Talk Elections

Yes!  I have recommended before to BushOK - who I believe does hold a valid undergraduate degree (can anyone confirm?) - that he come to Thailand and teach English.  It is true that teaching English is a tiresome and unpleasant existance, but no worse than anything available in the USA.  He would have a variety of side benefits - his weight wouldn't matter, nor would he be nearly so... alone.

Anyone who has a valid undergraduate diploma from US, UK, etc, can make 1,000-2,000 USD here per month.  If Bushie would go back to school and become a 'qualified' or 'licensed' teacher in Oklahoma (I think this would only take one year), he could make about $3,000-4,000/month in international schools in Bangkok.

Such opportunities do of course exist in other Asian countries, but Thailand is clearly the best - both in lifestyle and in income-to-cost-of-living ratio.

Often meant to ask this: how does one teach English without knowing the language the students speak as their native tongue?  I mean, you've clearly picked up a little Thai, but BushOK rolls off the plane in Bangkok and how does he communicate with his pupils?

Seriously??? Whoa...

As for Mikado's question, I'm pretty sure they just speak English at the children until they pick it up naturally.

Actually many schools that are serious about English learning prefer native-speakers who do not speak the local language - throughout Asia.  This way every native-speaker class automatically acts as a kind of intesive immersion.  

Anyway, in Thailand as in most other Asian countries, most students, and in particular the middle class (and up) students who have access to lots of native-speaker teachers, will have had extensive background in English grammar, reading, writing, and rudimentary speaking and listening from Thai teachers.  Usually these teachers are fairly poor, but the students do come into a native speaker class with some basic background, unless you're at some very poor, isolated, upcountry school.

Yes in all seriousness, and this in a country where you can rent an apartment for $100/month upcountry and $200/month in Bangkok, and fine meals are $2 and $3 in those respective locations.  

The key to those high-end jobs is being a 'licensed teacher' in the public school system in US, UK, Canada, etc.  The $1000/month jobs in upcountry highschools generally go begging or are filled by middle aged to elderly drunken (semi)sex-tourists.  Even young, attractive and capable recent graduates who are not fully qualified teachers tend to get the better jobs at intermediate level schools around Bkk - say $1,500-1,800/month.

opebo, you're a...not a 'good' man, but I do think it says at least something for you that you've better ideas for Bushie than he has for himself.

Actually, no, that says more about Bushie. Carry on.

Actually the prodominant idea of 'good' to which you refer has only a tangential bearing on being able to make good decisions or give good advice.  I'm sure my weak point as an adviser is my overriding pessimism rather than my depravity.

I approve of this thread. Bushie should go to Thailand.

Nice invitation, opie.  I've got a few irons I'm about ready to throw in the fire around here on Monday, so I'll probably stay in Oklahoma.

You're a better adviser than you are a human being, I'd say.

I'm sure you'll take this as a compliment, and it's not meant entirely as an insult.

I have a good friend who teaches English in China. And his story is pretty much the same as opie's. Reasonable salary and crazy low cost of living. He speaks Mandarin because it's his thing, but he says that most of the Americans who teach there don't.

I won't be going to Thailand or to China, but I do plan to go to Kenya.  A failed Utah experiment made me realize my calling is not in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, but in the Safari of East Africa.  I lost sight of that for a few weeks.  My dad really encouraged me earlier today that now I haven't lost my Kenya trip this next March.  I also still have the plans to test the Kenya environment in March 2014 and hopefully move there in March 2015.

I will happily interview you for any open position my company has, and our average salary is around $44,000 (read: more than you'd get anywhere else with your history and skill set). You could even be a part of a paid internship program where you could learn any number of different skills.

My stipulations are that you knock off the following of your nonsensical whims that have gotten you into so many ridiculous situations, settle into a legitimate job with a legitimate career path, and accept mentorship from me or another successful individual of my choosing (and place the advice of those who have blindly supported every oafish, bumbling move you've made in the last few years a distant second).

I'm interested, keep going.  where are these positions located.  please tell me more.

So would make the storyline a case of crossed-arm opposites, or jostling buddies?

Difference being of course that those poor fellows have to live among Chinese - I'm living among Thais so it is infinitely more pleasant.  True, there is some halitosis, but it is very minimal compared to the land of the Mushroom Mouths, and of course politness and tone of voice is so much better here.

How's the air quality in Thailand? That's his biggest complaint about China.

This would be a general interview ... with nothing more promised or guaranteed ... to assess whether or not you could be a fit for any of our needs. What you would get out of it is the beginning of well-grounded mentorship and advice, and a detailed personality profile to help me walk you through major drivers in your life, major stresses and motivators. Even if my company has nothing for you, you'll come away from the experience with several hours' worth of my time, business consultation and advice ... for free. And I ain't usually cheap.

It's time for Bushie to finally lose his virginity and Thailand seems to be a perfect solution for this.

why isn't opebo 'good'?  he is a bit hollow and sterile, and clearly no romantic, but he does far less active damage / 'evil' than I do, for instance, and a lot of people around me.

The air is great upcountry and on the sea - very fresh, particularly at night (during the day if you are near major roads there can be some dust or fumes).  In Bangkok its only so-so: I suspect nowhere near as bad as major Chinese or truly poor country mega-cities (after all Thailand is middle income, far more regulated than most developing countries, and Bangkok is only 12 million, not big compared to the real stinkers).

That sounds alright.  I can do an interview.  Let me know via PM what we need to do.

A friend suggested to me a few years ago that I should teach English in Italy. I told him I know only a little Italian so I could never do it. Amazingly, he claimed that wouldn't be an issue. Sorry, I still don't buy it. I think it's one of those "see it/experience it to believe it" things.

There are a fairly large number of places in the world where people can go teach English with little or no knowledge of the native language.  You can either learn enough before going or shortly thereafter to get by, and enough people in the local environs have studied enough English in school, or want to improve their English, to make friends, and of course employers are very helpful with logistical things that will help a person get themselves set up on first arriving.  It's really not difficult, and a very valuable experience that I almost unreservedly recommend.

Surely most Italian kids know at least some English.

Given some of the people I am currently teaching (I'm currently in the whole Teaching English as a foreign language gig) and am living in college accomodation surrounded by Italian teenagers (Don't get me started...), I wouldn't be too sure about that. Though that might depend how you define 'some'.

Though you can definitely teach English in Southern Europe without prior knowledge of the host country's language. I'm living proof of that - but I wouldn't recommend it.

Would you definitely have to be a native speaker in order to be capable of embarking on such a 'career', though?

I know plenty of Italian teens know English. All of my friends know at least a fair amount. That doesn't make me comfortable to teach them more. Things have to be explained in their native language.

Grammar and so on is best taught in the language you're trying to teach itself. (And when teaching modern languages it's always advisable to be very sparse with superfluous grammatical information. Most people pick up the basics easily enough when you immerse them deeply enoough in the language as it's spoken and written.)

In Southern Europe, yes afaik. Though I have heard stories of Dutch people and Scandinavians being hired in places like Thailand and other parts of Asia (However, only by 'private institutes' which often are dodgy places where very little 'teaching' goes on. I suspect Opebo knows more about this than I).

Once students have an above basic grasping of the rudiments of English grammar and vocabulary (ie. About 'B1' on the CEFRL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European_Framework_of_Reference_for_Languages), it isn't too difficult to explain things through English. You can, of course, teach solely through English for basic levels but it is much more difficult (imho). Also, what Belgian said.

The real reason, though, I wouldn't recommend teaching in Italy is that I assume it is like teaching in Spain. And in Spain, the facilities and staff support I got were almost non-existent which lead to, as you can imagine, problems... (Lots of good stories about that, actually).

In Thailand  no, though the official rules do require a 'native speaker', nowadays there is such a huge unfilled demand schools can easily get exceptoins or get around the rule.  However, you would very likely be excluded from the highly paid first tier jobs and confined to upcountry high schools at about $1,000/month  (in fact the only native speakers who take such jobs are beery old sexpats and young Brits who have no actual degree).

(note: here looks matter a lot.  They're quite racist, and prefer very white, especially blond, redheaded, etc., teachers.  They also love to get younger people in high schools but particulary in grade schools.  So, if you're young, good looking, blond haired, and Norweigian, you're better off than being an old shabby drunk from the unintelligible North of England)

What do they think of old white people, whose hair was once blond about 50 years ago?

Oh, you'd find a job, you'd just find it a bit more diffficult than a young freshed faced 25-30 year old.  That is, if you were the sort of person who would be subjected to a job.