Hi Jodie,

Firstly, I got my insurance from multitrip.com.  I got a whole year's cover including medical, personal accident, cancellation, baggage and passport, theft, loss, personal liability, hijack (!), missed departure, acstastrophe cover, holiday abandonment, overseas legal expenses, strike cover and personal travel assisstance.  Best part about it was that I was covered for loads of hazardous activities (whitewater rafting, paintballing etc) so I was safe if I went on any adventures :-)  It cost me £134.99 and was by far and away the cheapest cover I found.

The teaching is not difficult at all in my experience.  Don't worry about what to teach, you will be told what you have to teach and sometimes how (although I think it's better to do it a way that works for both you and your students).  I used to teach kindergarten which was loads of fun and basically teaching vocab since the kids were so young (my youngest being a 1 year old).  I also teach freelance at a hospital in Bangkok teaching nurses but I got given a book for that so I basically read through it with them, explain any grammar points that come up or any vocab they don't know and then get them to role play.  Easy work if you can get it.  Now I've just started at an all boys school teaching primary kids around 8 years old.  Again, I have a set syllabus, a teacher book that tells me what to teach and then it's up to me how to actually teach it.

Don't worry, if you look at my first blog post you'll see what happened to me and I survived so it'll be a breeze honestly.  Thai kids love English lessons too so that helps a lot!  Any more questions, feel free to ask.  Do you know where you'll be teaching?  My school is right nexty to the Surasak BTS station, you'll soon know where I mean when you get here :-)

Gaz

hey, i got my insurance through i-to-i, figured it made sense as i have everything else thro them, and they're dead canny. It cost me £409 for the 12 months which i though was pretty good seeing as the others were all near the £700-800 range just for medical. i havent got a rucksack either no worries we will have it sorted soon enough.

at last! chalkboard has let me in! hi everyone...am also heading to thailand in May, arriving May 5th and starting May 10th! How is everyone? I have pretty much no details, pics or anything on here, but will add in due course! Emma

Hi, nice to meet you!  My name's Melissa and I'm signed up for the year-long supported teaching placement.  I, too, have minimal teaching experience so am pleased to know I won't be the only one!  :)  Looking forward to meeting you!

Hey yeah! first time ive ever doe anything like this. I had hip surgery a whle back and because i was sooooo bored for about 2 months someone recommended i do a tefl course, while so while i was bumming around doing nothing i did the tefl and kinda just fell into this Thailand thing. Suits me though! I finished my 120hr tefl in december and heading to Thailand in May. Are you on the May2010 placment? Ever done anything like this before?

Jodie

Hi Taylor - is this your first experience? Have you completed your TEFL? I have taken on a six month work contract here so I can pay for training before I head out.

Hey there,

Im  heading out to Thailand this May for 5 months to teach English. I start on the 7th at the ACT school in West Bangkok. Any one else on this placement?

I graduated from Birmingham Uni last July and have been working in a very boring gap fill administration job for the last 6 months and cannot wait to get away from it all!! Looking forward to meeting fellow travellers and TEFLers!

Jodie xx