I'd like to do volunteer work teaching English in BKK

[dblaisde]

Just a retired guy in the Big City looking for a rewarding way to pass the time, perhaps 10-15 hours a week helping out with conversation and pronunciation. I'm American with degrees in Psych and Electrical Engineering and write pretty well...but I know that's not the same as "teaching pretty well".

 

I certainly don't expect/want to be paid. I've done some hours informally helping my Thai GH owner's daughter with her pronunciation and reading. I always make mp3 collections of words she has trouble with during the sessions so she can play them on her cell for practice.

[Pib]

I think you will find you will then have to apply for a Non-O Volunteer visa to do it legally.   Thai govt is not exactly crazy about a foreigner doing work for free (even teaching English) that a Thai might be able to do for money.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Pib

[dblaisde]

What a crazy country. And a Thai teaching English...talk about the blind leading the blind. So much for wanting to help the country for free....

[Rhys]

1 minute ago, dblaisde said:

What a crazy country. And a Thai teaching English...talk about the blind leading the blind. So much for wanting to help the country for free....

 

 

 

Agreed.  yet some would say, we did not ask.   There is a nice older gentleman who is quite friendly and means well at the school.  However, his attitude is of superiority and it PO the Thai staff.  He will never be allowed to "volunteer."  In this situation, a conversation or discussion leader is best suited.  We can find other ways to do something with our time.

Sometimes well-meaning volunteers are a bit more trouble than having and many of the Thai and Westerner Educational official have known this. 

[dblaisde]

Hmmm. Well, maybe you're right. Anything depends on the personality of the person involved, even if they're volunteering. I'm just a bit annoyed that in this English deprived/depraved land, where the Filipinos are coming in under ASEAN and stealing the well paying English speaking positions away from Thais (eg at my Bumrungrad hospital), that the government doesn't encourage willing people who'll work for free to help their people speak better English. Talk about "taking jobs away from Thais"! 

 

In many other countries there are government sponsored and homegrown groups with precisely this focus: formal or informal get togethers to help each other learn another language. It's just stupid, but in xenophobic Thailand it's probably quite natural...And for all that's said and done, the Thais have a cultural bias against learning other languages. Something to do with "cultural pride".

[Rhys]

3 hours ago, dblaisde said:

Hmmm. Well, maybe you're right. Anything depends on the personality of the person involved, even if they're volunteering. I'm just a bit annoyed that in this English deprived/depraved land, where the Filipinos are coming in under ASEAN and stealing the well paying English speaking positions away from Thais (eg at my Bumrungrad hospital), that the government doesn't encourage willing people who'll work for free to help their people speak better English. Talk about "taking jobs away from Thais"! 

 

In many other countries there are government sponsored and homegrown groups with precisely this focus: formal or informal get togethers to help each other learn another language. It's just stupid, but in xenophobic Thailand it's probably quite natural...And for all that's said and done, the Thais have a cultural bias against learning other languages. Something to do with "cultural pride".

 

 

Agreed...and insightful...the yes, the teachers from Duruette land roll the ps fs, ls with the best of them. As far as stealing, that is a bit harsh... they applied, have the same educational degrees, work for a little less and did the teaching demonstration and passed by the Thai Educational officials of that particular school  Many are pros and of course there are those yes... wt....heck.   This cultural pride/face jazz is spot on...but approach them about business colonialization,  Coke a Cola..(5555) Mac Donuts, IBM, Sonny, Toyota, and what do you have....extremely rationalizations.

 

A possible solution was the teachers over 60 retired according to Thai rules, of course with exceptions.  This was a great group to pull and find the experienced teachers that just wanted something to do again, bored with the things they wanted to do when they retired.  However, because of the 60 and retire policy, and the solution is turned away.  Now, of course, there are those teachers that retired on the job  5 years early and this is the mechanism to address this situation.

 

Then we address the Thai Educational administrators, well meaning... but totally out of touch with the realities of English language learning and teaching.  The classic approach adopt the best standard, teach to the test, and wela.. we have fluency.... the latest and questionable standards is the CEFR... based on Common European English standards.... Good and bad, ..and now Thai Educational administrators are misguided in the actual learning that could occur. More teachers,  10 -100 (OK 100 would impact some)  however, we all know... a cultural pride THANG... is the students' attitude towards learning English and even learning in general.  Now, we are talking about the upcountry and down country schools and universities... There are fine Thai teachers about in the universities, and they know the  P and Qs, what happens.. the class size of 50-100 students, and in a particular university 1000 plus for a general English course, demoralize even the seasoned teachers into survival mode, give a power point, give a choral drill, presto, English language learning is achieved according to the educational administrators...they slap themselves on the back give themselves and teaching excellence award for the BIGGEST BANG for THE BAHT Teaching efficiency.

 

 The English teachers do their best but the message to the students,  DUDE we can F off, use our cell phones in class- what is that a pencil, a book, take notes... I don't do that..  The students of this mindset of having a dream, helping mom and dad, help, rather that the self-centered, finger tapping addictions... 

 

Geezz... out of ammo... 555  Cheers Mate happy holidays.

[dblaisde]

Good rant and spot on about the cell phones. Behavior without consequences is behavior that will continue.

 

...Well, so much for that idea. I've got something now they'll *really* like. I'll learn Thai! It's about time anyway. I know about 100 words after 15 years. Time for more. Off to the circus..

[muzmurray]

14 hours ago, dblaisde said:

Hmmm. Well, maybe you're right. Anything depends on the personality of the person involved, even if they're volunteering. I'm just a bit annoyed that in this English deprived/depraved land, where the Filipinos are coming in under ASEAN and stealing the well paying English speaking positions away from Thais (eg at my Bumrungrad hospital), that the government doesn't encourage willing people who'll work for free to help their people speak better English. Talk about "taking jobs away from Thais"! 

 

In many other countries there are government sponsored and homegrown groups with precisely this focus: formal or informal get togethers to help each other learn another language. It's just stupid, but in xenophobic Thailand it's probably quite natural...And for all that's said and done, the Thais have a cultural bias against learning other languages. Something to do with "cultural pride".

 

 Seeing as ASEAN started in 1967 and does not include open borders and only allows immigrants to do a very few specialized jobs, you are blaming the wrong organisation.

 

Maybe with that attitude you are better off not being in a classroom full Thai xenophobes?

Edited December 31, 2016 by muzmurray

[dblaisde]

At least not one where you're in the room.

 

More ego, more ego, and yet again more ego....So many unhappy farang egotists in Thailand...Well, it's understandable, the expat syndrome someone might call it.

Edited December 31, 2016 by dblaisde

[JHolmesJr]

If u sit in a bar with a beer and teach the girls you dint need a permit....worth considering...im sure they'll love it. 

[lamyai3]

10 hours ago, dblaisde said:

Good rant and spot on about the cell phones. Behavior without consequences is behavior that will continue.

 

...Well, so much for that idea. I've got something now they'll *really* like. I'll learn Thai! It's about time anyway. I know about 100 words after 15 years. Time for more. Off to the circus..

 

Learning Thai is a much better plan, it'll increase your interactions and enrich your experience here enormously. In the process you'll probably find yourself indirectly helping people with English anyway their as you come into contact with a larger pool of people. 

[dblaisde]

18 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

If u sit in a bar with a beer and teach the girls you dint need a permit....worth considering...im sure they'll love it. 

It works the other way to...

 

I actually knew a Scottish guy who learned very good Thai that way. He just hung out in a lady bar and told the girls he just wanted to drink beer, and chat if they wanted to. This worked out very well (there's lots of downtime in a bar), although he learned bar girl Thai, which was pretty funny.

 

He even learned the Isan dialect. Unknowing girls would think they were hiding conversation from him (knowing he spoke Thai), so he got in on some very interesting conversations as a silent partner.

 

As you can probably guess, he was an alcoholic and died tragically on his motorbike in Hua Hin after getting his first well paying English/Math teaching job at a Thai "high school". He had just finished celebrating and was on his way home. RIP Tim.

Edited January 1, 2017 by dblaisde

[dblaisde]

18 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

 

Learning Thai is a much better plan, it'll increase your interactions and enrich your experience here enormously. In the process you'll probably find yourself indirectly helping people with English anyway their as you come into contact with a larger pool of people. 

Thanks. I've been putting it off for eons, but it makes sense. I've always been a horrible language student, so it's not something I'd do if I didn't really have to. (I'd rather feed all the stray dogs the length of Sukumvit :). 

 

My old German teacher says it's very common with people good at Math/Science to be awful at languages and I'm the poster child for that. I think some people have a knack for languages and women are better at languages than men (they crave more yak yak?)

[FritsSikkink]

On ‎30‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 4:23 PM, dblaisde said:

What a crazy country. And a Thai teaching English...talk about the blind leading the blind. So much for wanting to help the country for free....

So no single Thai can teach English? As long you aren't qualified at all you better keep quiet.

[dblaisde]

>So no single Thai can teach English?

 

Who said that? You're just trying to be obnoxious and you're succeeding. 

 

There are always exceptions to any generality. The great mass of Thai English teachers are incompetent. There are many examples of English tests these teachers give and they're incomprehensible. No native English speaker could answer these questions because the questions are ambiguous and contradictory and ill-formed.

 

You can go back to kicking your dog now.

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, dblaisde said:

about>So no single Thai can teach English?

 

Who said that? You're just trying to be obnoxious and you're succeeding. 

 

There are always exceptions to any generality. The great mass of Thai English teachers are incompetent. There are many examples of English tests these teachers give and they're incomprehensible. No native English speaker could answer these questions because the questions are ambiguous and contradictory and ill-formed.

 

You can go back to kicking your dog now.

"a Thai teaching English...talk about the blind leading the blind"

Start with thinking about what you want to write first

Edited January 2, 2017 by FritsSikkink

[beautifulthailand99]

Try these guys - the hostel is run by a very forward thinking Thai who is quite a guy - my niece and friend did a stint with them and found it very rewarding - http://www.bansabaihostel.com/room-offers/volunteer-rate.html . 

 

https://www.facebook.com/free.volunteer.thailand

Edited January 3, 2017 by beautifulthailand99

[sotonowl]

That's very noble of you but do you know the difference between "bring" and "take"? If not, you'd better leave well alone, we have too many Americans already who don't have a clue.

Good luck anyway.

[dblaisde]

13 hours ago, sotonowl said:

That's very noble of you but do you know the difference between "bring" and "take"? If not, you'd better leave well alone, we have too many Americans already who don't have a clue.

Good luck anyway.

There are snobs everywhere!

 

The Thai level of difficulty lies far below "bring" and "take". It's more the difference between "blin" and "tay", at least for the Thais I'm talking about. Their troubles aren't with subtle semantics, but with gross mispronunciation.

 

"I can give you a sentence with the word horticulture.  You
 can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think."
-- Dorothy Parker
 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2017 by dblaisde

[sotonowl]

8 hours ago, dblaisde said:

There are snobs everywhere!

 

The Thai level of difficulty lies far below "bring" and "take". It's more the difference between "blin" and "tay", at least for the Thais I'm talking about. Their troubles aren't with subtle semantics, but with gross mispronunciation.

 

"I can give you a sentence with the word horticulture.  You
 can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think."
-- Dorothy Parker
 

 

 

i'll take that as as no then

[dblaisde]

1 hour ago, sotonowl said:

i'll take that as as no then

Or you could take it with Gin and Holy Water....and find consolation that the great English writer Raymond Chandler had to learn English all over again once he came to 'the States'.

Edited January 4, 2017 by dblaisde

[sotonowl]

5 hours ago, dblaisde said:

Or you could take it with Gin and Holy Water....and find consolation that the great English writer Raymond Chandler had to learn English all over again once he came to 'the States'.

That would be the bastardised version, with a "S" not a "Z" or zee as you would say. I saw what you did there BTW, slipping the "take" in, or should it have read "you could bring it with Gin and Holy Water."

[dblaisde]

I've always had an affection for bastards (having once been one)...even for anal-compulsives.

 

What's the original purpose of language? Everyone says, "Oh, for communication of course", but Chomsky thinks it's for thinking, to clarify concepts and effective planning in one's *own* head, and you can get an inkling of this if you ask yourself who (or with whom, as you'd say) you spend the most time talking to each day? It's yourself.

Edited January 4, 2017 by dblaisde

[FritsSikkink]

1 hour ago, dblaisde said:

I've always had an affection for bastards (having once been one)...even for anal-compulsives.

 

What's the original purpose of language? Everyone says, "Oh, for communication of course", but Chomsky thinks it's for thinking, to clarify concepts and effective planning in one's *own* head, and you can get an inkling of this if you ask yourself who (or with whom, as you'd say) you spend the most time talking to each day? It's yourself.

Can you speak your own mind or do you have to quote other people all the time? You are right snobs are everywhere.

[muzmurray]

2 hours ago, dblaisde said:

I've always had an affection for bastards (having once been one)...even for anal-compulsives.

 

What's the original purpose of language? Everyone says, "Oh, for communication of course", but Chomsky thinks it's for thinking, to clarify concepts and effective planning in one's *own* head, and you can get an inkling of this if you ask yourself who (or with whom, as you'd say) you spend the most time talking to each day? It's yourself.

 

No mention of Chomsky saying that here;

 

http://languagelearningandteaching.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-is-language-and-how-can-we-define.html

 

Or anywhere else that I looked.

[dblaisde]

I'm out of here...

[dblaisde]

10 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Can you speak your own mind or do you have to quote other people all the time? You are right snobs are everywhere.

O Deer.

[dblaisde]

9 hours ago, muzmurray said:

 

No mention of Chomsky saying that here;

 

http://languagelearningandteaching.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-is-language-and-how-can-we-define.html

 

Or anywhere else that I looked.

http://skipperkongen.dk/2014/07/27/the-purpose-of-language-by-chomsky/

 

My last post. This has spun out of control. Good luck and no hard feelings.

[muzmurray]

13 hours ago, dblaisde said:

http://skipperkongen.dk/2014/07/27/the-purpose-of-language-by-chomsky/

 

My last post. This has spun out of control. Good luck and no hard feelings.

 

You want me to take that website seriously? " He answers that human natural language was propably developed to  ".

[sotonowl]

On 1/4/2017 at 10:30 PM, dblaisde said:

I've always had an affection for bastards (having once been one)...even for anal-compulsives.

 

What's the original purpose of language? Everyone says, "Oh, for communication of course", but Chomsky thinks it's for thinking, to clarify concepts and effective planning in one's *own* head, and you can get an inkling of this if you ask yourself who (or with whom, as you'd say) you spend the most time talking to each day? It's yourself.

That was crafty, I was waiting for the quote to prompt me. Please don't try and complicate something which is quite simple, bring and take was the question, have you any idea of the difference? Don't let old chomsky, (god bless him) mess with your head either, language is for communication.