Newbie Teacher to Thailand

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I have another friend coming out (from UK to Thailand) full time to teach English for the first time in a Uni (so 20 year olds& up).
Obviously, I have material to help get him started but I was wondering of there are any other teachers out there with suggestions where he can find lesson plans and other teaching aids from.

Thanks
D
 
It depends which university, and what that university wants. In the one I taught in, Chiangmai University, teachers were given full details of what had to be taught lesson by lesson. The only way one could change this was by writing complete courses (which I did); that could only be done if the powers that be agreed.
 
isanbirder said:
It depends which university, and what that university wants. In the one I taught in, Chiangmai University, teachers were given full details of what had to be taught lesson by lesson. The only way one could change this was by writing complete courses (which I did); that could only be done if the powers that be agreed.
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Unfortunately, he will be left to write his own complete courses after being given a one sentence course description. That is why, I am trying to help him.
 
SurinFarang said:
Unfortunately, he will be left to write his own complete courses after being given a one sentence course description. That is why, I am trying to help him.
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There are a whole bunch of free lesson plans online. Your friend was given a one sentence course description? I would have the Uni clarify before writing any plans. It sounds like they want him to write the curriculum which is a whole different ball of wax, so no sense putting the cart before the horse.:confused:
 
A newbie teacher should try to get into a classroom with an experienced teacher before he tries to go it alone. He will be eaten alive by his students if he has absolutely no experience.

Having to write lesson plans before starting is like the proverbial "how long is a piece of string"

How good are the students already?

The Uni don't seem to know what to do either.

I think he should turn up a week before he is due to start. Speak to some teachers. Look at previous test papers. Get a feel for the place. Try to find out what courses the students are taking, as there are a myriad of courses that contain English.

He will then have half a chance.
 
Presumably the guy has had some training, Stevo?

Most universities have to offer English courses but do not care what happens in them. The key would be the people who run the English department there.

I remember one teacher at Rajabhat Chiangmai who went into the classroom, said "Here's the textbook. the exams on such-and-such a date", and that's the last the students saw of him!
 
isanbirder said:
Presumably the guy has had some training, Stevo?

Most universities have to offer English courses but do not care what happens in them. The key would be the people who run the English department there.

I remember one teacher at Rajabhat Chiangmai who went into the classroom, said "Here's the textbook. the exams on such-and-such a date", and that's the last the students saw of him!
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I agree with you IB about the Unis not really caring. You can see it in the level of English of the average English language "graduate".

I assumed from the OP that the guy coming over was a "newbie" in all teaching respects.
 
stevo said:
I agree with you IB about the Unis not really caring. You can see it in the level of English of the average English language "graduate".

I assumed from the OP that the guy coming over was a "newbie" in all teaching respects.
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Yes, you are basically right Stevo. He has studied TEFL and worked for a short while in Prague, has an English lit degree but teaching in Thailand is new to him. I was just asking for any good links to sites that might help him start up.

Expats helping expats! that sounds like a good mission statement! 5555
 
stevo said:
You can see it in the level of English of the average English language "graduate".
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Again fully agree.
You can lead a horse to water but.....

I read an article a short while ago from some bigwig or other saying that with the advent of the AEC English teaching will have to be improved - at the university level.

imo that is far too late. In many cases they arrive at universities with poor skills.
 
SurinFarang said:
Yes, you are basically right Stevo. He has studied TEFL and worked for a short while in Prague, has an English lit degree but teaching in Thailand is new to him. I was just asking for any good links to sites that might help him start up.

Expats helping expats! that sounds like a good mission statement! 5555
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So I think my first post is not too wide of the mark. He cannot create lesson plans until he knows the courses and the levels of the students.

Get him to go in a week early, even if unpaid, to get a feel for things.

If he walks in and the students know nothing then they will need general converstaion classes before they go on to specialised lessons.

If that is the case then the first few classes will be as simple as introductions, talkng about where they live, study or go out, etc.

I have been teaching here for over 15 years now, and I still pick new things up.
 
stevo said:
So I think my first post is not too wide of the mark. He cannot create lesson plans until he knows the courses and the levels of the students.

Get him to go in a week early, even if unpaid, to get a feel for things.

If he walks in and the students know nothing then they will need general converstaion classes before they go on to specialised lessons.

If that is the case then the first few classes will be as simple as introductions, talkng about where they live, study or go out, etc.

I have been teaching here for over 15 years now, and I still pick new things up.
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I think what you say is spot on,Steve and I do know you have years of experience here at teaching. Unfortunetly, because of a hiccup in needing to get a new passport before returning, he will actually start a week or 2 LATE! so your good idea of sitting in will be very difficult(maybe impossible) to do, unfortunetly.

What you suggested in the 4th para is exactly what I was thinking too and he will have to hit the ground running and catch up between this type of lesson that you mention. There will be a few of us at hand to guide him (hopefully) and that is the reason for this thread asking for suggested internet sites etc.

thankyou5
 
Something which should be stressed, GET THEM TALKING!

When I taught U students, their knowledge of the language was often quite extensive, but they were afraid to use it.
 
isanbirder said:
Something which should be stressed, GET THEM TALKING!

When I taught U students, their knowledge of the language was often quite extensive, but they were afraid to use it.
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That's my specialist subject...... TALKING! 5555 :biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:
 
isanbirder said:
Not you talking.... THEM talking! Teacher talk was one of the no-nos when I was trained.
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Very much agree. When I first met my wife her English needed improvement. She went to an English school to learn. All the other students were Thai.

When I visited the school I was anxious to help them by talking English to them. Never happened! Every single one of them was too shy to speak, and nothing I could think of would help them to overcome the fear of making a mistake.

If you can get the Thai students to speak English to you, then you will start to win. Until you can do this, they will be afraid, shy and unwilling to "lose face" by making mistakes.

Just my experience.

mario299
 
mario299 said:
Very much agree. When I first met my wife her English needed improvement. She went to an English school to learn. All the other students were Thai.

When I visited the school I was anxious to help them by talking English to them. Never happened! Every single one of them was too shy to speak, and nothing I could think of would help them to overcome the fear of making a mistake.

If you can get the Thai students to speak English to you, then you will start to win. Until you can do this, they will be afraid, shy and unwilling to "lose face" by making mistakes.

Just my experience.

mario299
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I agree and when I joked about it being my specialist subject, dealing with the situation described above is what I mean.

It is hard to overcome the shyness and a lot of patience and perseverance are needed but I think (hope) I do OK.
 
SurinFarang said:
I agree and when I joked about it being my specialist subject, dealing with the situation described above is what I mean.

It is hard to overcome the shyness and a lot of patience and perseverance are needed but I think (hope) I do OK.
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I succeeded in getting a one-to-one interview into the end-of-term exam; it lasted two terms, I think, then the majority Thai teachers killed it because they found it too hard to mark.
 
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