Teaching English in Thailand

[Matty69]

I have about 5 years till I retire and moving to LOS or Philippines are my two choices. I will have a monthly pension I was wondering about teaching some english in my house just to pass the time. (This was started for SB who asked someone to start the thread)


Matty

[stogie bear]

Bugger... I knew someone would ask!

Well... there are a multitude of factors and here are some random thoughts...

If anyone is interested then fire away with the questions...

First of all you need a large house with a room just for teaching in. You won't be able to do a dignified nor appealing job from your dining room table. Thais won't accept this usually unless you are doing one on one with a child.

Who do you want to teach? 3 or 4 kids at one time? Someone who is studying for an English standard entrance test so they can go on to Australia and study for a masters? A bar girl who has a sponsor?

Where are you going to get your materials from? (I have loads so I can furnish any teacher with a CD of printable stuff for every and all levels from kids to corporate, most of it designed by myself over the years. In fact I have even designed weekly and daily seminars for corporations that include Power Point presentations etc.)

It has to be fun... Edutainment is the word!

Don't enter into lengthy and hour filled contracts... Sell your time in blocks of about 10 hours... (they can always re-new if they want to continue, right? And you may tire of them and not want to teach them any more!)

GET THE MONEY UP FRONT!

Always get the entire fee for the contract UP FRONT and don't EVER teach anyone on credit!

Thais like the idea of having a teacher that they can brag to their friends about, but they hate going to classes! So you will be stood up every day unless you already have their money.

Have a clear cancellation policy... Mine was 'If you don't give me two hours notice that you aren't coming then your fee is forfeit." And although you can be flexible on this do NOT allow yourself to be a pushover for free hours.

Never EVER meet them after class for a meal or a drink. Don't allow them to stay in your house after the lesson is over. If they are late (and they always will be) then do NOT over run your time  to make up for it. They pay for your time NOT for your hours spent teaching them. If they are late that's their fault not yours.

Don't teach people 'one on one' without your wife or girlfriend somewhere in the building. This especially applies to children and women under 40. If someone needs one on one tuition and you are alone in your house then take them to a MacDonalds and teach them there... Loads of space and tables, etc. and they are quiet in the afternoon.

Provide water to drink and have plenty of pens and paper.

Teach and test! The best way to teach is to teach an aspect of English then provide an exercise that has numerous examples of that principle. Always over run your classes by about 5 minuites (but NO MORE) and end with a game. They want to leave your house on a high.

The attention span of students will range from about 20 minutes to about 40, so try to keep your classes to an hour or less.

Ask them if they want to do homework. If they do then provide some and if they don't then don't.

Stick with the kind of students that you like... nothing will burn you out faster than teaching people who you don't get on with or simply teaching for the sake of it.

Advertise around town in schools and shop windows. It's surprising how quickly you will be found and asked about. Try to get police kids as students and offer them a big discount. I've done this and it has paid off big time.

Charge a reasonabe rate and GET YOUR MONEY UP FRONT for the entire course... (Did I mention that already?)

Don't teach more than about 6 hours a week and try to do about 3 or 4 on one day if possible. Spending every day from 6 till 7 at your house with a persistant but stupid pupil will quickly wear you out!

It's easy to make a little extra money from teaching English from your home but students are lazy, unreliable and hard to extract money from...

Don't take it too seriously and concentrate on helping them with their pronounciation. This is the bit that they are always crap at, but what they most want to improve. It's aso the easiest and most fun to teach!

[stogie bear]

[Matty69]

Damn SB you do know alot about this. Hope that you are still around when I plan on retiring. I owe you a drink for typing so much.

Thanks again

Matty

[moe666]

Afriend who teaches at an International School also teaches on the side. He does stuff like play monopoly, volley ball and so far it is working out.
He teaches to kids in the village where he and his wife live and has plenty of students. As SB says he collects money up front. One student paid 50,000 up front for 50 hours these are one on one classes.