Teaching English in Thailand: Niall’s Story
TEFL course Ireland grad Niall Gavigan on why he did a TEFL course, how he found it and the joys of teaching English in Thailand.
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Why I chose TEFL
I was fast approaching my thirty-fifth birthday as an out of work solicitor, wondering what I was going to do with the rest of my life. A friend in Galway had suggested ‘the TEFL idea’ and I scoffed it off at once and returned home to apply for jobs in law that I really had no interest in and suspected would make me miserable.
We were at the start of ‘Irish Spring,’ which meant a few days of sun burn, rain for six months and some arctic conditions thrown in for good measure.
One afternoon I started googling TEFL.
How I became a TEFL teacher
I found TEFL Courses Ireland and called them up. I spoke with Tom who really knew his stuff and told me how many hours of study would be expected of me by foreign employers for jobs abroad. He also patiently answered the rest of my questions. After that I gave it a bit more thought and it just seemed like the right thing to do.
I applied for the 120-hour course, which also included a 20-hour intensive weekend module in Dublin. That was pretty much how it started. I was emailed a username and password and started almost straight away.
Where I went and what I did
Once I started the course I started looking at the various TEFL employment sites and uploaded my CV. You will need to re-do your CV and include a recent photo. TEFL Courses Ireland had some good advice on this aspect of the industry too. I did some Skype interviews for positions in Korea, Japan and Thailand. Then an agency in London contacted me and offered me a position in Thailand. I liked what I heard and that was it. The agency took care of everything. All the paperwork was done quickly and efficiently. A start date was set and all I had to do now was finish my TEFL course. This involved a few late nights and this was another benefit of the course being taught online. I was able to do it quickly when I needed to. I got my visa, my shots, packed my bags and I was off.
I’m currently working in Bangkok and the standard varies greatly from school to school and from teacher to teacher. In one word, it’s great. The Thai people are amazing. They’re polite and friendly. The weather is hot and sunny all the time. The rains come and then stop. It’s not the constant drizzle we get in Ireland. The work is challenging but it’s fun. There are so many opportunities available here. Native English speakers are in high demand in Thailand. You can really teach anything from kindergarten to one-on-one business classes to Japanese businessmen and from anywhere from Bangkok to a remote island. I have a friend who teaches English to Thai hotel staff in Bangkok and I have other friends who teach five year old kids along the River Kwai.
I think when most foreign teachers come to Thailand they want to live in Bangkok yet most of the people who arrived at the same time as I were placed outside Bangkok. Many of them were disappointed with this at first but now we’re a month into teaching and I haven’t heard of one person wanting to relocate.
Reflection and future plans
Having been the perfect English student at school, and having years of legal letter and report writing behind me, I thought that meant that I was going to sail through this course. The reality was a bit different. Here are some tips that I would recommend when it comes to the whole experience.
Don’t take an online TEFL course thinking it’s going to be easier than a fully taught one. You are tested after each lesson, and there are assignments to be submitted too. There is great support from your assigned tutor with online feedback, emails and the Dublin helpline. I’ve been on to the office a few times about different questions since I arrived in Thailand, so you’re not going to be on your own.
If you want the flexibility to work at your own schedule and pace, think you might enjoy teaching, and enjoy exploring other cultures, experiences and seeing the world, give it a go! Approach it with an open mind though. There is going to be stuff on the course you know already. Everyone has some of the skills that are required to be a teacher. Parents have already learnt how to encourage, yet discipline, youngsters. Graduates know all about what works and what doesn’t in a classroom situation to get a point across. Everyone has some experience in people-management skills and the likes. But there is going to be a lot of stuff you don’t know too and be prepared to go over this stuff a few times until you do. Some of the stuff will come back to you from school, but some of the stuff just needs to be practiced again.
I plan to spend a few years in Thailand and then move on to somewhere else in Asia. I also want to see South America and possibly Russia. Thailand is part of ASEAN (2015) which is similar to the EU for some Asian countries. This is going to open up even more opportunities around Asia for English language teachers.
If you’ve any queries about working in Thailand, explore more on The TEFL Org website.
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