hi everyone,

nice to meet everyone that will be on the lopburi internship,I'm very excited, a bit nervous as I haven't really travelled or taught before, I'm fresh out of uni so this will be a whole new experience. I'm enjoying the TEFL course though so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into teaching and exploring. Very excited to meet you all, I still need to book a flight,will anyone be travelling from London?

Sarah x

Got my Visa today, whop whoop!

Good to finally have that and my placement confirmed. Must keep on at the TEFL course!

Now to book flights, before I do, can anyone recommend a good affordable airline? I'm thinking of going through STA to enable changing return flight at a reasonable fee (£35). A friend also mentioned possibly flying to Kuala Lumpur through Air Asia (https://booking.airasia.com) from London Stansted (approx £250 one way) and then a transfer flight to Bangkok (approx £170 one way)...i guess baggage allowance is another consideration....

Any advice? 

Cheers, Becca.x

Hi Becca, Three of us are flying on the same flight thats at 21:25 from London Heathrow with Jet Airways. There is a transfer in Mumbia. It was just under £600 when I booked it. But it is a return flight where you only have to pack £35 pound to change the return date which gives more travel flexibilty at the end if you want to stop longer etc. I booked this flight with sta, so I'm sure they can help you out.

Happy hunting.

Emily x

Hi Emily,

Thanks, I remember reading your flight advice before. I checked out that fight with Opodo and it currently comes in at £475 which is good. I guess STA have a mark up on that but then they do offer the ability to change flight prob for less than Jet Airways will. I'll see what Jet offers. Their luggage allowance is only 32kg, yikes! Guess I'll have to pack light! (Esp. at £23 per extra kilo). Maybe a second bag of 28kg for £41 (€50) is a better option? Or maybe I learn to travel light!

That flight arrives 18.55pm in Bangkok on 18th (the night of the welcome dinner) so hopefully it's not too late to join everyone...I'll keep you posted on my plans and maybe we'll meet at the airport!

I just emailed Masako to ask her some questions, here is the response I got:

Hello Emily,

Many thanks for your message. Lots of questions you have will be answered during my orientation in Bangkok but here are what I can tell you;

What kind of facilities will the schools have? Do they accomodate for printing handouts for the class? Will we receive a course booklet to teach with? What kind of examinations do they take? What is the average size of a class? Would you recommend preparing any activities before I come?

- printing should be fine but some schools encourage saving resources as they are mostly government schools. we use lots of recycled paper for preventing wasting papers too.

- there will be a coursebook and curriculum for you to follow. each school will go through what they expect to teach before the actual lesson start. they have mid and end term exam to make sure they remember what they have learnt in the term. You may assist these exams and instruction will be given to you. The class size is vary between  35 to 50. You will given advise how to teach large classrooms. Some resorces are available at each school but if you wish to bring supplement such as flash card, alphabet posters etc, feel free to bring them with you.
 
I am aware that they will be culutral differences between me and my students which may affect teaching activities. Are there any particular faux pas which should be avoided? ie, pointing, touching heads, using left hand etc?

- I will go through this in my orientation. You can also try to check Thai customs from Thailand guidebook.

For example, would it be unacceptable for me to use the passing of an object such as a teddy from student to student? - this is fine.

Also what is the dress code for teachers at the school? Do we have to dress very formally?

- teachers are third respected in Thai social position. You are expected to dress smart. For ladies, you need to cover your upper arms, chest and waist area. The best clothing is half sleeve shirt and long skirt and closed toe shoes.

Hope these answers your questions, Masako

Cheers Emily - that's helpful to know. I guess lots of questions will be answered during our 5 days in Bangkok but some things need to be known before packing!

By the way, just booked my flights and I'm on the same one as you 3! (Great deal). Say hi if you recognise me on the flight, though I will probably be asleep for most of it!

Oooh, kinda excited now.

Becca.x

hey guys, I'm also booked onto the 21.25 flight from Heathrow so I guess there will be at least four off us together which is nice...and makes me feel a bit less scared to be honest. I'm progressing with my course ok,its just finding the time to get it done in between everything else I keep remembering and work aswell.feel a bit more set to go now that my flights booked though and I should be getting my visa and police clearance report back soon.jabs this week, not looking forward to that AT ALL!!!!I have my weekend course in London tomorrow and Sunday too so I'm looking forward to that.hope everybody is getting along with everything ok.very excited to meet you all,

Sarah xxx

Hey Emily. Thanks for that. Its really helpful and will save Masako getting a similar email from all of us!! Is anyone taking a lot of resources out there with them? Im scared that the schools will have hardly anything, but i dont want to take a load of stuff out there and find that I dont need it!!! Hows everyone getting on with all that? There's so much to think about its crazy.

I booked my flight today as well, also the 2125 from Heathrow - i think half the flight will be from here, so it all seems a bit more real. Pretty excited now - just need to pass the course!!! 

Wow, seems like we are all getting on the same fight. There are 6 of us now!!

No probs Pete, although by the sounds of it she will be covering most of it when we are there. I don't think they will be really limited resources. Although I don't think they will have sound system or video players to play things off. I have bought the 700 activities book from amazon, and might get some flashcards and things from ebay. A girl who has just got back from the last internship told me she had a class of beginners so it might be useful to have to kind of alphabet learning resources, but you could probably just use flashcards, and they arent too expensive from ebay, probs around £7.00.

hope that helps

hi! i also just signed up for the internship and I have no experience teaching abroad and have never been to Thailand so it's good to see i'm not alone! I'm probably flying out of JFK if anyone else is. I'm pretty excited to explore the area a bit too... some of the beaches there look incredibly gorgeous. Can't wait to meet everyone !! :)

Hey guys. Dont know if this is much help, but I found a couple of good websites for flashcards, and games and stuff like that - www.eslflashcards.com and www.flashcardexchange.com. I reckon it'll save me having too buy a lot of stuff, the costs are getting a bit crazy already, plus, assuming we can easily print stuff out over there it means less to have to pack in the case.

Hope this helps.

hello!

I'm going to be applying for next October when the 2011 dates are out and fingers crossed I'll get on it, it would be amazing!

I was just wondering if anyone will be updating i-to-i with how it's going through a blog or diary?

All the best and hope you have a brilliant time!

Rachel

Hey!

Hows everyones preparations going? I've just finished the 60 hour bit of the online course(finaly!) and I still have a few of the other modules to do.Got the first few  of my jabs this week- they weren't as bad as I expected!I cant believe its less than four weeks until we leave!!Time is flying!

Looking forward to meeting everyone

Karyn

Hi everyone, Got my flights sorted. Flying from Heathrow with Kingfisher airlines, leaving @9pm on the 17th,  stopover in Mumbai. Cost  570e Anyone else have similar arrangements? Most of u seem to be flying with jet airlines. Gunna be a long haul. oh ya! who's bringing laptops? Don't know if it's the best idea. ie. theft & cumbersome. Anyway, it's out there so interested to know what the consensus is on that.

Cheers,

Shane

Hey guys,

Here  is some more informtation I got from Masako this morning its not much but its something;

"-We will provide bed linen for you. just bring towels and other things you can buy here very cheap. Medicine and cosmetics for the first few months would be good idea until you can get local one.

- We have not finalized the number of interns this time (close tomorrow!) then start to place all of you to make sure none of you get alone. We will be sure by your arrival. Sorry I can't be more specific.

-details of orientation will be sent to you with arrival instruction next week!"

@Shane I'm bringing my netbook, I think it will be handy to have for downloading lesson plans,games, activities etc. It probably is a bit risky but I'm going to take a chance!

Karyn

Thanks Karyn, although I hope the bed linen is new and not just washed after the last intern.

Also I will be bringing my laptop. I looked at someone elses blog who is already there and they said it was invaluable. Handy to have lesson plans and to be able to make handouts, but I'm sure you could do the same if you had some books and went to an internet cafe.

Emily

Hey!

Ya, netbook could be the way to go. I'll have to buy one and get travel cover. Cheers Karyn. Did you get your flight sorted? My computer was down for awhile so couldn't keep in touch. Not long now. Don't know what kinda landing we're in for. haha, all the better.

Shane

Yep, I'm flying with Etihad airways from Dublin on the 17th, we arrive in Bangkok at 7am on the 18th, One stop in Abu Dhabi. It will be some change from Ireland anyway!!In a good way I'm sure!

Hey guys, I've just set up a facebook group for the Internship. Hopefully most of you will have facebook and it might be easier to discuss things, and arrange meet ups once we are there.

Here is the link http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=145250305517541&ref=nf#!/group.php?gid=145250305517541&v=wall&ref=nf

Hi guys, hope someone reads this as I'm not on Facebook!

Still ploughing through the TEFL course and got my wkend course this coming weekend in London (anyone else going?). Just wondering how much it will matter if there are still parts of the course i haven't completed yet prior to the wkend course? (namely Video Practice - 20 hrs). Is this going to be a negative for me?

Any reassurance appreciated! Crazy busy here sorting everything out before I fly, like most people who started the course late I expect!

Cheers, Becca.x

Hey Becca,

You'll have no problems if they're are bits of your online course you haven't done yet - the classroom course is sometimes taken in isolation by people so doesn't assume any prior knowledge at all.

Hope you enjoy it! It's pretty intense but a lot of fun - keep us posted with how you get on.

Hi, Im off to Thailand as well!! Im flying from Heathrow on the 21st at 21:30 (Direct flight) I have pretty much completed all my TEFL and got everything sorted :) I am currently working out what i should take with me...any ideas/suggestions?? Jen xx

i thought this intership started in may?!

Anyone know if there is a Thailand Internship that starts in March?

Hi everyone,

My name is Nazma, I've finally got on to a tefl course, just getting my CV and bits ready to send of to Thailand.

I'll be flying out from Heathrow, Solo. Can't wait to meet everyone in person!