Why

[Ladphrao]

Why are there so many ESL teachers that love to wallow in misery? Is it becasue so many are British? Or is it because so many are Gay? Is it because teaching English really sucks that bad? Is it because Thais all hate farangs (if this is true why do so many of us live here?)? I don't get it.

Or are the attitudes of people on this forum a misrepresentation of the actual attitudes of real teachers?

From the comments on this board, the educational level of the teachers working here seems very suspect. The vast majority don't seem to understand even the very basics of economics, history, political development, or educational theory. Do these teachers have real degrees? From where? I appears that the majority of teachers in Thailand have never studied even the foundation courses one should take for an undergraduate degree, or at least if they did study these subjects, nothing stuck.

[Loaded]

Why are there so many ESL teachers that love to wallow in misery? Is it becasue so many are British?

I think it's a kind of Byronic way of looking at the world: romance balanced with pain. We had romantic ideas about our colonies but the dam scoundrel colonists didn't want to pay tax. We feel the pain of rejection and one release is through the disussion board.

Let us wallow, but don't pity us.

[PeaceBlondie]

I doubt that half of the ESL teachers are Brits, not counting the Welsh and the Scots. I doubt that more than 10% are gay; you wouldn't be able to tell (I can't tell).

Sometimes it's terrible to teach English here (degreed people wouldn't usually say that it sucks), but other times, it's rewarding.

Thais don't specifically hate all farang (I use English singular when writing transliterated Thai plurals). Generally, however, in many ways, lots of Thais exhibit forms of xenophobia (pronounced as if the first letter is a /z/).

The attitudes expressed on this forum reflect many attitudes, including those of the OP. Most of the frequent posters here also reflect, on these matters, the posters on other Thai teaching forums (same people, even).

Ladphrao, you ought to know by now (especially if you pass yourself off as a university lecturer) that when you criticize other English teachers' posting styles, you should not spell 'because' as 'becasue' because we'll think you're talking about Becky Sue.

Economics: We can't all be Torbeks, but I was a tax auditor, and my son's MBA is in economics (reverse heredity). I am fairly weak on 17th century Siamese history, though; does it matter? You know, surely, that one needn't know the history of another language or country to teach EFL, right?

I remember everything from the 150 credit hours I passed, even the part about GDP in the econ 101 course I took in 1960. Or was that 1690? I forget now...

Hasta la vista, Ladphrao.

[richard10365]

I got my degree from the Redneck University. We study things like food stamp management (math course), alcohol production and consumption (elective), bondo tech 101, and hurricane survival.

We didn't know what gay was until we got cable tv. The preacher didn't like that.

It's quite hard trying to pass my aquired knowledge to the youngsters in the area. Although most can use "you all" and "ain't" properly in a sentence, it's still not the same as hearing a young redneck kid say it.

They had their biggest laugh when I was teaching them how to talk respectful to grown ups. They said, "yes sir" and "no sir" fine but not without laughing histerically.

I wasn't until later that I learned that "sir" in Thai means "stupid".

So whatever you do, don't say "yes sir" or "no sir" to immigration. They might not like it.

Edited September 19, 2006 by richard10365

[Loaded]

^ hey boy, you meet becasue at that there redneck uni?

[richard10365]

^ hey boy, you meet becasue at that there redneck uni?

LOL..... ....Huh???? I don't get it.

Did I mention our Redneck Uni degrees were stapled to backside of a beer box container so we could hang it up easily in the trailor home.

It hung right next to mamma's beauty salon degree. We were the proudest family in the trailor park. We were so excited after that we all went to K-Mart for a family photo.

[Charma]

I doubt that half of the ESL teachers are Brits, not counting the Welsh and the Scots.

I am not sure if this is an intentionally inaccurate statement or a suggestion!

[PeaceBlondie]

I doubt that half of the ESL teachers are Brits, not counting the Welsh and the Scots.

I am not sure if this is an intentionally inaccurate statement or a suggestion!

Oh, the English, the Scots, the Welsh, and the Northern Irish, now I remember!! Is that Great Britain, or do you leave out the N. Irish? And I almost got assassinated in Edinburgh or Loch Lomond for complimenting them on their "English food." And in Palma de Mallorca, I thought the kids on the bus were speaking Dutch, when they were speaking Glaswegian. It's all so confusing. Not that "North American accent" is the perfect way to describe .....anything. I doubt about it, eh?

In Ireland, they sometimes count the counties to count the northern counties, none of which has a count, but are they both countries? My Irish granddaughter would not answer "Yes" but "they are."

How many countries in North America?

[Charma]

I doubt that half of the ESL teachers are Brits, not counting the Welsh and the Scots.

I am not sure if this is an intentionally inaccurate statement or a suggestion!

Oh, the English, the Scots, the Welsh, and the Northern Irish, now I remember!! Is that Great Britain, or do you leave out the N. Irish? And I almost got assassinated in Edinburgh or Loch Lomond for complimenting them on their "English food." And in Palma de Mallorca, I thought the kids on the bus were speaking Dutch, when they were speaking Glaswegian. It's all so confusing. Not that "North American accent" is the perfect way to describe .....anything. I doubt about it, eh?

In Ireland, they sometimes count the counties to count the northern counties, none of which has a count, but are they both countries? My Irish granddaughter would not answer "Yes" but "they are."

How many countries in North America?

I can see where you're coming from - most the people in the UK cannot get it right and even the BBC get pulled every now and again for upsetting one group or another. Offically we are the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. So Welsh and Scots do count. However, they would rarely call themselves British (and definately never English!) The English often refer to themselves and British, and occasionally so do a small mumber of people of a certain section of Northern Ireland (even though offically they are not part of Great Britain). Clear now?

[kayo]

if you are in a boat with three other people, and they are all talking about sex , you will not exactly start on calculating Pi.

Likewise, if you are in a bar with teachers and they are all bitching about their life, it`s hard to start talking aboout euhm... anything else.

Live and let wallow.

[paully]

From the comments on this board, the educational level of the teachers working here seems very suspect.

Hey, thanks a lot

Edited September 19, 2006 by paully

[Thaiboxer]

We had romantic ideas about our colonies but the dam scoundrel colonists didn't want to pay tax.

And the scoundrel Brits didn't want to allow us any representation In the end, we kicked them out and began driving on the right side of the road!

Edited September 20, 2006 by Thaiboxer

[Loaded]

We had romantic ideas about our colonies but the dam scoundrel colonists didn't want to pay tax.

And the scoundrel Brits didn't want to allow us any representation In the end, we kicked them out and began driving on the right side of the road!

But why punish tea?

You can take N. America out of the British Empire

But you can't take empire out of Americans

Edited September 20, 2006 by Loaded

[Thaiboxer]

Yes, the empire part of old Englad is still alive and well in the States. The British Empire took over parts of the world with their navy whereas the American Empire has taken over parts of the world with french fries and Coca-Cola.

We like our tea too, but we prefer iced tea...perhaps the rebellion continues:)

[MarkBKK]

How many countries in North America?

Dunno. Canadia ... United States of Mexico ... er ... that other one, you know ''One Nation, under Canada'' ... does it include Central America these days (didn't it always)? Does it include Greenland? The Caribbean?

Can you make it multiple choice please?

Do you know how many time zones there are in the US (without checking)?

[PeaceBlondie]

Six time zones, including Alaska and Hawaii, but not including Guam, etc.

Usually, Central America isn't thought to be part of North America (by geographical convention or tradition), but N.A. is a continent, so yes, I'd count all seven C.A. countries, too. Caribbean is optional.

Class dismissed, but for homework: is Thailand just in Asia, or the continent of Eurasia?

Back on topic, the first TEFLer that I taught with in Thailand got his Ph.D. right after he left our secondary school.

[Loaded]

Class dismissed, but for homework: is Thailand just in Asia, or the continent of Eurasia?

Thailand is in Chonburi, krup.

[the swagman]

Dunno. Canadia ... United States of Mexico ... er ... that other one, you know ''One Nation, under Canada'' ... does it include Central America these days (didn't it always)? Does it include Greenland? The Caribbean?

Can you make it multiple choice please?

Reminds me of the American football player when asked if he was against drug testing.

He replied, 'no, so long as its multiple choice.'

[MarkBKK]

Six? Oh dear. Pay attention at the back. Now try again ... and I want *all* of the time zones (you may check).

Er ... it is in the UK (by geographical convention and tradition, Caribbean not optional, part of N. America, as is Greenland and those islands ... something archipeligo ... that stretch to/were owned by Russia). Pretty much Colombia all the way up. (OK, that's GCE O-level Geography ... I admit there may have been some changes over the last few years ... I remember when the whole world was pink you know ... sun never set ... glorious!)

Eurasia? Oceania? Atlantis? Airstrip One? Not real ... except the last one I suppose. That's real now.

[OlRedEyes]

Gotta give you teaching types some credit.

Even though you're semi-educated and your lives suck, you haven't lost your sense of humor.

[endure]

I doubt that half of the ESL teachers are Brits, not counting the Welsh and the Scots.

I am not sure if this is an intentionally inaccurate statement or a suggestion!

Oh, the English, the Scots, the Welsh, and the Northern Irish, now I remember!! Is that Great Britain, or do you leave out the N. Irish? And I almost got assassinated in Edinburgh or Loch Lomond for complimenting them on their "English food." And in Palma de Mallorca, I thought the kids on the bus were speaking Dutch, when they were speaking Glaswegian. It's all so confusing. Not that "North American accent" is the perfect way to describe .....anything. I doubt about it, eh?

In Ireland, they sometimes count the counties to count the northern counties, none of which has a count, but are they both countries? My Irish granddaughter would not answer "Yes" but "they are."

How many countries in North America?

But you have to remember that Scotland is a country whereas Wales is a Principality.

[Ijustwannateach]

I'm tempted to stop this mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, mad thread but it's too much fun at the moment.

[MarkBKK]

But you have to remember that Scotland is a country whereas Wales is a Principality.

Yes, but it's still a country (as any fule no). I believe it even has its own ''assembly'' now, too. (I think they still have sex with sheep though ...)

[gbt71fa]

We had romantic ideas about our colonies but the dam scoundrel colonists didn't want to pay tax.

And the scoundrel Brits didn't want to allow us any representation In the end, we kicked them out and began driving on the right side of the road!

But why punish tea?

You can take N. America out of the British Empire

But you can't take empire out of Americans

You can't see it but I am playing the smallest violin in the world to honor your woes. Now shut your hole and do as we tell you...from an American...oh yes... BITE ME.

[PeaceBlondie]

Maybe I'm wrong about time zones of the 50 states. Somebody said "name them," so here goes:

Eastern (New York); Central (Chicago); Mountain (Denver); West (California); most of Alaska; Aleutian (oops, does that include Hawaii?...apparently so...). Okay, the land mass of the 50 states only covers 5 zones. Atlantic doesn't count (just water), Guam, etc.

Most time zones around the world are skewed to the west. In Texas, the time zone should end between Houston and Austin, but it continues almost to El Paso. In parts of western Alaska, like Nome, the sun sets at equinox is about 8 pm, rather than 6 pm. China may only have one time zone.

Now, finally, back to teaching:

I found, in teaching English in Thailand, that it helps greatly to be a walking, talking dictionary, almanac, encyclopedia, and atlas. Vocabulary covers every subject. My boss had me simplify a graduate school text where the author, a professor of business, wrote about everything from Greek tragedy to the cultivation of avocados on the altiplano of Mexico. In five pages.

So, I would wonder how well a fully qualified B.Ed., majoring in English, could explain an English text from the agronomy dept. at some obscure university in central USA, on the care and feeding of longan (lamyai). I had to. You get asked the weirdest things. Like explaining aurora borealis and midnight sun to the social science teacher.

[the swagman]

Why are there so many ESL teachers that love to wallow in misery? Is it becasue so many are British? Or is it because so many are Gay? Is it because teaching English really sucks that bad? Is it because Thais all hate farangs (if this is true why do so many of us live here?)? I don't get it.

Or are the attitudes of people on this forum a misrepresentation of the actual attitudes of real teachers?

From the comments on this board, the educational level of the teachers working here seems very suspect. The vast majority don't seem to understand even the very basics of economics, history, political development, or educational theory. Do these teachers have real degrees? From where? I appears that the majority of teachers in Thailand have never studied even the foundation courses one should take for an undergraduate degree, or at least if they did study these subjects, nothing stuck.

Many are British, a large percentage are gay, and the nature of life is to suffer.

English is not a bad job, there are good days and bad days, and like news, you don't often here about the good days.

An undergraduate degree and the required foundation courses one must do does not adequately prepare yourself for teaching 50 screaming kids in a classroom that has far too much noise and the lesson being taught today is numbers fom 1-20.

Now that's where I need my almanac, encyclopedia and atlas.

Peace Blondie ... wow

[Loaded]

Wales is a Principality.

Wales is principally a place to go when you want your car broken into.

[Thaiboxer]

From what I hear, Wales is also a place to go if you want to see people having sex with sheep:)

Edited September 22, 2006 by Thaiboxer

[paully]

Wales is a Principality.

Wales is principally a place to go when you want your car broken into.

Or your house burned, look you

Edited September 22, 2006 by paully

[Sulaphat]

Six time zones, including Alaska and Hawaii, but not including Guam, etc.

Usually, Central America isn't thought to be part of North America (by geographical convention or tradition), but N.A. is a continent, so yes, I'd count all seven C.A. countries, too. Caribbean is optional.

Class dismissed, but for homework: is Thailand just in Asia, or the continent of Eurasia?

Back on topic, the first TEFLer that I taught with in Thailand got his Ph.D. right after he left our secondary school.

What about Denmark (Greenland) and France (St. Pierre and Miquelon)?