I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly, polite and nice the people were. Maybe this was because I was primarily in smaller towns and rural areas, but even while in the airports in Chicago and Denver, it just seemed so easy to strike up conversations with the people I were interacting with.
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I'll put my hands up and admit I've been somewhat unkind to Chiang Mai in past blogs. On past visits, I've usually had the job of playing tour guide to my ageing parents and a couple of their friends. It's never easy to move a group of elderly folk around a sizeable Asian city without having every tout and unofficial tour operator descending on you from miles around
Millions of Filipinos, including me, were shocked at the poor handling of the hostage situation by our own security enforcers. It was an embarrassment to our capability to save lives. This we cannot deny.
So what has happened to Ratchada to transform it into this now arguably superior status? Well obviously it has benefitted immensely from the MRT stations and metro line and this has given Ratchada not only a new lease of life, but has encouraged others to come and live in the area.
Information about TEN’s next event and an upcoming event hosted by Oxford University Press.
Each agency has different sets of procedures and requirements. Just prepare all your credentials when you apply, including your ID pictures. Be ready with some teaching materials too because a number of agencies require 5-10 minute teaching demonstration.
This month, one TEFL course is offering its Bangkok program to any interested parties and there is absolutely no franchise fee. Another provider has opened a couple of new centers and has a very special offer for ajarn.com readers.
It is not the students’ fault that they are failing tests and exams. All students want to pass. They simply don’t know how since most teachers have never taught their students how to study effectively and to recognize the pitfalls of taking tests and examinations.
Why are these banal topics regularly raised when so many critical and more pressing problems are evident in the Thai education system? What about the huge shortfall of qualified teachers? The embarrassingly low salary offered to them?
As a rule, there really are no good or bad companies when it comes to paying claims, although some are a little better than others. It’s mainly a matter of timing and situation.
Once again, a high level government official has given an answer that doesn’t care one whit about reality on the ground, in the real Thai world. And who cares that, within a few years, Thai children will have no native speakers to teach them in the public schools?
I’ve been doing some travelling in China lately so I dusted off my travel phrasebook to make sure I’d be able to practise some useful language and not feel too alien in this country with more than one billion locals.