Walen School - Teacher Training + One Year Thai Work Permit, 49,960 Baht

[MacWalen]

As an "Educator" he should be able to answer my question with ease !

I also wonder why he is so shy about revealing his own (checkable) educative background ?

I believe I'm educated well enough. Mostly university of life. I know how to do lots of things.

[NeverSure]

As an "Educator" he should be able to answer my question with ease !

I also wonder why he is so shy about revealing his own (checkable) educative background ?

I believe I'm educated well enough. Mostly university of life. I know how to do lots of things.

I still think it "possible" that this man is trying to say something that he can't come right out and say in a public forum. If I was curious what that was I'd at least talk to him. That doesn't cost anything. There's a PM function he's asked people to use.

Then only after seeing what he could do for me before I spent a single baht, would I decide whether it's snake oil.

He's been around a long time, claims permanent residence which is no easy feat, and isn't offering Thai lessons for an education visa, but rather another something which will gain a work permit. He knows the difference. It's obvious he's avoiding getting specific in a public forum.

"I know lots of things"

Why the h-e-double-toothpicks doesn't someone talk to him for free and find out?

Edit: I wouldn't be surprised that this is what some members are doing. Otherwise why the heck would he hang around and accept the abuse, justified or not?

TiT.

Edited May 25, 2013 by NeverSure

[wayned]

Marketing 101! 10 pages of free advertising! Just wish he would change his Avatar, the old crossed arms with the smug attitude is getting old!

[hagler]

Skeletons in closets and smoke and mirrors.

someone with time on their hands and a aptitude for asking the right questions should do some diggng.

[bangkokburning]

This course as pointed out in prior posts is about the school's ability to procure a visa. It has nothing to do wirh teaching. If it did, it would at least have the dignity to call itself TEFL or some other such course. It is simply a ruse to provide a one year vida extension at a cost of b50k and a few hours at school.

Teaching can be taught, it's not magic. In fact a degree does not make you a good teacher, especially a good conversational English teacher. A degree though is a requirement by every government in East Asia

There is no such school as the school of hard knocks or life experience. While very, very few might pursue a standard liberal arts "degree" through self study, it wouldn't be the men drawn to Thailand! Further, almost allmthe lower coursework of undergrad degree also something no one would be the least bit interested. Did you study English Composition for a year solid on.your own? Of course you did ☺

MW's school is very upfront about its mission. If you look at nearly all.his advertising it goes much like this...

Want to stay in Thailand for a year?

Need a one year visa?

But the most telling...the small advert running in the VISAS section of tv, not in the TEACHING section or any other...

The advert states clearly - ED visa, 50k one year. That is what is being dold, not training.

The school has a reputation for poor materials and weak instruction - it has a reputation not of stellar academics, but of being run as something akin to.a visa mill.

This new MW project sounds like an alternative for those who sadly want to reside in Thailsnd but have absolutely zero interest in the language. Insultingly so, for when given a choice between learning Thai and learning whatever, they opt for whatever.

Ironically, this course fits within govt guidelines and is somehow eligble for a visa. Many small but very good Thai schools do not (cannot) offer visas and even more ironic still is that all the TEFL courses and even the CELTA do not even provide a 3mo nonO. Finally, the best of those course take a month or two at best, the MW course, one year.

Maybe if Mr Walen could enlighten us as to.whst the progrsm is about? Surely it includes TEFL as a component including a certificate. Is he functioning as an agency and jobbing people out to schools?

Mr. Walen - can you post a full syllabus and course description?

Further, since you are working in academics now. I am sort if curious where you did your stint at university.

Finally, some advice for Mr. Walen: Your teachers are going to be given a very, very hard time by the real teachers if and when they ever do land a job in Thailand due to your arrogant and dismissive attitude toward them. I assure you and the board, certainly the teachers know that there is nothing you are offering in a year that equals a Bachelor's from the real world. Add to this some have advanced degrees as well as specialized qualifications (TEFL, CELTA). Compared to McTeaching...

Your teachers with whatever you are offering can never compete in this job market with whatever you are providing. Its disingenious. This is especially true if leading anyone to believe that your program = work. Unless as stated, you are farming people out to schools to work sans degree, wp, teach lic and diploma for cut rate wages.

In the end, I think the advertising placement is telling and all we really need to know. I am tbough highly curious abiut job promises.

Mr. Walen - as any proper course. End all this conjecture and post links to the course outline and instruction materisls. Books/required reading materials, etc.

Sorry for typo's. Early AM, tablet, coffee not kicked in

Edited May 26, 2013 by bangkokburning

[BookMan]

The relevant info seems to be on Walen's website. I presume as Walen is a sponsor i can link his website.

http://www.thaiwalen.com/the_method.php

I don't know why everyone always questions Walen's bona fides. It seems obvious the service that he is offering is to gain an ED visa and this service caters for thousands of people.

Anyone serious about a Thai language course is going to do some basic research and decide what course is right for them.

[creekside]

How is Walden meeting the requirements of the Thai workers to foreign workers ratio to qualify for the amount of work permits it projects it will need?

.

I do not have the need to explain

.

You've made that abundantly clear on nearly every aspect, issue, and contention.

[bangkokburning]

The relevant info seems to be on Walen's website. I presume as Walen is a sponsor i can link his website

I don't know why everyone always questions Walen's bona fides. It seems obvious the service that he is offering is to gain an ED visa and this service caters for thousands of people.

Anyone serious about a Thai language course is going to do some basic research and decide what course is right for them.

What you have provided is a general link tobthe website (which the mods should remove).

The buttons on the side not so suprisingly list absolutely NOTHING related specifically to the course.

Nothing!

You sir are a patsy and a shill.

Seems obvious? I've never read any trusted post boasting of Thai language prowess gained at Walen. Links please - real ones this time ok?

EDITED: Aplogies for calling you a shill. As you have rightly pointed out, the nature of the course(s) is/are to provide ED visa - not learning Thai or qualifications equal to teaching certifications in the West. We are in total agreement ☺

Edited May 26, 2013 by bangkokburning

[BookMan]

The relevant info seems to be on Walen's website. I presume as Walen is a sponsor i can link his website

I don't know why everyone always questions Walen's bona fides. It seems obvious the service that he is offering is to gain an ED visa and this service caters for thousands of people.

Anyone serious about a Thai language course is going to do some basic research and decide what course is right for them.

What you have provided is a general link tobthe website (which the mods should remove).

The buttons on the side not so suprisingly list absolutely NOTHING related specifically to the course.

Nothing!

You sir are a patsy and a shill.

Seems obvious? I've never read any trusted post boasting of Thai language prowess gained at Walen. Links please - real ones this time ok?

No need for the personal abuse, it reflects poorly on yourself.

Firstly, you clearly did not read my post. You assume I endorse Walen as a place to learn Thai. I do not and would never do so.

Secondly, you clearly didn't look at his website. He has the details, just not to your specifications.

Because Starbucks tells us it has good coffee, does it make it so?

Because Mcdonalds says it has tasty healthy food, should we believe it?

Because Walen says he is the best Thai language school should we believe it?

If you read my final sentence again you will note what I said. Anyone serious will do basic research and find the right place for themseleves. Surely this is obvious what am I saying?

[bangkokburning]

My specification or not, I saw nothing on the links that had anything to do with the program in question. Sorry. My spec or anyone else's.

Edited May 26, 2013 by bangkokburning

[BookMan]

The relevant info seems to be on Walen's website. I presume as Walen is a sponsor i can link his website

I don't know why everyone always questions Walen's bona fides. It seems obvious the service that he is offering is to gain an ED visa and this service caters for thousands of people.

Anyone serious about a Thai language course is going to do some basic research and decide what course is right for them.

What you have provided is a general link tobthe website (which the mods should remove).

The buttons on the side not so suprisingly list absolutely NOTHING related specifically to the course.

Nothing!

You sir are a patsy and a shill.

Seems obvious? I've never read any trusted post boasting of Thai language prowess gained at Walen. Links please - real ones this time ok?

EDITED: Aplogies for calling you a shill. As you have rightly pointed out, the nature of the course(s) is/are to provide ED visa - not learning Thai or qualifications equal to teaching certifications in the West. We are in total agreement ☺

Apology accepted .

We are on the same page indeed

[kriswillems]

Since very few of the Walen students are actually studying there I suspect very few of the new Walen teachers will be actually teaching there.

Looks to me like you pay the 50K to get a work permit and 1 year business visa and you won't have to do any teaching at all (else Walen should have mentioned where you will be teaching and how much you'll get paid).

[belg]

if some government agency is following this forum... this might just be the kind of visa mill school that makes it harder for everyone to obtain ED visa's

i am all up, for those ED students, to be obliged to take a test, if they want more than one year of ED, or why not 90 days test at some immigration agency, that might make a nice buck for the government and not just for the visa mill schools, also they might test if they actually provide anything positive (aka learning thai)

[kriswillems]

It would the task of the ministry of education and immigration to actually check who is studying and teaching in a school. But I think the workload in these organisations is so high few checks are done. And I am sure Walen has taken care of the necessary new-years gifts... So, I think the risks are small when you apply for one of these courses.

The only problem I have with student visa courses is that they are being advertised as actually being useful or good for people that actually want to study. Why not just be honest about it, and say they are mainly about the visa? Another problem is that the biggest forum for expats and foreign residents in Thailand is actually working together with an organisation that is known to work on the edge of what is legally possible (and most probably even over the edge) and that it's impossible to criticize on this.

I would also be in favour of taking tests organised by government. There is already a Thai language test organised by Thai government. They could use this test to check the progress of the students and filter out the fake students (and deny them future visas).

Edited May 26, 2013 by kriswillems

[bangkokburning]

Well, if the offer is for a work permit I'm sure he will.have his share of takers. No one going to deport a teacher on any nonO with a wp for teaching simply because they are working a "second job" in another location.

So if the promise includes a wp, Mr Walen is going to be a rich man.

[bangkokburning]

KrisWillems - Taiwan gives on-the-fly quizzes to many "students" (teachers) that front up for visas.

Always wondered when in Thailand, but then when you cindider the very nature of the ED visa yiu understand why its not going to happen. They visa catagory will disappear first.

[sms747]

Please note, it is not Wallen but Walen.

Ok walen can you say how much do you pay your thai teachers? I am guessing you will not

Edited May 26, 2013 by sms747

[sms747]

After reading the op I am curious as to what the course entails and permits required before enrolling on the course. I am an engineer but coming to Thailand to be near my children. I am not naive so think I could spot a scam if I saw one but always looking for something new in life. I have read all the negative posts but what are the positives?

Easier to badmouth someone who's successful...Bastard making real money instead of living with crums like most of the members

419 scammers call themselves businessmen and make real momey and can be very successful, not the be all and end all though is it.

[Salapoo]

Doesn't a WP also entitle one to finance such things as a vehicle in your own name? Instead of having to buy it outright.

Perhaps other advantages too?

Could be a good deal for some.

[sms747]

To be fair to walen some language Schools are worse, pay their staff very badly and cheat customers out of money claiming their hours are up when they are not, or that their time limit to complete the lessons paid for has mysteriously run it's course. If I were learning again I would go to a School for a free lesson, find out a good teacher and arrange for private lessons with that teacher away from the School. This is what I did last time, far better and a fraction of the price. There must be some good, honest and flexible Schools out there, I just never found one.

[thaicbr]

As an "Educator" he should be able to answer my question with ease ! 

 

I also  wonder why he is so shy about revealing his own (checkable) educative background ?

 

I believe I'm educated well enough. Mostly university of life. I know how to do lots of things.

 

I still think it "possible" that this man is trying to say something that he can't come right out and say in a public forum. If I was curious what that was I'd at least talk to him. That doesn't cost anything. There's a PM function he's asked people to use.

 

Then only after seeing what he could do for me before I spent a single baht, would I decide whether it's snake oil.

 

He's been around a long time, claims permanent residence which is no easy feat, and isn't offering Thai lessons for an education visa, but rather another something which will gain a work permit. He knows the difference. It's obvious he's avoiding getting specific in a public forum.

 

"I know lots of things"

 

Why the h-e-double-toothpicks doesn't someone talk to him for free and find out?

 

Edit:  I wouldn't be surprised that this is what some members are doing. Otherwise why the heck would he hang around and accept the abuse, justified or not?

 

TiT.

That is the problem. If every thing was above board he would not need to evade direct questions. It would also seem from his own answers that HE himself would not be eligible for a work permit as a teacher.

Just to reiterate.

In Thailand you need at minimum a bachelor degree to be a teacher. If said degree is not an education degree then you will need to take and pass the 4 krusapa tests. That's the facts.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

[commande]

Doesn't a WP also entitle one to finance such things as a vehicle in your own name? Instead of having to buy it outright.

Perhaps other advantages too?

Could be a good deal for some.

Sure it does but you have to prove your income which generally requires 3 months of bank statements showing your salary deposited into the bank. A teacher as an example making 30k baht a month, your not going to get much of a loan for anything unless you have 10-20% cash down payment and even then that might not be enough because you are a foreigner. The banks will also normally send a representative to your claimed employment location to see where you work and if the business is real. Doesn't happen this way all the time but it does happen.

To be honest I don't see how the OP can claim he will get you a Work Permit. To qualify you have to work and you have to show a minimum salary per month unless it falls within volunteer work which is probably what this is for teaching / learning purposes, also that WP is only good for that particular job, legally your not entitled to free lance or go to work for someone else using that WP although we all know a lot of people here work without a WP specifically in the teaching and scuba diving businesses. There is also a limit to how many foreign WP's a company can sponsor which generally coincides with the number of Thai employees on staff so this being a limitation if he had 10 people showing up at one school to enrole I don't see how he could get all of them a WP because his internal staffing numbers (Thai workers only) could be potentially 20-40 minimum, never seen a school like this with that many employees working full time but what do I know ...

Edited May 26, 2013 by commande

[Salapoo]

Just to reiterate.

In Thailand you need at minimum a bachelor degree to be a teacher. If said degree is not an education degree then you will need to take and pass the 4 krusapa tests. That's the facts.

Didn't think that was correct. Only for schools administrated under, is it OPEC, or OPTEC, or something. The branch of the MoE that governs government, but not all, educational institutes in Thailand.

I know a few people legally teaching with no degrees, and not done through simply 'knowing someone' in the MoL or MoE.

[Mario2008]

It is OBEC.

Indeed, not for all teaching is a teaching license and thus a degree required. Basically for elementary and secondary schools you need a teaching license or waiver, but for language schools or universities for example no teaching license is required.

[commande]

Just to reiterate.

In Thailand you need at minimum a bachelor degree to be a teacher. If said degree is not an education degree then you will need to take and pass the 4 krusapa tests. That's the facts.

Didn't think that was correct. Only for schools administrated under, is it OPEC, or OPTEC, or something. The branch of the MoE that governs government, but not all, educational institutes in Thailand.

I know a few people legally teaching with no degrees, and not done through simply 'knowing someone' in the MoL or MoE.

Agree the facts are the facts but we also know in Thailand that you can have any teaching certificate or University degree certificate faked and they rarely if ever check it especially if it's overseas. They generate these documents daily for foreigners in Bangkok on Khoasan Road (spelling), cost around 500-1000 baht and they typically look just as good if not better than an originally issued document; stamps, stickers, everything is flawless and they don't even hide the fact they are doing , you just walk down the street and there they are will examples and ready to take your order.

Edited May 26, 2013 by commande

[jayjay2001]

Hilarious, it's like asking big C for the item free when they get the price wrong, only for them to claim you the customer put the wrong price on the shelf! I think Wallen is doing itself more harm then good with this thread

sms, you are obviously a marketing expert. i am at the stage in my life that if I don't make any more money I will not worry too much about it but I do enjoy running this wonderful business and many benefit from me doing that. So far I have an inbox full of applicants so it cannot be that bad. When i was promoting ED visas people like you were writing exactly the same things, scam, i am killing my school and so on. Now there are tens of thousands of people in ED visas. So time will show what happens.

Please note, it is not Wallen but Walen.

Since your inbox is full, why are you wasting your time on making threads and responding?? Should not you be going through all those emails?

Hence you are so wealthy now, i still do not understand why you pay such a low wage to your staff? both English and Thai teachers?

Just shows you how little you know about my school. Many of my staff work with me for years. Get rise every 6 months, bonus, trips and generally good treatment. For example just took 6 of my staff to Japan for one week, 50k per person. You should be able to recognise Khun Oh.

Have you ever run a business? There are a lot of things you think you know but you don't know.

Mac,

A picture speaks a thousand words. Looks like a happy staff to me. I'll bet some of the posters here are seething after seeing that pic, i.e., seeing you-- young, happy looking, surrounded by lovely Thai women. By the way, who's the babe with the black hair and blue shorts. Would love to meet her

[Mario2008]

Just to reiterate.

In Thailand you need at minimum a bachelor degree to be a teacher. If said degree is not an education degree then you will need to take and pass the 4 krusapa tests. That's the facts.

Didn't think that was correct. Only for schools administrated under, is it OPEC, or OPTEC, or something. The branch of the MoE that governs government, but not all, educational institutes in Thailand.

I know a few people legally teaching with no degrees, and not done through simply 'knowing someone' in the MoL or MoE.

Agree the facts are the facts but we also know in Thailand that you can have any teaching certificate or University degree certificate faked and they rarely if ever check it especially if it's overseas. They generate these documents daily for foreigners in Bangkok on Khoasan Road (spelling), cost around 500-1000 baht and they typically look just as good if not better than an originally issued document; stamps, stickers, everything is flawless and they don't even hide the fact they are doing , you just walk down the street and there they are will examples and ready to take your order.

And when found out it is arrest, being brought before a judge and sentence and after doing some time in prison being deported.

They don't take it lightly when you use fake documents.

[Salapoo]

Just to reiterate.

In Thailand you need at minimum a bachelor degree to be a teacher. If said degree is not an education degree then you will need to take and pass the 4 krusapa tests. That's the facts.

Didn't think that was correct. Only for schools administrated under, is it OPEC, or OPTEC, or something. The branch of the MoE that governs government, but not all, educational institutes in Thailand.

I know a few people legally teaching with no degrees, and not done through simply 'knowing someone' in the MoL or MoE.

Agree the facts are the facts but we also know in Thailand that you can have any teaching certificate or University degree certificate faked and they rarely if ever check it especially if it's overseas. They generate these documents daily for foreigners in Bangkok on Khoasan Road (spelling), cost around 500-1000 baht and they typically look just as good if not better than an originally issued document; stamps, stickers, everything is flawless and they don't even hide the fact they are doing , you just walk down the street and there they are will examples and ready to take your order.

How many hundred foreigners were round up and arrested a few years ago again, when the police raided the copy shops and found all the names of the buyers on the computers there?

[thaicbr]

Just to reiterate.

In Thailand you need at minimum a bachelor degree to be a teacher. If said degree is not an education degree then you will need to take and pass the 4 krusapa tests. That's the facts.

 

Didn't think that was correct. Only for schools administrated under, is it OPEC, or OPTEC, or something. The branch of the MoE that governs government, but not all, educational institutes in Thailand.

 

I know a few people legally teaching with no degrees, and not done through simply 'knowing someone' in the MoL or MoE.

If a school is registered as a school it comes under the rules (note Universities are exempt).

Also any one teaching prior to 2003 was grandfathered in to the teacher's licence.

If the school is registered as a business then it doesn't BUT many immigration departments are enforcing the Krusapa teacher license for language schools as well.

I have asked Mac Walen what walen schools are. But like all questions asked no answer.

I was merely showing that this course will do some one that wants to be a teacher no good at all.

Walen/Callan method is not taught in mainstream schools.

You pay 50k for the privilege of possibly working for Mac Walen. But in reality none of the "skills" learnt can be transferred to general teaching.

Sent from my i-mobile i-STYLE Q6

[Salapoo]

It is OBEC.

Indeed, not for all teaching is a teaching license and thus a degree required. Basically for elementary and secondary schools you need a teaching license or waiver, but for language schools or universities for example no teaching license is required.

So one doesn't need a degree to get a WP to work in a language center?