This is a brief overview of my experiences while volunteering. During my time here I have been lucky enough to form a new friendship group of truly unique and wonderful people, who have challenged, irritated and overwhelmed me.
Over the month of October (school holidays) we taught as a group, in hotels, health centers and even a group of Buddhist monks. Teaching and lesson planning as a group was difficult as I felt overly self-contuse about making small and (looking back on it) irrelevant mistakes. Lesson planning was hard going, but really necessary. However, laughing with a class of monks, who had the energy and humor very similar to that found in any group of boys, hearing the quietest member of staff at a hotel greeting me confidently in English, more than made up for lesson planning blues.

The students where ever we were teaching were a little shy at first but it was clear that they were eager to learn.
In November we moved back to Net and Anders home town of Thai Mueang, this took a bit of getting used to their were five of us living in one small house and the usual issues with who was going to do the washing up and who purchased toilet roll last, but all in all it was really good fun. Lots of nights in playing cards, star gazing and putting the world to rights. The food also got a lot better and a lot cheaper thanks to Sue-jin at Bam Bam’s restaurant, Georges Pizza at the beach and Towy’s cooking at Lucky restaurant!

With the start of a new term all the volunteers got a school each to go and teach English in grades 1-6. I have been teaching at Wat Patchatikaram School, I don’t think I can accurately describe my school, its pupils, teachers and charmingly eccentric headmaster. You just have to meet them to and you would understand what I mean.

However here are some tips for volunteers!

• Make the most of your free time, you will only teach on average 3/4 hours a day, go cycling exploring the national park etc!
• Plan a few weekend trips away, Anders and Net can always give lots of advice but its best to do a little reading before you leave.
• Bring smart (cotton) clothes and for teaching at a yellow, green, pink, purple and blue polo top or shirt, I wish I’d known this but Thai teachers wear a different colour for each school day, it’s such a small gesture but would be much appreciated.
• There will be children with learning and behavioral difficulties in your classes partially in the younger years, I know it sounds like something that shouldn’t need saying, but don’t just write them off or ignore them. A little love and interaction goes along way for these children in particular.
• At Patchatikaram have lunch with the Headmaster, he doesn’t speak a lot of English but he will give you very entertaining Thai lessons, he will make you laugh a lot! (I avoid the school canteen it made me sick the first day). Then go and get some dancing or tackro lessons of your Grade 5-6 who are keen to practice their English and teach you Thai!
• No lesson plan is full proof! Always have a work search or a crossword to whip out if case of emergency (did I mention the canteen food!).

This sort of volunteering is a big commitment; it has been frustrating and tiring at times. The teaching has been challenging work, but for me the real challenge was to slow down, and coming to terms with how much time you have time to think here. Not working 12 hour days and not really being very useful, or independent as Net and Anders are so good at organising and sorting things, it really unnerved me. This little bit of Thailand will find even your most deeply hidden faults and floors, but love you anyway.

I have just finished my first year at Uni, and I wanted to push my limits and figured volunteering would be a good bet. Thailand is one of the best places to do volunteering. The people, the culture, the atmosphere and so much more make this experience like nothing you will get at home. I remember first arriving here and meeting Anders, Net and the other volunteers. Instant friendship. Without each and everyone of them I am sure Thailand wouldn’t have been the same.

I had no idea how teaching was going to go. I mean it all sounded pretty straight forward, all you need to do is follow procedure. Screw procedure, I thought, I can do things my way, I don’t need to lesson plan. I will improvise. If I was ever wrong, well, that was the moment. Lesson planning is like the Holy Grail of teaching English as a second language. Make sure to go into the lessons over prepared. Better to be safe than sorry. But once you are in the lessons, you just feed off the kids energy, it’s like your adrenaline is pumping 3 hours straight, every day. There would always be laughter, and the concentration some of them had was just remarkable. Also make sure to cover your ears when you say the word ‘Game’. The kids just go nuts. Best way to end a lesson.

As a volunteer I not only taught English at a public school, but I also experienced Thailand from a non-tourist perspective. Which in my books equals towards: Priceless. Net, the other volunteers and I went to Khao Lak (semi-touristy, but not anywhere close to Patong), to a Waterfall, to shopping malls and almost everyday we went to the beach. Bliss. There is a 13km beach here, just for our pleasure. Not another soul is on the beach. Sweet as. The weekends were filled with fun stuff, and meeting just cool people. The friends that I have made here, will go down in history with me.

The memories are also priceless. I mean how many people can say that they have eaten chicken feet and crocodile, been stung by a scorpion, driving a motorbike everyday and been given fresh coconuts almost every day.

Unfortunately all good things come to an end. And my one month (Not nearly enough, next time I am going for 3 months, for sure) volunteering came to a quick end. Saying goodbye to the kids went alright up until the point where the wanted to hug me and kiss me on the cheek. Crying my eyes out is an understatement, I literally balled my eyes out. And what happens when 25 kids see a ‘farang” (foreigner) cry, well, they all cry, which made it even worse. Cheers. Off I go back to the ‘land of the long white cloud’ aka New Zealand. But as Arnold Schwarzenegger says “I’ll be back!”

Thank you Net, Anders, Rose, Lisa, Tom, Chris, Matt, the lovely people at Bam-Bam’s Restaurant (where we had Dinner almost every night) and the crazy cool people in Khao Lak. This ride has been AWESOME! Cant wait to catch you again soon.
Also future volunteers, a tip: You will have an amazing time here in Thai Mueang. No matter where you come from, how old you are or what your profession is you will love it! I promise!

Smile!

Photography Lesson with Michele and the students

Phratom 3 and Michele volunteer English teacherVolunteers in Thailand swimming in the waterfallMichele having fun with RoseAt Tonprai Waterfall in Phang Nga Province

Just before I left the UK I felt so stressed. Scared about my whole trip I set off anyway and spent two anxious days getting to Phuket. When I arrived and saw Nett standing there with a sign in purple bubble writing with my name on, all my fear instantly dissolved and I’ve been relaxed ever since. Nett is absolutely fantastic and can sort anything out for you within minutes. She has taken us to two weddings, a funeral, shopping at Central (where we managed to find tea bags!!), to local festivals and always knows the best places to eat and what to order. If anything I think I may have been too well looked after because now I don’t want to leave!

Basically, I came out here because I am thinking about becoming a teacher in the UK when I head home. I wanted to test myself and see whether this was something I enjoyed and was capable of. Now that I’m leaving I am seriously considering doing a TEFL course instead and coming back to Thailand. I have found so much satisfaction when a lesson goes well. You just pray that the next day some of it will have gone in!

I arrived before the schools were open in October so spent a few weeks teaching adults from Health Centres, Hotels and some Monks at a local Temple. One of my favourite memories is when I learnt that, as a woman, you can’t pass anything to or accept anything from a Monk…unless they are throwing an inflatable world globe beach ball at you! In this scenario it’s best to catch it rather than dive the other way for fear of accidentally offending Big Monk. During this time there were five of us and we were team teaching. I think all of us found this a massive challenge and were all eager for the school holidays to finish so we could have classes of our own.

Anders has given us a lot of advice and been a bloody lifesaver with lesson plans at times but most importantly made me understand the importance of creating your own lessons. Personality is the most important thing to put across. You will have fun, the kids will have fun and if they enjoy it they’re more likely to learn.

I think I have found lesson planning the most difficult thing. It gets easier to think of things to do but I never seem to be able to find a good balance. I either plan way too much and nothing gets done, or to counteract this, plan hardly anything and then get stuck on what to do. There is nothing worse than have 40 pairs of eyes on you waiting for the next task when you’re trying to make it up on the spot!

I have been shocked by things I’ve now seen and heard about the education that Thai children get. Even though Anders had told me already I was still shocked the first time I walked into a classroom to find the class being taught by a television screen. Not even being supervised by a teacher! It’s been lovely as most of the kids are keen to learn and keen to please. Thai people are so friendly, you literally can’t walk down the road without people stopping to offer you a lift.

It has also been a massive challenge learning to share a house with four people and only one bathroom! It has been incredible how quickly you form attachments with people though. Being in this environment has meant I was a lot more open a lot more quickly.

One of my favourite days was our Barbeque down at Georges Pizza place. Weirdly, we had 5 people’s birthdays within 4 days so we had a big party with amazing steaks and copious amounts of vodka. Anders has taken some shockingly bad videos from that day which I’m not too happy about but all in all it was a great day with the group.

I have learnt so much about teaching and a lot more about myself. Before now I had no idea I would be able to cope when faced with 40 1st graders, all desperately trying to make me understand them and some practicing their fighting techniques on each other. I will definitely take a lot away from this entire experience. I would recommend Thai Mueang Volunteers to anyone. It’s a totally worthwhile experience but just make sure you are prepared for some hard work and some fun times!

Cheers now,
Cara xx

I had my first lesson with my Mathayom 3/1, Tuesday, at Thungpho Wittaya Secondary School, we know each other from last term and they are a good class with 37 students. They are still beginners meaning that they can answer very basic questions such as; “why are you late?”, “where is Somchai?”, “who is your best friend?”…

I always get a name list for each class I teach and it is always written in Thai, so the first activity with every class on the first day is to have the students write their nickname, first name, and surname in English as I need to keep track of them for a monthly test and their final grades.

After the name writing we did some revision on the blackboard from last term starting with subject pronouns, going through verb to be, basic adjectives, and tied it all up with Q&A in 1st, 2nd, 3rd person singular – present simple tense. After most students had searched through their notebooks from last term they got the Q&A activity going, boy ask girl and girl ask the next boy etc… a good lesson with many good questions and answers between the students and everyone had a good time.

Mathayom 3 is the last compulsory school year for Thai students and there are about as many boys as girls in the classes. When the class reaches Mathayom 6 which is the last year at secondary school, the amount of boys is reduced to less than 20% in the class.

Are you an English teacher in Thailand or anywhere else for that matter you are welcome to tell us about your experiences as an English teacher, please leave a comment.

Have a great day.
Anders from the office.

The following video is from my Mathayom 3 class last year.

First Impression
Turning up the first day at Ban Huaisai Primary School to be introduced to teachers, parents, all the students are lined up, standing in the sun. The principal is talking to the students through a microphone, connected to a loudspeaker system; with speakers strategically placed all over the school to make sure that everyone at school and the surrounding neighborhood can hear what the principal has to say to the kids. Parents have arrived to take a look at the “volunteer English teacher” “Nong told me that she is a farang from England…” “dunno where she’s from, I just came to see her complexion…” All 62 students, acting routinely to what the principal is saying, are all staring at you… with a kind smile the principal turns to you… and hands you the microphone, time for you to say something to everyone.

Yes, the first couple of minutes as a volunteer English teacher can to some be an overwhelming new experience, thinking of the thought process here; from the first time you saw our website, to now actually be standing here in a small village in Southeast Asia! Some volunteers: “What am I gonna say!?” and other volunteers, if not all: “Wow, it is hot here!” It’s time to realize that all the “order” and systems that we are used to in the western hemisphere… well, this is the eastern hemisphere, and what might seem logical at home has a totally different meaning here. Thailand and the Thai people are so very inviting for everyone to have a great experience and for that to happen one just need to try to understand just a bit of the unique Thai culture and how things are done in a polite Thai manner. Being kind hearted and open minded are also two qualities a volunteer English teacher should have. Shortly after arrival we have a talk about do’s and don’ts, teaching at a Thai school, Thai manners, lesson planning, and getting on with it.

Ideas
Creative ideas must come from the volunteer, your imagination is your limit, let it be your frontier to explore and come up with ways to convey the English language to the children. Many years of textbook teaching has produced very limited results in the student’s reading and writing skills, and even less in their conversational abilities. Aim for lessons getting the students out of their chairs and using the English language, literally. If the first week goes by with always having a positive attitude where students seemingly hardly make any mistakes and you are not the “correcting” teacher, you can go into the second week of teaching knowing some of the strengths and weaknesses of the classes and some students, prepared with lessons made by you, knowing it’s going to be fun. You will quickly find out who the eager students are and use them to your advantage in your teaching as they are not shy to speak. By advantage I mean that you could ask these students questions and even if they gave you a wrong answer you could feed them the correct and they will show their peers that speaking English is “eeeasy”.

Getting close to the students and try to understand their level of understanding is essential for an English teacher in Thailand. Some students will come to you even before you have taught your first lesson, they might just want to touch your skin and they won’t say a word, others after a couple of days, and few will never be anywhere near you throughout your entire volunteer teaching period. Use your skills and talents, you know which ones you have, and I know that you have various.

Ban Huaisai Primary School
About 250 people live in Ban Huaisai Village and that has been sufficient for the government to open a primary school. The people are mainly rubber-tree and palm-oil farmers, just are most other villages in District of Thai Mueang. With 62 students the school is entitled to 3 teachers and a principal, provided by the Thai Ministry of Education. The Thai teachers must be able to teach at least three subjects and are often teaching grades 1-3 in one classroom and grades 4-6 in another. “Teeacha… Teeacha!” adapt, learn and have a wonderful time.

Smiles
Anders

Tia will be here in the morning to take me away. Can’t believe my month here is up already; feels like I was just starting to almost get the hang of things: I figured out how to navigate the market and buy food (and even got what I wanted); I had some successful days in class; plus I finally managed to get my bearings around town– which is quite a feat for me, as I’m one of those people who couldn’t find her way out of a paper bag on occasion. And just like that, it’s time to say goodbye.

Some of my favorite memories of my time here will be the simplest ones: Walking along a deserted beach and finding an enormous seashell. The neighbor’s puppy sticking her head in the doorway and shrieking for attention every morning. Shopping with Net, and laughing over dinner with her and Anders. Riding around on the back of scooters with strangers. The teachers who welcomed me into their classes and were always friendly.

Of course, the ones that left the greatest impression are the kids, the kids, the kids. There was the boy who leapt up and danced in his seat whenever I looked his way. The one who brought me his toy gecko as a gift. The ones who kept poking my bright pink sunburnt skin to see if it was real. There were moments when their faces would light up with recognition when they “got” it, and confused smiles when they didn’t. Getting mobbed every day with hugs and shouts of, “Teacher, I love you!” Some of them live in pretty dire circumstances, but they still laugh and love as easily as their classmates.

It seems over the top to say that such a short time has radically changed my life, but perhaps it is my perception of my life that has changed most. My small house in the States seems extravagant compared to what I’ve seen here. The pressure to consume more and more has been gone these last few weeks, and I hadn’t even been aware of what a burden that can be until I was away from it. Who cares what the Joneses have? I’m happy that my needs are met… but, I am Soooooo looking forward to a very long soak in a bathtub with no creepy crawlies for company.

I am thankful to have had the opportunity to live in this community instead of just wandering around taking pictures. It has made a world of difference to me to be able to participate, not just observe. I’m already making plans to come back.

Jenn

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