Job Discussion Forums

anospi · Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 10:55 am Post subject: What should I take with me?!

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my CELTA, and leave for Thailand in 10 days time. I'm 25 years old, hold a bachelor of engineering and three years work experience in that field, but have never done any english teaching outside of CELTA.

I'll be looking for 3-6 months work in SE Asia. As I'll be travelling round quite a bit, I'm wondering if I should take a good grammar text (ie Parrott or Swan) or anything else, or will most Language centres have plenty of resources? Is the dress generally casual? What else should I be aware of when looking for work on the ground?

Are there any useful websites for people looking for english teaching jobs, that give some tips on what to look out for and be wary of.

Thanks heaps
Will

sigmoid · Joined: 21 Jan 2003 Posts: 1276

some waygug-in · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 339

Something I've always wished I'd brought, but didn't............hmmm?

Well, there is one thing, one of those coffee-table picture books about Canada with lots of pictures, some easy descriptions and a map or 2. I don't know how many times I'd wished I had one of these in my classes.
I finally broke down and bought a travel guide kind of book for Canada, but it doesn't have as many pics as I would like, the language is too advanced for most of my students, and it's too small to show in front of class.

Good luck, wherever you go.

Sheep-Goats · Joined: 16 Apr 2004 Posts: 527

We had this thread over at ajarn.com a while ago.

Three things you should bring are 1) high quality, thin, black, woolen hiking socks (10 pairs), 2) pictures of your neighborhood, house, city, family, 3) any and all official documentation including birth certificate, original degrees, transcripts, even your driver's license. If you have a laptop computer, bring it. If you don't, buy one when you get a chance / the money (plenty of good ones here).

Don't bring any but the most necessary clothes (everything's cheaper here and if you bring 600USD extra you can have a passable wardrobe, including two okay tailor-made suits, within a week of landing).

Other things are gravy. Many people say that their favorite CDs are hard to find here, so bring those. Goes for old movies, too, or favorite books. Brochures featuring North American animals (avialble in most book stores in the kid's section) are always a hit with girlfriends and students, and a big geographic map of your state will be interesting to your students as well (look, I lived in a valley. Here's the river in the picture I showed you a minute ago...).

By the way, if you only want 3-6 months work you'll most likely be stuck with temporary by-the-hour stuff that no one else will touch. Employers want you for a year (at least) throughout the region. Dress is very formal for almost every teacher in Thailand and Cambodia -- long sleeves, tie, business shoes (I don't know about dress other countries in the region). Many places have scanty resources, but you'll usually find that an activity book is more useful than a grammar -- and that most of your grammar questions can be easily worked out online while activities avialble online are few and/or poorly organized. Ajarn.com is by far the biggest route for finding work in Thailand -- most of the teachers I know have found their jobs almost exclusively through it (and through networking, which you can't really do in the states). The most important thing for looking for work is that you have a cell phone. And don't tell people that you're staying on Khao San Road, if that's where you're staying.

sprightly · Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 136 Location: England

i copied all my favourite music to my laptop, which cut down on my packing quite a bit.
i have swan, and love him. i've really enjoyed having grammar resources at my fingertips, and it answers some difficult questions, very concisely.

before going, i would do some online research, and email yourself a list of pages that have activities, sample plans, games, etc. (setting as bookmark is great, until you don't have your laptop with you, or the damn drive dies.)

i took maxwell house semi-instant coffee packets. very light, and solve that 'i can't find any decent coffee' dilemna that happens in some parts of the world.
i also packed a couple packets of instant soup, just in case food wasn't accessible right off the plane--hot water usually is.

are you looking for 3-6 month posts to help you travel?

anospi · Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:12 am Post subject:

Thanks for the tips guys. I recently completed my CELTA, and am looking for 3-6 months work to get some experience under my belt, as I haven't done any english teaching work before (I worked for 3 years as a computer programmer and got bored!). After working in SE Asia for a while, I am flying to Nepal to do some trekking, then Europe for a while, before I look for a 12-18 month teaching position in South America. A 2 year plan!