Talkin’ bout my situation

Everyone's situation is a little different

30th January 2012

A section of the ajarn website for those teachers looking to embark on a teaching career in Thailand and have so many questions and no real answers.

Life on the CELTA course

The ups and downs on the road to becoming a teacher in Thailand

20th January 2012

On a TEFL course, you're going to laugh more than you've ever laughed and you're going to spend a minimum of nine hours a day with a group of ten or so other people who'll you come to, at the very least, respect for the way they get through the week and at most love.

Home or away?

Where is the best place to do a TEFL course - Thailand or your own country?

31st May 2011

A good question that occasionally pops up on the ajarn discussion forum is “should I take a TEFL course in Thailand or in my home country (USA, England, etc)? I’ve noticed that the question never really gets a decent answer, so I turned to a dozen or so of Thailand’s TEFL course providers and asked them for their input.

Nothing but misinformation

Sent in by Mr T

17th February 2011

I'm finding out that almost everything in Thailand's TEFL industry is a big fat lie.

The maturing of the Thai EFL industry

Something tells me there’s a bright future ahead,

1st December 2009

Take a look around you, and you’ll soon discover that there are signs not only of a maturing of the education sector in Thailand as a whole, but also the language teaching industry as well.

Are TEFL qualifications necessary?

Let's consider what can go wrong after TEFL courses.

2nd October 2009

One argument against qualifications is that teaching experience itself is enough to guarantee a good teacher. Not so. I have recently been learning French in an institution where my intermediate classmates are often poor performers in their out-of-class interactions. And for what reason?

An alternative guide

A rough guide to the lonely planet of teaching in SE Asia

2nd August 2009

If you studied TEFL or CELTA in your home country, something that would have almost definitely been lacking from your course was your tutors experience and knowledge of SE Asia.

Who can truly teach?

Sent in by RM

24th September 2006

Education and ESL are two different things. Its that simple. What does a degree in Astro Physics have to with teaching a foreign language to a 9 year old for example?

Sweet spastic, silly swarms

Back in Korea again

1st July 2005

Korea was the same as when I left it. New swarms of hagwons proliferated like rabbits on viagra and cheap wine. Every street twinkled with the latest corporate offspring – doe-eyed upstarts of whatever educational franchise chain. Small, independent, family owned schools struggled to compete; while saturating the nation themselves oblivious to supply and demand.

Are you certified?

Finding your way through the TEFL course maze

1st June 2005

Teaching was no longer challenging. I was stagnating. Sure, I could always shake my life up with a weekend of debauchery, an occasional fling with a sexy female expatriate, or by traveling to a different city – and, truth be told, I often tried combining all three. But, at my core, I knew that I wasn’t growing productively. As a teacher I wasn’t developing. My methodologies had become stale. I needed a new bag of tricks. I needed rejuvenation.

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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.