Thai lady teaching the English language to Thai students

[hathairat2711]

If a Thai lady who has an excellent command of the English language, wishes to teach the English language to Thai students working from home and charging a small hourly fee, would there be any problem or is she missing something?

 

 

 

[Fookhaht]

Rather than asking a bunch of foreigners about something that seems to deal with Thai law, Thai educational regulations or Thai cultural problems, perhaps you might start with some Thai resources:
 

• Your local puyai baan.
• Provincial or city hall
• Thai Ministry of Education http://www.moe.go.th/moe/th/home/
  
  On the other hand, perhaps some foreigners have a Thai lady relative/acquaintance who has done this, and can respond to you.
  
  Good luck.

[hathairat2711]

Understand, but my question was initially directed to those foreigners who have a Thai wife, girlfriend, friend who have had experience of setting up an English language school and working from home.......if any.

 

 

 

[hathairat2711]

Thanks for the MOE link Fookhaht, I will forward this to the lady concerned.

[Kasset Tak]

There is basically no need for any education or certification to set up a language/tutorial school legally for Thais, BUT if a foreigner is involved in any way then you will need EVERYTHING to do it legally!

[4evermaat]

49 minutes ago, hathairat2711 said:

Understand, but my question was initially directed to those foreigners who have a Thai wife, girlfriend, friend who have had experience of setting up an English language school and working from home.......if any.

 

 

 

Your Thai friend is missing the Foreigner face.  

 

My friend's wife who is in a similar position (Thai national, western degree and speaks English quite well) has an English school in Chumphon.  Fully legit, with ability to issue work permits, registered with Ministry of Education, lesson plans ready for inspection, etc.  She has to remind her potential clients that sometimes frown when they see that her husband won't be teaching their child each lesson that she cannot give them the face, but she has the voice and the skills.  The parents get more at ease when they see her and hubby talking together and the students in English.

 

So it is possible to teach, especially younger kids in a smaller town without any foreigner 'backing' or part time help and especially if it is cheap the Thais will send them there after school or something like that..  But it's a much easier sell when you have a foreigner there; especially if you are looking to command higher tuition.   You'd be surprised how much some of the Thais are prepared to pay for legit English lessons (in a larger town anyway).

 

It's the same type of bias if you were in the states and you go to a Thai food stall.  You might expect some of the staff to be Thai, unless it is a chain store.  My favorite was when I was working at a Chinese food restaurant taking orders.  Of course others can technically make the food, but some people still want to see the stereotypical Chinese looking cook preparing the food.  I got asked all the time "They let ***** people work here? Are there any Chinese people back there?" (kitchen was hidden in this case).

[hathairat2711]

7 minutes ago, 4evermaat said:

Your Thai friend is missing the Foreigner face.  

 

My friend's wife who is in a similar position (Thai national, western degree and speaks English quite well) has an English school in Chumphon.  Fully legit, with ability to issue work permits, registered with Ministry of Education, lesson plans ready for inspection, etc.  She has to remind her potential clients that sometimes frown when they see that her husband won't be teaching their child each lesson that she cannot give them the face, but she has the voice and the skills.  The parents get more at ease when they see her and hubby talking together and the students in English.

 

So it is possible to teach, especially younger kids in a smaller town without any foreigner 'backing' or part time help and especially if it is cheap the Thais will send them there after school or something like that..  But it's a much easier sell when you have a foreigner there; especially if you are looking to command higher tuition.   You'd be surprised how much some of the Thais are prepared to pay for legit English lessons (in a larger town anyway).

 

It's the same type of bias if you were in the states and you go to a Thai food stall.  You might expect some of the staff to be Thai, unless it is a chain store.  My favorite was when I was working at a Chinese food restaurant taking orders.  Of course others can technically make the food, but some people still want to see the stereotypical Chinese looking cook preparing the food.  I got asked all the time "They let ***** people work here? Are there any Chinese people back there?" (kitchen was hidden in this case).

Agree, 'you've hit the nail on the head'.  An English speaking foreigner getting involved would make all the difference but, as we all know, he or she would need to have the necessary qualifications and of course a work permit.

 

Let's see how it goes.

 

 

 

 

[4evermaat]

2 hours ago, hathairat2711 said:

Agree, 'you've hit the nail on the head'.  An English speaking foreigner getting involved would make all the difference but, as we all know, he or she would need to have the necessary qualifications and of course a work permit.

 

Let's see how it goes.

 

She could teach small group of elementary school thais informally no problem.    That might actually be a good idea to build up a reputation.   Does she have a covered space or yard space that could be converted into a semi-classroom?

[cornishcarlos]

My wife runs a private school. She teaches English and employs a Thai and Maths teacher also.

I never get involved for obvious reasons, although I am about when the classes are being run. I think this does give the parents some sort of positive reinforcement as to the level of teaching !!

If you do everything by the book with the MOE, its a ball ache. Just get it up and running to see how it goes.

Class fees for our place are 100 baht an hour for classes up to 12 students.

Private courses run at approx 250 baht/hour.

With the downward spiral in rubber and palm prices, our numbers have dropped off but she was teaching upward of 60 students a week during school holidays.

 

Good luck...