Job Discussion Forums

seamlessvoid · Joined: 09 Oct 2004 Posts: 16 Location: Seattle

Can anyone tell me anything about the program at this school on Phuket?
Has anyone attended this school? How are the accomadations for student apartments/bugalows?
How difficult is the curriculum? Is it fairly intense and time consuming? Will there be plenty of time to enjoy Phuket after classes?
I am going to be attending in February.
Thanks

oxfordstu · Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 89 Location: Changchun, China

I attended the school on Phuket this past June/July. How difficult it is depends on how qualified you are and how much effort you are willing to put in. It is fairly intense, but they are up front about what they expect of you on the first day. The most difficult part for me was having to plan lessons in a certain amount of time. Sometimes you would have 3 hours to prepare a lesson before you taught it, and when you have to write EVERYTHING down, it can be a bit time-consuming and stressful. Most people had some difficulty with the teaching and some had difficulty with the grammar (which there is a lot of). I hold an English degree and a teaching credential so that bit really wasn't too difficult, although it was still challenging. It is very time consuming. You may have time to enjoy the beach on the weekends, but never during the week. During the time off students usually studied grammar so they wouldn't look like a complete idiot during the lectures. There were 19 of us in the course, and 17 of us passed. Usually there are around 20 students per course, although I ran into one of the instructors in Bangkok last month and he told me that the last course had 29 students. Best to check on that before you go.
The accommodations suck. You can either be in a house with no air-con right by the school or in a hotel 5 minutes walk from the school. Both suck. The course was helpful though, and I'm currently teaching in South Korea at a language school. Good luck.

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

The school gets good marks for practicality and value, especially for those who've come to Thailand to retire. The head trainer there is apparently a great guy to study under -- helpful, knowledgable and friendly. Most TEFL courses will not (should not) leave you much time during the week for frolic, but you'll have some time on the weekend so long as you worked during the week.

The biggest problem with the TEFL Intl. certificate is that it doesn't travel outside of Thailand very well -- if you plan to teach a couple of year here and there, or teach forever in Thailand then the TEFL cert. through TEFL Intl. in Puket is fine and dandy. If you may teach more than a couple of years in more than a couple of countries you should do yourself a favor and pay a little more for the CELTA (which is overseen by Cambride University and much more recognized and respected outside of Thailand), which is offered in Bangkok, and which, so I've heard, isn't actually as good a course as the TEFL Intl. one -- though they're reportedly both quite good.

I have a CELTA, which I got in the states before beginning all this schlap.

PKB · Joined: 05 Nov 2004 Posts: 88 Location: USA

That was one of the Phuket TEFL schools I was considering, too. I also saw Text and Talk Academy and I had at least one other bookmarked. Any comments on the other Phuket schools?

PKB · Joined: 05 Nov 2004 Posts: 88 Location: USA

TEFL Int seems to have a number of different websites that all refer to the same school/courses. At first I thought they were different, but the prices, locations, and date are all the same.

kenkannif · Joined: 07 Apr 2004 Posts: 550

Most courses will let you spend time in class with them, why not do that and make a decision on your experiences? I'm obviously biased towards the cert I hold, SG is obviously biased towards the one he holds etc.

Bruce · Joined: 22 Feb 2003 Posts: 51 Location: Around the world

I jut wanted to take issue with Sheep-Goats. While I agree with his comments that the CELTA is the best known name brand, I do not see how he can support his claim that TEFL International does not travel well outside of Thailand.

TEFL International actually run courses monthly in Thailand, China, Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, the UK, France, and Egypt! We are already almost the size of Trinity. These are not franchises but all are contrilled through the Academic Headquarters in Ban Phe, Thailand.

It seems odd that Sheep-goats would claim that our courses are not recognized outside of Thailand when we are, in fact, the largest single course provider in the world!

www.teflintl.com

oxfordstu · Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 89 Location: Changchun, China

^^ I agree. I received my TESOL certificate from TEFL Int. in Phuket, and I'm now teaching in South Korea. Many of the people I graduated with also secured jobs in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. So the claim that the certificate doesn't travel well outside of Thailand is pure crap.

route67 · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 4:29 pm Post subject:

Hey, there!
I've read all the stuff posted about the positives and negatives in this forum. Basically, I'm hunting around for another job in SE Asia. Done the Indonesia thing already - and loved it - but would appreciate a heads-up regarding quality of life in general in Thailand. + do's & don'ts, etc. What exactly does Thailand have to offer that Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia don't?
All comments welcome!
Cheers.
Wink

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

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

route67 · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 9:52 am Post subject:

Cheers, Sheep-Goats!

kenkannif · Joined: 07 Apr 2004 Posts: 550

SG,

I'd say the opposite a lot of employers I've spoken with (and I have links to Dave's to prove this etc.) prefer courses run within Thailand (Text and Talk, TEFL Int. TEFL1 etc.).

Here's a link to what an EX-CELTA inspector (Ajarn) has to say about Thai based TEFL courses:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=17938&st=0

He says:

"My personal opinion is that, if you're staying in Thailand, T&T or Tefl would be a better choice than the CELTA."

(I think when he says TEFL he means TEFL Int.)

And also:

"Bob, there are some quite big differences between many of the courses, most noticebly maybe, the focus on adults (CELTA) or kids or whatever. Some courses offer more classroom practice or more peer feedback (of great value, in my experience)... One large advantage with CELTA courses is that each course has an inspector come in and make sure the course is being run correctly and consistent with established CELTA Course Guidelines...On the downside, that makes the courses more rigid, with less flexibilty to focus the training more to a particular locality, like Thailand...

T&T offering a chance to sit in on a class is a great idea, and just the offer seems to say they have pretty high confidence in their quality.... And the fact that they seem to focus training more on the likely local market for teachers than CELTA does, makes them of great value to the newbie teacher, in my opinion."

But like I've said before we all seem to prefer the certificate we hold, and a little bit of biasness is human nature!

tedkarma · Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2004 12:48 am Post subject: Re: International Recognition

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