How To Teach Here And What I Need

[djgambol]

[daleyboy]

You will need more than a smilie face. Why dont you try giving us some details of your education, background etc. Without this how are we supposed to answer your question?

[djgambol]

I have English Lan, Lit GCSE Grade A, Maths B, GNV Business STUDIES Grade Merit this is the same as 2 A levels back in England and I speak French as had to take language with it I also have other 6 other GCSE but not relevant to me finding teaching here. I never taught before but been told i would be able to do it here quite easily. I worked in England as an IT consultant.

[chownah]

I have English Lan, Lit GCSE Grade A, Maths B, GNV Business STUDIES Grade Merit this is the same as 2 A levels back in England and I speak French as had to take language with it I also have other 6 other GCSE but not relevant to me finding teaching here. I never taught before but been told i would be able to do it here quite easily. I worked in England as an IT consultant.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know what all of that stuff means, but if you have visible tatoos or piercings or dread locks then forget it and if you don't have these and you are young, attractive, with a great smile and personality then that's all you need....assuming that you are a native English speaker more or less...actually being European and being able to speak English confidentally will satisfy the "native English" requirement.

[ilyushin]

A teacher buddy of mine suggested you check ajarn I would think a university would require some teaching experience or certs. Do a search for Thai Universities and ask them for the 19 point check list.

Good luck. Bring original copies of your eductaional records.

[meelousee]

A teacher buddy of mine suggested you check ajarn   I would think a university would require some teaching experience or certs. Do a search for Thai Universities and ask them for the 19 point check list.

Good luck. Bring original copies of your eductaional records. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Like a TEFl ?

[Ijustwannateach]

In some places the smile would be enough!

[Neeranam]

I know many guys who came here with nothing. GSCEs are useless and don't count, although they show you have half a brain. Two of theses guys have now got DOS poositions for large companies.

I work with a teacher covered with tatoos, he covers most them up, in fact I have a few myself.

Short hair is a must.

If you are black asian, forget it.

[kenkannif]

I know some black Asian (descent) native speakers doing okay here. Even a couple of Asian Asians doing okay.

But I agree it's a lot harder.

I actually knew a farang teacher once with a pentagram tattooed on his forehead....he'd been working here for over 8 year!

[Tyree D.]

Short hair is a must.

If you are black asian, forget it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you need to stop posting inaccurate information. I got hired.Why do some of you have to discourage people to teach here?

[PeaceBlondie]

Short hair? I'm over 60 with a ponytail, and got hired 3 times as a teacher in Thailand.

[Neeranam]

QUOTE(Neeranam @ 2005-08-30 14:44:00)

Short hair is a must.

If you are black asian, forget it.

you need to stop posting inaccurate information. I got hired.Why do some of you have to discourage people to teach here?

Most places I have worked would definately not hire a coloured teacher.

They would always take whiteys over Asians.

One coloured guy I knew was hired from England through an agency and when he arrived in LOS, he couldn't get a job in any of the ECC branches in the whole country. They still had to pay him his salary but he never did any teaching regardless of the good qualifications and experience he had had. He eventually got some work with a radio station.

I'm not saying it's not impossible, but very, unfairly hard.

Short hair? I'm over 60 with a ponytail, and got hired 3 times as a teacher in Thailand.

I bet there weren't any young, white, short-haired guys going for the same job.

[Tyree D.]

once again your "facts" don't match my experiences. The LOS is the first place where I got offered so many (teaching) jobs, I had to turn some of them down and the places took it hard.

[otherstuff1957]

We're wandering off topic a bit here, but here's my two cents:

Yes, it is easier to get a job if you look like teacher - or rather, what Thai's expect a teacher to look like! BUT, I've worked with African Americans, Indian Americans (that is India Indians, not Native Americans) and a few fellows with Tatoos, so it IS possible to get a job even if you don't fit the ideal image!

As for your other qualifications, if you have a real University degree and some related experience you can get a slightly better job than if you don't. If you finished University then you should bring your Degree and an original transcript with you. If you didn't finish your degree, you can still get a job, but you'll probably earn a bit less and you probably won't be able to get a Teaching License and Work Permit.

[machangezi]

Bachelor Degree's a pre-requisite for teaching in Thailand but don't worry as long as you're caucasian and ready to teach. Don't worry if you ain't having teaching experience or not aware of class room management techniques.

There're many guys teaching in Thailand with absolutely no qualification. It's all good in LOS!!!

Best of luck.

[mbkudu]

If you are black asian, forget it.

Absolute rubbish. I think you might still be living in the dark ages of the 80's and 90's. A New Zealander who is black that I finished a CELTA course with last month landed a well paying job in Bangkok right after the course. There are also a lot of Philippinos teaching English in Thailand as well. Times are changing fast and it's a good thing that Thais are starting to see past the color of the person and more for who they are.

[kenkannif]

A degree is not actually a pre-requisite as has been said time and time again. Schools can and do get their teachers work permits without a degree.

[machangezi]

i-to-i England says this about pre-requisites:

http://www.onlinetefl.com/viewPages.php?pageid=7884

I've also got few legal documents, in Thai, from the MoE that clearly states that a Bachelor Degree's required for getting a TL and later a WP.

[kenkannif]

i to i don't kow what they're talking about then.

And by all means post that document(s) as I know a fair few teachers with WPs (LDMA from ajarn etc.) that don't hold degrees. I'll give you a couple of days to do so, but after that I'll edit your post accordingly.

So please while generally they are needed they are not pre-requisites in the whole of Thailand to say so is kind of fibbing and inaccurate.

[DavidPortsmouth]

Hi gents,

I will be graduating in 6 months with a Bsc in computing and hopefully will be doing a TEFL course at some point before next summer. I've been to thailand once before for roughly 2 months and I'd love to work there as an English teacher

Is it hard to get "an offer of employment" in Thailand? Is it the same as in England for foreigners that want to work here where the company has to sponspor them etc? Would I need to contact the school from England and attempt to get the offer of employment from here? Can I just get a 60 day visa, go to thailand and find a school that will employ me? What happens if they give me the offer? How does the visa change if you become employed? Do you still need to do visa runs every 60 days?

Sorry for so many questions that have probably been answered a hundred times, i tried the search but it didnt seem to work.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

[kenkannif]

Generally it's best to get here and look for work.

Some TEFL providers will help you with a Visa. If not a tourist Visa with as many entries on as possible is the way to go.

Once you have a job you might have do runs, you might not. You might get a WP, you might not. They might help you get a Non-imm B (which is generally needed to get a WP), they might not.

Joyous huh?

[winner]

I have English Lan, Lit GCSE Grade A, Maths B, GNV Business STUDIES Grade Merit this is the same as 2 A levels back in England and I speak French as had to take language with it I also have other 6 other GCSE but not relevant to me finding teaching here. I never taught before but been told i would be able to do it here quite easily. I worked in England as an IT consultant.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Based on my experience the Thai head teacher would ask you what the above means. They don't know an A level from a Q level. (I don't either) Are you a high school graduate? Or University? You can always get an in- house job in one of the language schools like ECC (for bad money) but to get into the good Thai schools they would prefer a TEFL. Well worth the time and money from my experience.

About the situation for a person who is black or asian. My school recently hired a black teacher and got such bad feedback from the parents that they have to let him go at the end of the term. No complaints about the quality of his teaching! Nice guy and dresses extremely well.

[DavidPortsmouth]

kenkannif,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I just have a few more questions:

Is it easy to do a TEFL course once out in Thailand? How long do they normally take to complete, both out in Asia and back in England? Would it be possible to get a longer visa based on having family out in Thailand?

Cheers

[kenkannif]

Well easy is subjective (do you mean to get a place, or to actually do it?) but there are usually places available on arrival at most IMO&E.

You don't really want anything under 4 weeks in duration, although some run for 6 weeks (depends on how 'intense' you want it to be).

Yes, you could and can get a Visa based on family here.

[OZONE]

If you're a non-degreed teacher and teaching than you are doing them a diserviced. GO TO SCHOOL and PROPER EDUCATION before calling yourself a teacher Please.

[bluebear]

I have English Lan, Lit GCSE Grade A, Maths B, GNV Business STUDIES Grade Merit this is the same as 2 A levels back in England and I speak French as had to take language with it I also have other 6 other GCSE... I worked in England as an IT consultant.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Based on my experience the Thai head teacher would ask you what the above means. They don't know an A level from a Q level. (I don't either) Are you a high school graduate? Or University?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Those are all non degree qualifications.

So once again we have someone with no degree or experience and who worked as a "consultant" wanting to come here.

[OZONE]

I have English Lan, Lit GCSE Grade A, Maths B, GNV Business STUDIES Grade Merit this is the same as 2 A levels back in England and I speak French as had to take language with it I also have other 6 other GCSE... I worked in England as an IT consultant.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Based on my experience the Thai head teacher would ask you what the above means. They don't know an A level from a Q level. (I don't either) Are you a high school graduate? Or University?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Those are all non degree qualifications.

So once again we have someone with no degree or experience and who worked as a "consultant" wanting to come here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No disrespect to anyone, but, I hope the Thais wisen up and stop hiring non-degreed, non-experience teachers so their future sake.

again, you shouldn't be teaching others if you weren't taught yourself

BTW, this post is not meant for you BlueBear

[kenkannif]

Degree doesn't make a teacher any better than someone without a degree IME. You can teach EFL/ESL without a degree in the UK (if you're British), so why the need here???

Silly really. If the degreed teachers were so much better, Thais wouldn't hire those without....but they do

[OZONE]

So you want to teach others with your life experience?. Now thats silly.

Again, how can you teach others when you haven't been taught yourself; In otherword, how can you educate others without Education?

If you're not formally trained or without a college degree at the minimum than you're not a teacher. You might want to call yourself "over-paid baby sitter".

Enough of this "just winged-it attitude because we're here temporary". These people deserved better. They want to learn proper english not be the test subject for someone who needs a couple of dollars to survive.

[Jack Jones]

So you want to teach others with your life experience?. Now thats silly. 

Again, how can you teach others when you haven't been taught yourself; In otherword, how can you educate others without Education?

If you're not formally trained or without a college degree at the minimum than you're not a teacher.  You might want to call yourself "over-paid baby sitter". 

Enough of this "just winged-it attitude because we're here temporary". These people deserved better. They want to learn proper english not be the test subject for someone who needs a couple of dollars to survive.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Not sure I understand this generalisation. I'm sure there are plenty of potential teachers out there without degrees who could do the job as good as those with a degree.

Intelligence and ability are not always a taught subject. Some people are naturally talented, in all walks of life, without having the education.