chatting with the natives

How long you ever go Thailand before?

I think it's a terrific idea to send students out as part of a class project and get them comfortable with talking to foreigners. But why not ask questions worth asking?

The new teacher licensing regulations

How the new rules will affect teachers

The first memo about these new regulations from The Ministry of Education and The Teachers Council of Thailand came out about 2 years ago. Until a few months ago, no mention of this has ever been made to me at either Immigration or The Labor Department. When I tried getting new visas and work permits for my teachers, (a few months ago) the Immigration officials told me that the teacher had to have their teachers license under the new regs before they could be issued a Non-Immigrant Visa.

Beware the ajarn forum cynics

Postbox letter from T.Knott

My biggest problem now has become the foreign teachers on the ajarn forum. I am an educated man and I am also a student learning daily lessons of life. I expected that people here would be professional as they claim to be.

Notes on a semester

What can you do when teaching starts to get you down?

How can I or any teacher that feels he's underachieving turn things around? I doubt there is any magic formula, but I've come up with a few ideas. Many of them are blindingly obvious but it's often the easy points we miss during difficult classes.

How to motivate students

Keys to improving language learning

Motivation can either be internal or external. Students who are internally motivated usually learn English because they want to, because they enjoy learning or because they want to achieve a certain goal, not because they have to. Examples of personal goals could be pursuing a promotion at work or planning to enrol in a foreign university’s graduate programme.

Moans and groans

Postbox letter from Jeff V

I have "some" moaning and groaning to do, so I guess I'm here at the right place to do so!

Bah humbug

spending Christmas in Thailand

I think teachers are divided into two camps at this time of year. Those who say 'bah humbug' and continue working as usual, and those who make a token effort to recreate the festive spirit in the comfort of their apartments - as difficult as that may be. Some might even be lucky enough to find the time and the money to escape to the beach for a few days. After years of treating December 25th as 'just another day' I now find myself with a house and a wife and I do everything possible to recreate some of the memories from those childhood Christmasses.

Don't sweat the small stuff

Postbox letter from Ralph Sasser

When preparing to come to Thailand, just take things as they come.

First lesson memories

Do you remember the moment?

The ink is still wet on your brand new teacher training certificate and you're suddenly faced with the prospect of standing in front of your first ever class and dishing up hearty portions of education and entertainment. We asked for your first lesson in Thailand memories. Were you as cool as a cucumber....or absolutely bricking it?