You and your Thai Wife of 20 years.

[Corporateteacher]

During my time here, I've done - not tons of - but nearly in that amount of different in-house training classes. And I just got hired to do another one with an extremely short notice. So I was sent of to the middle of nowhere in a Bangkok suburb, passing through the security I already felt UNWELCOME. There was only one entry-point to the premises, and they had no clue of a "farang" coming. Furthermore the location was so far away that the Taxidriver looked very pleased on taking me there.

It took some time to pass the security guards, but eventually I was allow to do so.

Arriving at the reception, the receptionist had no clue of why I was there. Didn't speak one word of English. After some waiting time, someone from the office came and greeted me. But not the way I've been used too. I got the feeling of "you are not what we have been expecting". The MD came to the reception area too. I didn't have any idea of who he was, as he was wearing casual clothing style and didn't look like a Thai MD at all. After some time he told me, I'm the MD here. Ohhhh.... really. 3rd grade interrogation took place next with a superior attitude. Although it did start with the usual soft approach:

How long have you been here?. As they already have got my credentials through the contractor for picking the right candidate, I was a bit puzzled in to this way of greeting and "saying good day". While that small play took place an office clerk came to the room and bowed and told in Thai that the students were waiting. I was then taken to the location.

A class of students were already present in the room, and I was handed a piece of paper with a list of there names. No introduction. The room was the size of an uni auditorium, so I needed to speak quite powerfully in order for them to hear me. That's no problem, although I also needed to go another company afterwords and already had been working in a uni during the daytime. Then I saw, that they had no books. Only some dictionaries and some paper. Most looked tired and bored already.

Before the session took place, I was told, that there would be books in the room. So I choose not to say anything, but started to introduce myself and trying to figure out who where who in the room. Then came the shock number two. Roughly half of the assembled students were zero understanding English staff and only a few could engage in a conversation. At the same time the MD and some other managers took a seat at the back of this huge room, monitoring all my movements etc and with no smiles at all aka in fact expressionless.

Anyway, as I have done this many times before, I thought Okay I'm the only actor on stage, so I better keep playing the play. Started with some kind of a lesson, being completely sure that everyone were coming along I also choose to get all words and the whole sentences translated into Thai, repeating in group and individual. The 1st hour passed and I asked if they wanted a small break for few minutes. Here I probably did my big mistake. The MD didn't looked pleased at all and only a few staff chose to do so. I gave them 5 minutes - walked down the room, and asked the MD if I did something wrong. A Thai smile came up and a sound of No and that was the end of the conversation. I tried to chat a little bit about his brand new notebook, but got only short answers. Feeling really welcome.

I went back to my desk, called those student back that went outside the room and continued. Went one with the "show" and finally the last hour was done. MD had left the room already, so only some senior ranking officers followed me out of the room. They didn't look pleased AT ALL.

Being doing this kind of training for thousand of hours all of Bangkok from small seized over medium to large and even very large scale companies, I didn't feel happy myself and my self-confidence sank to the absolute freezing point. The next day the contractor said they company complained about the first rendez vous and that they had expected me to be prepared. I did have some materials in my bag, but no xeros of it and the whole thing just went on like a nightmare coz of what went one.

I was then told in an email to prepare some for the next class until some books would be present in the room. I agreed although I may say, that normally one never have to do this. The company also wanted that I didn't speak Thai with them. I can't, only some basic words as I know it's quite common here. But what to do when so many in the group nearly had NO English skills.

Anyway the next day the company choose to asked for another teacher. I went through my records of teaching here and for the first time ever doing more than 40 different courses, being a permanent in-house teacher and therefore a returning teacher in many other huge corp., I felt really miserable about everything. In fact a bit offended. Add to my experience 100reds of language classes and I have never experienced anything like this before, not even at Thai Unies.

So why did I write this. To find out if others have been in the same boat as me. Left to survive for 2 hours in a class feeling not welcome, with no teaching materials - that were promised to be there - and getting blamed for it. The contractor told me, that the company thought they took care of it, and they thought they took care of it. Leaving it to me to be the scapegoat.........

But then again, This is Thailand.

[jdinasia]

Sounds rough ....

I am curious though, are you a native English speaker?

[nakachalet]

corporateteacher

i truly emphatised with your miseries to say the least.

well.... as a third unbiased observer....

with your ample experiences and all, you really need to prepare something in your bag of tricks, like most first yr teachers....

most attendees like to have something in hands during your presentation.... in order to follow what you are saying et al....

besides, whatever you do, whatever you say and whatever you present.... you really ought to have plenty of visual aids on hand to reenforce and stimulate your attendees....

well, that is what i do mostly.... especially if the meeting involves large attendant, i'll prepare even more visual aids to keep their interest up and up....

well.... don't feel too depressed.... you really can not please everyone at the same time.... if that is any comfort to you.

wishing you better and more pleasant presentation next time, alright?

[backsoon]

Sounds rough ....

I am curious though, are you a native English speaker?

Corporateteacher. I usually avoid making comments about poster's spelling and english.

But in this case I think it would be justified. I am not impressed...

You also have made many mistakes.

You should know the level you were going to teach.

You should know the motivation level of your students to be.

You should prepare lots of Audio/Video aids (are reusable in other classes).

You should indicate the standard level of motivation/effort expected (I usually do).

And if the above is not satisfactory, you should not have taken the job (I never do).

That is why I NEVER tought English in Thailand. With the Corporate clients, usually the decision to study comes from the top. The students are not volunteers and not motivated. You must 'pass' them, or they hate you. Etc...

To learn a language there must be good teaching and good learning efforts in the group!

Cheers.

[Soi Sauce]

With the current major shortage of corporate teaching contracts, how did you get the job?

You can't spell, you weren't prepared, and you had no materials.

What was the topic of your "make it up as you go along lesson".

[powderpuff]

That is why I NEVER tought English in Thailand. With the Corporate clients, usually the decision to study comes from the top. The students are not volunteers and not motivated. You must 'pass' them, or they hate you. Etc...

To learn a language there must be good teaching and good learning efforts in the group!

Cheers.

You must be kidding. How would he show all these audio video materials?

The company are a crew of idiots who wasted their money.

btw - sure glad you never "tought" sic me. Sheesh.

I would just tell your client that you were not treated well at all & you would rather not go back to that firm.

[samran]

And couldn't speak Thai either. You are already whinging about the receptionist not speaking English.

You walk into a meeting to engage with people. If they aren't going to understand a word of what you are saying, of course they are going to return a blank stare.

Imagine a French teacher, with no English skills, marches into the blackblocks of East London to teach a class where she can't even communicate with the secretary in the front office?

Only got yourself to blame here I'm afraid! Maybe make your 'act' into a two man show. The Thai speaking person to draw them in, you to do the parrot responses that they want.

[Colabamumbai]

And he still has not answered the question..."Is he a native English speaker"?

[gamle]

Please read the OP carefully before attacking. It states clearly that when hired to do the gig, I WAS TOLD that there would be teaching materials present at the premises. I have done this kind of Corporate courses at least 40 times before, and never ever experienced anything like it. I did my home work before attenting the class. I knew everything about the company, there products, markets, staff numbers etc but to avail as there English skills weren't for that kind of training. Sure a few could do it, the rest would have been left behind the wagon.

Rule no. 1 that's seldom mention, but always "Law" anyway - It's an English course, so avoiding Thai. I speak enough Thai to introduce myself and to tell about myself, but when a company receptionist even had no clue that there would be coming a FARANG to the premises - I think it says a lot about the culture of the company. Everywhere I've been teaching prior to this this gig, I was expected and greeted likewise.

The whole scene became out of hand in no time when I first was put in front of the "lions". Intro took place, names exchanges and checked, talking, figuring out of levels etc while the management was STARING me down at the time, like I were a clown that didn't knew anything.

My facts was by instruction from the contractor, books and teaching material would be ready, it weren't the case. That everyone could speak a little English or at least beginner level, sure some did and then this 1/3 or more - close to half - that had non English. And the instruction was avoid THAI..... Go figure out yourself how to overcome the hills. I lost momentum for sure, and I'm normally not easy to knock down. But the whole atmosfair in the room, wasn't like I'm used to, it was SO different. Normally one can joke around, but with management present, it was IMPOSSIBLE.

Everything was very different from the norm, so please be a bit tolerant, guys. I felt like Bruce W. at the wrong place at the wrong time......

The good news, though, is that I just got hired to do another corp. class from a returning customer - a large scale corp..... it would be fifth return to them, so I must be doing something quite well.

And yes, sorry if made a type-, grammar or spelling mistakes..... I just hit the buttons, pressed the preview, but somehow it came online.... Noone is perfect, I always admit it. The whole blog wasn't about spelling by the way.

[gamle]

By the way. THERE wasn't any AV equip in the room at all. Only a whiteboard that wasn't mounted aka on wheels that even couldn't be locked.

So try to imagine everytime the marker hits the surface..... with management in the room, many didn't like to speak up to. Company have cut down lately due to the financial crises, but needed some prodution staff to speak English

So the idea of slides, power-points presentation etc was totally out of the question and I was told when hired it wasn't needed the first many times.

There wasn't even a cd player.....

Most companies are very clear on the task of an English course, they were not. And blamed me. I was only the messenger. Upon arrival the issue of teaching materials wasn't a topic even that they saw I didn't carry any with me.

Do you need to xerox? wasn't mention, too. Nor did the staff that came to bring me to auditorium, ask about it as the MD used all the time to grill me on my past experiences. As stated in the OP they expected me to bring books, and the company who hired me thought they took care of the books.

[Naam]

And couldn't speak Thai either. You are already whinging about the receptionist not speaking English.

You walk into a meeting to engage with people. If they aren't going to understand a word of what you are saying, of course they are going to return a blank stare.

Imagine a French teacher, with no English skills, marches into the blackblocks of East London to teach a class where she can't even communicate with the secretary in the front office?

Only got yourself to blame here I'm afraid! Maybe make your 'act' into a two man show. The Thai speaking person to draw them in, you to do the parrot responses that they want.

i remember the time in high school when we had teachers who taught English and French but did not speak any German when they arrived. when learning a language by "total immersion" it is quite often the same and the setup is deliberately.

[samran]

And couldn't speak Thai either. You are already whinging about the receptionist not speaking English.

You walk into a meeting to engage with people. If they aren't going to understand a word of what you are saying, of course they are going to return a blank stare.

Imagine a French teacher, with no English skills, marches into the blackblocks of East London to teach a class where she can't even communicate with the secretary in the front office?

Only got yourself to blame here I'm afraid! Maybe make your 'act' into a two man show. The Thai speaking person to draw them in, you to do the parrot responses that they want.

i remember the time in high school when we had teachers who taught English and French but did not speak any German when they arrived. when learning a language by "total immersion" it is quite often the same and the setup is deliberately.

understand and respect that point, Naam. I studied french for 6 years and learned to read Thai that way, but immersion only works when it is intensive and long term.

What this guy is doing isn't anything near that. Not that I teach English but I'm supposed to do many of our corporate presentations in it, but there comes a time when if the audience isn't interacting, you say 'screw it' and flick the switch into Thai as a backup. Works a treat. Eyes light up, interest comes back, people stop looking at their watches.

This guy would have only needed a few key phrases in Thai to get the interaction going. He isn't anywhere near fluent, so there isn't any chance the students are going to be able to 'cheat' and have the 'english lesson' spoon fed to them in Thai.

Edited February 4, 2010 by samran

[gamle]

Corporateteacher. I usually avoid making comments about poster's spelling and english.

But in this case I think it would be justified. I am not impressed...

To learn a language there must be good teaching and good learning efforts in the group!

Cheers.

So do I, but since you started to choose to do so, I'll kick back...

English, right? not english...

:-)

By the way I only wrote this to get in contact with others to see if someone else had experienced a similar thing and how they coped with it. Sorry for being hasty with the keyboard.

Edited February 4, 2010 by gamle

[midasthailand]

Judging by the OP's last two posts, I would say it is unlikely that he is a native English speaker. I am not sure that is relevant anyway as his structures are sound and apparently he was supposed to be providing a two hour basic English lesson.

[Corporateteacher]

Judging by the OP's last two posts, I would say it is unlikely that he is a native English speaker. I am not sure that is relevant anyway as his structures are sound and apparently he was supposed to be providing a two hour basic English lesson.

Judging by your post..... what are you then? It isn't relevant at all.

[Corporateteacher]

With the current major shortage of corporate teaching contracts, how did you get the job?

You can't spell, you weren't prepared, and you had no materials.

What was the topic of your "make it up as you go along lesson".

Wauuu.....Did I step on your toes. Read the Op once again very carefully, before kicking in. I got the gig 1 day before it had to take place.

Sure, no materials ready in big numbers. Reason : I was told there would be teaching materials aka books ready. I didn't anticipate it wouldn't be the case.

Prepared. Sure - I knew everything about the company that I managed to find from the net, 41 past corp. seasons, and 2100 hours of adult language classes and more. Enough for the 1st season, which mostly are intro, fact finding, level placement, small talk about them, me etc. And of course the books to start with.... but as it turned out, there weren't there.

Oh, sorry. I can't spell. Thanks for reminding me on this issue. Maybe you could bring me up to speed then..

But this only shows that the topic of the tread is not your big concern. That was mine, and I was carried away on the whole matter due to fact I never tried to be in a situation like this before, so I if made some mistakes, please forgive me.

Edited February 4, 2010 by Corporateteacher

[SeanMoran]

If you don't have a guitar handy onsite, it's always good to have a few standard lesson-game type group activities in your repertiore, such as draw the elephant on the blackboard and name the 76 provinces, or else fall back on good ole hangman if you must.

[toptuan]

...I never tried to be in a situation like this before, so I if made some mistakes, please forgive me.

You were poorly-prepared for a first-time-anything-can-happen class, and suffer from a lack of proper grammar, thus poorly trained.

The company scraped the bottom of the barrel (probably didn't check references and satisfaction of other customers) and got exactly what they failed to do due diligence for (non-native speaker, poor grammar, poor spelling, etc.).

Both of you were victims. Sorry.

Can't offer any advice other than to suggest you upgrade your own skills to that of a true corporate language consultant/teacher in the English language.

[jdinasia]

Wauuu.....Did I step on your toes. Read the Op once again very carefully, before kicking in. I got the gig 1 day before it had to take place.

Sure, no materials ready in big numbers. Reason : I was told there would be teaching materials aka books ready. I didn't anticipate it wouldn't be the case.

Prepared. Sure - I knew everything about the company that I managed to find from the net, 41 past corp. seasons, and 2100 hours of adult language classes and more. Enough for the 1st season, which mostly are intro, fact finding, level placement, small talk about them, me etc. And of course the books to start with.... but as it turned out, there weren't there.

Oh, sorry. I can't spell. Thanks for reminding me on this issue. Maybe you could bring me up to speed then..

But this only shows that the topic of the tread is not your big concern. That was mine, and I was carried away on the whole matter due to fact I never tried to be in a situation like this before, so I if made some mistakes, please forgive me.

BTW --- you are only allowed ONE screenname (sign-in name) for ThaiVisa.

I looked for your answer to the only question I asked but didn't see it, though I did see someone else ask it too.

"Are you a native English speaker?"

[Corporateteacher]

...I never tried to be in a situation like this before, so I if made some mistakes, please forgive me.

You were poorly-prepared for a first-time-anything-can-happen class, and suffer from a lack of proper grammar, thus poorly trained.

The company scraped the bottom of the barrel (probably didn't check references and satisfaction of other customers) and got exactly what they failed to do due diligence for (non-native speaker, poor grammar, poor spelling, etc.).

Both of you were victims. Sorry.

Can't offer any advice other than to suggest you upgrade your own skills to that of a true corporate language consultant/teacher in the English language.

Thanks for the advise, pal. I choose to stop responding to this tread as it becomes a bit out of the line.....

I forgot that forums are not the place to get any useful advises and backing, due to my poor training, poor everything.

[SeanMoran]

...I never tried to be in a situation like this before, so I if made some mistakes, please forgive me.

You were poorly-prepared for a first-time-anything-can-happen class, and suffer from a lack of proper grammar, thus poorly trained.

The company scraped the bottom of the barrel (probably didn't check references and satisfaction of other customers) and got exactly what they failed to do due diligence for (non-native speaker, poor grammar, poor spelling, etc.).

Both of you were victims. Sorry.

Can't offer any advice other than to suggest you upgrade your own skills to that of a true corporate language consultant/teacher in the English language.

Thanks for the advise, pal. I choose to stop responding to this tread as it becomes a bit out of the line.....

I forgot that forums are not the place to get any useful advises and backing, due to my poor training, poor everything.

Sanuk is the name of the game nowdays. Have fun!

[toptuan]

...I never tried to be in a situation like this before, so I if made some mistakes, please forgive me.

You were poorly-prepared for a first-time-anything-can-happen class, and suffer from a lack of proper grammar, thus poorly trained.

The company scraped the bottom of the barrel (probably didn't check references and satisfaction of other customers) and got exactly what they failed to do due diligence for (non-native speaker, poor grammar, poor spelling, etc.).

Both of you were victims. Sorry.

Can't offer any advice other than to suggest you upgrade your own skills to that of a true corporate language consultant/teacher in the English language.

Thanks for the advise, pal. I choose to stop responding to this tread as it becomes a bit out of the line.....

I forgot that forums are not the place to get any useful advises and backing, due to my poor training, poor everything.

Another response full of spelling and grammatical errors from a disenchanted language "expert."

OK, here's some specific, objective, helpful advice: Enroll in an English course taught by a native speaker, preferably in a country where English is the first language. After you pass at least the 4th or 5th level of Cambridge's ESL speaker skill rubric, then come back and hang your shingle. If you can't handle that advice, we're talking to a wall.

Edited February 4, 2010 by toptuan

[lopburi3]

topic closed at OP request.