#  >  > Living And Legal Affairs In Thailand >  >  > Teaching In Thailand >  >  Any chance for getting a teaching job for non native speaker in Thailand?

## altar51

Dear forum members,
I am 23, originally polish, although have been living in London for last couple of years. I spent 3 months backpacking in Thailand and I absolutely love the place!

As I mentioned in the title, I would like to know what is a realistic chance for getting a teaching job in Thailand, if lets say, I obtained bachelor's degree in English philology and TEFL course?

I dont mind to work in smaller town and certainly I am aware that my earnings would never reach your level, but after all, if I wanted money, I would simply stay in Europe.

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## altar51

Since no one wants to reply, I will response to myself  :Smile:  I've done some research and there are some Scandinavian blokes teaching in Thailand which means it is possible. Also, I actually dont mind to work in any other country of Thai neighbourhood and according to my research, it would be much easier to find employment in Cambodia which is wild west for english teaching in SE Asia.

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## Mr Brown

> Since no one wants to reply, I will response to myself


I don't think it's a case of not wanting to reply

Most of us haven't a fucking clue when it comes to this subject

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## blackgang

Yes, you can work here, I know a hungarian lady that teaches in Chiang Mai at a Private school, Very easy to get a job here, there are a lot of dorks that have jobs as teachers.
Doesn't seem to be that much of a problem, especially if you are a reasonably attractive lady.
Thai prefer pretty people, they think I am great, and my wife is also a teacher.

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## BobR

I've been teaching in Thailand 3 years and I do not think you would have any serious problem finding employment here. As long as your English skills are good and your accent not too pronounced, you'll do fine here.  They hire many Philippinos, and English is not their native language, many of them just speak it.  You are from where you last lived, so you are from England and were born in Poland.  The pay here for teachers is quite low, but it's a fun job.  Also, since teaching a language here is as much about culture as it is about teaching language, the fact you "look white" (sorry I cannot think of a better way to say it) will actually mean you are more employable than the Philippinos.

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## Marmite the Dog

> Any chance for getting a teaching job for non native speaker in Thailand?


Sadly, yes. Even worse, they'll employ Northern Monkeys as English teachers.

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## kingwilly

You'll be able to find work in vietnam, burma, laos and indonesia also.

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## altar51

Ok., thanks guys, I appreciate your opinions and advises  :Smile:  Well, I still have a long way to improve my own English before I can teach it to others, but being surrounded by English speaking people at all times, from girlfriend which I share flat with, to all colleagues at work, makes all the process much quicker. Dont know if it would help much, but I could get British passport very soon (which is quite useless and costs 700 quids).




> Originally Posted by altar51
> 
> Any chance for getting a teaching job for non native speaker in Thailand?
> 
> 
> Sadly, yes. Even worse, they'll employ Northern Monkeys as English teachers.


Dude, I truly believe that, lets say, educated Austrian teaching English is going to be far better than average British chav with problems to speak properly in his own language. The fact of being native English doesnt necessary make you better teacher. Ive met loads of people not even realising how incorrected they are. 

The next thing is, I took a part of voluntary project providing English education for children in Cambodia and, gods, no matter how bad I would be with my English, I am still roughly 10 times better than the local teachers which really is sad indeed.

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## altar51

Ahh and btw, has calling others a "northern monkey" anything to do with avatar of Kingwilly?  :Wink:

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## blackgang

Better to speak American English, I have a relative here of my wife and she speaks UK English and you can't understand her either.
And MTD and KW have kissed and made up, but KW is still an Ape.

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## Marmite the Dog

> Better to speak American English


True. It's dumbed down so it is easier for people to learn.

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## kingwilly

> Ok., thanks guys, I appreciate your opinions and advises  Well, I still have a long way to improve my own English before I can teach it to others, but being surrounded by English speaking people at all times, from girlfriend which I share flat with, to all colleagues at work, makes all the process much quicker. Dont know if it would help much, but I could get British passport very soon (which is quite useless and costs 700 quids).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
> 
> ...


redded for being a crap troll.

I dont think your english is as bad as you are pretending, 

i dont think you are looking for a job teaching.


I suspect that you are EN or Scumpoy

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## altar51

> I dont think your english is as bad as you are pretending


Lol, thank you for a nice compliment! I must a admit, I find it really hilarious that at the same time you praise my English ability, you use two words of meaning I do not know (e.g. redded and Scumpoy).   




> i dont think you are looking for a job teaching.
> 
>  I suspect that you are EN or Scumpoy


Lol, you are so suspicious. You would do great as police investigator! Although I do not seek employment right now, I strongly do consider teaching career in SEA in the future and therefore do some research.But why on Earth would I pretend to be someone else???

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## altar51

> Originally Posted by blackgang
> 
> Better to speak American English
> 
> 
> True. It's dumbed down so it is easier for people to learn.


I think it's more regarding the accent. For instance, even though I have been living in London for almost 4 years, I still find it much easier to understand Americans than British. That could be also because most of the films on TV are American.

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## kingwilly

:Trolling:

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## altar51

What makes me troll? I do not post anything controversial, irrelevant or off-topic nor intent to provoke other users. In fact, all I did was creating thread about teaching in Thailand, on Thai related forum. 
Apparently you miss understand what trolling means.

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## kingwilly

yeah right

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## blackgang

He knows what it is alright, he just don't like others in his territory. :Smile: 
We need more cute little Pollock chicks in Thailand.
Especially if they can cook.

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## majid

> originally polish, although have been living in London for last couple of years


Still Polish are you not?

Anyone with a pulse can teach English in Thailand. Even _former_ Poles. Good luck.

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## blackgang

Paknam Webs has a forum that has a very cute Hungarian lady that teaches, go there and look and talk to her, Her name is Betti and she lives in Chiang Mai.

Paknam Web Thailand Forums

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## altar51

Thanks a lot Blackgang. I am in touch with Betti and she helped a lot, I know all I needed now from first hand.

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## mtone9317

True. It's dumbed down so it is easier for people to learn.[/quote]
I hope I get the penultimate response to your flame. 
Is this coming from someone who lives in a country where they they call a: cookie> a biscuit
    electric outlet> a hearth  what?
    the hood of a car> a bonnet
and the final sticking point> most humans on earth are right-handed, so they drive on the left side of the road.
The English did not invent English, but they have sure done a good job in messing it up.
BTW: There are over 250,000 words in the American English language, another reason why it makes it so difficult for person whose first language was not Engish to learn our language.
Five definitions of the word/sound "base" please.

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## Marmite the Dog

^ Do you work hard at being an idiot or does it come naturally?

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## blackgang

:Smile:  :smiley laughing:   :rofl:    and now it starts  ::spin::

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## Begbie

> I hope I get the penultimate response to your flame. 
> Is this coming from someone who lives in a country where they they call a: cookie> a biscuit      electric outlet> a hearth  what? *Think you're getting confused with earth. The word is socket*
>     the hood of a car> a bonnet *That and boot are two of the more attractive english words*


A Pole writes better english than you.

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## aras

> Originally Posted by blackgang
> 
> Better to speak American English
> 
> 
> True. It's dumbed down so it is easier for people to learn.


a great reaction AGAIN

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## billgorman37

American English dumbed down.

This was meant to be slur of sorts but it makes the point of (English) language: it is to COMMUNICATE - communicate with the English speaking world. To the degree that English variants fall short in this respect may be an index of failure of purpose. I keep my reply simple as my point, devoid of _red herring_.

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## Bill Childress

> Dear forum members,
> I am 23, originally polish, although have been living in London for last couple of years. I spent 3 months backpacking in Thailand and I absolutely love the place!
> 
> As I mentioned in the title, I would like to know what is a realistic chance for getting a teaching job in Thailand, if lets say, I obtained bachelor's degree in English philology and TEFL course?
> 
> I dont mind to work in smaller town and certainly I am aware that my earnings would never reach your level, but after all, if I wanted money, I would simply stay in Europe.


I'm sure that you can find work here.  I have taught English here for almost 3 years.  There are quite a few non-native English speaking teachers at the school that I that I teach at.  They have to pass an English test  but many are non-native English speakers.

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## Mr Earl

> Dear forum members,
> I am 23, originally polish, although have been living in London for last couple of years. I spent 3 months backpacking in Thailand and I absolutely love the place!
> 
> As I mentioned in the title, I would like to know what is a realistic chance for getting a teaching job in Thailand, if let’s say, I obtained bachelor's degree in English philology and TEFL course?
> 
> I don’t mind to work in smaller town and certainly I am aware that my earnings would never reach your level, but after all, if I wanted money, I would simply stay in Europe.


Go to the USA. Drive a cab in NYC. Learn to speak American English. That's what people want to hear. American accents get the best jobs. Australians, Kiwis and poms are virtually unemployable or just get the shit jobs. Elvis lives.

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## mtone9317

You won't learn to speak American English driving a cab in NYC. You might learn Puerto Rican Spanish, Ebonics, Brooklynese:Burgermilk (your order for a Hamburger and a Chocolate Shake. Best get a job driving a cab in Salt Lake City or Boise, Idaho. I talked to a few teachers in Chiang Mai and they do not like Irish or Aus English...a few of them prefer British English.

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## peter2076

The money here isn't that good unless you work at an international school. If you want to earn good money, go to Japan or Korea and spend your holidays here. You could work in Korea for a year and save enough for a 1 year break in Thailand. I lived in both Korea and Japan - stayed in Japan 5 years and made a load of money.

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## travelinasia

What peter says is true, however you can earn a lot more if take privates, and you have a good reputation. There are plenty of teachers in Phuket and Bangkok earning 2000USD per month between language schools and private lessons. Language schools only paying 10USD per hr, Privates paying 15-20.

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## BigBaBoo

::spin::  Yes you probably can get a job teaching English in Thailand. I doublt however the deciding point will be how well you speak English...from your original post it seems your English is more than adequate to me to be a teacher here. But what will probably get you an offer of a job is two main things. They are:
1. Your qualifications- if they are good enough and can be verified it will be a big plus in your favor. (NEVER fake your real qualifications. It's a sucker's bet that you can't win in the long run).
2. What can YOU do for the school that hires you? Many applicants seem to forget that they are being judged as much for what skills they can provide for the school (at a price/salary that the school can afford) as any other skill they bring to the table.
Don't forget #2...far to many applicants seem to only consider what the school can do for them...they don't consider the fact that the school is also judging them as to what they will bring of value to the school for the cost of hiring them.
Also get your head around this fact...LIVING (long term) in Thailand is NOT THE SAME AS VISITING for 3 or even 6 months. You WILL (most likely) get bored and disillusioned at some point when living in Thailand long-term. You probably already know that, but just think about it before you get yourself dug in so deeply that you can't get out of the hole.
(Been there, done that).
 :Smile:

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## EssEffBee

For christ's sake, don't speak that american crap!!! (I purposely left the 'a' in 'american' uncapitalised).
America is the only fully developed country in the world;
1] that has not adopted the Metric system.
2] that insists upon 'simplifying' English, which confuses many.

If somebody asked me, "What would you wish upon your worst enemy?" My reply would be;
1] to live in america.
2] to speak american (which is not English) with that dreadful american accent.
3] to drive a 'yank tank' forever.

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## JoshuaInMukdahan

> If somebody asked me, "What would you wish upon your worst enemy?" My reply would be;
> 1] to live in america.
> 2] to speak american (which is not English) with that dreadful american accent.
> 3] to drive a 'yank tank' forever.


Funny most of us American's would agree with these sentiments!

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## Toptuan

Back to the, ahem, topic....

Yes, a non-native speaker can teach English here.  There's a Dutch fellow here in our town who makes a boatload of money teaching private English lessons to uni students.  Of course, his accent is so thick, I can't even associate with him, because I can't understand him.

And then, I teach with two non-native English speakers in our English department--Filipinos.  Both with definite accents, but no where near my Dutch friend's thick tongue.

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## blue

> For christ' s sake, don't speak that american
> 
>  crap!!! (I purposely left the 'a' in 'american' uncapitalised).
> America is the only fully developed country in the world;
> 1] that has not adopted the Metric system.
> 2] that insists upon 'simplifying' English, which confuses many.
> 
> If somebody asked me, "What would you wish upon your worst enemy?" My reply would be;
>                                .................................................................................  .....
> ...


Ess  have I mentioned  before the difference between a colon and a
 semicolon  ? :Sigh1:  :Banghead:

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## good2bhappy

Fair skin and blue eyes?
easy

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## blue

yes they should roll that policy out worldwide !!

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## sunsetter

> The English did not invent English, but they have sure done a good job in messing it up


 
thats a good one

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## the dogcatcher

Bruce from TEFL perpetuates the myth that it's better not to be able to speak Thai to teach English.
Obviously if speaking Thai was a requirement for teaching English he would be out of business, since no bastard I,ve ever met from the school in Ban Phe can speak a word of Thai.
I've even had students offer to pay me to teach them Thai.

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## linex

hi guys ....... i have just joined this group and i have not yet read all of everything contained within it ....... I am a Kiwi ( New Zealand national ),currently residing in NZ but travel to Thailand to be with my girl on a regular basis ... i looking to to come there on a more permanent basis but would still like to supplement our current income.We already have a home etc set up so a small earning job is fine with me ..... teaching is what i am looking at as i already have done some translations of legal papers etc for different people there and have an interest also in helping others / teaching comes to mind as something i would like to have a go at ....... Finding something in BKK is what i would be looking at ......... how viable is this option and how long would i be able to stay there .............. maybe i can find the answers elsewhere on this site but for now this way here seems an easier option ....... thanks

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## Sailing into trouble

er whats this crap about northern monkeys and us real english who invented the language. 

I REPRESENT THAT!!!!!!! as knos evry thing aberrt inglish speyking just axeus inytime thawonts.

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