EDU UPDATE
British volunteer English teachers get ready to take on Thai schools
TEERIN JULSAWAD
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- NEARLY 200 young British volunteers arrived in Thailand recently to help teach English to local students for approximately eight weeks. Before being sent off to Thai schools around the country, the volunteers received two-days of training to prepare them for the teaching experience.

The Education Ministry and the British Council recruited 197 volunteers under the "Thailand English Teaching Project 2013". The number of volunteers is a big jump from last year when the project was first launched and attracted only 67 Britons.

"The project was clearly a success in 2012, so we have continued it," the ministry's inspector-general Churairat Sangboonnum said.

All volunteers have to pay for their own air ticket for flights to and from Thailand, as well as their own medical insurance, the cost of the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) background check, and the cost of their Thai visas. However, once they have arrived in Thailand, volunteers are provided with free transportation to their workplace, accommodation, meals during school days and a monthly allowance of Bt10,000.

All the volunteers in the project are undergraduates, graduates, and postgraduate students from various British universities. Following the completion of their training, the volunteer teachers are sent off to different provinces across the country to teach English in local Thai schools.

Paul Bute, the Charge d'Affaires for the British Embassy in Thailand, said the project would benefit both Thai children and the British volunteers.

"This is definitely one of my favourite projects," Bute said. "For many Thai students, this will be their very first time meeting and listening to a young native speaker communicating with them in English. They will also learn firsthand about life and culture in the UK."

He went on to encourage the British volunteers to try and learn as much Thai language as possible during their eight-week stay. In addition to gaining valuable cultural experience that no other regular tourist may get, the volunteers will also gain valuable insight into understanding the difficulties that Thai students face when trying to learn a different language like English, he said.

Chris Gibson, director of the British Council Thailand, said he also believed that volunteers would gain a lot from their Thailand teaching experience.

"This is a great opportunity for volunteers to not only gain work experience, but to also have an increased understanding of a different, non-European culture," Gibson said.

In June, the JobStreet.com English Language Assessment (JELA) results revealed that Thailand's English skills are the lowest among Southeast Asian nations such as Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.


-- The Nation 2013-08-05

"This is a great opportunity for volunteers to not only gain work experience, but to also have an increased understanding of a different, non-European culture," Gibson said.

"This is definitely one of my favourite projects," Bute said. "For many Thai students, this will be their very first time meeting and listening to a young native speaker communicating with them in English. They will also learn firsthand about life and culture in the UK."

Is there something wrong when listening to 'older' native speakers of English? They'll learn firsthand about life and culture in the Uk.-

Hope it's not raining too many cats and dogs in their time in Thailand .Jindee Dhorn Lhaab.-

Very good!

But the British speak a strange sounding type of English!

Only the British will understand the students they teach.

I have heard it said that they should change the name of the language since the English are such a small percentage of those who speak it and their version is so difficult for most to understand!

It sounds funny, but it's true!

I think they speak British!

Kids being thrown in to Thai provincial schools armed with 2 days training. I hope the schools have confiscated their passports because I don't think many will stay long otherwise.

"This is a great opportunity for volunteers to not only gain work experience, but to also have an increased understanding of a different, non-European culture," Gibson said.

 

"This is definitely one of my favourite projects," Bute said. "For many Thai students, this will be their very first time meeting and listening to a young native speaker communicating with them in English. They will also learn firsthand about life and culture in the UK."

 

Is there something wrong when listening to 'older' native speakers of English? They'll learn firsthand about life and culture in the Uk.- 

 

 Hope it's not raining too many cats and dogs in their time in Thailand .Jindee Dhorn Lhaab.- 

All the volunteers are youngsters fresh out if UK uni. The guy commenting on the project is an older employee of the British Embassy.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Don't need experience to teach sleeping students.

"This is a great opportunity for volunteers to not only gain work experience, but to also have an increased understanding of a different, non-European culture," Gibson said.

"This is definitely one of my favourite projects," Bute said. "For many Thai students, this will be their very first time meeting and listening to a young native speaker communicating with them in English. They will also learn firsthand about life and culture in the UK."

Is there something wrong when listening to 'older' native speakers of English? They'll learn firsthand about life and culture in the Uk.-

Hope it's not raining too many cats and dogs in their time in Thailand .Jindee Dhorn Lhaab.-

I suspect the problem with listening to 'older' native speakers of English is that they cost a heck of a lot more than 10k baht a month.

Very good!

But the British speak a strange sounding type of English!

Only the British will understand the students they teach.

I have heard it said that they should change the name of the language since the English are such a small percentage of those who speak it and their version is so difficult for most to understand!

It sounds funny, but it's true!

I think they speak British!

From which planet do you come from ?

Let's stick to the topic of the thread. I can only hope that the person making the remark about British English is being sarcastic.

Further discussion of regional linguistic differences will get your post deleted and a possible warning. It is off-topic. There is enough ammunition in the thread for those who wish to complain.

Your cooperation is appreciated.

Typical Thai government. Unqualified, inexperienced English teachers are good enough for Thai students in state schools because they're cheap - even cheaper than Filipinos.

I rather doubt that Education Minister Phongthep Thepkanjana would be happy having such people teach his children.

Will they have Work Permits?

Good luck, all! But by Thai law, they will all need work permits; I hope someone thought of that. 555

"This is a great opportunity for volunteers to not only gain work experience, but to also have an increased understanding of a different, non-European culture," Gibson said.

"This is definitely one of my favourite projects," Bute said. "For many Thai students, this will be their very first time meeting and listening to a young native speaker communicating with them in English. They will also learn firsthand about life and culture in the UK."

Is there something wrong when listening to 'older' native speakers of English? They'll learn firsthand about life and culture in the Uk.-

Hope it's not raining too many cats and dogs in their time in Thailand .Jindee Dhorn Lhaab.-

I suspect the problem with listening to 'older' native speakers of English is that they cost a heck of a lot more than 10k baht a month.

And how will a foreigner fresh from the uni, e.g. no savings yet. survive on 10K a month ?

I have a few concerns with this, but there is one which has not been mentioned previously. These people are volunteers, interns, working for free, while there are a fair number of farang who make a living in Thailand by teaching. While I do like to see people helping people, are these volunteers being used to save money by Thai schools? In reality, while Thailand is not Singapore, it is not a poor country either. Thailand can afford to pay for the teachers that it needs (I mean, the mil budget got a kick in the arm, so why not edu?).

This is a complex question, but volunteers should supplement, not replace paid workers.

There are loads of excellent English teachers with lots of experience in Thailand, who are not qualified any more, simply because they don’t have a Bachelor degree. Now they get some kids in here for a few baht that have no idea what they are up to. Wow what an improvement.

There's too many young teachers out of work in the UK, the British government should take this one step further and issue one year contracts to teachers that are prepared to go overseas and teach, with the promise that they will be given priority when they return to the UK job market.

To me it's a win win situation all round.

There are loads of excellent English teachers with lots of experience in Thailand, who are not qualified any more, simply because they don’t have a Bachelor degree. Now they get some kids in here for a few baht that have no idea what they are up to. Wow what an improvement.

I taught English from 2001 - 2011 without a BA. Not to blow my own trumpet - but I put in a lot of effort and did a good job, earning the recognition of my peers and the staff at the schools in which I worked.

I have been out of the teaching game since then because I was rather tired of it, however it is something I would consider going back to in the future, except the ability to get a work permit without a degree is getting harder, they tell me.

So go figure - they do this quite happily, but when the time comes for an experienced, dedicated teacher to return to the profession, will they give him a work permit quite so easily? I think not.

Oh, and I have met a great deal of people with BA's that are terrible teachers. I do not wish to imply that a university education is not important - I am doing courses with OU at the moment - it's just that not everyone is cut out to be a teacher and yet a BA in any field will ensure a work permit regardless of their ability in the class room.

I see the Thai Government and schools are finding ways to get cheap labour and pocket the extra money saved!!!

My understanding is that they are actually still students at University, and have volunteered their time. They are not fresh out of University, but are actually still there. I was asked by my old University Alumni Society to offer assistance and support for students if required, which I was happy to do - then the British Council wanted to formalise it all, which meant filling out more paperwork (which I wasn't happy to do, as I don't have the time). I have spoken to a couple of the students who are on placement - I think they are experiencing some quite interesting stuff. Either way, I think the scheme is good, in that it gives the foreign student some experience of being overseas in a work environment, and it also gives the Thai students some exposure to overseas students who have given up their time to do this. I am sure that the calibre of these students is a lot higher than some of the TEFLER's that are floating around in Thailand.

I am curious however about the WP and visa, which I am pretty sure none of them have.

There are loads of excellent English teachers with lots of experience in Thailand, who are not qualified any more, simply because they don’t have a Bachelor degree. Now they get some kids in here for a few baht that have no idea what they are up to. Wow what an improvement.

They are not here to replace TEFL teachers. This is no different than student internships.

Work permit and Visa for a year sets you back about 5,000 baht. Might be less for only two months.

You would think the Thai government would cover this expense.

I have a few concerns with this, but there is one which has not been mentioned previously. These people are volunteers, interns, working for free, while there are a fair number of farang who make a living in Thailand by teaching. While I do like to see people helping people, are these volunteers being used to save money by Thai schools? In reality, while Thailand is not Singapore, it is not a poor country either. Thailand can afford to pay for the teachers that it needs (I mean, the mil budget got a kick in the arm, so why not edu?).

This is a complex question, but volunteers should supplement, not replace paid workers.

From what I understand the volunteers are sent to more urban area's, smaller cities where normally English is not taught to students and no paid farang teachers are there anyway.

Therefore they are not taken jobs away from paid farangs, since they are mostly only in the bigger cities, where schools already have an English class for Thai students.

Just was hoping on some more information on which age groups the volunteers will be teaching, but probably highschool age (12-16)

maybe a british plan to expand our great language further,when they finish,maybe good exp when they teach in the uk,maybe,the only thing is they shouldnt have to think about work permits,the thais should show some gratitude and sort it for them,it will save the bank of dad a few bob

I hope the 20-something females are not sexually harrassed out in the bahn nork. PC in rural Thailand means personal computer not political correctness.

We had two. One female, useless and here for as many shags as possible and the other male anti-social and hell bent on spending time in his room or with fellow ethnically Chinese colleagues. Waste of time.

They were utterly and totally unprepared for life in Thailand, had no idea at all of Thai culture and the vast difference to British culture and generally were more trouble than they were worth. Even for free we didn't get our money's worth.

Unlikely that this lot would be any better.

Who, in Thailand, is making money out of this venture?

good ,sure the teachers will have a great time ,and they will learn what a country thailand is ,and the education system in the 3rd world and the students will gain a few words in 8 weeks ,like where you going , so good all around ,try spending one hour in a thai school

Had 10 such "volunteers" working for me about 5 years ago. Half, but certainly not all, were right off the very bottom of the barrel.

Learning a second language, especially one that is so different than your own is so overwhelming especially for children. I have been trying to speak the Thai language for many years now and am lucky to get my point across in a restaurant. Most of the volunteers are with some kind of college degree and must have been good students to achieve it. They usually don't understand mediocre students. Most people in the world don't learn by rote. I don't understand how this will work. There is another way to learn a language and it is called “Total Physical Response” (TPR) I think young students as well as their teachers will learn with this system because it makes learning fun and there is a lot of laughing. Laughing is something (Thai) children love to do.

This is a little blunt but truthful!

When I was advising about IELTS at Guangxi Uni in S-China, they had several young interns over the summer months to fill the gap left by the contract staff, who were on their summer holidays.

It only took a week for the guys and gals to discover where the nightclubs were, how cheap the local beer was and how easy it was to have a good time into the early hours ... every night! Teach? Most of them couldn't even stand up in the morning and it was left to the few of us who continued to work during the summer to cover their <deleted>!

TBH, I don't blame them, especially the guys. Having a few weeks in a different country surrounded by little beauties

and cheap booze, knowing that you are only there for a few weeks? Irresistible for a 20 something year old.

Ok, irresponsible but what do the people expect who arrange this kind of thing?

What's with all this sniping about British English?

Aussies, Brits, Americans, NZ's etc. all have their own dialects and different words for different things, so what?

I just feel sorry for those trying to learn English from a prejudiced teacher who is unwilling to be a little universal with the language.

Off-topic comments about British English have been deleted. One poster has earned a suspension.

Please feel free to express your opinion about the topic.