Need Some Advice

[expat63]

Recently, after much conviction from my neighbor, I said yes to teach English at the local school here. As you probably understand, my neighbor is a teacher.

I told her that I am not native English, but she thought that I will be more than good enough for this level. I teach 2-6 grades.

First I was actually shocked. The students supposed to have learned English some years already, but it was more or less nothing.

So back to my questions.

They have study books, but this has probably been made for native English and way to difficult. Does someone know any good books for this purpose? I think all of them can start with 2. grade books.

Another problem is how to pronounce t, like in It. When most of the students pronounce it, it sounds like ish (or Cat like Cash etc). Is there any technic how to learn it? I have tried: If they bite on one of their finger, it automatically sounds more correct. That means they can’t close their mouth to form a s.

Third and last question. Discipline.

I have tried to be a nice and gentle uncle, but without any success. Lately I have been running a tighter and stricter line and it seems to help. And NO I don’t hit children. But I feel that I don’t have the right kind of punishment. I tried showing them out of the classroom. If I do that, I only ending up with more problems. They meet other students running around without any teacher in the class.

I tried moving the students around in the classroom so they don’t have their chatting mate.

I do this for free.

I have told them that I don’t want them to end up looking after the water buffalo.

[colinneil]

Good luck mate all thai children run around in school like animals almost immpossible to stop, my suggestion is what i do put the ring leader outside alone for 30 minutes , i find that helps, when they come back inside they are very quiet.

[scooterboy]

Good luck from here, too. Always good to hear of people are trying to help out where they can.

I agree with you about the books and the standard of English in the schools. They somehow don't fit together. Some of the kids I teach have books with the past tense (I did, I went, I had, etc.), but none of the kids can read a full sentence and most can't read many of the words at all - and these are kids that will go to secondary school next term! When I first came here (a few weeks ago) none of the kids could say anything except "Hello" and were exceptionally shy, too. At least they now can speak SOME English - and the shyness has virtually disappeared, so you can see that you'll have some (a great deal, even) of success, as long as you keep at it.

I try to avoid scolding the kids, but reward the ones that do well with a "sticker" or a biscuit or something. The other kids tend to catch on and try a bit harder to get a sticker/biscuit, as well - and even the less clever ones can get a sticker/biscuit - just by trying and having good behaviour. Too, moving the difficult kids next to the opposite sex (i.e. place a boy next to a girl) can often help.

At present, I've been asked to go through the upcoming ONET exam, so that the kids can sit and mark off the correct answers! That shows the system you're up against, I think.

Pronouncing some words (t, th, s, k, r, l) is a slow business for Thai kids - don't give up and keep at it. They'll gradually improve, but it takes time - a long time. Remember, it's also difficult for Europeans to learn to pronounce certain words, say, in German, Danish, Swedish, French and Dutch - just to name a few languages. I know that in the 2 other languages I've learned, there are some extremely difficult words to pronounce, that require up to several years of practice to get (almost) right!

Hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of your kids and your teaching!

[Scott]

Some of the constant distraction and noise, you have to learn to live with. It is pervasive throughout most schools. Pick your battles and be prepared to lose a few.

If you have access to a CD player, try to get the kids to learn a song. Get the words written, have them sing the song. Teach a little, sing a little, teach some more. There is only so much concentration that holds their attention.

[quandow]

Can you request a Thai teacher assistant to be present while you teach? I worked for the Sarasas school system for several years and I always had an assistant present. While you can't touch the students, the assistant can. Nothing more than rapped knuckles was usually needed and order was kept.