female thai english teachers

[crickets]

Is it just me or do u think the older a thai female english teacher is the crustier she gets. What per cetage of them who work in the same office as u actually say hallo to u? Where did life go wrong for them to become so rude and witch like?

[NeverSure]

I'm not an English teacher but I know one near Sisaket who has a master's degree. She is uncomfortable around an NES because she simply isn't as good at it.

Also she is paid a bit less than the NES there which may be all loss of face. She is actually nice to the NES, though.

It's always hard to try to make everyone the same, so others may just be cranky people.

[masuk]

I'm not an English teacher but I know one near Sisaket who has a master's degree. She is uncomfortable around an NES because she simply isn't as good at it.

Also she is paid a bit less than the NES there which may be all loss of face. She is actually nice to the NES, though.

It's always hard to try to make everyone the same, so others may just be cranky people.

I think it would be doing Thai English teachers the world of good if they were to live in an English speaking country for a year.

There are many graduates in other disciplines who gain their higher degrees overseas, and return to Thailand with excellent English speaking skills.

A shame if they can't do this, as it would benefit a great number of students.

[Mario2008]

A lot of older Thai teachers of the English langauge are simply not very proficient in English and didn't study English in the first place. Some got their job because they could at least say "hello, how are you?" and that was more than most other teachers.

Many teachers are teaching a different subject than what they trained for.

[lostinisaan]

The ones I know are worse than the grade six students. Many of them see their school as their family.

My ex- Thai colleague, who was also the Thai head English teacher was only okay, when she was drunk.

But that only happened twice a year.The rest of the year she got rid off her frustrations by hitting little innocent kids.

Glad that I don't have to see her again.

[crickets]

Maybe after a degree in teaching and 25 years teaching experience they still get paid less than me.

[Scott]

In my experience over the past 20 years, is that most female Thai English teachers are like most other people. Some get a little better with age, some get a little nastier, some get a little better and some don't.

Is there some reason to believe that female Thai English teachers are unique?

I've known a few and the only reason I knew them a little better than the other Thai teachers was that we had one thing in common -- both of us could speak English to some degree.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

A lot of older Thai teachers of the English langauge are simply not very proficient in English and didn't study English in the first place. Some got their job because they could at least say "hello, how are you?" and that was more than most other teachers.

Many teachers are teaching a different subject than what they trained for.

Quite a few got their jobs because they were the mistress of some government personage.

[SlyAnimal]

At my school we have around 15-20 Thai English teachers (including the younger non permanent staff).

Almost all of the older teachers are friendly, although 2 are very quiet and I've never really had a real conversation with (I think they're not confident with their English but are also just naturally quiet ppl, even when speaking Thai.)

1 of the older teachers isn't confident with speaking in English, but is friendly and will often make jokes etc with us (sometimes in English, sometimes in Thai).

The other older teachers are all pretty good at English, and I often enjoy having a chat with them.

Roughly half of the younger teachers are friendly and vary in English ability, they regularly try to speak with us, and over time they quite obviously improve their English.

The other younger teachers generally don't speak with us, just chatting within their "gang" instead. Although I think they would chat with us more if their English was better, since we'll sometimes have a bit of banter in Thai (Our boss tells us off tho if he thinks we're chatting to them in Thai lol, as he wants them to practice their English instead).

So in general, I'd say the OP's stereotype doesn't really apply at my school.

(Although this is all based on last year, and I'd been at the school for 3 years so things might have changed or be different for the other Farang there lol).

Edit: oh and as a quick point, as I see a few posts a about it. Thai teachers who have been teaching for 25 years will generally be on more than most foreign teachers (Depending on their pay scale + responsibilities etc). From pay that I definitely know, 35k - 50k is normal, I heard of a PE teacher who was apparently on 65k, but that was a rumour and unconfirmed.

[Yooyung]

I've worked with quite a few over the years. One in particular, that at first seemed to be an old crusty and unapproachable type surprised me....

I was' teaching the teachers' on a term break and, as usual the Thai English teachers were nowhere to be seen. However, this particular lady (of about 50) did show her face. After class she came up to me and said something along the lines of " I really want to work on my pronunciation , increase my confidence because I dont get the opportunity and feel like I am not doing a good job"......I was a bit shocked that such an honest statement should come from someone like her, senior to me and as Thai as a bucket load of tomato sauce dumped on a pizza. I got on really well with her after that and, she would often hunt me down to ask random questions in English. Of course,for all the other youngerThai English teachers, that kind of behaviour was beneath them. They rarely asked questions, rarely came to my classes and, as a result stayed being what most Thai English teachers are.......um...not very good at speaking English.

They aint all stubborn old bags. I have noticed that some of the new graduates maybe....I mean maybe speak a better level of conversational English now. This may just be my experience. However, having native speakers like myself hanging around over the last decade or so has surely had some positive outcomes?

[crickets]

There are always one or two older ones that are really nice, usually they head the departments, the younger ones r shy. But still there r some that r ice queens. I work at a respectable all girls school and i think they might just hate men in particular. I havent asked but im guessing they are single with a few cob webs. How hard is it to say hallo or smile at someone u work in the same office with everyday?

[lostinisaan]

Generally speaking, there's no difference between Thai English, or any other subject teachers.

Some of them are pretty cool, while others seem to live in their little school world.

[simon43]

I really want to work on my pronunciation , increase my confidence because I dont get the opportunity and feel like I am not doing a good job

She really said that??(or words equivalent).

Her English language skills sound excellent, when compared to many (most?) Thai English teachers.

[Mr Somtam]

I'm not an English teacher but I know one near Sisaket who has a master's degree. She is uncomfortable around an NES because she simply isn't as good at it.

Also she is paid a bit less than the NES there which may be all loss of face. She is actually nice to the NES, though.

It's always hard to try to make everyone the same, so others may just be cranky people.

I think it would be doing Thai English teachers the world of good if they were to live in an English speaking country for a year.

There are many graduates in other disciplines who gain their higher degrees overseas, and return to Thailand with excellent English speaking skills.

A shame if they can't do this, as it would benefit a great number of students.

Having tv and movies in english with thai subtitles would also really be good. If you never hear the language spoken how are you supposed to learn it???

[Yooyung]

I really want to work on my pronunciation , increase my confidence because I dont get the opportunity and feel like I am not doing a good job

She really said that??(or words equivalent).

Her English language skills sound excellent, when compared to many (most?) Thai English teachers.

Well, it wasnt put quite like that, but close enough. Her English was decent and she made an effort to practice a lot by engaging me in general chit chat.

[jdinasia]

Part of my duties include teaching (both students and teachers)

Not one of my colleagues has ever been less than pleasant with me.

tbh I don't pay attention to the language we use.