 What
if I can't Speak Thai?
Can I still get hired to
teach English?
You
won't be required to know the local language.
What!?
Most English
teachers don't know the local language when they first
arrive. Typically, native speaker English teachers are
not given true beginners. Your students will already
have some English basics. Often not much, but enough
for you to take them to higher levels and for you to be
able to do basic instruction in English.
How can
I do that?
Your students
will usually know enough English - often about that of a
two- or three-year-old native speaker. Really quite a
lot, though they don't usually feel very confident about
their skills.
Your
Native Speaker Language Skills . . .
are why you are
hired: Your accent, Your native ability to know what
grammar is wrong or right, your ability to know what
sounds right or wrong in common usage. Time and
experience (or a good TEFL certification course) will
give you the ability to explain these things. But in
the beginning, even if you can't explain it - you will
still know what is wrong and what is right.
Should
I use Thai when I teach English?
No! Your native
ability with English is why you are hired. If you start
teaching in the local language - you will not be much
different from the Thai teachers of English, who are
often paid MUCH less than you will be. It is your
native talent with English that makes you valuable.
Okay,
no teaching in Thai, but how will I find my way around
and/or buy the things I need?
No problem.
Most schools will assign another teacher or an assistant
to you, to help you do the things you need to do until
you learn the basics. After you live and work in
Thailand a while, you will find yourself quite skilled
at finding what you need, using either very basic
language or even just gestures. After all, you will
most likely NOT be your school's first foreign teacher
and they will probably be familiar with most of your
wants and needs - from finding food you are familiar
with, to cold remedies, Internet cafes, or even good
restaurants.
|
"Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the
ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the
trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." -- Mark Twain |
|
Raise your hand if you'd like to spend your "working"
time in a Luxury Resort . . . 
