You’re coming to Thailand to teach English as a volunteer. But you’re a student or someone on a limited budget. So you want a basic, reliable service to you set up. How’s this?
We’ll pick you up at Suvarnabhumi Airport outside of Bangkok. We’ll give you a two hour orientation about teaching techniques and Thai language and customs. Select up to 10 different sets of printed lesson plans. After our teaching staff get to know you, we’ll match you up with other volunteers at one of our 20 schools. Before you move on, stay with us at our modern volunteer house in Bangkok. Take a virtual tour of your school from our computer files. The next day we’ll take you to the bus or train station, arrange your ticket and arrange to have you met at the other end.
One fee. 150 Euros (EUR), about 205 (USD). Stay as little as two weeks. Or stay as long as two months or longer. It’s up to you. Free accommodation at the school. No registration or application fee. No hidden or extra charges. If our fee seems suspiciously low compared to other firms. It’s because none of our overhead costs are in Europe or America. Our services are where you need them. Here in Thailand.
There are only 3 things you have to think about
You may have doubts about your ability to teach and about your new surroundings. We’ve helped 240 volunteers in the past two years. And based on that experience we believe there are only three things you need to be concerned with.
No. 1. As a stranger in a strange land. You need to make a soft landing.
Everything about Thailand will knock you back on your heels. The food, the language, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the cultural rules, the friendliness of the people can leave you in a state of awe from the moment you arrive till the time you leave. Getting beyond the state of awe, to a point where you can relax and immerse yourself in the culture, takes some help, particularly for first time visitors.
Based on what you’ve read or heard from friends Thai people are among the friendliest people in all the world. What many visitors don’t realize until well into their time here is that Thai customs and rules of etiquette are very precise and very important to Thai people. To truly experience the culture, you need to be accepted. To be accepted you need to know the cultural rules and etiquette.
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As a resident of a small community it is vital that you know about basic rules of etiquette at school and after school. Without this knowledge, it is very easy to offend someone and cause them to “lose face” without even knowing it. It may surprise you to learn that in Thailand, teachers or “ajarn” as the Thais say, are accorded the same level of respect as doctors and lawyers. Because of this elevated social status, teachers are expected to dress, groom themselves and behave in a certain fashion. If you don’t know what’s expected of you, no one is going to tell you when you’ve done something wrong. We’ll tell you how the concept of “saving face” can affect you in an out of school. In our orientation we’ll cover the basics with you, so you can relax and not worry about committing social faux pas.
The other hurdle you’ll face as a visitor and teacher is that English is a huge barrier for most Thais. Despite what you’ve read in tour books most people in Thailand do not speak any English. And the rest speak very little and understand even less. If you thought Bangkok was like most mega-cities in the world where English speakers can manage quite well, you would be wrong. Drop a native English speaker in cities such as Berlin, Beijing, Tokyo, Rome, Paris and Rio and they could find an address, order a meal, get directions and get advice from a taxi driver. But it’s not true in Bangkok and even less true as you move out into the countryside. Without some assistance on the ground, except for heavily visited areas such as Pattaya and downtown Bangkok, Thailand can be a bewildering place. So you need some advice about how to get around, order a meal, catch a bus. We’ll cover this in our orientation.
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How does this affect you as a volunteer teacher? It affects you a lot. What you observe on the streets, you’ll see at your school. If you’re like most volunteers, you’ll end up teaching at a smaller rural school. Usually the headmaster (Director) there will speak a little English. But more often he will rely on one or two of his staff who are fairly fluent in English. The rest of the staff, typically, speak little or no English.
In your research you may have read that English is a compulsory subject in Thai schools. That’s right. Compulsory for about only the past 10 years. But not long enough to have produced a current generation of Thai English teachers who speak and understand English well. They rely heavily upon textbooks and memorization of vocabulary, grammatical rules and snippets of conversation. As a consequence, Thai students whether 6 years old or 26 have the same problem. They may have learned “information” about English in some cases for many years. But most do not have the ability to create English. It’s as though they have been taught the subject of swimming. Yet, they don’t know how to swim.
So as a volunteer who speaks no Thai, you’ll be expected to teach students who understand very little English. Impossible? Surprisingly not. If you know how and what to teach.
No. 2: You need to understand the agony that English creates for Thai students.
If you truly want to make a difference for your Thai students, you cannot just pull out a typical ESL lesson plan from the internet or from a book. That’s because most lesson plans are designed to build upon a skill that’s presumed to already exist. For most Thai students there is no skill in using or creating language already in place.
Simply adding more information about things such as body parts, colors, animals, numbers, the alphabet adds nothing to the skill of using English. As a process they are fine. But in terms of contributing to the skill of using English they are of limited value. A few weeks or a few months later the lesson will have been forgotten unless it is taught in the context of a strategy for speaking English.
With the proper help, you can teach this strategy. And you can see an almost miraculous and immediate change in the ability of your students. We have worked on this technique with more than 200 volunteer teachers who have enjoyed successful and satisfying teaching placements because of it.
Your orientation will be led by a native English teacher who has taught at all levels of the Thai system from Prathom (elementary), Mathryom (secondary), college and university. He’s in charge of teacher training. The head of volunteer placements is the bilingual head of administration at a local Bangkok college.
3. You need to know that just any school in Thailand is not going to work out for you. There are good ones, okay ones and marginal ones. You need to know how to end up at the good ones.
You know what you want to get out of your volunteer teaching placement. You want to teach English to students from difficult economic circumstances who most need your help. You want to experience the true culture of Thailand and perhaps build up your own confidence and communication skills.
But would you know how to find the best schools in Thailand to make all these things happen?
Our co-ordinator of schools is fluent in both English and Thai and has worked as a foreign teacher co-ordinator for high schools and colleges in Bangkok and Chonburi, Thailand.
The 20 schools he has selected for our current program reflects the priorities and exacting demands he places on placement schools.
He looks for schools of about 200 students in rural areas with a nearby vibrant village or community atmosphere. The school must be within easy reach of a major tourism asset such as those found in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Kanchanaburi. Ease of travel to Bangkok is also a consideration.
He looks for clean, well kept schools in secure stable communities where adult oriented evening entertainment areas catering to tourists are not present. He closely inspects teachers’ accommodation to ensure they have proper bedding, mosquito netting, clean washroom and shower facilities and the presence of 24 hour security.
If these assets are in place, he interviews the Director and senior English teacher at every potential placement school. He looks for enthusiasm and support from the management of the school as well as a full time contact point for the volunteer teacher. Nine out of ten schools visited are rejected at this stage.
He reviews the progress and status of every volunteer in the program at least once per week to ensure that the placement is going well. Where necessary he visits the school to inspect upgrades to teachers’ residences and other facilities.
Looking ahead
If you’re coming to Thailand late in 2010, consider participating in our brand new project in one of our favorite areas in Thailand. Consider being one of the first teachers at our new volunteer placement center in Kanchanaburi. During the day you’ll teach at a nearby school and then return to the modular, ultra-modern, teachers’ residence.
Kanchanaburi is one of the coolest areas in the Kingdom because it has so many things going for it. It has the historical significance of the Bridge on the River Kwai and the related museums, memorials and war cemeteries. It has beautiful rolling limestone hills that create the most visited waterfalls in the Kingdom. Erewan, for example, features 7 tiers or veils. Visitors hike to the top and then swim in 7 successive bathing pools created by individual tiers. It has a vibrant local market economy which includes gemstones from neighboring countries. The famous tiger temple, elephant park and floating restaurants and guest houses are favorite local attractions.
