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Sir Burr · 29-12-2007, 05:50 PM

Well....it's better to be a highly paid miserable sack of shit than a lowly paid miserable sack of shit.

obsidian · 29-12-2007, 07:06 PM

well stated

Accidental Ajarn · 02-01-2008, 12:27 PM

Agent Smith

I started out as an English teacher and have forced back into it a few times. I never really enjoyed teaching English, in my opinion, a total lack of intellectual stimulation. It is all about presentation, any fool knows “went” is the past tense of “go”, but how to make others with a different linguistic background understand it takes some talent. If you find the performance part of teaching interesting, English teaching is Ok, but if you also enjoy some intellectual stimulation coming from the subject matter, teaching English is not going to fill the bill.

I went on to earn higher degrees and became a “real ajarn” teaching business subjects and economics. I especially enjoyed teaching these subjects at the graduate level. So for me, the subject being taught did make a difference. Just because you don’t like teaching English does not mean you do not like teaching.

Unfortunately, here in Thailand being a university professor doesn’t pay that much higher (but there are a number of two thousand baht an hour gigs if you have the right qualifications) than being a basic English teacher.

I have now swapped careers to being a practicing manager, but if I could make the same money teaching business subjects and economics at a university I would go back in a heartbeat.

Thormaturge · 02-01-2008, 01:05 PM

You could try teaching English to this lot:

Ajarn Forum - Living and Teaching In Thailand

Reaper · 03-01-2008, 07:15 PM

Teaching English is dull however it might stem from the fact that nobody fails so the question is why bother. All Thai's really want to do is play games, have fun and piss about. This is both at primary and secondary levels.

Universities are pretty much the same. One third bothers to interact the others are nothing more than seat warmers. I was so fed up one day at trying to get them to talk, I stood up in the class and told them I was gay. I even got a reaction from a 55 year old woman that was in the class. Teaching at those levels changed forever. I came to the logical conclusion that day that it is best to be a clown even with older students else they will not learn.

Teaching was not really bad, it just was not rewarding. Not financially. If I wanted to make money I would go home and make money. It was just not 'spiritually' rewarding. At the end of my ESL 'career' I look back and think of all the fun that was had and try not to think of the negative people I had met. At the end of the day - life is what you make it.

robin · 04-01-2008, 12:08 AM

8 hours in front of a class of adults would make me ill if I didn't have a little fun.

So I toss them a relevant article from the daily and a board marker and tell them to translate and then discuss it. Each one does one sentence and can then choose the next victim while I chill out and call out encouragement from the back of the room. My German is fluent but I rarely speak it during classes and all my lessons are based on spoken English nowadays.

It stops them falling asleep and I don't even bother with a lesson plan or homework any more, it's all just too boring for them and me.

It occurred to me way back that people will only learn if they want to, whatever the method applied. I can always modify the approach to give them more if they need it.

To be sure, like the OP says, it can get very boring at times but at least I get German pay rates for it and a good success rate; that's two good reasons why I would never teach in Thailand unless I were really hungry.

Ban Saray · 04-01-2008, 04:50 AM

I just remebered, at high school English was the one subject I hated, I wagged most of the classes, and failed in year 11 (Grade D).
Later (20 years), I did a Navy course on report writing which went over all the basics of sentence construction etc, and I found it absolutely brilliant. I suppose, as has been said before, it comes down to the student, and being able to relate the subject matter to real life.

As an engineer you learn very quickly that communication skills are your mainstay, not Eulers' theorems.

kjmalc · 04-01-2008, 07:57 AM

Even your english is dull,

American doesn't matter on it, as long they understand what you mean!

Agent_Smith · 08-01-2008, 03:16 PM

Quit today. Couldn't face that class anymore. I feel a million pounds lighter now. Now to ponder my next step....

Troubled · 08-01-2008, 03:34 PM

^

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent_Smith

Glad to know that I'm not alone.

So, there's only 6 weeks left in the term and I've convinced myself to stick out until then instead of quitting midway.

So what happened?

Agent_Smith · 08-01-2008, 04:05 PM

I guess I didn't convince myself strongly enough

codefreeze · 18-01-2008, 11:12 PM

I'm not surprised you quit.

I think there is "Teaching English" and then there is "Teaching English in Thailand". They can be very different things. Generally I don't recommend teaching English in Thailand because the pay sucks - but there are a whole bunch of other reasons too:

http://www.dreamofsiam.com/articles/...achEnglish.pdf

As far as what you do next, that depends to a large extent on whether you are staying in Thailand or not. I wrote some thoughts on alternatives to teaching here:

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/learnfre...n_Thailand.pdf

It depends on your interests and skills though.

I still think my option of working in UK for spring and summer and going to Asia from Nov-Apr and running my Internet/writing biz is a pretty good solution.

meow · 21-03-2008, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agent_Smith

...as dishwater. For me anyway. I put my notice in a couple of days ago so I'll be an ex-English teacher officially on Jan 1.

I've taught for 6 months and never in that time did I get a handle on why I wasn't enjoying it. At first i thought it was too many hours so I requested a transfer to a high school where I'd make the same money but less days/hours and only prepping 2 lessons a week. It went well for awhile but I still felt this niggling bit of dissatisfaction in the pit of my stomach. On the weekends I dreaded creating the lessons and during the week I dreaded going to the classes. I've come to realize that it is the subject itself that makes me want to weep tears of boredom.

So, by process of elimination, I'm going to determine once and for all if it is actually teaching that I hate or teaching English that I hate. I'm now looking to teach other subjects. My uni degree is Social Studies related and I've always held an interest in history, politics, culture, economics and so forth so that's what I'll be looking for.

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has felt this way about teaching English and if changing subjects made a difference.

Wow, a whole class full of Thais interested in history & politics, that'd be a Guinness book entry I should think?

Seriously though, most of the Thais I have come across (many successful business people) couldn't even tell you when WW2 occurred - to the nearest DECADE !

Milkman · 21-03-2008, 03:04 AM

If teaching English is dull don't do it.

Also, you may SUCK at it, and are using your bad skills as a defense mechanism.

Why did you go into teaching in the first place?

Because you can't do FUCK ALL ELSE.

You're a fuckhead.

Go back and be a taxi driver, or stock shelves at Carrefour.

If you had a good job, you would have never come out and "taught" without a degree in Ed., or other relevant areas.

Agent_Smith · 21-03-2008, 05:28 AM

Thanks for finally chiming in Milkster. Thread's been dead awhile and I'd nearly given up hope that you'd come in with your 2 satang of wisdom.

Anyway, I'll respond to your wild guesses about me .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Milkman

If teaching English is dull don't do it.

-Thank you for repeating my point.

Also, you may SUCK at it, and are using your bad skills as a defense mechanism.

-Very possible, although I never did get any negative feedback from the students or my employer.

Why did you go into teaching in the first place?

--It looked like it might be fun.

Because you can't do FUCK ALL ELSE.

You're guessing, and you're wrong.

You're a fuckhead.

-Could say that it takes one to know one, but I won't.

Go back and be a taxi driver, or stock shelves at Carrefour.

-Never done either. What do you have against the working classes, anyhow?

If you had a good job, you would have never come out and "taught" without a degree in Ed., or other relevant areas.

-I had a great job in Las Vegas but got worn down by the routine. Had a bit of cash in the bank so decided to try something new. I really have no regrets but like I said before: Thank you for your kind advice.

18-01-2008, 11:12 PM	#52 (permalink)
codefreeze Nai Harn Beach Last Online: 21-07-2009 01:07 AM Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: UK Posts: 33	I'm not surprised you quit. I think there is "Teaching English" and then there is "Teaching English in Thailand". They can be very different things. Generally I don't recommend teaching English in Thailand because the pay sucks - but there are a whole bunch of other reasons too: http://www.dreamofsiam.com/articles/...achEnglish.pdf As far as what you do next, that depends to a large extent on whether you are staying in Thailand or not. I wrote some thoughts on alternatives to teaching here: http://webzoom.freewebs.com/learnfre...n_Thailand.pdf It depends on your interests and skills though. I still think my option of working in UK for spring and summer and going to Asia from Nov-Apr and running my Internet/writing biz is a pretty good solution. __________________ Codefreeze, To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

21-03-2008, 03:04 AM	#54 (permalink)
Milkman Gone Off Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: shelf Posts: 15,363	If teaching English is dull don't do it. Also, you may SUCK at it, and are using your bad skills as a defense mechanism. Why did you go into teaching in the first place? Because you can't do FUCK ALL ELSE. You're a fuckhead. Go back and be a taxi driver, or stock shelves at Carrefour. If you had a good job, you would have never come out and "taught" without a degree in Ed., or other relevant areas. __________________ *Military men are dumb, stupid animals, to be used as pawns for foreign policy* – Henry Kissinger (January-February 2003 edition of Eagle Newsletter) To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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29-12-2007, 05:50 PM	#41 (permalink)
Sir Burr Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb Last Online: 16-06-2009 10:54 AM Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Phuket. Posts: 5,087	Well....it's better to be a highly paid miserable sack of shit than a lowly paid miserable sack of shit.

29-12-2007, 07:06 PM	#42 (permalink)
obsidian I am in Jail Last Online: 21-01-2009 09:15 PM Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,361	well stated

02-01-2008, 12:27 PM	#43 (permalink)
Accidental Ajarn Ban Phe Last Online: 12-09-2009 05:32 PM Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 615	Agent Smith I started out as an English teacher and have forced back into it a few times. I never really enjoyed teaching English, in my opinion, a total lack of intellectual stimulation. It is all about presentation, any fool knows “went” is the past tense of “go”, but how to make others with a different linguistic background understand it takes some talent. If you find the performance part of teaching interesting, English teaching is Ok, but if you also enjoy some intellectual stimulation coming from the subject matter, teaching English is not going to fill the bill. I went on to earn higher degrees and became a “real ajarn” teaching business subjects and economics. I especially enjoyed teaching these subjects at the graduate level. So for me, the subject being taught did make a difference. Just because you don’t like teaching English does not mean you do not like teaching. Unfortunately, here in Thailand being a university professor doesn’t pay that much higher (but there are a number of two thousand baht an hour gigs if you have the right qualifications) than being a basic English teacher. I have now swapped careers to being a practicing manager, but if I could make the same money teaching business subjects and economics at a university I would go back in a heartbeat.

02-01-2008, 01:05 PM	#44 (permalink)
Thormaturge Elite Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 2,518	You could try teaching English to this lot: Ajarn Forum - Living and Teaching In Thailand

03-01-2008, 07:15 PM	#45 (permalink)
Reaper Chumphon Last Online: 17-11-2009 09:24 PM Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 625	Teaching English is dull however it might stem from the fact that nobody fails so the question is why bother. All Thai's really want to do is play games, have fun and piss about. This is both at primary and secondary levels. Universities are pretty much the same. One third bothers to interact the others are nothing more than seat warmers. I was so fed up one day at trying to get them to talk, I stood up in the class and told them I was gay. I even got a reaction from a 55 year old woman that was in the class. Teaching at those levels changed forever. I came to the logical conclusion that day that it is best to be a clown even with older students else they will not learn. Teaching was not really bad, it just was not rewarding. Not financially. If I wanted to make money I would go home and make money. It was just not 'spiritually' rewarding. At the end of my ESL 'career' I look back and think of all the fun that was had and try not to think of the negative people I had met. At the end of the day - life is what you make it.

04-01-2008, 12:08 AM	#46 (permalink)
robin Tak Last Online: 26-09-2009 04:17 AM Join Date: May 2007 Location: Schwerin, NE Germany Posts: 357	8 hours in front of a class of adults would make me ill if I didn't have a little fun. So I toss them a relevant article from the daily and a board marker and tell them to translate and then discuss it. Each one does one sentence and can then choose the next victim while I chill out and call out encouragement from the back of the room. My German is fluent but I rarely speak it during classes and all my lessons are based on spoken English nowadays. It stops them falling asleep and I don't even bother with a lesson plan or homework any more, it's all just too boring for them and me. It occurred to me way back that people will only learn if they want to, whatever the method applied. I can always modify the approach to give them more if they need it. To be sure, like the OP says, it can get very boring at times but at least I get German pay rates for it and a good success rate; that's two good reasons why I would never teach in Thailand unless I were really hungry.

04-01-2008, 04:50 AM	#47 (permalink)
Ban Saray Nonthaburi Last Online: 20-07-2009 09:39 PM Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 449	I just remebered, at high school English was the one subject I hated, I wagged most of the classes, and failed in year 11 (Grade D). Later (20 years), I did a Navy course on report writing which went over all the basics of sentence construction etc, and I found it absolutely brilliant. I suppose, as has been said before, it comes down to the student, and being able to relate the subject matter to real life. As an engineer you learn very quickly that communication skills are your mainstay, not Eulers' theorems.

04-01-2008, 07:57 AM	#48 (permalink)
kjmalc Chiang Mai Last Online: 03-03-2008 07:50 AM Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 11	Even your english is dull, American doesn't matter on it, as long they understand what you mean!

08-01-2008, 03:16 PM	#49 (permalink)
Agent_Smith Pre-Apocalyptic Scavenger Last Online: 20-11-2009 02:44 PM Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,499	Quit today. Couldn't face that class anymore. I feel a million pounds lighter now. Now to ponder my next step....

08-01-2008, 04:05 PM	#51 (permalink)
Agent_Smith Pre-Apocalyptic Scavenger Last Online: 20-11-2009 02:44 PM Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,499	I guess I didn't convince myself strongly enough

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