What is the best way to start teaching English in Thailand. What are the most common mistakes?

[Greg Nixon]

It is not BS. I was paid 90,000 THB every month in China. Look for International schools with English immersion in China. In Thailand the best even a top Thai teacher makes is 60,000 THB/month. The standard for beginner English teachers seems to be 30,000 THB. The lifestyle and infrastructure is better in China and they will often offer you better living accommodation like your own modern apartment. You will even be able to afford a maid.

Don't bother teaching in Thailand, do yourself a favour please.

Teach in a place where people genuinely want to learn and have the motivation like China.

You'll get paid more too.

BS and you know it.

[Greg Nixon]

Oh and there are job fairs for International schools in London England. I attended one.

It is not BS. I was paid 90,000 THB every month in China. Look for International schools with English immersion in China. In Thailand the best even a top Thai teacher makes is 60,000 THB/month. The standard for beginner English teachers seems to be 30,000 THB. The lifestyle and infrastructure is better in China and they will often offer you better living accommodation like your own modern apartment. You will even be able to afford a maid.

Don't bother teaching in Thailand, do yourself a favour please.

Teach in a place where people genuinely want to learn and have the motivation like China.

You'll get paid more too.

BS and you know it.

[Greg Nixon]

I have taught English in China and believe me 90 % of the students are motivated and you will not have to motivate them because their parents do. I worked in a high School where the students started at 6:30 AM running for two kms. They finished the study day at 9:40 PM. There was a 3 hour break mid day. There were 1700 students living in dorms in a brand new $53,000,000 school with labs, a huge library, an observatory and planetarium. Science labs and industrial shops. All this in a city you never even heard of. 12 of the 14 students I taught are enrolled in degree studies at universities in North America. When they have finished their first degree with sufficiently high marks, they will be able to attend any University in the world. I worked less than 4 hours / day as a math /science teacher in grade 10. The students were wonderful. We even had a snowball fight.

Don't bother teaching in Thailand, do yourself a favour please.

Teach in a place where people genuinely want to learn and have the motivation like China.

You'll get paid more too.

You have obviously not taught English in China

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Look into teaching English in Vietnam.

Especially if you are English teacher that is really a English national.

The Vietnamese, at least in Ho Chi Minh city and other areas in the South ,really want to learn English. They regard it as the way to secure a good future job.

And if you are actually an English person by birth you will be looked on as the real deal, the elite with real English, and in demand.

The only drawback is that the salary is still low.

And in Vietnam, while there are clubs and bars,you need to learn that Ho Chi Minh is not Pattaya or even Bangkok
So don't expect the same "nightlife".

[benj005]

A smart board would be an amazing tool for an ESL teacher. Any chance of a smart board in a Thai government school?

For anyone unfamiliar with a smartboard this is what one looks like:

Edited August 28, 2014 by benj005

[zeichen]

Some private schools that I have worked at here have them. Most of the time if all you are doing is some power point stuff though a laptop and a projector are all you need. A lot of the software for the smart boards is over kill for EFL. Great for Math and Science though.

[zeichen]

"It is not BS. I was paid 90,000 THB every month in China. Look for International schools with English immersion in China. In Thailand the best even a top Thai teacher makes is 60,000 THB/month. The standard for beginner English teachers seems to be 30,000 THB. The lifestyle and infrastructure is better in China and they will often offer you better living accommodation like your own modern apartment. You will even be able to afford a maid."

A little misinformation. First of all most starting EFL jobs in China pay between 6-10,000 RMB (30-50k baht). International schools pay more between 16-24,000. Good international schools in Thailand pay around that also for those with the right qualifications.

Are you actually comparing Thai teachers with Chinese Teachers or are you comparing foreign teachers in Thailand vs China? Chinese teachers get paid as low as Thai teachers do. At my school in Beijing The Chinese Homeroom teachers were making less than 3,000 RMB a month. Thai teachers make about the same some a lot more if they have been in the system for a long time. Good retirement package for them also.

FYI you can also afford a maid in Thailand if you are making 30-50,000 baht a month. usually less than 200 baht to clean an apartment 1 time a week.

"I have taught English in China and believe me 90 % of the students are motivated and you will not have to motivate them because their parents do."

You taught in a boarding school which is a private school that pays well. The equivalent schools in Thailand don't have behavioral or motivation issues either. Most issues that people face are because of poor classroom management skills. Some with overcrowding. Which is more common in Thailand.

People need to compare like with like. International schools in China cannot be compared to government Thai schools.

[benj005]

I just wanted to add that when I taught in South Korea I had a few disrespectful students. I had students give me the finger, and I had students curse at me in Korean. The goal of the teacher is to create an environment that is safe and sound. The students who come to your class need to know that you will not tolerate bullying, and that they will respect the teacher. It's up to the teacher to set up a behavioral plan that fits the classroom, and each individual student. When students act out it's mostly due to their low confidence in the classroom. The classwork might be too difficult, or they just don't like school. I have training in special education so I'm used to dealing with unruly children, It doesn't upset me when a child acts up. They're children and it's up to the educator to find solutions.

Just my two cents.

[SlyAnimal]

A smart board would be an amazing tool for an ESL teacher. Any chance of a smart board in a Thai government school?

For anyone unfamiliar with a smartboard this is what one looks like:

The government school I worked at had 1 (only 1).

[Aree Wongwanlee]

Where I am teaching now, a top 10 government school, we have those boards in all the rooms in the new block, all eight floors of it. However I don't use it and I have seen very few teachers using it. I teach better using printed paper.

[Thighlander]

Here is a red flag that I have noticed: they refuse to answer your fairly simple, straightforward questions with email. They are basically making sure you have nothing in writing that you could hold them to. Also, taking a job, where you are the second, third, or fourth teacher for that exact position, in that particular school year. You gotta ask, why could those people not honor their contracts.