Teaching English overseas in Thailand
I honestly chose this program after some extensive research and feeling quite confident that this program was not a ‘scam’ and was about giving people the experience. It made out it would!
The program on the their website was clear and precise and has detailed information about the teaching program in Thailand. This putting at ease that their wouldn’t be any curve balls to come at me later on.
My program provider was Travelbud. They assisted me with any questions or queries I had and always had an answer for me. Always we assuring me that big or small all questions were important to them in order to help me with my progress for beginning this new chapter. Things being from visas, money exchange, transportation, what clothes to bring, etc., etc.
If you have nothing holding you back at home, I say go for it! Throwing yourself out there, doing something completely foreign to you in a new country, really pushes your comfort zones and you grow a lot from it. I have had a great time whilst teaching over here in Thailand and I highly recommended anyone thinking of teaching abroad to do it!
Whilst doing the program and getting my TESOL accreditation, a typical day would be 8 - 4pm in the classroom, studying and learning required teaching knowledge with practical practice I’m class. Once competent, we would have placement teaching days putting our theory and practice into work giving us first hand experience.
A typical day for me now whilst teaching consists of Monday-Friday 7:45am - 3pm
My biggest fear was committing to this program without knowing some information, worried that something would come up which would be really off putting and frustrating. However, as I mentioned earlier, this was overcome by Travelbuds proactive and friendly staff who would reassure me and help me with any questions or queries I might have. Once arriving in Thailand, I knew exactly what to expect from their insightful help.
Prepare to be patient...
The simplest of tasks can become quite challenging and even frustrating and you have to adapt to be patient with this. Things I have faced due to the language barrier are getting a haircut and asking for a trim and instead getting a buzz cut!! Having my laptop break and having a black screen, telling IT that it had a black screen and that it wouldn’t turn on. After two weeks, I chase them up only for them to tell me it has a black screen. I already knew this; what’s causing it and can it be fixed!?
The simplest of tasks can be difficult but you learn from these initial struggles and find ways to adapt to get your message across and it does get much easier.