shakeydave Posted October 29, 2008 Posted October 29, 2008 Hi Peeps, Well I am making the move next year over to Samui and during my time I would like to do a Tefl course.I have been to Samui many times and also other parts of the Kingdom and I enjoy Samui the most so I thought I would do my Tefl whilst staying here for a while.I have seen several schools on the web and they all claim to be the best and the cheapest but my main question is which one has the best rep on the island and which ones to avoid.After completing the course I also wish to do some volunteer work as a teacher for a couple of months so I can gain some useful experiance before going into the big bad world of teaching. Before evryone jumps on me and tells me there is no teaching work in Samui and that Samui is pants please don't waste your post.I'm after straight up advice, I have plenty of funds to cover my stay so money is not an issue and I do uderstand that I won't get paid for volunteer work.That said I can't wait to come back to Samui and as soon as I can I will be over there. I look forward to your replies, I know that after reading some of the posts here those with a degree look down on TEFL but bear in mind I'm after a life experiance and not a career hence the volunteer work after the TEFL course.I'mchoosing Samui as that is my favourite place in LOS. Cheers Shakeyd
NarcosisDiver Posted October 29, 2008 Posted October 29, 2008 Hi Peeps,Well I am making the move next year over to Samui and during my time I would like to do a Tefl course.I have been to Samui many times and also other parts of the Kingdom and I enjoy Samui the most so I thought I would do my Tefl whilst staying here for a while.I have seen several schools on the web and they all claim to be the best and the cheapest but my main question is which one has the best rep on the island and which ones to avoid.After completing the course I also wish to do some volunteer work as a teacher for a couple of months so I can gain some useful experiance before going into the big bad world of teaching. Before evryone jumps on me and tells me there is no teaching work in Samui and that Samui is pants please don't waste your post.I'm after straight up advice, I have plenty of funds to cover my stay so money is not an issue and I do uderstand that I won't get paid for volunteer work.That said I can't wait to come back to Samui and as soon as I can I will be over there. I look forward to your replies, I know that after reading some of the posts here those with a degree look down on TEFL but bear in mind I'm after a life experiance and not a career hence the volunteer work after the TEFL course.I'mchoosing Samui as that is my favourite place in LOS. Cheers Shakeyd Hi, I'm also interested in doing a TEFL CELTA course in Samui but have only found Bkk, Chang Mai, Phuket & Pattaya offering courses. What schools have you come across in Samui? I've lived there for the past year and havent come across any professional institutions for TEFL qualifications. Cheers.
Martian Posted October 30, 2008 Posted October 30, 2008 Hi,I'm also interested in doing a TEFL CELTA course in Samui but have only found Bkk, Chang Mai, Phuket & Pattaya offering courses. What schools have you come across in Samui? I've lived there for the past year and havent come across any professional institutions for TEFL qualifications. Cheers. If you Google TEFL Koh Samui you will come up with at least two schools on Samui: Text and Talk and Island Tefl. You're on your own from there. Martian
Hannahcopacabana Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 Hi Shakeydave, I know how confusing it can be - there's a whole range of different courses available out there and it’s really important to choose the right one for you. People often use ‘TEFL’ as a generic term for some kind of certificate or qualification in teaching English. This covers all the bases: You can do a weekend TEFL course or a day course, You can even do one over the internet if you want. That will be enough to get you a job in Thailand but if you want to work in a desirable, island location with fewer job opportunities than the big city (does that describe Samui? I don’t know, never having actually been there) then your best bet is to arm yourself with either a Cambridge CELTA or a Trinity TESOL just so you stand out from all the other people who thought “Wouldn’t it be nice to live here.” Employers do know the difference between a 'proper' course with decent mentored teaching practice and a few hours online. (flinches in anticipation of the onslaught of barbed comments from ‘generic’ TEFL cert holders) Mind if I ask why you’re set on doing your quals on Samui itself? (I don't think you can do either a CELTA or a TESOL on Samui) Why not consider investing 4 weeks in a course in Bangkok? It’s only a month's hard slog and after that you’d be free to go wherever. Whatever you do, I seriously recommend you look at TEFLwatch dot com. It has reviews of different course providers and the forums provide some interesting (tho arguably one sided) views on what I always thought were relatively well-respected organizations. regards Hannahcopacabana
PeaceBlondie Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 Reminder: TEFL wars do not work here. We can keep this topic focused on courses available on Samui.
shakeydave Posted November 3, 2008 Author Posted November 3, 2008 Hi Shakeydave, I know how confusing it can be - there's a whole range of different courses available out there and it’s really important to choose the right one for you. People often use ‘TEFL’ as a generic term for some kind of certificate or qualification in teaching English. This covers all the bases: You can do a weekend TEFL course or a day course, You can even do one over the internet if you want. That will be enough to get you a job in Thailand but if you want to work in a desirable, island location with fewer job opportunities than the big city (does that describe Samui? I don’t know, never having actually been there) then your best bet is to arm yourself with either a Cambridge CELTA or a Trinity TESOL just so you stand out from all the other people who thought “Wouldn’t it be nice to live here.” Employers do know the difference between a 'proper' course with decent mentored teaching practice and a few hours online. (flinches in anticipation of the onslaught of barbed comments from ‘generic’ TEFL cert holders) Mind if I ask why you’re set on doing your quals on Samui itself? (I don't think you can do either a CELTA or a TESOL on Samui) Why not consider investing 4 weeks in a course in Bangkok? It’s only a month's hard slog and after that you’d be free to go wherever. Whatever you do, I seriously recommend you look at TEFLwatch dot com. It has reviews of different course providers and the forums provide some interesting (tho arguably one sided) views on what I always thought were relatively well-respected organizations. regards Hannahcopacabana Hi Hannah, I thought about Samui because that is may fave destination in Thailand and I have been there so many times it feels like home from home.Regarding which course and as to how many jobs there are on Samui I agree with you that jobs on the island maybe few and far between so having more training would be better than none or a TEFL course that lasts just 4 weeks.I really had my heart set on Samui but it maybe that I have to change this option to get what I want and also as a newbie. I strongly believe that I will need practice and that is why I would like to do a couple of months volunteer work before I can embark on paid work so I can iron out any mistakes that I will no doubt make as a new teacher even though I come from England teaching it will be a whole new ball game. I am open to any advice and will listen to anyone who wishes to help but I don't want to start a war of words as to which is course is the best or worst I'm simply after help and advice so I don't make mistakes that others seem to make when arriving into Thailand and simply sit a course and believe they are world beaters at teaching english.The other aspect to this is that my brother teaches in Bangkok and it would be easy for me to hang around his neck and do as he did but Iwanted to be a little independant from him as he has enough to deal with regarding his life over there and his job.The only place I could think of getting honest advice was on this forum given that the topic is about education, so if there is anyone with good honest advice it would be most welcome and I hope I have made myself clear that I don't expect teaching to be easy. Cheers Shakeyd
Hannahcopacabana Posted November 3, 2008 Posted November 3, 2008 Dear All, Apologies for earlier indiscretion re snotty remarks about TEFL courses. It was not intended to cause offence and was only a personal opinion based on my own experience. (Mortified to have been told off by PeaceBlondie).
Loaded Posted November 4, 2008 Posted November 4, 2008 Dear All, Apologies for earlier indiscretion re snotty remarks about TEFL courses. It was not intended to cause offence and was only a personal opinion based on my own experience. (Mortified to have been told off by PeaceBlondie). PB normally follows up on his warnings with a personal visit. He has a neat piece of software that can translate an IP to an actual physical address. I won't tell you about his methods but his best friend is a Cambodian organ trader!
Hannahcopacabana Posted November 4, 2008 Posted November 4, 2008 PB normally follows up on his warnings with a personal visit. He has a neat piece of software that can translate an IP to an actual physical address. I won't tell you about his methods but his best friend is a Cambodian organ trader! I suspected as much. I'm not too worried though as I doubt even a black market organ dealer would have any use for my pumice liver and tar-blackened lungs. Shakeydave, I forgot to add that Mr Copacabana is the same age as you and also just started out as a teacher (he passed a qualification last month). If you have any questions for either of us, please don't hesitate.
topsecret Posted September 4, 2009 Posted September 4, 2009 You can take a 2 week TEFL course at Lamai, Koh Samui. Google: TeachAbroadThailand
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