Job Discussion Forums

[sheikxhoni]

Let's be honest. Maybe I am just a weirdo and don't know what I'm talking about so I will open this up to others - - I want comments from others who took this course - -

TEFL International headquartered in Ban Phe heavily advertises on this site and now it is advertising various internet products too. One of their offers is training for three weeks- as opposed to four weeks - followed by paid work in Thailand for four months.

In my case I was very dissatisfied with this training. I am in an unusual position to judge it because I have had lots of other training and experience. I sometimes think my hobby is the training I receive, not actually teaching - although I am certainly an experienced teacher too.

The TEFL International training is designed by David Hopkins who lives in Ban Phe. Dave wrote the book and, I presume, the course materials they use. I will offer a few specific criticisms here and ask others who took this course to offer their comments too - - This is not a criticism of the housing arrangements or the food, etc. Someone else can do that if they wish. I have no major complaint about those kinds of things.

One element of this program is called "concept setting" in which the teacher can spend more than 15 minutes making stick drawings and cartoon like balloons on the board to "set the context" of the lesson that will follow. I complained to my teacher that this was crazy because we were basically ignoring the students for a long time and students will not pay attention that long. My teacher (a Thai, BTW) replied that according to Dave even more time than that is perfectly okay. A skill for drawing stick characters is important to success in the teaching method taught by TEFL International.

TEFL International uses what I refer to as semi-professional students, young monks. These teenage monks seemed to have had the same classes over and over again. They know what they are supposed to do even if they seemingly have learned very little English in the process. I once tried to open up the half moon shaped chair setting to make two lines facing each other. But the monks kept closing the gap to make a half moon again. Later the teacher told me in firm language that only a half noon arrangement of chairs was acceptable. I was also surprised when, after three or four student teachers taught basically the same lesson to the same monks, many of the monk-students still had a stupid, deer-in-the-headlights expression on their face about the simple vocabulary and sentence structure they had been taught four times in a row using this method we were taught.

All the folks I met at TEFL International were very nice. I was jealous of their lifestyle. The key men had Thai wives and lived in a beautiful, low cost beachside area surrounded by a community of friends and co-workers. They are not being dishonest in any way.

But I content that this product - the method they teach - is not a good one. It is simplistic and inflexable. Various aspects of this method are out of touch with current methodology of language teaching.

I assume they will rally supporters to reply to this thread but I do hope to hear all sides of the story. I hope active teachers who took this training will speak up and tell us how much of this teaching method they utilize in their classrooms.

And readers of a forum like this are here in the hope of having honest information about what they are planning to buy in order to make an informed decision.

How 'bout it?

[Pauleddy]

This place/course has been the subject of 00's of posts on various sites relating to Thailand and teaching.

I have been teaching in BKK (at uni) for four years, and the post history certainly predates me.

There have been very acrimonious posts, and even threats of legal action.

Anyone doing a TEFL cert should make sure that it is CELTA or TESOL. It is then valid in other countries. Any courses which are "Approved by the Thai Education Dept" may have little value elsewhere.

I have read very critical comments about this place, altho' there have been positive comments. The controversy has been interesting.

P Ed

[sheikxhoni]

Well Paul I wish I had seen some of the critiques before paying my money and spending time there. I am a little jealous of what they are doing and I compliment them on their marketing - but it is a bad product. If the product were better - not necessarily CELTA better, but better - I would be their greatest advocate.

Now they are selling a "virtual training program" which is scary since their in-person program is so flawed. Everytime I move around in this site I see their banner headline for the vitual program. Yikes! I wonder how they teach their technique to stand at 90 degrees to the students and pretend you are talking to some one and then turn 180 degrees and hold a conversation with yourself while the students are (according to the required lesson plan) facinated and listening closely. Woooow!

My critique will fade to the back pages soon enough and later this site will be their personal marketing tool again.

And, as I understand, they are doing the same thing in several countries. People considering a TEFL International course in the Phillipines, for example, are unlikely to see these critiques.

Buyer beware - -

[Pauleddy]

As a university academic I am critical of the marketing.

If you go to the TEFL world-wide site they have, and then look at the Ban-Phe "headquarters" you read about the delights of:

"renting a sailboard to skim over the turquoise waves" and "order a fresh, crisp mango smoothie"

"beachside palm forest"

All a PR man's dream copy, but......'nuf said.

As I am fond of saying, many 19 year olds read this and weep with ecstasy. They think that they will teach beautiful girls while sipping pinacolada in a hammock. Thailand is hot, brash, and exploitative. Most people want to get hold of your money if they can. Many people end up here because they like the cheap cheesy frolics and cheap beer, and they can't "form relationships" back home. Many people get stuck--there comes a time when they get "Thai fever" and they have no job or home to go to--back home--no money and no hope. Or, they marry, have kids and get stuck like anywhere, happy or not.

Rayong, the "big town" mentioned, is a fairly ugly mid-size town which, like a lot of mid-size Thai towns, has a bus station full of touts, six honda bike shops and a few 7-11 stores as its centre. When I was there about six months ago it was pretty boring. There is a Tesco Lotus (like a Walmart). I'm not sure whether there is a Robinson (a fairly crummy department store chain which sells 10 dollar shirts). Attached to Rayong, about 10 minutes outside, there is a long stretch of beach which left me severely depressed. It features undemolished vacant hotels and piles of coke-cans and dog poo.

Ban-Phe itself (HQ town) is a small, unattractive jetty town/port which has three 7-11 shops and some cheap hotels. It exists (no other reason) as the "port" for the trip to Koh Samet (island--see below), and most of the locals are involved in running boats, speedboats, minibuses, touting taxis to Bangkok and other ways to get your money. AFAIK there are no nice nightclubs there and no cinemas. I am sure that there are bars which visiting foreigners use.

Bangkok is about three-four hours on the bus. Make sure you get an air-con bus, and pay the most expensive bus you can find (or risk spine problems). Bangkok is one of the world's wonders, and I could write about it for 10 years solid.

Some people like Rayong, the larger town, but they tend to be older and settled with Thai wives and kids.

Samet Island can be fun (it's a boat trip from Ban Phe) but about half of the resorts are disco-bar places. NONE of Samet is cheap. The shops on the place all premium-price (beer, wine, candy etc is double normal because it is shipped in and "for tourists"). Samet has plenty of people after your money, including performers (fire eaters), masseurs, hookers and beggars. There is even an official entry fee to enter Samet if you take the regular ferry...this is a huge rip-off. Some of the quieter, dearer resorts are nice, though. If you want a decent chalet, meals out (mandatory), disco drinks and all then you should take at least 80-100 usd per day. You also need to research the seasons, because during the rainy time your chalet may be a bit cheaper but you could sit in the rain 2-3 days with only expensive beer for company.

I have posted before about the "special projects" where you get "placed in a job" after your "training".

caveat emptor

Eddy P