Job Discussion Forums

[brewsterbudgen]

I'm heading out to Bangkok in 3 weeks to take a CELTA at ECC in Siam Square. The pre-course instructions strongly recommend bringing authentic materials from the UK to use in class. I guess they mean magazines, postcards, pictures etc. Obviously I don't want to weigh down my luggage with too much stuff, so I was wondering if anyone could suggest some specific items - maybe ones they've used themselves - that I could bring.

I guess it depends on what ages you're teaching and what level of English they have! I'm from London so maybe tube maps, touristy stuff and pictures of red buses etc. is the type of thing.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Brewster

[QatarChic]

Yes, you're on the right track there, take one of each if possible...also recipes (could be useful for instructions/verbs etc...), brochures from estate agents (good for activities on furniture, rooms in a house etc...)

Hope that helps

Good luck and hope all goes well on the course- Bangkok is also a great city, so enjoy !


PS When you take the newspapers make sure one is a tabloid the other a broad sheet...you could do lots of activities with an intermediate + class

[denise]

To keep things light, you can leave the newspapers and magazines at home (bring photos, though! in addition to serving many useful functions in class, sometimes it�s nice to see the smiling faces of your friends and family when you�re half a world away!). You can find pretty much any type of news/magazine article or feature on the internet. Just print them out when you get there! They might not look as snazzy or glossy as actual magazines, but they are still authentic and they help you keep your baggage weight down.

Also, I sometimes found that all of the magazines, brochures, etc. that I had lugged around the world with me didn�t match my students�interests anyway. Now I see who they are and what they like first, and then get onto the internet and find suitable stuff.

d

[Girl Scout]

Denise is right, you need to travel light. I scanned a lot of pictures, especially personal pictures, a local map of the area I'm from, and a copy of the local paper into my computer. I put all of this on my flash drive in a .jpeg format. It was easy to print out anything anytime I needed. Bangkok has plenty of place to use the internet and/or print anything you need.

Bring a minimum amount of the bulky things with you. If you're going to take your own computer download a lot of other materials there. If not I highly suggest using a flash drive and putting and carrying your material that way.

You have the right idea about what to bring though. Trust your instincts.

[JDYoung]

My students love shopping flyers from newspapers, restaurant take-out menus, etc. If your students will be teenagers or young adults I don't thin you can go wrong with anything related to food.