New Teacher/No Experience

[lukeskywalker]

Hi,

I am an American about to take on my first teaching job. It is at a uni teaching mostly business classes with some general education classes thrown in. It's one 3 hour class a day. I have a B.S. in Business and an MBA. I'm not worried about the material.

However, I am concerned how to "act". Are there any resources I can read that will tell me the do's and don'ts of teaching in a Thai school, ways of getting better student participation, etc. etc? Basically, a "New Farang Teacher's Guide to Teaching University in Thailand"?

THX

[kerryk]

Different schools are different. College can mean many things. Class size and gender? City? Formal job with work permit or pick up job on the sly? Vocational school or University. Big name school? How much Thai do you speak? Are the teachers allowed to speak Thai? How many native speakers and from what countries?

[lukeskywalker]

Different schools are different. College can mean many things. Class size and gender? City? Formal job with work permit or pick up job on the sly? Vocational school or University. Big name school? How much Thai do you speak? Are the teachers allowed to speak Thai? How many native speakers and from what countries?

About 25 students per 3 hours class (1 class each day for me). Mixed gender. Chiang Mai. Formal job w/work permit and salary. University. Fairly big name school. Cannot speak Thai. No or very little native English speakers, most are from other Asian countries.

[CaptainSplod]

Hmm...not many answers at the moment...........

Try this link while you're waiting - it's free, "How To Teach English" - and you can even download it, I believe.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/14427811/How-to-Teach-English-Jeremy-Harmer

Sorry i can't be of much help - but then again I'm not a teacher.

Good Luck

Splod

[sirchai]

I’d suggest keeping your lessons funny. You won’t find too many students being very good in English, so please don’t be surprised.

Be aware that nobody will tell you if they couldn't understand you, the old Thai losing face problem.

Try their level of English and then decide what you’ll teach them. Students will only participate when they like you, pretty difficult to give you advice in that.

Make a lot of role plays with them, don’t touch their heads! Make some jokes.

Don’t raise your voice, even if you’d like to. Thais think it’s very rude.

Keep smiling, even when you’ve got the worst hangover of your life. Lol.

Please see. http://www.ajarn.com/help-and-guides/newbie-guide/

Be well dressed, show good manners and all will be fine. Good luck from north-east......... .

Edited May 17, 2012 by sirchai

[kerryk]

I’d suggest keeping your lessons funny. You won’t find too many students being very good in English, so please don’t be surprised.

Be aware that nobody will tell you that they don’t understand you, the Thai losing face problem.

Try their level of English and then decide what you’ll teach them. Students will only participate when they like you, pretty difficult to give you advice in that.

Make a lot of role plays with them, don’t touch their heads! Make some jokes.

Don’t raise your voice, even if you’d like to. Thais think it’s very rude.

Keep smiling, even when you’ve got the worst hangover of your life. Lol.

Be well dressed, show good manners and all will be fine. Good luck from north-east......... .

Just wondering. Do you teach on a college level in Thailand?

[kerryk]

I’d suggest keeping your lessons funny. You won’t find too many students being very good in English, so please don’t be surprised.

Be aware that nobody will tell you that they don’t understand you, the Thai losing face problem.

Try their level of English and then decide what you’ll teach them. Students will only participate when they like you, pretty difficult to give you advice in that.

Make a lot of role plays with them, don’t touch their heads! Make some jokes.

Don’t raise your voice, even if you’d like to. Thais think it’s very rude.

Keep smiling, even when you’ve got the worst hangover of your life. Lol.

Be well dressed, show good manners and all will be fine. Good luck from north-east......... .

Just wondering. Do you teach on a college level in Thailand?

[phuturatica]

I’d suggest keeping your lessons funny. You won’t find too many students being very good in English, so please don’t be surprised.

Be aware that nobody will tell you that they don’t understand you, the Thai losing face problem.

Try their level of English and then decide what you’ll teach them. Students will only participate when they like you, pretty difficult to give you advice in that.

Make a lot of role plays with them, don’t touch their heads! Make some jokes.

Don’t raise your voice, even if you’d like to. Thais think it’s very rude.

Keep smiling, even when you’ve got the worst hangover of your life. Lol.

Be well dressed, show good manners and all will be fine. Good luck from north-east......... .

Just wondering. Do you teach on a college level in Thailand?

I'm guessing they don't.

As to the OP, how you will act will vary on what university you are teaching at and how your students are.

Whilst I know many good teachers who have degrees but no CELTA/TEFL qualification, I am reminded by posts like this that the CELTA/TEFL qualification help you with this kind of thing.

[kerryk]

I’d suggest keeping your lessons funny. You won’t find too many students being very good in English, so please don’t be surprised.

Be aware that nobody will tell you that they don’t understand you, the Thai losing face problem.

Try their level of English and then decide what you’ll teach them. Students will only participate when they like you, pretty difficult to give you advice in that.

Make a lot of role plays with them, don’t touch their heads! Make some jokes.

Don’t raise your voice, even if you’d like to. Thais think it’s very rude.

Keep smiling, even when you’ve got the worst hangover of your life. Lol.

Be well dressed, show good manners and all will be fine. Good luck from north-east......... .

Just wondering. Do you teach on a college level in Thailand?

I'm guessing they don't.

As to the OP, how you will act will vary on what university you are teaching at and how your students are.

Whilst I know many good teachers who have degrees but no CELTA/TEFL qualification, I am reminded by posts like this that the CELTA/TEFL qualification help you with this kind of thing.

I know a bunch of TEFL high school drop outs who teach in Thailand but none who teach on a college level. I don't think there is anyone posting on Thai Visa who actually teaches at a college in Thailand.

[Scott]

We do have a few posters who teach at Universities, but they are apparently not too active, at least not at the present time. There aren't a lot of them, however.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Scott