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simply_angelic
Joined: 10 Jun 2012
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:01 am Post subject: Online TEFL & Degree only...will this be OK in Thailand? |
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Hey everyone! So I've read a lot of posts stating that CELTA is pretty much required to teach in Thailand, but I was wondering if my online certificate could potentially get me a solid job as well (more details below). Ideally, I'd like to land in thailand late September and hopefully get a job for the second term of school whilst abroad, but I don't want to go all the way out there then find out I won't be able to get a gig!
A little about me:
-I'm a 24 yr old female
-I'm Canadian
-I'm white (as apparently that matters)
-I have an honours degree in Science (B.Sc)
-I have a 100 hour TEFL certificate from ITTT (which I got from online work, although it doesn't say anywhere on the cert that it was an online course)
-I recently bought a groupon for a 150-hour TEFL online cert from Global Leadership College, so I'll have that as well come Sept/Oct.
-I have some teaching experience (volunteering for a year in the UK, art teaching, and horseback riding instructor), but no real TEFL experience
So do you think I will be OK? I would be really sad if I couldn't find anything...  Also, I'd actually rather not teach in Bangkok if possible. I'm more of a smaller, rural town kind of girl, if given the choice. I've travelled relatively extensively so I am at home without western conveniences and don't expect them when I travel. I'd much rather be far enough away from the city that I can run along the side of the road and be close enough to nature... How exactly do you go about getting a job in Thailand after simply "showing up" in the country with a tourist visa, let alone in a smaller or more rural city/town?
Thanks in advance for your help! I really appreciate it! |
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tttompatz
Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Posts: 1951
Location: Talibon, Bohol, Philippines
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 2:07 am Post subject: Re: Online TEFL & Degree only...will this be OK in Thail |
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Reality check:
Canadian passport = yes.
Degree = yes.
Official university transcripts = yes.
Clean police check = yes.
TEFL cert = NOT needed (but occasionally requested by language schools).
Can you get a job in the mid year break: Sept-Nov = YES.
Will it be on the beach or a major tourist destination = unlikely but not impossible.
Does it have to be in BKK = no, unless you only want short time work (6 weeks to 6 months).
Will it pay a lot = No (30-40k thb right off the plane is pretty standard for newbies in the country).
How to find a job when you enter on a tourist visa = Did you mean "tourist visa" (60-day, double entries, from the Thai Consulate in Canada) or a tourist visa waiver (30 days on arrival at the airport)?
How to find a job = ask around.
=Look at the job sites for ajarns (teachers); this one and more particularly the one that specializes in Thailand.
=Have your resume dusted off, nice cover letter in hand (individualized for each job you hand it out to). Add some photos of you working with kids.
You should be able to find something within a week or 2 of landing in BKK.
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 1276
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 2:49 am Post subject: |
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 Anybody considering Thailand for work or travel needs to begin following the news out of Bangkok immediately in order to to stay informed about events as they unfold on a daily basis.  |
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Eagle Eyes
Joined: 26 Apr 2012
Posts: 121
Location: Istanbul
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 3:48 am Post subject: |
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| Anyone who is an English native speaker of the caucasian or latino race between the ages of 20-75 years old can find a job teaching English in Thailand! Of course it helps if you have a degree or are TEFL certified but to enjoy teaching here you must be a good actor and comedian! |
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plumpy nut
Joined: 12 Mar 2011
Posts: 1652
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:32 am Post subject: |
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| Eagle Eyes wrote: |
| Anyone who is an English native speaker of the caucasian or latino race between the ages of 20-75 years old can find a job teaching English in Thailand! Of course it helps if you have a degree or are TEFL certified but to enjoy teaching here you must be a good actor and comedian! |
For most of the students in the class you simply have to know what they expect in the end, which is to pass the class without doing any appreciable work whatsoever. That means the native english teacher (not necessarily a thai teacher) must turn his head on the blatent cheating and fix the grades (sometimes by adding more criteria to the grading for the students to do well in).
Keep in mind there are some, a few, students who do want to learn and will do some work believe it or not. You want to know how to teach these students, even though you cannot do standard ESL activities.
Teaching the students that want to learn usually involves asking questions about the material that they are supposed to listen to or read (the ones that want to learn will read and listen) and if the material contains a dialogue make sure you take advantage and split the class into groups and have them take on the talking roles. This is in addition to actually teaching them the grammer, which the good ones will listen to. Except for the younger Mathayam levels it is very difficult to get the students to get up and move around without it taking up an enormous amount of time, so why do those kinds of activities? The dumb ones won't do anything but stand around anyway. |
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MaiPenRai
Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 390
Location: BKK
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 3:01 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Anyone who is an English native speaker of the caucasian or latino race between the ages of 20-75 years old can find a job teaching English in Thailand! Of course it helps if you have a degree or are TEFL certified but to enjoy teaching here you must be a good actor and comedian! |
To find legal work you are required to have a degree. Being TEFL certified is irrelevant as far as obtaining a work permit to teach legally.
Mandatory retirement age is 60 (AFAIK) for teachers in Thailand. Sometimes teachers can be grandfathered in (start working at the school before turning 60) and can extend their work permit past aged 60. It would be near impossible to get legal work if starting a new job after turning 60.
To enjoy 'teaching' in Thailand at a government school or at a language school, you need to understand your role and do it well without making others lose face.
The majority of foreign 'teachers' here are hired as conversation or speaking/listening 'teachers'. To do this well you need to focus on these aspects of the language (pronunciation/natural speech/fluency/communicative language/etc.). Most 'teachers' here don't understand their role and/or don't do it well. They then resort to becoming 'clowns' in the classroom because they don't know how to teach communicative EFL properly and thus have to do whatever they can to keep the students happy and awake. To be fair to most, it is difficult to do this type of teaching well in a classroom with 50 students, but not impossible.
I've seen many 'teachers' find some level of success in Thai schools without being a comedian.
IMHO, ANY teacher in ANY part of the world needs to be a good actor/actress. Being on display and finding out how to motivate people (or what motivates them) is part of being a teacher. When you don't feel up to it, you need to act.
| Quote: |
Hey everyone! So I've read a lot of posts stating that CELTA is pretty much required to teach in Thailand |
Cant say Ive seen these posts myself. TEFL certificates (CELTA or otherwise) are not a legal requirement to teach in Thailand.
| Quote: |
| The dumb ones won't do anything but stand around anyway. |
The students who are not motivated to study English or study in general. Not necessarily dumb, but years of the Thai education system.
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| Also, I'd actually rather not teach in Bangkok if possible. I'm more of a smaller, rural town kind of girl, if given the choice. |
SIMPLY ANGELIC:
Send me a PM. I could connect you to a company that specializes in smaller cities outside of Bangkok. |
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