The uphill fight to make a difference.
There are many obstacles in your way that you can do almost nothing about.
There are lots of good reasons why teachers are struggling to get the job done and the good news is that none of them are your fault!
Picture descriptions
A great way to improve a student's listening skills
Picture descriptions are a great listening practice tool. Students enjoy it because it involves drawing. Give them a try in your classes!
Thai schools still focusing on grammar
Postbox letter from Sunida
I am seeing a huge gap between the practice and the need of the school to keep the look of International standard while O-Net and A-Net tests are so hopeless and do not align with any lessons they teach in classes in many schools at all.
On teaching classroom language
Getting students to use simple English all the time
Whenever confronted with students who speak Thai in class, I considered it an opportune moment to teach them the right structures.
Who gets the call when their arms are raised?
Which student gets the teacher's questions and why?
Here are the different groups of students within a typical class. They are quite distinctive and there's not really much of a gray area between them.
Why I work in a language centre
Thai high schools? Never again buddy.
The benefits of a good language centre far outweigh those of a high school. The freedom, work conditions and financial package make it the best option for me.
How to motivate your students
An extract from a new book on teaching English to Thai students
Many studies have been undertaken to determine the reasons why South East Asian students have problems learning English. I would add to the list: weakness of the curriculum design, limited school resources, class sizes, poor course design, and course-books not always being relevant to the student's own environment.
It's that time of year again
Postbox letter from Bryan W
It's final exam time; And not just any old final exams, but end of year/graduation exams. Such a wonderful time for a teacher
My first year as a teacher in Thailand
The highs and the lows and what I've learned.
Now that this academic year is winding down, I reflect on my first year with a lot of mixed feelings. There have been a lot of awesome moments where I really felt like a teacher. I really felt like I was getting through to the students and I was the getting the job done.
Grammar vs speech
Differing techniques inside the classroom
In my experience, students recite a grammar rule or know the rule or learn the rule and maybe even vaguely understand the rule, but then you ask them a basic question and they don't understand.
