Possible For A Thai Lady To Do An Tefl Course And Teach English In Thailand?

[bkkc1976]

Hello.

i was asking myself if it is possible for a thai lady(my wife in this case) to do an TEFL course and then work as a english teacher in thailand?

and are there any schools in bangkok where she can go to learn "real" english thats not so expensive?

she speaks very well,but far not enough for teaching and her writing skills are nearly zero...i am not talking about she is going to work in the next few month as a teacher,if it takes years its ok...i just want her something to go for because shes quite bored while i am workin and she sits at home!!

for any answers i would be thankfull/

regards

[SEETEFL]

Two Thai nationals graduated from our course and found jobs teaching English in Chiang Mai. The first is a Thai woman who we helped to secure a position on the English Special Program at Wachirawit Pratom School. She earned twice as much as the Thai Academic Manager. The second is a Thai man who we helped secure a position as an English teacher at Boromarajonani College of Nursing. He earned the same hourly rate as the other foreign teachers.

John

SEE TEFL

Edited June 29, 2009 by SEETEFL

[bkkc1976]

Two Thai nationals graduated from our course and found jobs teaching English in Chiang Mai. The first is a Thai woman who we helped to secure a position on the English Special Program at Wachirawit Pratom School. She earned twice as much as the Thai Academic Manager. The second is a Thai man who we helped secure a position as an English teacher at Boromarajonani College of Nursing. He earned the same hourly rate as the other foreign teachers.

John - SEE TEFL

www.siameducationalexperience.org

Thank you for your fast and helpfull answer!

now i need a school where she can learn english for the next 1 or 2 years thats not so expensive!anything known?

regards

[Rionoir]

That post above seems a little misleading.. I'm guessing those two Thai nationals mentioned above were a lot further along than the OP's wife. TEFL courses certainly aren't for teaching people to write, they are for teaching people who already speak English how to teach English.. not for learning English. And it really doesn't bolster my confidence in the quality of a TEFL program when someone with the school fails to mention this when recommending their course.

I'm just curious.. if your wife can't write English and you don't think she speaks it well enough to teach (not that many Thai teachers of English have great English unfortunately), then what made you want her to go down this path just to overcome her boredom.

[TerryLH]

I think you have to look at the rest of their qualifications as well. Do they have degrees?

OP, does your wife have a degree?

If not, instead of having her study English, why doesn't she go back to school to get one?

OP, are you by any chance a teacher?

Good luck with whatever she ends up doing.

[SEETEFL]

That post above seems a little misleading.. I'm guessing those two Thai nationals mentioned above were a lot further along than the OP's wife. TEFL courses certainly aren't for teaching people to write, they are for teaching people who already speak English how to teach English.. not for learning English. And it really doesn't bolster my confidence in the quality of a TEFL program when someone with the school fails to mention this when recommending their course.

I'm just curious.. if your wife can't write English and you don't think she speaks it well enough to teach (not that many Thai teachers of English have great English unfortunately), then what made you want her to go down this path just to overcome her boredom.

My post was in response to the OP's question in the thread description: "Possible For A Thai Lady To Do An Tefl Course And Teach English In Thailand?" The answer is yes and I gave supporting examples.

In order to complete our course a participant needs to be a native speaker of English or have very strong English language skills. This is the general requirement for most TEFL and CELTA courses and it is written clearly on our website.

From the OP's description of his wife's language skills it's clear she is a long way from being ready to undertake a TEFL certification training course.

John

SEE TEFL

www.SiamEducationalExperience.org

Edited June 30, 2009 by SEETEFL

[Credo]

Thanks for the info on TEFL for non-native speakers. I have a good friend whose English is excellent, including grammar and written English. He's currently not working and this might be the perfect thing for him.

[PeaceBlondie]

My Slovenian friend took a 4-week course and has been teaching since then.

[bkkc1976]

I'm just curious.. if your wife can't write English and you don't think she speaks it well enough to teach (not that many Thai teachers of English have great English unfortunately), then what made you want her to go down this path just to overcome her boredom.

Why not?...teacher in thailand is a well paid job(especially for thai people)...so why shouldnt she go to a school for some years to learn englisch and then having a great salary as englisch teacher?i think this a good opportunity for a thai national without a university degree to make good money here in thailand.before she worked in jj mall for 6000 baht a month,had a 12 hour day and only 2 days off a month!!so being a teacher would be great for her...and i met a few non native englisch speakers that had a well paid jobs.

regards

[bkkc1976]

OP, does your wife have a degree?

If not, instead of having her study English, why doesn't she go back to school to get one?

OP, are you by any chance a teacher?

Good luck with whatever she ends up doing.

She doesnt have a degree and she not wants to go back school because this would take her many years and in the end the best she could get would be 7/11 manager job with 10000 baht salary and a 12 hour day...

i just want to check all possibilties for her and we have no idea what she is going to do in the end.

i am not a teacher as i have too many tattoos(no jailhouse stuff,but hands covered)...:-).

regards

[CWMcMurray]

I think you will find that without a degree, she will not be able to get a job even if she studies English for a couple of years and then does a TEFL course.

If she is willing to study English for a couple of years (as per your earlier post) and does not have a degree, she should Enroll at one of the many colleges in Thailand as an "English Major" (most are highly focused on reading/writing). This will help to solve two problems at the same time...

If she likes it, then she can do her TEFL...

Edited July 6, 2009 by CWMcMurray

[coulson]

My experiences job searching in Asian Countries and on other forums is that non-native speakers are discriminated against generally. I cannot speak for Thailand specifically.

However, if somebody is fluent enough to understand and explain a gerund, you would think that there should be no reaosn why they should not in fact be more qualified to teach English as a bi-lingual person.

[scorecard]

My experiences job searching in Asian Countries and on other forums is that non-native speakers are discriminated against generally. I cannot speak for Thailand specifically.

However, if somebody is fluent enough to understand and explain a gerund, you would think that there should be no reaosn why they should not in fact be more qualified to teach English as a bi-lingual person.

I admire your wife's desire to do something constructive and I admire your concern that she a worthwhile activity, and your support for this. I also admire you for your realization that a development program, perhaps English, will be long term.

I agree that you are correct to have concerns about her being at home and bored. This should be a concern in any country and in any marriage, and a concern in both directions.

Very best of good luck to you both.

[otherstuff1957]

I have a Thai friend who teaches TEFL. She has a Masters Degree from a British University and speaks almost perfect English. I believe that she earns a bit over 20K per month. Another Thai friend lived in the UK for a couple of years and speaks, reads and writes almost perfect English, but didn't go to University. She teaches Kindergarten and earns less than 10K per month.

IME Thais can teach English, but they won't get anywhere near the salary of a Native Speaker.

Your wife could actually earn a lot more money selling Somtam on the street. A good street vendor can earn 20K or more a month!

Edited July 12, 2009 by otherstuff1957