Hi everyone!
My friend has decided to come to Thailand to teach English for a year, hopefully to earn money to pay back some of his student's loan. I've been looking up information online, and from what I've learned, it doesn't seem too difficult. However, as this will be his first time in Asia, any comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
He's American, 28, with a BA in Philosophy and an MA in Philosophy and Psychoanalysis. No prior teaching experience, but with some experience in proofreading/editing.
1) He is planning to do a 2-week TESOL course with ECC. The 4-week courses are out of the question, as he can't afford them at the moment. Will this be enough? Or will it be completely useless?
2) What are the chances of making 50k per month working 25-30 hours a week? He doesn't mind evenings and weekends. (Is this even remotely possible?)
3) He will try to keep his spending under 20,000 baht per month. He doesn't smoke or drink, and doesn't need a lot of entertainment (he'll be fine even without a tv, and of course he can always borrow books and DVDs from me!). So is this a reasonable budget?
4) The main aim is to save some money to repay his loan. So while I'm Thai and can help him with a lot of things here, perhaps Thailand is not the best country to do this in? I've heard that Korea and Japan are the places to go for money, but that means he'll be there all by himself. And I've heard that Thailand is a much nicer place to live in...
I'd really love to hear your opinions on this. Because it's my country he's going to live in, I sort of feel the responsibility to make sure he'll be ok. I'm more stressed out than he is right now, so any suggestions will be really helpful!
Lots of thanks in advance!
I do not think anyone should move here with debt. I also have been doing a lot of research and 50K/month is not going to happen as a new teacher. He would be better off working in the US and save a few grand if he wants to make the move. I am getting ready to move over and that is what I did. Paid off all my debt and saved enough for a 4 week TEFL course and enough to live on for several months. If he is interested in South Korea, there is a good thread right now on a guy working there and saving $1000/month.
http://www.ajarnforum.net/vb/living-...ent-korea.html
I agree that Thailand would be a much better place to live then South Korea.
That would do. Most places that want TEFL just ask if you have it and not what type of course it was or how long it was or any of that.Originally Posted by CHK
The chances? Zero. You could make that full-time but you'd be working 40+ hours a week at least.
Not really. It'd be pretty much impossible to get by on this. 30 is about the bare minimum to live on imo.
If his aim is to save money, Thailand ain't the place to do it. Go elsewhere. Thailand is nice for a while, a year or two maybe, then it will piss you off. Better than South Korea from what I've heard though (and the middle east for that matter.)
Good luck.
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This is not true.
I would like to know why you wrote the letter for your friend?
Too long in Exile, too long not singing my song.
Too long like a rolling stone, Too long in exile
Too long in Exile, baby you just arent my friend.
Too long in Exile my friend, Baby you can never go home again.
(not to rain on his parade, or your's either)
but
let's see
teach 30 hours a week (too much)
live on 20 k (dubious in its doability)
with debt
this is NOT the formula for a soulful and satisfying life (in BKK) even for a philosophy major
(life even)
Last edited by been there done that; 13th July 2009 at 11:53.
Once is great.
Twice is too much.
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Ok I'll TRY to be helpful here. If he wants to be a teacher, he can have a great career back in the states. Get certified as a teacher in his state and, since he has an MA in Philosophy, teach Humanities or Philosophy, he could even get into a community college or a University, who knows. That wouldn't even require him to get certified, I think (not sure).
Funny how we get these accounts with 1 post, we never see them again and it always starts with "My friend..."
Your "friend" can always come visit during Holidays and enjoy Thailand WITH money.
Last edited by ajarnfalang; 13th July 2009 at 13:27.
just the wrong place to grind it out. grind it out someplace else where you can actually save more than you make
poor 'ol him!
really though...if he has a hard time on his own, leaving his safety net of home is probably a bad idea.
i had a colleague who paid off loans here slowly. but it was real tough on her, and she was a right dedicated person, hard as rocks.
for little softy here...seems like a non-starter.
If you really want to be in Thailand than just do it.
I love the train wreck gif btw....
nice touch ajarnfarlang
Last edited by Sciacca; 13th July 2009 at 11:52. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
"It's better to burn out than to fade away."
-Neil Young
what they said to dave carradine as he got on the BKK bound plane ?if you really want to be in Thailand than just do it.
Well as long as the OP isn't into auto-erotic asphyxiation he should be OK!
(i was going to post a GIF of a person hanging himself with rope around his genitals but I could not find it)
Agree. Total waste of space. Let the friend sign up. Otherwise, stuff him.....
CHK,
Tell your friend to review the chapter on Consequentialism and Utilitarianism. That should give him an idea.
All that philosophy and he is pondering that idea.
Last edited by ajarnfalang; 13th July 2009 at 13:37.
Thanks for the input, everyone. I'm going to tell my friend to forget Thailand. Had no idea working here would be so hard... @_@
The thing is, one of his friends is saving 10,000 USD per year in Taiwan right now. So maybe I'll tell him to look into that instead. (Must be better than South Korea, right? :P)
Thanks ajarnfalang for the advice. I guess he's so set in getting out there so much he hasn't given the possibility of teaching at home a thought.
What a pity, though... I was totally hyping up Thailand. Heh.
Can be done if ya want to put your nose to the grindstone for a year. But the problem is in reality thats peanuts for the amount of work being done.
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