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AdamLorts
Joined: 19 Mar 2010
Posts: 7
Location: Portland, OR
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 Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 7:10 pm Post subject: Thailand Teaching, Time2Talk English etc |
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Hey Everyone,
So I'm diving into my quest to go teach English in Thailand. I've created and sent out resume and cover letters, and soon will have my scanned degree copy and passport documentation.
I was contacted by Time2Talk English after replying to their job posting. I followed up for a future Skype interview with their head and visited their website - http://time2talkenglish.com/home
It looks to me like a great institution, it looks also like small class sizes and a more personalized experience which i enjoy. Has anyone had any experience with this group?
My next steps will be Googling the major teaching institutes in Thailand, contacting them, checking back and following up with any past leads and replying to job postings on this forum and others. Is this a good route or is there treasure off the beaten path?
Thanks for reading
Adam |
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Gypsy King
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 77
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| Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 2:27 am Post subject: |
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Time2Talk English is one of the lowest paying schools in Southern Thailand. Most teachers they employ are backpackers from Kaosan Road who want to experience Thailand and are not interested in making money. Most teachers do not last for long,,,maybe a few months at most...and move on to get a decent paying EFL salary in the LOS. That is why they are always advertising for teachers. My advice is only apply with them if you wnt to visit Surattani, Ko Samui, Phuket or Krabi for a holiday in Thailand and don't care about savings! Good luck!  |
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AdamLorts
Joined: 19 Mar 2010
Posts: 7
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 7:38 pm Post subject: Re: Gypsy King |
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| Gypsy King wrote: |
| Time2Talk English is one of the lowest paying schools in Southern Thailand. Most teachers they employ are backpackers from Kaosan Road who want to experience Thailand and are not interested in making money. Most teachers do not last for long,,,maybe a few months at most...and move on to get a decent paying EFL salary in the LOS. That is why they are always advertising for teachers. My advice is only apply with them if you wnt to visit Surattani, Ko Samui, Phuket or Krabi for a holiday in Thailand and don't care about savings! Good luck! |
Gypsy King,
Thanks a lot for this response. I could see their immediate need as desperation. I'm not really into a short-term holiday, this is something that really interests me and getting into a good program is really important. Enjoying the work means something, and its hard for me to enjoy the work if you know it's for peanuts. I think Phuket is beautiful but I don't see them advertising that position. What, if you don't mind is LOS? I've done a good amount of research but Thailand has been a little tougher than say China/Korea. Thanks again. |
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Gypsy King
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 77
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| Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:37 am Post subject: |
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| You are welcome. LOS means the Land of Smiles.Good luck to you! |
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pest2
Joined: 28 Oct 2006
Posts: 170
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 3:10 am Post subject: Re: Gypsy King |
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| AdamLorts wrote: |
| Gypsy King wrote: |
| Time2Talk English is one of the lowest paying schools in Southern Thailand. Most teachers they employ are backpackers from Kaosan Road who want to experience Thailand and are not interested in making money. Most teachers do not last for long,,,maybe a few months at most...and move on to get a decent paying EFL salary in the LOS. That is why they are always advertising for teachers. My advice is only apply with them if you wnt to visit Surattani, Ko Samui, Phuket or Krabi for a holiday in Thailand and don't care about savings! Good luck! |
Gypsy King,
Thanks a lot for this response. I could see their immediate need as desperation. I'm not really into a short-term holiday, this is something that really interests me and getting into a good program is really important. Enjoying the work means something, and its hard for me to enjoy the work if you know it's for peanuts. I think Phuket is beautiful but I don't see them advertising that position. What, if you don't mind is LOS? I've done a good amount of research but Thailand has been a little tougher than say China/Korea. Thanks again. |
I have a good friend who worked for a school staffed by T2T. The pay is less for sure... but not that much less. (like maybe 5-10% less). Depends on what kind of gig they have for you; you might be working in a public school with which they have contracted to supply a teacher. Or you might be actually working at thier private language school. I would not recommend the former one because there will be situational, administrative, and working culture-related nightmares involved. In a nutshell, you will be stuck between the desires of T2T and those of the school you work for. Not a good situation.... Its hard enough to get along at a workplace in Thailand without any of that extra pressure and confusion... no need to add to it.
Thailand is terrible for pay compared to China (only if you are talking about a city like Shanghai or Beijing) and Korea. But its alot more fun than Korea, at least, and you will enjoy your time there... However, on the money you will earn in Thailand teaching English, you will almost certainly be broke all the time and really unable to do things such as travelling to phuket on weekends or owning a car to drive around the country. You will be living alot more like a local person in Thailand -- which is to say you will be impoverished-- than a tourist.
If you really wanna work in Thailand, I guess the best thing to do is come here and find a job after u arrive... I have heard alot of other ppl say this too..
Good luck. |
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Gypsy King
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 77
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| Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 5:04 am Post subject: |
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| It is true that many ESL teachers in Thailand are impoverished as they cannot save any or very little money teaching on Thai wages. Again I reiterate Thailand is good only for the experience and making money shouldn't be an issue when coming here. If you are prepared to volunteer your non-paid teaching services for a year or more in the LOS then Thailand might be for you. TIT Good luck! |
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rachaeld
Joined: 22 Mar 2010
Posts: 1
Location: Washington state
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 1:22 am Post subject: Time2Talk, etc |
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Adam: From my experience and research, there are some jobs that pay quite well in BKK (50K baht + benefits), but, yes, those are few & far between. I've completed interviews for one such language school, but have also interviewed with Time2Talk and a few others in the south.
Did you end up interviewing with them? Are you planning on arriving in southern Thailand before the start of the new school year?
I've heard wonderful things about north Thailand (Chiang Rai particularly), have you looked into schools there? Pay about the same as the south.
Good luck with your job search. |
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Gypsy King
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 77
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:52 am Post subject: |
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| Thailand is a wonderful country to visit but EFL teaching is another story. Outfits like Time2Talk in Southern Thailand will surely make you feel welcome in the LOS. Problem is money. Even with all the smiles the truth is the pay is nothing to talk about at Time2Talk. My advice is if you accept a job teaching at any one of their schools make sure you have some savings in the bank to turn to ! TIT |
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MaiPenRai
Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 390
Location: BKK
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:11 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| you will almost certainly be broke all the time and really unable to do things such as travelling to phuket on weekends or owning a car to drive around the country. You will be living alot more like a local person in Thailand -- which is to say you will be impoverished-- than a tourist. |
How many teachers working in Thailand have cars do you think? 5-10% MAYBE. And if its more, its because they are older teachers who brought money with them.
No, you will not be impoverished., BUT you will not be able to spend like a tourist.
At 30,000/month plus accomm allowance, you will be making more than most Thai people. If you budget well during the week, eat Thai food, don't drink and smoke a lot and can live without all the modern conveniences at your fingertips, you will have NO problem getting away once or twice a month to the islands. You wont have anything left over if you do some travel, but as others have said, most teachers aren't able to save much by working as a teacher in Thailand.
As the OP is 24, this seems like a decent and fun start to teaching in Thailand. Have a couple thousand in the bank as a backup and come with an open mind.
You could probably find a higher salary (35,000/month) if you found a job once you got here, but most definitely not in the types of locations that T2T offer. |
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Gypsy King
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
Posts: 77
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:39 am Post subject: |
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| I have known many ESL teachers who have come to Thailand from Korea and Japan with substancial savings only to blow all their hard earned cash while teaching here to survive.. Saying they are impovershed in an understatement. Many have ended up on Kaosan Road at the Backpackers guest houses waiting for a ticket home from Mom and Dad. On the other hand, I have known several ESL instructors (including myself) who have substancial savings and are earning in excess of Baht 60,000/Month teaching ESL at international schools. T.I.T. |
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MaiPenRai
Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 390
Location: BKK
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:17 am Post subject: |
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| teaching ESL at international schools |
These types of jobs are not common and usually got to teachers with a couple years experience (often required in Thailand) and/or home country teacher certification (not just a TEFL cert) and/or teachers who fit the non-teaching credentials (young, smart looking, from one of the big 5 countries, white, etc)
I have also known MANY teachers (infact I have met and worked with probably more than a thousand teachers over 6 years in Thailand) who have lived and are currently living off 30-35,000 baht/month and doing fine. Certainly not impoverished. Saving much, no, but living comfortably. I personally lived off 20,000/month for the first 2 months I was in Thailand. With that I managed to pay for accomm, motorbike rental, food, travel once a month to Bangkok, etc. Broke at the end of each month but lived fine. Now I make about 5 times that, and at first I had a hard time trying to find ways to spend more than 30-40,000 baht. Now, I have no problems finding ways to spend it , LOL, but could go back to 30,000/month if I had to (dont want to) because I know how to do it. Its not as fun, but doable.
It's all about your ability to adapt to living in Thailand. It's easy to live off 30,000, but in Bangkok or near tourist areas, it is also easy to spend 2-3 times that a month. DO I: Take a taxi or take a bus/boat. Eat at the Londoner/Pizza company for 300+ baht or have some chicken fried rice and somtam for 60 baht. Live in a condo for 10-15,000++/month or a Thai apartment for 3-5000/month. Buy a tv, DVD, stereo, computer, etc or live without some of these conveniences at your home. Fly to Samui for the holiday or take a bus to Cha-am for the holiday. Go out for drinks 3-4 nights a week or once a week. ETC. ETC.
In Bangkok, you will need to make at least 35,000-40,000 to be able to live comfortably. Outside of Bangkok, is a different story.
The point is to offer advice to the OP about his/her current situation.
1. 24 years old
2. No experience and no Tefl cert.
3. standard B.A
4. about 6 months of proper experience as a volunteer
Is it useful to tell the OP to try and find a 60,000 baht/month job? Of course not. He/She is liekly to be making 30-40,000 baht/month at best for the first 6 months-1 year or so. 60,000/month is possible after a couple years, after getting a TEFL cert, in Bangkok, with good timing and/or connections, by doing extra work on the side, etc.
Living in Surat Thani on 30,000/month is doable and the OP should be able to live comfortably and be able to hit an island once a month or so. Salaries dont get much higher than that in the south except for a couple international and private schools in Phuket and Samui. Once again, have a couple thousand dollars in the bank and/or a return ticket home.
Best of luck, OP |
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AdamLorts
Joined: 19 Mar 2010
Posts: 7
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you everyone so much for responding to the thread. I have been more widely researching ESL and including China/Korea/Taiwan as well.
I received another offer from a school in Thailand, 40 contact hours, 22 teaching, varied locations. 24500baht/month, 22 paid vacation days, 2500baht/housing stipend or free shared apartment and standard bonuses. Mathus Language School.
I'll respond to individuals, but my thoughts and some things to add -
-~0% chance i get the 50k+/month job, I should be considering 30k/month jobs and jump at something close to 40k.
-Very open-minded guy, I guess 'thai drama' and things like that exist, but i don't see myself getting into too much trouble. I'm just not the type of guy that would cause trouble, especially in a foreign land. Rather be overnice than anything. I'm decent with languages, certainly try to learn Thai.
-I am a male, maybe that makes a difference.
-I would say I can be pretty good at saving money. Not that into drinking/fashion/smoking/video games, etc. I absolutely hate having junk so try not to buy future-junk, and hate overpaying.
-I played poker online during college. Supported myself and my European adventures (as well as the gf's) with that and had way more than i needed, I was very lucky to have that short-term income source. I did it for a year after college, due to laziness/toughness of finding a job. It was ok, stressful, didn't make as much as i wanted, realized i wouldn't make what i used to, and thought there was more to life than clicking buttons, (not to knock those pulling 6 figs tax-free doing it, that's livin the dream). During the year I just played poker in the US, I thought i should really move to Thailand but never did it. I know there are many poker players that solely play poker and live like kings there. If 30k/month is barely livable, and 50k/month is good times then me trying to make up that ~$630 USD every month via poker/private tutoring doesn't seem unreasonable. This is obviously dependent upon the amount of free time I would have, internet and so on. Jobs asking me to be on campus twice as long as i'm teaching seem good for this. I just wanted to throw this out there, i have side-income possibilities.
-What would people think about teaching in Korea for a year and then going to Thailand? I could get a better job in LOS with the year of experience, have more money to mess around with, and I'd get to discover if TEFL is really for me at about 0 cost to myself. I've been looking into this a lot recently, and think its an ok idea but Thailand>>>>SK.
-I'm not opposed to a recruiter. I fly to Phuket, pay the $2k and get the lessons and then put up with a job. Only thing is, this seems similar to using what i have and just flying to Thailand and getting a job.
cliff notes:
-New offer, more of the same
-WRT monies, i could supplement income a bit
-WRT LOS, maybe start in Korea, go east? |
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rostovru
Joined: 19 Mar 2009
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 5:16 pm Post subject: Hourly Pay |
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Time 2 Talk is hourly, I think.
Which means your salary could be as low or high as possible. I'd say it would be a decent place to work for while you're looking for other jobs. The advantage would be that you could get a few thousand baht to float yourself for a bit, and then have the advantage of soliciting schools directly, which means a higher salary vis a vis going through a staffing firm.
Good luck. It'll all work out. |
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MaiPenRai
Joined: 17 Jan 2006
Posts: 390
Location: BKK
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| Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2010 9:40 am Post subject: |
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| I received another offer from a school in Thailand, 40 contact hours, 22 teaching, varied locations. 24500baht/month, 22 paid vacation days, 2500baht/housing stipend or free shared apartment and standard bonuses. Mathus Language School. |
Never heard of Mathus Language School, but 24,500 baht/mth is VERY low. That's 275 baht/teaching hour.
Assuming you have a degree and are presentable, you should be able to get 30,000 at least.
The only way I might accept this is if it is in a very desirable location and I had lots of money in the bank. |
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