Ask me anything about the Thailand Internship

Yes definately pick up a few bits from home.. i really regret not picking up more as a lot of the students are really interested in what we have at home. Oh being home is horrendous haha. I miss Thailand so much that I am just working to save and counting down the days until i can afford to go back out there and teach again. Erm.. I dont think there is anything specific you need to think about.. not where the teaching is concerned anyway. I would just enjoy your home comforts whilst you have still got it :P 
I found out where I was teaching a week after we was due to start teaching. haha. I went out at the time when they had pretty bad flooding, so my school was changed. But you get told the location at the end of the induction week. I booked my flights really early on.. i couldnt help myself lol.

Enjoy every minute of it!!  :D

Only just read your last post Steph - that's really handy. I'm starting to think I should be picking things up to take with me, that they'll be able to look at. How is it being home? What's your plans now?

Any key things we should be thinking about with just a couple months to go?!

Do you remember when you found out where you'd be teaching? I know I'm just being impatient but wanting to book my flights etc! :)

Hi Amy,

They did not give me a copy of the curriculum in my school as they said it was all in Thai and they didn't know the translation. haha! Helpful! I expected the students to know basic English, but when I arrived they didn't really know a great deal, a lot through lack of confidence. I then spent the first month just going on over really basic things; Different greeting, Introducing yourself, likes and dislikes etc. All schools have a thai teacher to teach the grammar side of English, so our job is mostly just conversation, so it helps to find out what aspects their Thai English teacher is teaching at that time, and then work alongside her. I found once the students felt comfortable with me, they would ask me things that they would like to focus on, so i would just go with what they want. You could bring maps/flags/menus/timetables from home. If anything it is a gap fill so they can just see what its like, but i found it was useful. I used a ball in my first couple of weeks, throwing it in a big circle randomly, and get the students to tell me their name/likes etc. Keeps them on their toes. Plus it was hilarious for them to see my inability to catch the ball. haha. Hope this helps,

Steph

Hey Steph :-)

I am heding out on the internship in October, and I was just wondering what the situation with lesson plans is? Are we given the curriculum when we get over there? Or do they expect us to have material to work with upon arriving. Should I bring any materials or teaching aids with me??

Amy.

Hey Chloe,

No worries:) I took a couple of long skirts, long sleeved tops and a dress with me, but to be honest you will pick up everything you need when you're their. There are plenty of markets and malls in Bangkok where you can get it all before hand. I wouldn't worry about long sleeved tops either.. Tshirts and other short sleeved tops will be fine with a skirt, just as long as they cover your shoulders.The heat is horrendous with long sleeved tops haha. I took a jacket with me and some cardigans but i didnt really use them. They preferred us to wear shoes/pumps that covered your toes as opposed to flip flops, but all of the teachers at my school wore flip flops and open toed sandals. If you are working in kindergarten or primary i think most of the schools allow you to wear trousers. :)

Steph

Hi Steph,

Thanks for all that info, it was really helpful!! :) I was just wondering what type of clothes u brought with you for when you were teachin in the school??

Chloe

Hi chloe1010,

Ah exciting!! The accomodation i was in was really nice. It was a brand new apartment block. A few other interns were staying in the same one as well which was nice. Everyone gets their own room and bathroom. It took me a while to get used to the food... im not usually fussy but eating off the street venders worried me to begin with haha. That soon changed and now I love the food, and miss it so much! Yes the Pay was enough to live on. My boyfriend came out and stayed with me and it supported us both Ok. It will definately cover the basics anyway. They paid me in cash every month and then you get the bonus 2 weeks after that, so every 2 weeks you are getting some money which was handy. I don't think we had to do a full month in advance, maybe just a week or something. I can't remember :S Sorry! On the first day i had 4 lessons to teach. I was thrown straight in at the deepend.. well thats what it felt like haha. It was probably a good thing though, as i wasn't expecting to teach the first day, so i didnt really hve time to get too nervous! haha. I didn't have an interview. As far as i know, nobody on the internship did. The coordinator chose where to put us by looking at out preferences and experience etc. I think i to i work with a different company now. I was working under  the Lawoe internship, so maybe it has changed now.  Feel free to ask me anymore questions. 

Hope this helps.

Good Luck, you will love it I am sure :) 

Steph 

Hi Steph, 

I am going on the 2012 Thailand Internship and have so many questions...

What was the accomodation/ food like??

Was the 300 euros enough to live on a month?? 

Did you have to teach a full lesson on your own the first day??

What are the main things they ask you in the skype interview?? 

Did you have your own private bathroom in your Thai style apartment?? 

How did they pay you? Do u work a month in advance??

Any help would be really grateful!! :) 

Thanks,

Chloe :) 

Hi SimonW

I am unsure what it is you are struggling with..Is it the online course? When are you looking to go to Surin and have you already got a job lined up? I may be able to offer suggestions as I lived in Surin for a few weeks and my internship was based in the next province. Just let me know what it is you would like some guidance on and I will do my best.

Steph

Hi Y'all

Im currently doing the full TEFL course online and bonus with I to I , 

Im struggling due to lack of time with everything going on at mo and I hope to be booking 

My ticket to SURIN , Thailand very soon . Anybody out there who can suggest anything .

Hi All,
I have read some of your comments, and if you are interested in teaching in Thailand then please get in touch with me, there are many schools right now that need people for an immediate start, you can email me direct on mfsedlaczek@live.com.

Hope to hear from you soon :O)

Thanks for the reply Steph, helps loads, my mind is put at ease (for now anyway ha).

Steve

Hi Hannah,

No worries, you are more than welcome! I havent actually got a job set in stone yet.. I change my mind way to often. But atm I am debating whether to go back to the school I had been teaching in as i absolutely loved it, or whether to try my hand at primary teaching. Either way I think I am going to stay in the North East, as I did some volunteering in an elephant village when i finished at the school.. and they have said I can go and work with them at weekends and any free time that i have between teaching. www.ajarn.com is a great website for getting teaching jobs after you have some experience, so If i decide to change school I will probably go through them. Mnay of my fellow interns have used this website and are very happy with location/ school and wage! 

Steph

Hi Steve,

Thanks for your comment. No this is a very important question!! It was one of my worries also! haha. My accomodation had wifi, as did all the other interns in the same area. I thought I would be ok without internet and didn't bring my laptop with me and within 2weeks I had bought a notebook. haha. If you are going on the internship they provide you with a SIM card. If not.. on every street corner they have shops selling phones and SIM cards. My SIM card cost 2baht (4p) that I picked up from a 7eleven shop and the calls to the UK are cheap on it too!

Hope this helps,

Steph

Thank you for replying to all of our questions so quickly! Well I went to Thailand last year and loved the South Islands so I put there! I volunteered as a teacher in Ao Nang when I went which was VERY remote, but don't really mind where I'm placed. Ah I see, I didn't manage Cambodia and Vietnam either so I'm desperate to go I've heard Vietnam's cheaper than Thailand!

Just wondering as well how you've set up your next teaching placement for later this year? Is it in the school you've been teaching in or a different one? This may be an option for me so was just wondering for the future. Also very relieved that your accomodation was nice!

Hannah

Hi Sheree,

You are able to state your preferred area to teach and age, but I do no think it 100% guaranteed. Some of the interns with me who were not happy with the school and/ or location were moved until they were happy. I do not recall anyone being upset with their choices in the end. The class days were from 7.45am until 4.30pm. I had 22hours to teach a week, with an average of 4 lessons per week. The lessons were 50minutes long. You have 9 periods in a day, so you were left with about 4 for lesson planning, (not that I managed to use my time to do this! ) I was teaching alone. I had 20 different classes all with 50 students. I had over 1000 students... I could remember about 30 of their names :S Some of my fellow interns whowere teaching in Primary or Kindergarten had Teaching assistants/ partner in with them which i heard was helpful. 
During the Orientation we had a few thai students some in, and we were assigned one student per group of interns. We were then given about half an hour i think to ask them to teach us Thai language. :S This is all. Oh and they give you a phrasebook. Your students at school will love to help you learn Thai. They find it hilarious. Also it was a good gap fill... if your stuck on what to do if you have spare time at the end of your lesson. They enjoying hearing you make a fool of yourself.. and encourages them more to practise English for you. WIN WIN.

Kind Regards,

Steph

Sounds fab, love the different ways of life! Thanks for your quick reply - though I know what it's like when you get back from somewhere, and can't stop talking about it... so might as well channel it into telling people who want to know all about it! :D 

Hi Nic,

Oh thats a good idea.. i didn't realise that the price got cheaper!!

An average day for me was to start at 7.45am and finish at 4.30pm. I had 22hours of teaching a week, so approx 4x50 minute lessons per day. The day was made up of 9 periods in total, so 4 of them were planning time, with 1 lesson for lunch. Saying this.. the thais seemed to start their lunch at about 10am which was totally fine by me! The lessons are very laid back.. I found that the 2 lessons before lunch had very few students in.. they had decided to go for an early lunch. I was a bit concerned at first... but apparently it is totally fine and some of the staff often cancel lessons to have lunch if they are hungry before lunchtime. I didn't get much planning done during my free hours at school as students decide to ask you all the questions they could have asked during the lesson.. as soon as the end of lesson bell goes. Bless them! haha. I gained a lot more frommy experience by walking around the school during my free time and allowing the students to 'bombard' me with questions. Most of the evenings during the week was spent lesson planning, but i found the same lesson plan carried over for a week or so as things happen during the school day such as activities, or an early lunch! They do have a few days off for various festivals and bank holidays where you can use the time to travel around. I had the opportunity to go on some school trips which are a crazy experience in themselves... (Karaoke Bus... say no more! ) 

As for social life.. You have plenty of chance to socialise with people on the internship, especially if you are put in the same area as some of them. Also the teachers find any excuse to have a party so you will meet lots of people that way. They will include you as a member of their families and you will be invited to weddings, parties all sorts. So do not worry about not being able to socialise :)

Hope this helps. 

Steph

Hey Steph, thanks for taking the time to do this!

My question might seem a bit trivial but was just wondering if your accommodation had wi-fi, and what you did re: mobile phone etc? I know it's a big adventure and stuff but we'd still need those essentials, right? :)

Cheers!

Steve

PS. Hey TGallacher don't sweat it, i'm thinking of signing up and i'm 36! We can form an old codgers group and hang out together if you like!?

Hi Steph,

Were you able to chose the regional area and the age level that you wanted to teach? How long was an average class day including preparing lesson plans? Did you teach alone or were you assigned a teaching partner? During the orientation, were you taught the basics of Thai language to help you navigate outside of the school?

Thanks,

Sheree