From the Middle Way to the Middle East

Life as a teacher in the dunes

1st June 2011

When you’ve been teaching in Thailand for many years, there will eventually come a time when you want to venture out and try something different. This is especially true if you are getting “long in the tooth” and want some retirement money. Over the next few blogs, I’m going to focus on what it’s like to live and work as a teacher in Saudi Arabia.

Professional development

Adding a few strings to your bow

29th October 2010

If you're a teacher in Thailand who feels in a bit of a rut and looking to secure a better job somewhere else, now may be the time to dust off your CV and think about some ways you can make yourself attractive to a future employer.

Taking responsibility - Mai mee rapitchorp!

We are more than just robots with marker pens.

3rd September 2010

How many teachers have really thought about their responsibility as a teacher in a classroom and the effect their teaching can have on future generations of people – lawyers, doctors, teachers?

Barbarians in the building

Teaching English to savages and the great recession

1st December 2009

This past July I accepted a job teaching English at a university in Saudi Arabia. I was to teach Saudi males in their 20's and was excited about that opportunity. The tax-free salary of around $3,500 U.S. a month along with a rent-free apartment, return airfare, and long paid holidays didn't hurt either.

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Ajarn Guests

Fear of change?

In Thailand the government has set 2012 as English Speaking Year with a goal of encouraging students to converse in English every Monday. Such policies are useful but the major leap of enacting legislation to make English an official language for Thailand is also needed

Software for student tests

The integration of internet and computers with education and English learning is something students find normal, and classrooms without some access to educational software may seem quaint. Some students may even feel they can get more ‘professional' teaching from the numerous online ELT sites if a school is behind in IT.

Whatever happened to the shopping mall teacher?

They are the shopping mall English teachers - gliding like pale, undernourished phantoms amid the hordes of weekend Thai shoppers. The main reason I empathize with the shopping mall teacher is because I was once one myself. I know how desperate and soul-destroying it can be.

About Ajarn.com

Ajarn.com was started as a small hobby website in 1999 by Ian McNamara. It was a simple way for one Bangkok teacher to share his Thailand experiences and pass on advice. The website developed a loyal and enthusiastic following. In 2004, Ian handed over the reins to Phil Williams and 'Bangkok Phil' has run the ajarn website ever since.

Ajarn.com has grown enormously and is now the most popular TEFL site in Thailand - possibly even South East Asia. Although best-known for its vibrant jobs page, Ajarn has a wealth of articles, blogs, features and help and advice. But one principle has always remained at Ajarn's core - to tell things like they are and to do it with a sense of humor. Thailand can be Heaven or Hell for an English teacher. It's always been Ajarn.com's duty to present both sides of the equation. Thanks for stopping by.