Let’s have a chat with Mr Barry Cowger. He taught for a couple of years in Europe and moved to Thailand almost a year ago. Even in that short time, he’s experienced a couple of Thai primary schools and designed an English program that got approval from none other than the local mayor.
One reader emailed me to say that there aren’t enough dames doing these hot seat interviews. OK, why should the lads have all the fun? Erika Stevenson has been working at Rajamangala University in Songkhla for the past two years and she’s got a few experiences she’s just dying to share. Take it away girl.
One area that many TEFLers show an interest in is hotel teaching. Can you imagine a job where your work environment is a five-star luxury hotel surrounded by swaying palms and waves lapping on to some private beach. And you probably only have to teach a couple of hours a day as well. Is it really as good as all that? Step forward Preston Dixon - a teacher at a hotel resort on Thailand’s Koh Samui.
Rick Carter is the Human Resource Co-ordinator for English First in Jakarta. Ajarn.com asks Rick about his life as an English teacher and what made him up roots and make the move to Indonesia.
Lets talk to a teacher who came to teach in Thailand but soon realized that he was perhaps a little ‘under-qualified’ or rather wanted to improve his chances of landing a better job. The answer was to enroll on a degree course in Bangkok. Take it away David Gevaux.
Andy H (or Aitch as he’s better known) is the webmaster behind Mrroomfinder.com, one of Thailand’s most popular apartment websites. What a lot of people don’t know is that this extremely likable Cambridge lad was teaching in Bangkok as long ago as 1994. Since then, life has been something of a roller-coaster. Say what you like about Aitch, he’s always got an interesting tale to tell.
Ralph Sasser doesn’t hold down a ‘big position’ in Thailand’s EFL business and he has no illusions of grandeur. He came to Thailand purely because it felt like home and happiness was of paramount importance. He’s a regular guy and a regular teacher.
As Asia-wide recruiter for Shane Language Schools, few people are in a better position to compare and analyze conditions for teachers in Korea, Taiwan, Japan, China…..and of course Thailand.
Tim McCrystle has spent six years teaching English in The Land of Smiles and in his words “had a good look around all the aspects of teaching in Thailand” - so let’s hear what he’s got to say for himself.
Let’s catch up with what’s happening in the world of corporate training, and who better to put in the hot seat than Mr Al Lock, Managing Director of NLI, a company that specializes in high-end training programs for multi-national companies.