Blogs

Walter van der Wal

100 baht tourist tax to cover basic insurance in Thailand

Is it worth waiting for?

The money is said to be used to ease the burden on Thai taxpayers having to pay for tourists’ emergency medical treatment and repatriation of people who die while on holiday.

Bangkok Phil

A trip down memory lane

Some random observations on what Thailand was like for an expat in the 1990's

Thailand expats always find plenty to moan about (me included!) but for those who were not around during the 90's, and for those who were and perhaps just fancy a reminisce, I put together a collection of random observations on Twitter, which many folks seemed to get a kick out of.

Dr. A.E Schneider

Discovery Learning / Authentic Teaching

Teaching is not acting

I remember when the adjuncts were about to go off to class, some would say, ‘show time’. At first, I agreed with that sentiment - that teaching was putting on a show for students. I quickly realized, however, that I didn’t want to be acting when I was teaching, I wanted to be myself.

More Dr. A.E Schneider articles

John Wilson

Playing to the gallery

Successful class-management and learner success is dependant on having fun

We are all familiar with the fact that every class has its own special chemistry. For obscure reasons some classes are friendly, others not; some bright and perky, others lackluster and heavy going.

Phil Hall

Those first time teaching nerves

How not to prepare for your very first class

I’ve read about how some of you love this work whilst others almost sneer at the very suggestion that we teach for the love of it. This is just a short recollection of how I really failed to prepare for what was one of the most challenging jobs of my life.

Diary of a Thai football season

Samut Prakan v Chiang Rai

My last game for a while - a home game against second-place Chiang Rai FC.

Chiang Rai are in second place, just one point behind leaders Buriram while Samut Prakan desperately need a win to avoid slipping out of the top five for the first time this season.

More Diary of a Thai football season articles

Richard Constable

16 teaching rules I live by

Some of these techniques you might find useful.

When students talk out of turn and are disrupting the flow of the lesson, I look directly at them and start a loud slow count from one up five. This generally works as the students have been programmed by their Thai teachers from an early age that a full count of five is swiftly followed by something highly unpleasant.

TEFL Course News

August 2019

Kickstart your teaching career with a Thailand-based TEFL course

If you are thinking of teaching in Thailand, then taking the course here will give you a good head start. You can gain first-hand experience on what Thai students are actually like to teach.

David Walters

Keeping your job application out of the bin

How to stand out from the job application crowd

Applying for jobs is always tedious and can take up copious amounts of time especially if you are tailoring each application for specific positions. I can't speak for all employers but for anyone applying for jobs I can offer advice based around what I look for when filling any position.

Stephen Louw

Academic tenacity

Student attrition in ESP courses

A group of Stanford researchers have done some fascinating work on why some students can handle the pressures of study and see the value in sticking with it. Their term for this is academic tenacity.

Richard McCully

Making hay while the exchange rate shines

For those heading back to the UK or sending money home, it's all hail the mighty Baht!

I can’t wait to get back to England in two weeks time where I’ll have roughly 25% more in my pocket than when I traveled back in 2014. It really is a fantastic time to get paid in baht.

Jocelyn Pollak

Three fun warm-up activities

Games designed to get students focused on using English and getting comfortable with their classmates.

Have fun with these games and consider joining in with your students! Great EFL warm-up activities really set the tone for a great class. Enjoy!

Rachel Diamond

Finding a job in Thailand - the basics

From one newbie to another

If you're considering coming to Thailand on your own to find work as an English teacher, I promise you can do it.

Ben Bartee

Stumbling blocks

What I didn’t learn in my 100-hour online ESL course

I can see my skin through my dress shirt because the thin layer of fine linen is totally soaked through. In short, it’s too hot to care about anything academic.

Parin Hemtanon

How to gain teaching experience when you have none

Could lack of experience be the reason why schools aren't replying to your job applications?

When I realised that I was an inexperienced teacher, I decided to create my own life-changing “teacher training program”. These are things I did to pack my resume with relevant teaching skills and experience, which I believe helped secure my first teaching job.

Stop that noise!

Phil Roeland

Teaching the kiddies

Do they learn anything at all?

Although weekend courses have to be fun for everyone involved, meaning both children and teacher, I think that fun and learning should be balanced. If the parents pay good money to get their kids on a course, the least a teacher should do is make sure that they learn some English. This can be done using fun and games, but not exclusively.

Lee Lepper

An amazing TEFL journey

From Saudi to Thailand to China (and a bit of America in-between)

China is definitely on the upswing as far as English teaching goes. Thailand is a place I love but professionally dead to me. Saudi was challenging, interesting and of course lucrative.

Mark Newman

Investing in people or rolling out policies?

Let's evaluate what happens here in Thailand as something we can learn from rather than condemn.

I firmly believe that we can look at Thailand and learn a lot about how we prepare our kids to enter society and live rewarding lives with the resources they have and priorities they live by.

John V

Excuse me, haven’t we met before?

A satirical look at TEFL personality types

If you’re just an average teacher struggling along in a sea of two legged sharks trying to do your best give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back, because you sir or madam are gold dust.

Mickey Sheehan

New term conversations

Eavesdropping on the first day of term

So how will the new teachers turn out?

Steve Schertzer

The poor traveler

The promised land or the den of lions?

One of the books I recently read is Bangkok to Ben Nevis Backwards, by Phil Hall. It could have been my story, minus the marriage to a Thai woman, a son, and an almost completed house in the countryside.

Todd Persaud

Get it down on paper!

The secret to managing office politics

Conflict in a workplace can pop up unexpectedly. This is why it’s necessary for you to write things down. This way, when it comes time to defend yourself or to shed light on the matter you can look back to your notes and bring up exactly what happened

Blake Sibbitt

The best place to live in Bangkok for teachers

Onnud has got the lot!

In the past, all we had was a Tesco, Big C and the beer garden. It was pretty barren. But it's distance from the "city center" and subsequent lower rents, while still having access to the BTS, has made it a popular choice for expats.

FIRE in Thailand

What does your retirement from teaching look like?

There's no excuse not to invest and plan.

Planning for retirement doesn't have to be complicated. All you have to do is spend less than you make and invest the difference for the long-term. That's it. I know you are thinking that's easier said than done, but start small.