Things to know if you want to teach English in Thailand

Now that you’ve decided to teach English in Thailand we assumed that you have already done your research. If you are a foreigner living abroad then we highly recommend you read up on the Thai culture, lifestyle, and other important information on transportation, hospital, and the Immigration law. In this article we will name a few things you should know before coming to Thailand so there won’t be any unpleasant surprises. We will focus on Bangkok since that’s the capital city with hundreds of schools always in need of an English language teacher.

1.) Traffic Jam—Twenty years ago this was a problem. Twenty years later it is still a problem. People try to find ways to overcome this issue by building a sky train, underground train, express boat—unfortunately they did not solve the problem. It’s not unusual to fall asleep while you’re riding and twenty minutes later you wake up to see that the traffic only moved a few meters. If you already know the name of the school that you will be teaching, then it’s a good idea to study the route and if possible, google up the housing of that area. Nowadays you can search almost anything on the Internet.

2.) Food—they’re sold almost everywhere. So don’t worry about not having anything to eat. Even at midnight you can still find places to buy food. Although street foods in Thailand are delicious, they’re not always healthy. Don’t eat them every single day. Some people might say that they’ve been eating local street food for years and their health is fine. Uh, yes but they might be one of the few exceptions.

3.) Thai people—remember that you are in Thailand. Certain behaviors which are normal in your country may not be acceptable here and vice versa. If you want to teach English in Thailand you need to understand Thai people. Some Thai people are shy and especially when they have communicate in a language which they are not familiar i.e. English, they might pretend not to know the language at all when in fact they can speak it a little. As a teacher you have to motivate your students. Try to encourage them to see why English is fun. Make use of the media such as movies, music, and pictures.

4.) Not every Thai person will know how to speak English so please try to learn some Thai before you come. There are many free online resources you can use. Of course you can take a Thai course when you arrive in the country but it’ll be very helpful to study beforehand.

#Englishlanguageteacher #teachEnglishinThailand #EnglishcourseThailand