Coming to the end of the visa run - local language schools may suffer most

[JockPieandBeans]

 

 

Someone please please please please explain to me how someone with a BS degree in art history, political science, history, engineering, business.... or countless other fields is better at teaching extremely basic English to kids than another native speaker. 

 

 

In the UK, they are useless at teaching.

 

That's why they become Politicians.

[davidmann]

why stay in thailand 

[Neeranam]

 

Thailand needs more properly qualified English language teachers, but tightening up visa laws won't achieve this.

To get good teachers you need to pay an attractive salary, minimum of 60,000 but ideally 100,000 plus.

Obviously the majority of schools and language centers can't afford this so we end up with the demand being filled by a load of backpackers running visa scams who teach to extend their holidays. This doesn't help Thai students, or genuine teachers who may lack qualifications but have a lot of experience or natural talent for teaching.

I would like to see the Thai government make a distinction between 'teachers' who need to be fully qualified and 'conversation practice native speakers' who don't need qualifications so much as a good attitude and enthusiasm, and to provide two work permit paths for these separate roles.

Give people a legal path to provide a service which is obviously in demand in Thailand.

It would be great if the one year work permit could be attached to the teacher not the school too, so that teachers could move jobs without having to restart the work permit process. The cost benefit analysis if whether to go ahead with a work permit application would then be more up to the teacher than the school.

I'd also love to see the Thai government do something similar to Japan's JET scheme, actively recruiting teachers at graduate fairs in the west and offering training in exchange for placement in a rural school for one or two years. The mindset should be attracting the best, not legislating to remove the dregs.

I also think that the native speaker requirement is given to much importance. Teaching ability and actual English fluency should be the key factors, not where someone was born.

 

I know two Thai retired teachers, who cannot talk to me in conversation....
 

 

And how long have you been here?

 

 

Teaching English is a joke here -  I did it for 13 years. All the schools want is dancing white monkeys. 

Adults are a bit different but certainly wouldn't want a dark-skinned person teaching them.

Thais are racist and many school directors want the kids to remain stupid. It's all about the money.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Troll post and a derogatory slur have been removed

[wilcopops]

I think preconceptions about the quality of ESL teachers....mostly inaccurate are getting in the way of asking WHY there are teachers here without the right documents. There is a market for their services but successive governments have failed too address that in terms of facilitating both legal teachers and legal schools

[wilcopops]

 

Thailand needs more properly qualified English language teachers, but tightening up visa laws won't achieve this.

To get good teachers you need to pay an attractive salary, minimum of 60,000 but ideally 100,000 plus.

Obviously the majority of schools and language centers can't afford this so we end up with the demand being filled by a load of backpackers running visa scams who teach to extend their holidays. This doesn't help Thai students, or genuine teachers who may lack qualifications but have a lot of experience or natural talent for teaching.

I would like to see the Thai government make a distinction between 'teachers' who need to be fully qualified and 'conversation practice native speakers' who don't need qualifications so much as a good attitude and enthusiasm, and to provide two work permit paths for these separate roles.

Give people a legal path to provide a service which is obviously in demand in Thailand.

It would be great if the one year work permit could be attached to the teacher not the school too, so that teachers could move jobs without having to restart the work permit process. The cost benefit analysis if whether to go ahead with a work permit application would then be more up to the teacher than the school.

I'd also love to see the Thai government do something similar to Japan's JET scheme, actively recruiting teachers at graduate fairs in the west and offering training in exchange for placement in a rural school for one or two years. The mindset should be attracting the best, not legislating to remove the dregs.

I also think that the native speaker requirement is given to much importance. Teaching ability and actual English fluency should be the key factors, not where someone was born.

 
I know two Thai retired teachers, who cannot talk to me in conversation....
 
 

And how long have you been here?
 
 
Teaching English is a joke here -  I did it for 13 years. All the schools want is dancing white monkeys. 
Adults are a bit different but certainly wouldn't want a dark-skinned person teaching them.
Thais are racist and many school directors want the kids to remain stupid. It's all about the money.

Particularly clueless comment, thank god you aren't teaching.

[wilcopops]

I say,I say, If you do not have the proper Visa and WP you should not be here, We do the right thing to live/retire in Thailand,,,, Wo Da Faq,,,, are they thinking?? Do the right thing and all is OKAY otherwise  get out !!!!or get kicked out !!!

Massively moved simplistic assessmentnofbthevsituation and how it has arisen. My guess is that it stems from a total lack of real knowkedge of teaching English anywhere let alone Thailand.

[wilcopops]

I say,I say, If you do not have the proper Visa and WP you should not be here, We do the right thing to live/retire in Thailand,,,, Wo Da Faq,,,, are they thinking?? Do the right thing and all is OKAY otherwise  get out !!!!or get kicked out !!!

Massively over simplistic assessment of the situation and how it has arisen. My guess is that it stems from a total lack of real knowkedge of teaching English anywhere let alone Thailand.

[wilcopops]

 

 

It is time that Thai kicked out all the low end farangs skiving off the country. good riddance to them

Behonset, you have your head where the sun never shines ! Have you seen the hundreds of thousands of indian and middle eastern lowlife that the tourism authorities seem to think is a good idea to attract ? I personally see nothing wrong with an english speaker doing a few teaching jobs here to try and make ends meet. Far better this than an english teaching school nearby where I could not even understand the english spoken by the thai national english teacher. Think of the end result, a double bonus, the thais learn how to speak english correctly and the farang has a little more spending money. Shame on you !
 

 
Right.
 
It seems that quite many people don't seem to realize that one can't teach a language just because he/she speaks it.
 
I am tired, sooo tired, of all those 'teachers' who think they are qualified to teach a language just because they are native English speakers. Reason why noone will cry for all these 'teachers' is because they are completely useless and incompetent as 'teachers'.
 
My wife speaks basic English and wanted to learn more.
 
Out of 8 'teachers' that she went through over the course of a year (some 'private' ones, some in language schools) only teacher from British Council (one around Silom, if I remember correctly) was actually worth something. Hell, he was an amazing teacher, that had structured classes and was actually doing real teaching and she really was excited about those classes.
 
All the others - every single one of them - had no books and/or no plans, they wanted to teach my wife English by "talking to her". Never mind the grammar and all that other funny stuff. None of them were qualified to be a teacher, although they lied about that in ads (and even through 'word of mouth' advertising/recommendations). They, literally, lied. Then hoped/presumed noone would ask. I am not sure whether teacher in BC was qualified either, but he certainly was completely different league than all the others and was very very competent.
 
I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process.
 
Seems such concept is unknown to many English 'teachers' in Thailand.
 
So yeah, I will be happy if they go away.
 

Ok, fair point. there are probably a lot of crap people teaching English.
 
But, there will also be a lot of good ones and right now Thailand will lose those if its not careful at a time (with the Asean approaching) when it needs to urgently improve its English standards. So, better they legitimise what exists now and keep something rather then encourage mass migration and lose everything.. A level of quality control can be introduced once this side of it is fixed so that they can keep the good teachers they have.

I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process."

Here's a classic example of someone without even the first idea of language acquisition who still sees fit to pronounce on the subject.

[sprq]

" EF English Proficiency Index, the world’s largest report of its kind, ranked Thailand 55th — ahead of only Panama, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq — on a list of 60 countries in its latest report, released last November. In 2010, Thailand was ranked 116th out of 163 countries surveyed for Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) performance." If these statistics represent the teachers that are leaving, what is the loss?

 

They don't. They represent the result of 99% of the English teaching in Thailand - the proportion done in state schools by Thai teachers. Blame the Thais, not the foreigners, for the abysmal level of English proficiency in Thailand.

[Tony125]

 

I also think that the native speaker requirement is given to much importance. Teaching ability and actual English fluency should be the key factors, not where someone was born.

Very few Thais are capable of evaluating whether a non native speaker is fluent in English. Most public schools in Thailand don't have anyone remotely qualified to do so. Most Thai English teachers speak English at a very basic level, many can not hold even a basic conversation, they have no way to assess the English ability of a foreigner.

 

I took my 4yo neice and her mother to a private Thai school and she introduced herself to her teacher in english. The Thai teacher asked her "who taught you" and she replied my uncle. I was later told by my sis-in-law they wanted to know if I wanted a job, I replied no I am retired now but I could see why they would want me  both the teacher and a Phillippine aid both spoke english badly both grammar and pronunciation. Guess I'll just have to keep teaching my neice at home because I don't think she is going to learn much there and this is a well known private school.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Tony125

[sprq]

 

 

It is time that Thai kicked out all the low end farangs skiving off the country. good riddance to them

Behonset, you have your head where the sun never shines ! Have you seen the hundreds of thousands of indian and middle eastern lowlife that the tourism authorities seem to think is a good idea to attract ? I personally see nothing wrong with an english speaker doing a few teaching jobs here to try and make ends meet. Far better this than an english teaching school nearby where I could not even understand the english spoken by the thai national english teacher. Think of the end result, a double bonus, the thais learn how to speak english correctly and the farang has a little more spending money. Shame on you !

 

 

Right.

 

It seems that quite many people don't seem to realize that one can't teach a language just because he/she speaks it.

 

I am tired, sooo tired, of all those 'teachers' who think they are qualified to teach a language just because they are native English speakers. Reason why noone will cry for all these 'teachers' is because they are completely useless and incompetent as 'teachers'.

 

My wife speaks basic English and wanted to learn more.

 

Out of 8 'teachers' that she went through over the course of a year (some 'private' ones, some in language schools) only teacher from British Council (one around Silom, if I remember correctly) was actually worth something. Hell, he was an amazing teacher, that had structured classes and was actually doing real teaching and she really was excited about those classes.

 

All the others - every single one of them - had no books and/or no plans, they wanted to teach my wife English by "talking to her". Never mind the grammar and all that other funny stuff. None of them were qualified to be a teacher, although they lied about that in ads (and even through 'word of mouth' advertising/recommendations). They, literally, lied. Then hoped/presumed noone would ask. I am not sure whether teacher in BC was qualified either, but he certainly was completely different league than all the others and was very very competent.

 

I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process.

 

Seems such concept is unknown to many English 'teachers' in Thailand.

 

So yeah, I will be happy if they go away.

 

 

The British Council always employs properly qualified teachers who know and practise effective techniques of English teaching. You pay a lot more for it, and you get results. It is an arm of the British government and consequently makes sure to represent Britain properly with a high standard of education.

[wilcopops]

These teachers are here because there is a need. Purely prejudiced remarks about their appearance or ability only reflect on those making the remarks. Edited August 3, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

[quote name="rucus7" post="8192630" timestamp="1407062661"]

" EF English Proficiency Index, the worlds largest report of its kind, ranked Thailand 55th ahead of only Panama, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq on a list of 60 countries in its latest report, released last November. In 2010, Thailand was ranked 116th out of 163 countries surveyed for Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) performance." If these statistics represent the teachers that are leaving, what is the loss?[/quote]
 
They don't. They represent the result of 99% of the English teaching in Thailand - the proportion done in state schools by Thai teachers. Blame the Thais, not the foreigners, for the abysmal level of English proficiency in Thailand.

EF English Proficiency Index, the worlds largest report of its kind, " before blindly quoting this survey you might do well to check inntobwho they actually are before making a fool of yourself by drawing nonsequitous conclusions.

[wilcopops]

 

It is time that Thai kicked out all the low end farangs skiving off the country. good riddance to them

Behonset, you have your head where the sun never shines ! Have you seen the hundreds of thousands of indian and middle eastern lowlife that the tourism authorities seem to think is a good idea to attract ? I personally see nothing wrong with an english speaker doing a few teaching jobs here to try and make ends meet. Far better this than an english teaching school nearby where I could not even understand the english spoken by the thai national english teacher. Think of the end result, a double bonus, the thais learn how to speak english correctly and the farang has a little more spending money. Shame on you !
 

 
Right.
 
It seems that quite many people don't seem to realize that one can't teach a language just because he/she speaks it.
 
I am tired, sooo tired, of all those 'teachers' who think they are qualified to teach a language just because they are native English speakers. Reason why noone will cry for all these 'teachers' is because they are completely useless and incompetent as 'teachers'.
 
My wife speaks basic English and wanted to learn more.
 
Out of 8 'teachers' that she went through over the course of a year (some 'private' ones, some in language schools) only teacher from British Council (one around Silom, if I remember correctly) was actually worth something. Hell, he was an amazing teacher, that had structured classes and was actually doing real teaching and she really was excited about those classes.
 
All the others - every single one of them - had no books and/or no plans, they wanted to teach my wife English by "talking to her". Never mind the grammar and all that other funny stuff. None of them were qualified to be a teacher, although they lied about that in ads (and even through 'word of mouth' advertising/recommendations). They, literally, lied. Then hoped/presumed noone would ask. I am not sure whether teacher in BC was qualified either, but he certainly was completely different league than all the others and was very very competent.
 
I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process.
 
Seems such concept is unknown to many English 'teachers' in Thailand.
 
So yeah, I will be happy if they go away.

Like so many others on this thread by our comments indicate that you have know idea about language acquisition and ESL in particular, as your premises are so out of touch, how can you possibly form a valid opinion?
Why no it read up on the subject? It only took me about 10 years. Edited August 3, 2014 by wilcopops

[casualbiker]

 

 

It is time that Thai kicked out all the low end farangs skiving off the country. good riddance to them

Behonset, you have your head where the sun never shines ! Have you seen the hundreds of thousands of indian and middle eastern lowlife that the tourism authorities seem to think is a good idea to attract ? I personally see nothing wrong with an english speaker doing a few teaching jobs here to try and make ends meet. Far better this than an english teaching school nearby where I could not even understand the english spoken by the thai national english teacher. Think of the end result, a double bonus, the thais learn how to speak english correctly and the farang has a little more spending money. Shame on you !
 

 
Right.
 
It seems that quite many people don't seem to realize that one can't teach a language just because he/she speaks it.
 
I am tired, sooo tired, of all those 'teachers' who think they are qualified to teach a language just because they are native English speakers. Reason why noone will cry for all these 'teachers' is because they are completely useless and incompetent as 'teachers'.
 
My wife speaks basic English and wanted to learn more.
 
Out of 8 'teachers' that she went through over the course of a year (some 'private' ones, some in language schools) only teacher from British Council (one around Silom, if I remember correctly) was actually worth something. Hell, he was an amazing teacher, that had structured classes and was actually doing real teaching and she really was excited about those classes.
 
All the others - every single one of them - had no books and/or no plans, they wanted to teach my wife English by "talking to her". Never mind the grammar and all that other funny stuff. None of them were qualified to be a teacher, although they lied about that in ads (and even through 'word of mouth' advertising/recommendations). They, literally, lied. Then hoped/presumed noone would ask. I am not sure whether teacher in BC was qualified either, but he certainly was completely different league than all the others and was very very competent.
 
I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process.
 
Seems such concept is unknown to many English 'teachers' in Thailand.
 
So yeah, I will be happy if they go away.
 

 
The British Council always employs properly qualified teachers who know and practise effective techniques of English teaching. You pay a lot more for it, and you get results. It is an arm of the British government and consequently makes sure to represent Britain properly with a high standard of education.

Funny enough according to the British council website teachers qualifications page. They wouldn't actually be able to teach at Thai schools that are administered by the MOE. As they don't seem to require a B'ed or a degree and an MA'ed. I am not saying that they are bad teachers because they are not. And they are academically above many TEFL teachers BUT that's what they are TEFL teachers.

http://www.britishcouncil.or.th/en/english/why-study/teachers

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[wilcopops]

 

When I came to teach at Payap University in Chiang Mai in 1989 I had to sign a 2 year contract. They sent me the proper paperwork for the non-Imm multiple entry visa and I moved to Chiang Mi. They helped me find a house to rent, took care of my work permit, gave me free Thai language lessons, Free Lanna Thai culture and history classes. They paid my expense when I had to leave every 90 days and reenter with a letter stating they guaranteed me while in Thailand for the first year and gave me the proper paperwork to get my second non imm multi entry visa and took care of everything again.
 
I am now on a retirement visa and visit the University often. They just offered me a teaching job again but I like the retirement visa so cannot teach. They should allow qualified English teachers to work with a retirement visa. Lots of us retired teachers living here and we would be dedicated long time employees. What a shame.

I'm in the same position you are. I loved teaching,had plenty to offer my students in experience and ability. I possess a PHD in Law and certainly qualified to teach. Like you, I have a retirement visa and would love to return to the teaching ranks but as you say the visa rules that apply prevent.
 

 
You think you are qualified to teach what, exactly, because you have a PhD in Law?
 
I hope the answer is not "English language".

possess a PHD in Law and certainly qualified to teach." Since when has a PhD in law been a teaching qualification? Especially in English?
BTW what language did you lecture in?

[ronthai]

Pol Col Voravat Amornvivat, deputy commander of the bureau’s Investigation Division, said the crackdown is about ensuring foreign residents in Thailand meet the right level of “quality”.

“We want to make it easy for good people who are willing to follow the law to stay, but we want to make it difficult and impossible for those who abuse the law to remain here illegally,” he said

 

Guess that means the teachers are NOT the right level of quality farangs, as many other good people for which Thailand DOES NOT provide visa opportunities.

 

In time Thailand will realize, oops, we could have handled this a lot better

[wilcopops]

 

 

It is time that Thai kicked out all the low end farangs skiving off the country. good riddance to them

Behonset, you have your head where the sun never shines ! Have you seen the hundreds of thousands of indian and middle eastern lowlife that the tourism authorities seem to think is a good idea to attract ? I personally see nothing wrong with an english speaker doing a few teaching jobs here to try and make ends meet. Far better this than an english teaching school nearby where I could not even understand the english spoken by the thai national english teacher. Think of the end result, a double bonus, the thais learn how to speak english correctly and the farang has a little more spending money. Shame on you !
 

 
Right.
 
It seems that quite many people don't seem to realize that one can't teach a language just because he/she speaks it.
 
I am tired, sooo tired, of all those 'teachers' who think they are qualified to teach a language just because they are native English speakers. Reason why noone will cry for all these 'teachers' is because they are completely useless and incompetent as 'teachers'.
 
My wife speaks basic English and wanted to learn more.
 
Out of 8 'teachers' that she went through over the course of a year (some 'private' ones, some in language schools) only teacher from British Council (one around Silom, if I remember correctly) was actually worth something. Hell, he was an amazing teacher, that had structured classes and was actually doing real teaching and she really was excited about those classes.
 
All the others - every single one of them - had no books and/or no plans, they wanted to teach my wife English by "talking to her". Never mind the grammar and all that other funny stuff. None of them were qualified to be a teacher, although they lied about that in ads (and even through 'word of mouth' advertising/recommendations). They, literally, lied. Then hoped/presumed noone would ask. I am not sure whether teacher in BC was qualified either, but he certainly was completely different league than all the others and was very very competent.
 
I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process.
 
Seems such concept is unknown to many English 'teachers' in Thailand.
 
So yeah, I will be happy if they go away.
 

 
The British Council always employs properly qualified teachers who know and practise effective techniques of English teaching. You pay a lot more for it, and you get results. It is an arm of the British government and consequently makes sure to represent Britain properly with a high standard of education.

"The British Council always employs properly qualified teachers"
So what in your terms is "properly qualified". I know the BC well here and in other countries and they require the same quals as almost all other schools.
Most of there teachers are trained outside and have worked for other schools before them...are you saying they weren't any good then?
"arm of the British government " this expression, like so many others seems to indicate you really don't understand how the BC operates either.

[brewsterbudgen]

[quote name="casualbiker" post="8193692" timestamp="1407081000"][quote name="sprq" post="8193655" timestamp="1407079840"][quote name="senti" post="8193306" timestamp="1407072779"] [quote name="phantomfiddler" post="8192848" timestamp="1407065894"] [quote name="behonset" post="8192639" timestamp="1407062885"]It is time that Thai kicked out all the low end farangs skiving off the country. good riddance to them[/quote]Behonset, you have your head where the sun never shines ! Have you seen the hundreds of thousands of indian and middle eastern lowlife that the tourism authorities seem to think is a good idea to attract ? I personally see nothing wrong with an english speaker doing a few teaching jobs here to try and make ends meet. Far better this than an english teaching school nearby where I could not even understand the english spoken by the thai national english teacher. Think of the end result, a double bonus, the thais learn how to speak english correctly and the farang has a little more spending money. Shame on you !
 [/quote] 
Right.
 
It seems that quite many people don't seem to realize that one can't teach a language just because he/she speaks it.
 
I am tired, sooo tired, of all those 'teachers' who think they are qualified to teach a language just because they are native English speakers. Reason why noone will cry for all these 'teachers' is because they are completely useless and incompetent as 'teachers'.
 
My wife speaks basic English and wanted to learn more.
 
Out of 8 'teachers' that she went through over the course of a year (some 'private' ones, some in language schools) only teacher from British Council (one around Silom, if I remember correctly) was actually worth something. Hell, he was an amazing teacher, that had structured classes and was actually doing real teaching and she really was excited about those classes.
 
All the others - every single one of them - had no books and/or no plans, they wanted to teach my wife English by "talking to her". Never mind the grammar and all that other funny stuff. None of them were qualified to be a teacher, although they lied about that in ads (and even through 'word of mouth' advertising/recommendations). They, literally, lied. Then hoped/presumed noone would ask. I am not sure whether teacher in BC was qualified either, but he certainly was completely different league than all the others and was very very competent.
 
I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process.
 
Seems such concept is unknown to many English 'teachers' in Thailand.
 
So yeah, I will be happy if they go away.
 [/quote] 
The British Council always employs properly qualified teachers who know and practise effective techniques of English teaching. You pay a lot more for it, and you get results. It is an arm of the British government and consequently makes sure to represent Britain properly with a high standard of education.[/quote]
Funny enough according to the British council website teachers qualifications page. They wouldn't actually be able to teach at Thai schools that are administered by the MOE. As they don't seem to require a B'ed or a degree and an MA'ed. I am not saying that they are bad teachers because they are not. And they are academically above many TEFL teachers BUT that's what they are TEFL teachers.

http://www.britishcouncil.or.th/en/english/why-study/teachers

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app[/quote]

Er, yes. They are TEFL teachers teaching EFL. They don't pretend to be anything else.

Sent from my GT-S7270L using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[wilcopops]

When it comes to education, all of a sudden everyone's an expert. I can't believe some of the uninformed tripe that some have promulgated on this thread in place of a real understanding of the issues.

[wilcopops]

 

 

It is time that Thai kicked out all the low end farangs skiving off the country. good riddance to them

Behonset, you have your head where the sun never shines ! Have you seen the hundreds of thousands of indian and middle eastern lowlife that the tourism authorities seem to think is a good idea to attract ? I personally see nothing wrong with an english speaker doing a few teaching jobs here to try and make ends meet. Far better this than an english teaching school nearby where I could not even understand the english spoken by the thai national english teacher. Think of the end result, a double bonus, the thais learn how to speak english correctly and the farang has a little more spending money. Shame on you !
 

 
Right.
 
It seems that quite many people don't seem to realize that one can't teach a language just because he/she speaks it.
 
I am tired, sooo tired, of all those 'teachers' who think they are qualified to teach a language just because they are native English speakers. Reason why noone will cry for all these 'teachers' is because they are completely useless and incompetent as 'teachers'.
 
My wife speaks basic English and wanted to learn more.
 
Out of 8 'teachers' that she went through over the course of a year (some 'private' ones, some in language schools) only teacher from British Council (one around Silom, if I remember correctly) was actually worth something. Hell, he was an amazing teacher, that had structured classes and was actually doing real teaching and she really was excited about those classes.
 
All the others - every single one of them - had no books and/or no plans, they wanted to teach my wife English by "talking to her". Never mind the grammar and all that other funny stuff. None of them were qualified to be a teacher, although they lied about that in ads (and even through 'word of mouth' advertising/recommendations). They, literally, lied. Then hoped/presumed noone would ask. I am not sure whether teacher in BC was qualified either, but he certainly was completely different league than all the others and was very very competent.
 
I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process.
 
Seems such concept is unknown to many English 'teachers' in Thailand.
 
So yeah, I will be happy if they go away.
 

 
The British Council always employs properly qualified teachers who know and practise effective techniques of English teaching. You pay a lot more for it, and you get results. It is an arm of the British government and consequently makes sure to represent Britain properly with a high standard of education.

"The British Council always employs properly qualified teachers"
So what in your terms is "properly qualified". I know the BC well here and in other countries and they require the same quals as almost all other schools.
Most of there teachers are trained outside and have worked for other schools before them...are you saying they weren't any good then?
"arm of the British government " this expression, like so many others seems to indicate you really don't understand how the BC operates either.

[MarkCyr]

But the industry is known for its high turnover

 

A bit of a chicken vs. egg argument here. The turnover is high because wages are low and employees have no rights because they are illegal, so they eventually just get tired of exploitative management and working for peanuts and either leave, teach privately, or move to another industry. 

 

While this current crackdown seems unpopular, maybe forcing schools to legitimize their teachers will lead to better wages, more empowerment of workers over their working conditions (as they can now seek legal recourse), all resulting in lower turnover, better education (one would imagine), and me possibly considering moving over to Thailand full time 

[wilcopops]

". Good people will lose nothing and gain a lot more privileges for following the law."
What privileges precisely?

[Pattaya46]

Guess that means the teachers are NOT the right level of quality farangs, as many other good people for which Thailand DOES NOT provide visa opportunities. In time Thailand will realize, oops, we could have handled this a lot better

Why do you talk about farang teachers? Several high officers already said the the many English Teachers were right now not concerned by this crackdown. Last article I saw has been : "Phuket teachers told not to worry about work permit crackdown yet" : http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phuket-teachers-told-not-worry-work-permit/32368

[wilcopops]

TOEFL,IELTS & TOEIC. These are not necessarily what most Thai students need.

TEOIC is no longer acceptible in UK as reason for a visa, as it was exposed as totally corrupted. These qualifications are useful so long as they are scrupulously monitored. They are also above the level of many Thai students. I worked for one company who decided that their management should all have a TOEIC rating....the lengths they went to to circumvent this test was astounding...
It was nothing to do with the Teacher, these people had bought or simply lied about their EL ability for years.
This is all a result of Thailand's endemic corruption. Cleaning up one aspect is just not the way to tackle these problems.
If farang owned schools are permitted that can employ as many teachers as they need without having to employ huge numbers of unnecessary Thai staff, then progress can be made. They are in short tackling a symptom, not the cause Edited August 3, 2014 by wilcopops

[wilcopops]

Guess that means the teachers are NOT the right level of quality farangs, as many other good people for which Thailand DOES NOT provide visa opportunities. In time Thailand will realize, oops, we could have handled this a lot better

Why do you talk about farang teachers? Several high officers already said the the many English Teachers were right now not concerned by this crackdown. Last article I saw has been : "Phuket teachers told not to worry about work permit crackdown yet" : http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phuket-teachers-told-not-worry-work-permit/32368

There are 2 issues here...
1 teachers waiting to get the various papers etc in order to get their work permit and B visa. They are technically breaking the law.

2 Those working for schools who have no intention of getting visas and permits for their employees....

This thread is about the latter../the Phuket announcement was about the former

[casualbiker]

[quote name="brewsterbudgen" post="8193734" timestamp="1407082373"][quote name="casualbiker" post="8193692" timestamp="1407081000"][quote name="sprq" post="8193655" timestamp="1407079840"][quote name="senti" post="8193306" timestamp="1407072779"] [quote name="phantomfiddler" post="8192848" timestamp="1407065894"] [quote name="behonset" post="8192639" timestamp="1407062885"]It is time that Thai kicked out all the low end farangs skiving off the country. good riddance to them[/quote]Behonset, you have your head where the sun never shines ! Have you seen the hundreds of thousands of indian and middle eastern lowlife that the tourism authorities seem to think is a good idea to attract ? I personally see nothing wrong with an english speaker doing a few teaching jobs here to try and make ends meet. Far better this than an english teaching school nearby where I could not even understand the english spoken by the thai national english teacher. Think of the end result, a double bonus, the thais learn how to speak english correctly and the farang has a little more spending money. Shame on you !
 [/quote] 
Right.
 
It seems that quite many people don't seem to realize that one can't teach a language just because he/she speaks it.
 
I am tired, sooo tired, of all those 'teachers' who think they are qualified to teach a language just because they are native English speakers. Reason why noone will cry for all these 'teachers' is because they are completely useless and incompetent as 'teachers'.
 
My wife speaks basic English and wanted to learn more.
 
Out of 8 'teachers' that she went through over the course of a year (some 'private' ones, some in language schools) only teacher from British Council (one around Silom, if I remember correctly) was actually worth something. Hell, he was an amazing teacher, that had structured classes and was actually doing real teaching and she really was excited about those classes.
 
All the others - every single one of them - had no books and/or no plans, they wanted to teach my wife English by "talking to her". Never mind the grammar and all that other funny stuff. None of them were qualified to be a teacher, although they lied about that in ads (and even through 'word of mouth' advertising/recommendations). They, literally, lied. Then hoped/presumed noone would ask. I am not sure whether teacher in BC was qualified either, but he certainly was completely different league than all the others and was very very competent.
 
I didn't learn my language by talking to my parents or friends. I learned it in school, and proper/qualified teacher was involved in that process.
 
Seems such concept is unknown to many English 'teachers' in Thailand.
 
So yeah, I will be happy if they go away.
 [/quote] 
The British Council always employs properly qualified teachers who know and practise effective techniques of English teaching. You pay a lot more for it, and you get results. It is an arm of the British government and consequently makes sure to represent Britain properly with a high standard of education.[/quote]
Funny enough according to the British council website teachers qualifications page. They wouldn't actually be able to teach at Thai schools that are administered by the MOE. As they don't seem to require a B'ed or a degree and an MA'ed. I am not saying that they are bad teachers because they are not. And they are academically above many TEFL teachers BUT that's what they are TEFL teachers.

http://www.britishcouncil.or.th/en/english/why-study/teachers

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app[/quote]

Er, yes. They are TEFL teachers teaching EFL. They don't pretend to be anything else.

Sent from my GT-S7270L using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app[/quote]

I know that's why i posted. Most if not ALL the teachers I know teaching normal school classes are the same.
Most if not all teachers that I have met teaching EP or University have a degree or diploma for the subject they are teaching. I don't really get your point! Presuming there was one?

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[lucjoker]

private schools like Regent school ask about 1 million thb /year for 1 child (food ,sleeping in ,........)

And they can not pay a teacher a decent salary so he can pay for his own wp? 

[asean]

“The school says the cost [of obtaining a permit] is high and it will be an investment risk on their part to provide paperwork for us when there is such a high turnover of English-language teachers in Thailand.”  Then they shouldn't be in the language school business.

Work permit costs 3,000thb