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Tsonoqua
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Bok Hah said:
"Its very hard to teach constructively without doing a Tefl course, you can get so far, then it becomes hit and miss."
I suppose that is so, unless you have an MS in teaching and are a licensed teacher.
TEFL makes it easier for a novice teacher to concentrate on important areas in expression and elementary word usage.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:38 pm on Sep. 1, 2003
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Yurune
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I knew a guy once whose gf's spoken English was so bad/shy they used to sit at a bar and write notes to each other, and she was perfect in grammar, spelling and wonderful handwriting.
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 10:45 pm on Sep. 1, 2003
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Whisper
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Did they keep a pencil and paper on the bedside table during sex?
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:50 pm on Sep. 1, 2003
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Bok Hah
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Even an experienced teacher can benefit from a Tefl course, if they haven't taught English as a foreign language previously. Some Tefl courses ( In Thailand ) make allowances for the way Thais pronounce or mis-pronounce some sounds, helping the teacher to navigate these obsticles.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 10:51 pm on Sep. 1, 2003
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Arcadius
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I think Bok Hah 's right. TEFL certainly isn't rocket science, but a course will teach you loads of stuff you don't know - in fact, loads of stuff you don't even know you don't know.
There are two main aspects:
1) Training you to think about English & how it works. As a native speaker, you take all sorts of things for granted which are extremely confusing to speakers of other languages - especially non-Western languages. You need to see the langauge as an 'outsider' before you can teach it effectively.
2) Training you to plan, structure and conduct a lesson, use the various TEFL materials effectively, deal with various types of problem students, &c &c. You can't do this on the fly - if you try to give a demo lesson without knowing what you're supposed to be doing, you will expose yourself in 5 seconds flat.
The course I did also had a couple of modules on particular problems faced by Thai students - the mistakes they make, why they make them and how to overcome them. Also on which EFL teaching techniques work well with them and which don't. Also on unfamiliar cultural problems you need to tackle like 'face' and relative status (for a new expat, a lot of this stuff is generally useful & instructive).
There were also supervised lessons on real Thai students to put all this crud into practice - not nearly as easy as you might think, and the debriefings were VERY useful: "You know how you lost them at this point? That's because you were doing such & such. Next time try it like this..." Amazing how much progress you can make over 6 lessons - anyway, when you start doing it for real, it won't be as a virgin.
I've never used my TEFL certificate in anger, but I know I'd be far more confident about teaching English after doing the course. IMO, this is much more relevant than a degree, which merely proves you're not as thick as two short planks (and even then I wonder sometimes).
Anyone interested in this stuff should know that there are also specialised courses you can do at a later date - such as teaching kids or business English.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 12:23 am on Sep. 2, 2003
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Hermanolobo
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Bok Hah-
TEFL, TESOL & now C.E.L.T.A I would have thought were essential to teach officially. However my question was about having a degree as well. I think they are trying to filter out certain types of character ?? Or just being bureaucratic?
I have heard that a degree has been needed for quite a while.
However there are quite a few who don't have a degree but still have a work permit. It must depend on the employer and their ability to get the documents.
Kryptonite- Teaching kids for 40 Baht !
Nice one ! Must have been very rewarding if a little hectic at times?
Anybody heard of the late Joyce Grenfell ??
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:26 am on Sep. 2, 2003
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The Machine
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Tos.
Teaching English to speakers of other languages is a different type of teaching than teaching maths of science etc to native speakers therefore there is a need to do specialised training on the particular subject matter.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:44 am on Sep. 2, 2003
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Bok Hah
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Herman , the official line is that you have always needed a degree to teach in Thai public sector facilities (Schools/Uni) However , as you know, Thais are happy to bend the rules if necessity requires.
In the private sector you usually need a degree, but sometimes people blag their way in without even a Tefl/Tesol.
I have heard that the requirements are going to change , i.e degree minimum to obtain work permit ( after Non imm B )
I think this will get rid of the backpacker types , which will in turn please Toxin's idea of a better Thailand.
Realistically , this is Thailand , I'll believe it when I see it.
IMO a lot of degree holding teachers can't teach, a lot of the unqualified ones are way better teachers.
If they raise the minimum wage for native English speaking teachers ( Currently 18,000 baht ? ) they might attract more experienced teachers , in turn producing generations of kids /adults speaking better English.
Also this may encourage some of the unqualified guys/gals to get that degree and return to Thailand with a career in mind.
The other area to be looked at is the ease in which some schools/language centres can obtain work permits , maybe Toxin should address this next?
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 8:02 am on Sep. 2, 2003
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Hermanolobo
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Bok Hah-
Useful reply - Many thanks
......and its 'Hermano' which is Spanish for brother.
Herman is a German name. I am not in my 'Arnie' mode today.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:25 am on Sep. 2, 2003
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