Hi,
I am looking to move to Thailand next year, I currently work as a computer network engineer but would like to back my search for work in Thailand up with some English teaching qualifications to give me more options.
I have a Ba in IT, I was wondering from peoples experiences what advice they might have with choosing CELTA, TEFL or TESOL?
I only have my GCSE has English related qualification and thats from 13 years ago, would there be any value given in taking an English Language A level before I make the move?
Also I speak some Thai and can read very well and write a little, does it give an advantage at all when looking for work?
Also just if anybody might know, do IT jobs exist for farangs outside Bangkok?
Any feedback much appreciated. Happy New Year to everybody
a celta is a tefl certificate...one of the highly-regarded ones, worth doing.Originally Posted by dangbry
i don't think so, no...
not really...might though, but then it also might be a disadvantage too...funny country!
teaching i.t.? yes.
"so please show no pity as we come up from the ground, and please remember as you kill us and cut us down that time will not wash clean the bloody face of history, and someone will breathe here again and they will hate you for what you leave." m.g.
Hi,
Thanks for the reply, do you know whether the CELTA courses in Thailand would be as good or better to take when compared with one in England.
I have checked the price and the ones in Thailand seem to be slightly cheaper.
Could you recommend anywhere?
Also for the A-Level I was wondering whether I would benefit not from the qualification but from familiarising myself with grammer etc. that I might have forgotten since my GCSE days in the stone age.
Thanks for your advice, really appreciate it.
in theory they're exactly the same. they're run more or less the same wherever they're taken.
probably would be the case yeah...think the choice is really on where you wanna do it, uk or thailand. personally i was glad i got it done at home rather than in thailand, i think the stress and shock of being a newbie and doing the course would've been a lot to handle...
think the celta at ecc bangkok (CELTA, TESOL TEFL, TESL and CELTYL Certification & Certificate Courses for EFL ESL Teachers. Teach English abroad or overseas at ECC (Thailand) ASIA. Survivor Education Thailand) does good business. think matthew did his there so maybe have a word with him.
maybe...but in my experience, a lot of teachers come to the job with a very distant memory of grammar (myself included) but it's not brain surgery and you can easily read up on it as you go along. i think taking a year to do an a-level in english would be a lot of unnecessary graft.
more than welcome! a lot more knowledgeable folks on here than me so you might get some more good info when they login...
Didn't I just answer these questions on a different thread?
Do search, OP.
BA in IT from an English Speaking Country and a Native Speaker. No problem getting a Job here in Thailand. Anyone telling you any different is just promoting their teacher training academy. If you want to pick up a qualification from you home county prior great. It won't be necessary here. If you have never taught before, you might want to do a short course 2-6 weeks. Cheapest is a Two week course from ECC for about 200 pounds. You could just take an Intro to teaching course where ever you are now.
Maybe volunteer to Teach ESL to immigrants in you home country.
Any home country qualification will be better that what is available here. In my opinion.
'A' Level English. I have it and thoroughly enjoy my lessons with Prathom 3 discussing the Miltonic style of Keats' 'Hyperion'. Little buggers try to derail me with their Jane Austen workbooks ("Let's Go, Mr D'arcy!" Available at DK Bookshops in Bangkok) but I can usually (but not always) save the lesson by playing Chaucer Bingo or Tic Tac Tennyson.
Definitely.
Or - go to Ban Phe and have 4 weeks on the piss with some grammar thrown in. (LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This in no way should be seen as an endorsement or recommendation of any goods or services offered by TEFL International nor any of its subsidiary or related companies. Deary me, no, vicar.)
Come on in - the water's lovely. xx
"Take this, brother; may it serve you well."
You've got a very slim chance unless you work in a senior capacity in a well known company in the UK. Most IT jobs are always done by the Thais themselves (even though the majority of them are not as well trained as those back home) but it is possible (difficult but not impossible) to find IT work in Bangkok especially if you can get into a MNC who are looking for someone to run the operations here and they don't trust what's available locally. I was a network engineer/IT manager back in the UK and I have seen the odd job advertised looking for an expat with an ok (local) salary. Fresh out of uni IT grads start on about 12-18,000 Baht, with a few years experience they can get around 25,000-35,000 per month and an IT manager will be on from 80,000 - 120,000 depending on company size and responsibilities. Most Thai staff are not MCSE/CCIE etc qualified so if you have those they are always nice to put you in a position of knowledge that you can easily show.Also just if anybody might know, do IT jobs exist for farangs outside Bangkok?
There are no jobs outside Bangkok because most MNCs are based in Bangkok unless you can luck out with an NGO or the UN/UNESCO etc.
Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris? Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.
Don't know what a MNC is but if it's a computer company, then I know one that employs farang in Chiang Mai. Try Aware Corporation. Google to get contact info.
^ Can this be a sticky?
MNC = Multi National Company
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