the apparent doomsday affect of proposed regulations, or whether this kind of teacher can ever be legal, or make decent money. Some posters are talking about how it may have been way out in the sticks in the past. It would be difficult to teach 48 rambunctious, uninterrested students in an air conditioned room if you were the best English teacher in Thaiand. English is diffficult to teach. Is that a gerund or a gerbil in your pocket, Ponchasawawin?

[TEFLMike]

Both Garro and Peaceblondie are 'bang on' with their postings.

Time and again, we have postings from people who do not have a clue or one 'iota' of what the job entails, indeed, what entails in getting a job in the first place.

[fred2007]

If you are white, you can teach.

Education standards are really bad here and almost anyone having white skin teach english here, well maybe for peanuts.

I know a Russian guy (white) and a Nigerian guy (black) teaching english in bkk. They are making somewhere between 20-30k per month.

Well I can do better, one of the guys who lives in our hostel teaches english in the nearby

university ( he is english comes from Manchaster I guess) I can't understand a word what he is saying to me, and he makes 40.000 baht per month for 6-8 hours work per week.

[gymshark]

If some of the Idiots at English First in Bangkok are anything to go by then yes, anyone can teach English here.

[fred2007]

If some of the Idiots at English First in Bangkok are anything to go by then yes, anyone can teach English here.

it depends who you like to teach, my wife is Thai and she teaches english every weekend

not at university of course

[nakhonsi sean]

Anything is possible.

We have a Norwegian here in town teaching English, has been at the same school for 7 years, we started on the same day (different schools, the two best in the province). I believe, though may be mistaken, that he does not have a degree, though has a raft of diplomas from Norway. He is without doubt one of the best English teachers in the province. We also have several excellent teachers from the Philippines. It is possible, all these teachers are at good schools on the normal pay for the area. Around 30,000 plus pay increases, some closer to 40,000 now.

[garro]

If some of the Idiots at English First in Bangkok are anything to go by then yes, anyone can teach English here.

There is an almost endless supply of people desperate to stay in Thailand. Many of these are so desperated that they will try their hand at teaching. Most of these fail because not only is it tough to work here without qualifications, but also because if you are not up to scratch the students will eat you alive - this is especially true in primary and secondary school.

Some people do end up in teaching for perhaps the wrong reasons, but they somehow have a natural gift for classroom management or they are so thick skinned that they don't care that there class is out of control. The point is that teaching is not an easy option here and it isn't getting any easier.

[Ijustwannateach]

Teaching English (it's capitalised, fyi) *completely legally* here is a challenging and difficult proposition, and though persons with poor qualifications have managed it (even those who are not native speakers) it is becoming less likely every day, and is certainly not something just anyone can do on a whim at a moment's notice.

Teaching English illegally is indeed something anyone who wishes to risk the consequences can do, and is not particularly recommended. I'd argue that those who try it as their mainstay these days are as foolish as many posters on this thread are attempting to make them look.

Two different situations, two different answers.

"S"

[balo]

We have a Norwegian here in town teaching English, has been at the same school for 7 years, we started on the same day (different schools, the two best in the province). I believe, though may be mistaken, that he does not have a degree, though has a raft of diplomas from Norway. He is without doubt one of the best English teachers in the province. We also have several excellent teachers from the Philippines. It is possible, all these teachers are at good schools on the normal pay for the area. Around 30,000 plus pay increases, some closer to 40,000 now.

Thankyou , my "dark" Phillippine friend earns 20.000 , and the "white" German teachers about 40.000 at the same school in BKK. Discrimination?

My friends tell me that I have a nice english accent.

I know this is not an easy task, I have never teached at a school before. I have no certifications.

I did well at school and university. But that's a a long time ago.

Still I want to give it a try , just have to pass the TEFL course first.

Edited August 22, 2008 by balo

[jumnien]

There's an old saying that those who can't do, teach. While not true in all instances, it does point out that a poor English speaker can teach English and while doing so, over a number of years, will gradually improve over time. That's at least a positive way of viewing the teaching situation in Thailand where there are many dedicated, if not qualified, teachers of English. They are doing the best they can.

[Loaded]

For anyone interested in a little wager.

I can produce a teacher's work permit for an East European who doesn't have a degree and who recently finished a TEFL course in Chiang Mai 3 weeks ago. He works in a small town around 20km outside of the city. It only took days to process his wp.

Don't believe me?

I'll bet you 1 million baht I can produce his wp.

Anything can happen here, especially if a school is desperate and its labour office is small and provincial.

Edited August 22, 2008 by Loaded

[PeaceBlondie]

Thanks, Loaded. I will take a side bet that the small provincial office is the same one that told me in 2004 that they had never, ever issued a work permit to a farang teacher. Times change. Even MoL officers learn.

[waynos]

am thinking about teaching next year when ive tied things up here in england. does anyone recomend a course to go on when i arrive.

is it worth doing them 4 week courses with a guaranteed placement at end of it ?

ive got a few contacts in bkk im going to call to see best way they got in .

[Martian]

If you've never been a classroom teacher, then you are advised to at least graduate from a TEFL course that includes at least 6 hours of actual classroom teaching practice. I am considering this myself and feel I owe it to the profession, students and school to seek such training as a minimum. I'm not the "wildcat" type. I think there are too many of these types teaching English in Thailand already, and the result is..............more stringent requirements and many hoops to jump through in order to teach legally.

Regards,

Martian

[garro]

I think that anybody who encourages the less able westerner to enter the teaching profession is doing a disservice to ESL teaching as a whole. There are plenty of able alternatives to the white faced westerner and these seem to becoming more attractive to employers as time goes on. A continued flood of applicants who are illiterate, dressed for the beach, and smelling of alcohol turning up for interviews is helping to cure the Thai teachers of their objection to darker skinned Asians. The majority of students actually believe that Filipinos are native speakers anyway. I think the problem is that many westerners who teach ESL don't see themselves as professionals and so don't feel any urge to protect the profession. Many may argue that this is all the fault of Thailand, but I think that is the individual teacher's duty to protect the profession.

[wangsuda]

I think that anybody who encourages the less able westerner to enter the teaching profession is doing a disservice to ESL teaching as a whole. There are plenty of able alternatives to the white faced westerner and these seem to becoming more attractive to employers as time goes on. A continued flood of applicants who are illiterate, dressed for the beach, and smelling of alcohol turning up for interviews is helping to cure the Thai teachers of their objection to darker skinned Asians. The majority of students actually believe that Filipinos are native speakers anyway. I think the problem is that many westerners who teach ESL don't see themselves as professionals and so don't feel any urge to protect the profession. Many may argue that this is all the fault of Thailand, but I think that is the individual teacher's duty to protect the profession.

Garro, you're my hero! I've een saying this for years, but usually white people don't listen. I value my professionalism and hate it when some of the unwashed masses think they can do what I do.

[Naam]

If you are white, you can teach.

Education standards are really bad here and almost anyone having white skin teach english here, well maybe for peanuts.

I know a Russian guy (white) and a Nigerian guy (black) teaching english in bkk. They are making somewhere between 20-30k per month.

Well I can do better, one of the guys who lives in our hostel teaches english in the nearby

university ( he is english comes from Manchaster I guess) I can't understand a word what he is saying to me, and he makes 40.000 baht per month for 6-8 hours work per week.

perhaps he wasn't hired to teach english but manchestrian?

[Naam]

I think that anybody who encourages the less able westerner to enter the teaching profession is doing a disservice to ESL teaching as a whole. There are plenty of able alternatives to the white faced westerner and these seem to becoming more attractive to employers as time goes on.

plumbing and wallpaper pasting?

[Naam]

If you've never been a classroom teacher, then you are advised to at least graduate from a TEFL course that includes at least 6 hours of actual classroom teaching practice.

why that much?

[linef]

Thailand is in the process of instituting new qualifications for Western teachers in Thailand. If you want to teach in Thailand, according to the Thai Ministry of Education, you will have to either have these qualifications or get them. The downside is, they're expensive and basically useless outside Thailand. The upside? Well nobody seems to have found one yet.

Here are the new regulations, as outlined in a memo to most schools in Thailand at the beginning of February, 2008:

1. All teachers in Thailand must have a BA degree and a teaching license. If they do not have a BA and a teaching license (very few teachers do) then they will not be allowed to teach in Thailand.

2. For those teachers with a BA but no teaching certification from their home country they will have to take the following:

a) a 20 hour Thai Culture Course covering Thai society, Thai language and culture, Thai courtesy, Thai arts and music (why this is necessary to teach English in Thailand, nobody seems to know?) The cost for this course is 8,000 baht (approximately US $250).

a one year Teacher Training certification program at the cost of 80,000 baht (approximately US $2,500). (As this certification will only be valid in Thailand, you're not likely to get many teachers willing to hand over the money for it).

c) the teacher will have to pass four exams that are derived from current Graduate Diploma in Education courses.

3. Once all these requirements have been met they will have to submit the following:

a) a completed application for a Teacher's License

copy of passport

c) copy of evidence showing teaching qualifications

d) copy of foreign license to teach

e) copy of certificate of teaching operations (nobody seems to know what this means?)

f) copy of the certificate of knowledge testing and evaluation

g) two one-inch full face photographs.

I sent a mail to a school who have TEFL course, and this is their answer.

To teach in a language or government school you need a degree to get a

teachers license and subsequent work permit. However this regulation is

still open to interpretation and varies depending on the province. In

other words there are still lots of people teaching without a degree.

[scyriacus]

English is diffficult to teach. Is that a gerund or a gerbil in your pocket, Ponchasawawin?

garro is wrong and so is peaceblondie. sure it is not easy to teach the difference of 'gerund' and 'gerbil'. but who needs that in thailand? there are at least 10,000 more important words. and words and grammar alone does not make anybody speak. it's motivation! 'protecting the profession' is all you seem to be interested in. the original poster (although he had never 'teached' before) offered his help to make thai people speak english a bit more than today, so what's wrong with that? the so-called 'native speaker' has not the faintest idea how difficult (taught) his language can be for thais, he just wants to demonstrate his undisputed superiority over his students. shame on you! i would suggest the 'elitists' care about the 1% elite in thailand and the simple people with good intentions take care about the 99% normal people at affordable prices with no other qualification than their good will.

[PeaceBlondie]

scyriacus, I am not saying that teaching grammar is the most important thing, but many Thai teachers of English act as if it is paramount. Being non-British, I forgot to put an irony alert in my last joke.

Did I tell here that the crazy Singaporean interviewer complained that many applicants cannot even name the parts of speech, yet that private school only pays 20K a month to their teachers, most of whom are non-native Caucasians? So I think you agreed that the language is very difficult for Thais to learn, and difficult for anybody to teach it to Thais. I plead guilty to trying to keep the level of professionalism among non-native teachers here somewhere above the gutter. I assume your last sentences were ironic, since the top 1% of the Thai elite are educated abroad.

No other qualifications than good will? Good will by itself does not teach English.