Opening your own successful language school is something many English teachers dream of doing. The dream became a reality for one Englishman and his Thai partner. Andrew Fleming tells ajarn.com the secrets behind making a language school work.

Well, this is something of a ‘first’ for the ajarn hot seat – our very first interview with a Thai national - Kattreeya Walker to be exact. ‘Katt’ has taught English in Thai schools. She’s run online businesses. She’s lived abroad in The USA. She has plenty of opinions. Honestly, I don’t know where to start.

It's always good to get an interview with guys in the private language school business - the managers or academic directors on the frontline. Stuart Stripling is Managing Director of Insight English on Silom Road in Bangkok. So how are things shaping up for Thailand's private language school market?

Polish-born Marek Lenarcik first put himself in the ajarn hot seat in February 2010. Marek hadn't been in Thailand very long at that stage but he had landed a decent teaching gig in Bangkok and all seemed well with the world. We featured Marek because we wanted to know if there were any 'difficulties' finding a teaching job for someone classified as a non-native English speaking European. Let's catch up with the man himself - and hang on to your hats because it's been an eventful last three years to say the least.

We're going to invite 27-year-old Canadian Zach Laan into the ajarn.com hot seat for the first interview of 2013. Zach taught in Thailand for about five years and despite being a relative youngster, he's managed to cram an awful lot into his post-university teaching career.

What, if anything, are TEFLers doing these days to supplement their teaching salaries? Steve Collingborne is one of that select group of teachers who dabble in a bit of 'E-bay exporting' on the side. So the big question is - does it make any wonga?

Katherine Hardy and her partner Rob, both from the UK, jacked in their jobs in the civil service to travel the world and teach English. They slung a few things in a backpack and after seeing a few countries, they both ended up in Chiang Mai. But they've already got itchy feet.

Let's have a natter with not one but two female TEFL course instructors. Both Robyn and Emma are teacher trainers at Chiang Mai University. It's not often I get to chat with two young ladies so rest assured I'll be making this last as long as possible.

Warren Daniels, a teacher from the UK, has taught in Thailand for about six years. During that time he's held jobs in half a dozen different schools and opened a successful restaurant. He describes himself as a 'complicated guy'. Hmmmm. Let's pull up a chair and chat with a fellow Brit.

Bangkok-based Tom Green is a qualified secondary school teacher in his native Luxembourg. At the moment, he's interviewing for part-time teaching jobs, but it's hypnotherapy that is very much his first love. Are you feeling sleepy? No? Good. Then let's begin.