2013 A New Beginning

2013 A NEW BEGINNING?

(For TEFL graduates, the answer is YES!)

Paradise TEFL is proud of its graduates and students who volunteered to study with us in 2012. Thanks to all who participated and assisted in making this one of our most successful years to date.

 

2012 Milestones included:

·         Our new well equip and centrally located air-conditioned classroom in downtownChiang Mai.

 

·         Our first program offered in America in Portland Oregon in July, 2012 (This program is

            filling up fast full for 2013!)

 

·         Graduates accepting positions in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China and the USA.

 

·         The commencement of our new location in the beautiful beach and limestone cliffs of

            Krabi, Thailand.

 

·         The ability for students without BA diplomas to obtain a Life Experience BA in English

(for an additional fee) once the Basic TEFL Certification has been awarded; crucial in many countries for obtaining a work permit, B Visa and job offer.

Why not tell a friend?

 

 

Whatever plan of action an unemployed educator decides to take, in general, the more advanced certifications a TEFL or TESOL Teacher holds, the more opportunity they possess in terms of their marketability and increased number of employment options.

 

 

 

For a limited time, Paradise TEFL Certification Program offers these advanced certifications such as TOEFL, IELTS, and TEYL at the SAME PRICE as the basic TEFL/TESOL certification!

 

 

The advanced course provides additional English Language teaching certifications and is offered in tandem with our site courses in Chiang Mai and Krabi Thailand as well as Cancun Mexico  and our special summer program in Portland Oregon, or as a complete series of online modules some with a virtual practice teaching option. In order to become a TEFL Trainer, you should have already completed a TEFL, TESOL or CELTA course first in order to be eligible and teaching experience is necessary. (Our Basic TEFL on-site program provides 2 to 3 weeks of hands on observed teaching practice to help our teachers to effectively develop their skills).

 

 

 

 

 

All courses are accredited and you will receive a certificate of completion, which is internationally recognized and accepted when you graduate from the course. Many of those who already have experience as TEFL instructors are finding that becoming a certified TEFL trainer is another opportunity and feather in their cap in terms of meeting the demand of TEFL instructors (who are leaving their home countries and working abroad) by teaching others how to teach TEFL effectively.

Graduates with these additional certifications have the advantage of substantially increasing their marketability and employment status. Improve your chances of getting a good job with a higher level of pay by enrolling today!

 

TIME IS TICKING BY WHY NOT GET MOVING FORWARD BEFORE THE FUTURE PASSES YOU BY?

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Going, Going... Gong

2012 Fees (Going, Going… Gong!)

Paradise TEFL Chiang Mai is one of the most affordable accredited hands on TEFL/TESOL training programs in existence today. We offer instructors with a minimum of a master’s degree and years of teaching experience in a variety of settings, from high profile international schools to small rural villages in temples and traditional classrooms throughout Chiang Mai and the United States.

In addition our method of instruction is one of a hands on practical approach as we offer two to three weeks of hands on observed teaching practice as a part of our 30 day Basic TEFL Certification.

The end of 2012 will mark our first course fee increase in eight years from 20,000 to 25,000 baht. This is a modest increase of about $160 usd which will take place effective at midnight on December 31^st, 2012. The reason for the increase is due to the rising cost of living and related administrative fees in the area as prices for rent, minimum wage and consumables rise with the influx of the ASEAN Union and as more and more Thai Nationals continue to seek a higher standard of living that can be found in and around Chiang Mai province and the South East Asian region in general.

The good news is you can still attend the 2013 courses at the old 2012 price as long as you register and pay your deposit before the final countdown of New Years 2012. At this time all

 Paradise TEFL Certification Programs offer up to eight advanced certifications (such as TOEFL, IELTS, and TEYL) at the SAME PRICE as our basic TEFL/TESOL certification!

Whatever methods or plans of action educator decides to take, in general, the more advanced certifications a TEFL or TESOL Teacher holds, the more opportunity they possess in terms of their marketability and increased number of employment options.

The advanced course provides additional English Language teaching certifications and is offered in tandem with our site courses in and Chiang Mai Thailand, and Mexico as well as a special summer course in Portland, Oregon or as a complete series of online modules some with a virtual practice teaching option. In order to become a TEFL Trainer, you should have already completed a TEFL, TESOL or CELTA course first in order to be eligible and teaching experience is necessary. (Our Basic TEFL on-site program provides 2 to 3 weeks of hands on observed teaching practice to help our teachers to effectively develop their skills).

All courses are fully accredited and you will receive a certificate of completion, which is internationally recognized and accepted when you graduate from the course. Many of those who already have experience as TEFL instructors are finding that becoming a certified TEFL trainer is another opportunity and feather in their cap in terms of meeting the demand of TEFL instructors (who are leaving their home countries and working abroad) by teaching others how to teach TEFL effectively.

Graduates with these additional certifications have the advantage of substantially increasing their marketability and employment status. Improve your chances of getting a good job with a higher level of pay by enrolling today!

 

 

 

See the full gallery on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

EFL Teaching Gaps in Thailand

EFL TEACHING GAPS IN THAILAND

(Written by teacher PJ and originally posted on Ajarn.com July 24th 2012. Edited and reposted by TEFLChiangmai.com)

As I go through a typical day, one nagging question keeps popping up in the back of my head; Why can't Thai people speak English?

Well that's a dumb question, right? I can already hear some of the answers now. "They're Thai. They speak Thai. We're in Thailand. Duh" Alright let me rephrase the question then. Considering that English has been the international language of tourism and commerce for I don't know how many decades now, and there are I don't know how many thousands of English teachers all over the country, why is the general level of English so poor? Why can't even young, supposedly educated college students speak English? Why can't the Pratom (primary) teachers at my school, who are supposed to teach every subject, including English, speak English? Ok two of them can, but most can't, so we have a situation here where Thai English teachers can't speak English.

The odd thing about it is that they are required to be in my class to help control the students and presumably to learn English as well, which I am thankful for. But when the class is going smoothly and I don't really need any help, the Thai teacher often tunes out my lesson, opting instead to open up his or her laptop and squeeze in a couple games of solitare or log in to Facebook or whatever it is they do. Not only does this give students the message that it's acceptable to ignore my lesson, but aren't the Thai teachers shooting themselves in the foot when they waste a great opportunity to learn English from a native speaker along with their students???!!!

Recently the director of my school called a meeting with all the foreign teachers. The director (who doesn't speak English) was ranting and raving (in PasaThai) about how Thailand is trying to catch up to ASEAN standards of English proficiency. He instructed all the Thai teachers that they need to use and teach English vocabulary words in all the subjects. At this point I must borrow the phrase I have seen in other articles on this site and say that it would be comical if it weren't so tragic.

I'm really not trying to put down my school, the teachers, or Thai people in general. Some of the teachers at my school have been teaching for over 30 years, which means they began their careers before I was born. I realize that learning English is very difficult and takes a great deal of effort. In some ways it may be "too late" for some of the older teachers and older Thai people in general. But like I said, most high school and college students don't even speak English.

Let's look at some of the numbers for a typical 16 year old high school student. Let's say that "Ploy" is a 16-year old girl who goes to ABC Government School in XYZ city. She started English classes about 10 years ago in Pratom 1. For the past 10 years she has been going to English class twice a week for 50 to 60 minutes each class. She also has English based instrucition in class twice a week with her Thai teachers, as her math and science classes are taught by Filipino teachers with English being the language of instruction.

Doing the math on that gives you the following stats - Ploy has had about 700 hours of dedicated English conversation class over the past 10 years. She's had another 700 hours of English grammar taught by the Thai teacher, and another 700 hours of science and math classes taught by Filipino teachers. So over the last decade, Ploy has had a grand total of 2100 hours of classes where English has either been taught directly or at least used as the main language of instruction.

So of course Ploy can speak English, right? Maybe, maybe not. If Ploy is a good student, and she puts in the effort to learn, and she has had even halfway decent teachers, she probably can speak English. But if she doesn't see the need to learn, isn't motivated, and she has had mediocre teachers, she has probably been tuning out of English class for the past ten years the same way her Pratom homeroom teachers have been doing for the past thirty.

So how can we fix this problem? Get them some Native English speakers (or teachers fluent to a native ability level) who care enough to make it understandable and have decent training  to work with! I don't have all the answers, but as ASEAN becomes stronger and more unified, and as the world in general becomes more of a tight-knit community Thailand will soon see they are lagging far behind other countries where many if not most of the citizens actually speak their second language.

Whatever methods or plans of action educator decides to take, in general, the more 

advanced certifications a TEFL or TESOL Teacher holds, the more opportunity they possess in terms of their skill level, marketability and increased number of employment options.

For a limited time, Paradise TEFL Certification Program offers these advanced certifications such as TOEFL, IELTS, and TEYL at the SAME PRICE as the basic TEFL/TESOL certification!

The advanced course provides additional English Language teaching certifications and is offered in tandem with our site courses in and Chiang Mai Thailand, and Mexico as well as a special summer course in Portland, Oregon or as a complete series of online modules some with a virtual practice teaching option. In order to become a TEFL Trainer, you should have already completed a TEFL, TESOL or CELTA course first in order to be eligible and teaching experience is necessary. (Our Basic TEFL on-site program provides 2 to 3 weeks of hands on observed teaching practice to help our teachers to effectively develop their skills).

All courses are fully accredited and you will receive a certificate of completion, which is internationally recognized and accepted when you graduate from the course. Many of those who already have experience as TEFL instructors are finding that becoming a certified TEFL trainer is another opportunity and feather in their cap in terms of meeting the demand of TEFL instructors (who are leaving their home countries and working abroad) by teaching others how to teach TEFL effectively.

Graduates with these additional certifications have the advantage of substantially increasing their marketability and employment status. Improve your chances of getting a good job with a higher level of pay by enrolling today!

 

 

See the full gallery on Posterous

You're Never Too Old to Learn

YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN-

HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (TEFL)

 

Many of those who attend TEFL teacher training programs, both overseas and domestically, are recent college graduates who are eager to gain a bigger perspective of the world before the settle into a long term career path, who hope to travel and to still be able to earn some money in the process.

 

At the same time, many men and women who are "working veterans" in a field or who have held a specific position for a number of years and are looking to change occupations (due to aging bodies, limited upward mobility or just want a change of pace) are considering teaching English as a new career. Similarly, those who have had diverse work experience also often enroll in TEFL certification as a way to break up their employment routine and to gain access to a more affordable and often more sustainable as well as interesting lifestyle. 

Why not give teaching TEFL a try? At Paradise TEFL we focus on providing our soon to be teachers with small class sizes, plenty of hands on teaching opportunity to practice teach, and gear our coursework toward a truly practical approach, unlike some of the bigger more expensive courses which claim they are more professional and their certificates are more desirable. But in reality, employers are looking for someone who can perform well, not spout off educational theory.

 

Whatever methods or plans of action educator decides to take, in general, the more advanced certifications a TEFL or TESOL Teacher holds, the more opportunity they possess in terms of their marketability and increased number of employment options.

For a limited time, Paradise TEFL Certification Program offers these advanced certifications such as TOEFL, IELTS, and TEYL at the SAME PRICE as the basic TEFL/TESOL certification!

Furthermore, our rates are extremely low because we are individually franchised and we don’t have the huge administrative costs of some of the institutional programs linked with some quasi-prestigious universities as part of their marketing persona. Just real certifcates for real employment recognized the world over.

The advanced course provides additional English Language teaching certifications and is offered in tandem with our site courses in and Chiang Mai Thailand, and Mexico as well as a special summer course in Portland, Oregon or as a complete series of online modules some with a virtual practice teaching option. In order to become a TEFL Trainer, you should have already completed a TEFL, TESOL or CELTA course first in order to be eligible and teaching experience is necessary. (Our Basic TEFL on-site program provides 2 to 3 weeks of hands on observed teaching practice to help our teachers to effectively develop their skills).

All courses are fully accredited and you will receive a certificate of completion, which is internationally recognized and accepted when you graduate from the course. Many of those who already have experience as TEFL instructors are finding that becoming a certified TEFL trainer is another opportunity and feather in their cap in terms of meeting the demand of TEFL instructors (who are leaving their home countries and working abroad) by teaching others how to teach TEFL effectively.

Graduates with these additional certifications have the advantage of substantially increasing their marketability and employment status. Improve your chances of getting a good job with a higher level of pay by enrolling today!