Thread: Opening a English Language school

My brother is thinking of taking a TEFL course, and becoming a teacher and possibly opening a school with my wife as Proxy.

Is there any special criteria for opening a Language school.?

He is thinking of taking a 3 month course in oxford, what are the best alternatives.?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Originally Posted by Yasojack

Is there any special criteria for opening a Language school.?

Seems like a question you'd ask before embarking on a new business venture?

Originally Posted by Yasojack

Is there any special criteria for opening a Language school.?

The last I heard, to open a language school you need a license ( obviously ) and there are only a limited number in circulation. Therefore they can be quite expensive to obtain.

Having said that, my info might be out of date so worth checking. He could also buy a franchise school licence but these also cost a few hundred thousand baht.

Finaly, many people get a teaching qualification thinking of it as a mere formality before begining to teach. It isn't. Teaching well is not half as easy as people think, especially with large classes and teachers who don't teach well tend not to last long.

Your brother would do better teaching for someone else first to see if the cap fits. If he likes it he can then consider something else.

Not teaching over 13 students at a time, a permit or license to operate a school is not needed.

I cannot see anyone making much money out of a school with 13 or less students...

Originally Posted by Yasojack

My brother is thinking of taking a TEFL course, and becoming a teacher and possibly opening a school with my wife as Proxy.

Why? Hobby? Total money looser

The phrase jumping through hoops within hoops within hoops sprang to mind when I read the OP. Thais love their bureaucracy.

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

I cannot see anyone making much money out of a school with 13 or less students...

I read that as meaning no more than 13 students under tuition at any moment.
So you could have hundreds of students

TY guys appreciated, any other info also would be grateful.


we are just looking into Thailand presently, though the other option he is thinking about is China do you need TEFL there?.

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

I cannot see anyone making much money out of a school with 13 or less students...

Fewer. If you can count it, it's fewer.

Less beer, fewer cans of beer.

Originally Posted by Panty Hamster

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

I cannot see anyone making much money out of a school with 13 or less students...

Fewer. If you can count it, it's fewer.

Less beer, fewer cans of beer.

tick.

I sometimes think about my options ....... If things here in Japan ever went pear shaPed with my missus, I sometimes think that sunny Thailand could be an option again.

My missus is a hotty, who rides a Harley Davidson and has a cute 4 year old daughter who I love to bits, but the truth is she can be a real bitch at times and we sometimes fight over the stupidest things.

I worked as a private tutor last time I was in Thailand , and was lucky enough to have students lining up for my classes. I was charging between 700-1200 baths per lesson and if I had of been less strict with my schedule ( I only worked from 4pm-8pm on weekdays) I probably could have even saved money along with living in a nice place in thonglor.

Whenever the thought does cross my mind of perhaps re-establishing myself in Thailand one day there is one thing that puts me off. The hassles I had with keeping my visa updated. For my first 2 years I had to leave the country every 3 months, and for a while after that I had to leave monthly. Dragging myself out of bed to catch the bus from asok at 5am was a major pain in the arse, and was something that I would never put myself through again.

However, after reading this thread I am thinking that I have the option of 'opening a school' - I am not sure if I would need to rent premises as I used to visit my students home directly - but is it possible for me to operate a small tutoring company？ if so, would I need to employ full time Thai staff? How many? How much would I have to pay them? If I were to work Saturdays and a few extra hours during the week I would be able to afford a couple of staff wouldn't I ?

The likely hood of me doing this is not very high, but if anybody cOuld let me know if this scenario is possible, then I would be grateful.

KingWilly - if you give me a good answer I will forgive you for not sitting with poolcleaner and I to watch the football that night - 8 years ago or whenever it was.

And hillbilly, I apologize for redding you in the thread about Eric passing as I was probably offended for the wrong reason ... So any good advice would be nice ( I don't think you remember but I came to your house many years ago)

P.S: I have a bachelor's degree and TESOL cert.

Originally Posted by Wally Dorian Raffles

I was charging between 700-1200 baths per lesson

somebody was very very clean.

Originally Posted by Wally Dorian Raffles

KingWilly - if you give me a good answer I will forgive you for not sitting with poolcleaner and I to watch the football that night - 8 years ago or whenever it was.

Meh, as I recall it was a small pub and there wasn't much room. Besides it was a semi final or something wasn't? it was too serious to sit n chat, I was all focused on the game!

Anyway, setting up a tutor company, all things are possible, train tutors and set them up with students, advertise to students and line them up with tutors. I think getting 'legal' might be a bit of a ballsache.

Start small, quality would be more important to build a name. Get one or two quality tutors on your books.

What do you need to hire Thais for? Secretaries and tutor assistants? I don't really know the going price anymore, but a guesstimate could be 15,000 baht minimum.

I would suspect you'd need a thai partner for this.

Originally Posted by aging one

Originally Posted by Wally Dorian Raffles

I was charging between 700-1200 baths per lesson

somebody was very very clean.

Japanese love their baths AO

Meh, as I recall it was a small pub and there wasn't much room. Besides it was a semi final or something wasn't? it was too serious to sit n chat, I was all focused on the game!

Poolie and I managed to watch the game AND have a yarn! ....think they call it double tasking or something ：） naaw.... We just wanted to chat 'real time' with you after all of the hours of cyber chat ..... Anyway....

Yes, training tutors and sending them out would be the next step after re-establishing myself ...... And no real reason for hiring Thais .... I just thought I had to to get a visa for myself ...... But you are saying that having a Thai partner would be the same ? Would this partner have to have education qualifications? What kind of visa would I be able to get by having a partner?

Perhaps I should have mentioned that all of my students were Japanese and I am confident that through the knowledge I gained from the market , and the success I had in finding students ( they were soon approaching me to add classes) that I don't need Thai employees for anything - I just would not even think about it if the same visa hassles I had last time were involved, and having Thai staff or a partner would be for visa purposes only.

Anyway, I don't plan on returning to LOS anytime soon, but as I mentioned in my original post, just like to know what my options are..

so who wrote the thread title?

fail

I didn't mean a thai would help you get a visa, I figured a thai would have less trouble with the official registrations permits etc.

But if you are not involving thai, then perhaps an unofficial business might work. ie: keep it small a half dozen tutors or so, smallish client list etc.

But then you have the same old visa hassles as before...

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

I cannot see anyone making much money out of a school with 13 or less students...

Who is counting?

Originally Posted by Wally Dorian Raffles

And no real reason for hiring Thais

If you want to organise a work permit you would have to employ 4 thais full time and pay their social security fund monthly payment, Minumum wage being what it is, that would be 36,000bt per month for the saleries and around 2,500 bt monthly for their social funds,

Originally Posted by Rocksteady

Originally Posted by Wally Dorian Raffles

And no real reason for hiring Thais

If you want to organise a work permit you would have to employ 4 thais full time and pay their social security fund monthly payment, Minumum wage being what it is, that would be 36,000bt per month for the saleries and around 2,500 bt monthly for their social funds,

How many of the countless, average, Farang have we known that teach out of their house without WP or inclination to delve into the politics of it all....

I've know some that have made quite a bundle teaching privately at home. And...without any legal reprimands.

Many just slip through the cracks. Right or wrong.