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Our Volunteers and their Experiences

Volunteers come to Thai Mueang for many different reasons; mainly we believe they come because they want to do some good for other people and to learn something about the unique Thai culture.
At Thai Mueang Volunteers we emphasize the volunteer’s personal skills. We want each volunteer to bring themselves into the classroom, and use their individual abilities to promote the English language and make a connection with the students. Everyone has something unique to bring to the classroom that makes learning English more new and exciting for the students.
Every volunteer experience will be different and each individual volunteer will take something special home with them, from their time teaching here; yet there is always something to be learned from other peoples’ past experiences. We hope that by reading past volunteers comments and advice you will feel more aware of what volunteer teaching in Thailand is all about and maybe be inspired to create a similar experience of your own.

 

DaveVolunteer: Dave McFall
Nationality: South African / British
Volunteered at: Wat Muang Pracharam Primary School
My favorite memory: There are so many to choose from, but as I have to choose one. I would have to say the students at Wat Mueang Pracharam. Every student at the school is so eager to learn. They greet you with open arms and the biggest smiles you have ever seen. Just walking through the corridors between classes took me about 5 min as they kept coming over wanting to speak what little English they know. High 5’s, shaking hands, making fun faces to each other and comparing tans got me through many hot and tiring days.
I was surprised that... My teaching was easier and a lot harder than I anticipated. With no teaching history I was worried at first that I could even teach at all. But without the support and guidance of ‘’El Jefe’’ Anders, I don’t think I would have survived 2 minutes in front of the 40 or so glaring eyes. When you learn from the best it makes your teaching experience worthwhile.
The most difficult thing I experienced was… I didn’t really have any major difficulties when it came to the teaching. Probably when I came back from school one day. I wanted to get a little sleep before we went out for supper. So I went to my room and I had a little visitor above my bed. It was a Black snake with red and yellow spots over it. Approximately a meter and a half long. I thought I would try my Steve Irwin impression. I tried to get the little critter onto a stick for about 10 min but it curled up and looked as if it wanted to bite me. I thought sack that. The best thing was to call Anders because he will know what to do. He came up and said let’s just get the ranger out from the National Park rather than taking any chances. A good idea in the end.
My best received lesson: Was when I got the students out the class and got them hold hands and make circles, squares, triangles etc. Very basic but the children loved it. They end up rolling about the floor having a great time.
Tip for Future Volunteers: Keep it basic. Don’t try to make to difficult because the students won’t learn anything. Whatever you think will be easy for them, go two or three steps back. Get the students out the class to play a game or an activity. For every class I played a game or an activity.
Personal Paragraph: This being my second time in Thailand I kind of knew what to expect. Living in Thai Mueang is so different from living in your tourist resorts such Phuket, Samui and Krabi. But that is why I came to Thai Mueang. Not your continental breakfasts or your beer guzzling louts. The people in Thai Mueang that you meet during your experience will stand you in good stead for your stay. Andoo, teaches you all Thai phrases that will help you through your teaching and day to day living. Toin, with his wealth of knowledge on Buddhist teachings enlightens you every time you meet. Net, with her bubbly nature always wants your time in Thai Mueang to be as enjoyable as possible. She is an absolute gem. Anders is always there to help you with your lesson plans, teaching ideas and generally talking about anything. Personally, I don’t think Aston Villa will make the top four. Haha. But you never know. My time here has been the best experience I have ever had. Thank you to everyone in Thai Mueang.

Dave and Eileen enjoying supper.

 

Gotcha!

 

Family role-play, prathom 6.

 

Nice to meet you...

 

Bamboo Island, weekend trip.

 

AAAAAARRRRGH!

 
 
On Thursdays Dave went with Anders to Thungpho Wittaya Secondary School,
Aroon, the science teacher at Thungpho, got the camera out and filmed
the following video.


 

 

Karen McColl - CanadaVolunteer: Karen McColl
Nationality: Canadian
Volunteered at: Ban Thateang Primary School
My favorite memory: Trying to spread myself out and give the desired attention to all twenty students who were constantly waving their paper at me and shouting 'My teacher' or 'Miss Karen', wanting me to give them a smiley face or my signature on their paper as my seal of approval.
I was surprised that... No matter how much I feigned anger or raised my already hoarse voice (out of real frustration) or slapped the bamboo stick on the desk (which I just did because the students loved it) they were still just as excited to see me arrive at the beginning of each school day as they had been on day one, and just as sad to leave at the end of every day.
The most difficult thing I experienced was… Trying to explain games / activities at the very beginning when I hardly knew a word of Thai and the students hardly knew a word of English. I also wasn't a very experienced teacher, so this didn't help!
My best received lesson: Anything involving charades, Pictionary, or a game that involved someone getting 'out' like Magical chairs or hot potato.
Tip for Future Volunteers: Don't kid yourself- this is really hard work! Arrive a couple of days early and take time throughout to lesson plan!!
Personal Paragraph: I'm not going to lie- when my last day of teaching arrived, I was somewhat relieved. Teaching and lesson planning were a huge challenge for me, as I knew it would be coming in. When I was saying bye to the kids I was silently willing myself not to cry...but I did. What happens when a grown-up starts to cry in front of 8-11 year olds? They cry too- though I wonder if a few of them really understood what was going on!
I will look back on Thai Mueang and surrounding area with fondness; I made some great friends here in the community and they will stay with me in my heart!

Phratom 5 and 6 at Ban Thateang Primary School
Karen at Ban Tateang Primary School
The boys loving the lime light
Karen at Ban Tateang Primary School
Beaver-tails!
Hard at work
Who needs a rope!?
At the beach

Volunteer: Paul Watson
Nationality: Canadian
Volunteered at: Thai Mueang Vocational College
My favorite memory: All of my students. Every one of them were good students, had a good attitude trying their best and always willing to learn. This in spite of the fact that I was teaching them during their holidays. Remember how you felt about summer school? I wish all of them a bright future.
I was surprised that... the level of understanding and speaking English was rather low. The students have a good textbook understanding of English, i.e. they can recognize and read English words. However, they need a lot of help speaking English and pronunciation needs work. That is where the volunteer can help.
My best received lesson: were ones that didn’t come out of a text book. I would have the students create something – like a map of town, or the layout of a hotel resort (for the hospitality and tourism students) – and then they would practice giving directions. It was more relevant to them if they were working with something that they created.
Tip for Future Volunteers: My tip is to expect that the students will have a low level of understanding and seek out material that teaches English in a simple way but with lots of pictures. The book I ended up using most was “Side by Side”, by Melinsky and Bliss, purchased at a Border’s book store in the U.S.
Practical tip: Take it easy when you first arrive, and do not take any trips on a motorbike on the highway until you have several days (or more) of practice. A minor fall could lead to a scrape that would only take a few days to heal at home, but could take weeks to heal here. (You can find the same advice over and over in Lonely Planet – take it). As you might guess, I learned the hard way.
Personal Paragraph: Overall the experience was very good. Thai Muang is a wonderful town located on a beautiful never ending beach that you will have to yourself. It is also close to many popular tourist locations which you can reach on the weekends. The students need to learn English if they want to get a job in the tourism sector that surrounds the area and tourism is obviously a major part of the Thai economy.
These students greatly benefit from any help they receive in improving their English.
Paul with some of his business students
Lesson about creating a restaurant
A fried rice is 35 Baht
English course well done
Paul taking his students to the beach
Teacher Fon in the middle
 
Volunteer: Turner Wright
Nationality: American
Volunteered at: Wat Patchatikaram Primary School
My favorite memory: Walking back from the Buddhist temple with my 5th grade class, casually speaking English and Thai along the way and developing a rapport I had not yet seen in the classroom. Who was the teacher, and who the student? It was impossible to tell, and that alone was comforting.
I was surprised that… many teachers do not have hands-on lesson or too much interaction with their students at all. My classes were by far the loudest and most energetic (yes, sometimes due to me losing control of the students), and others involved the kids just reading, taking notes, or copying what the teacher said directly.
My best received lesson: Outside the classroom, just playing volleyball with Phratoms 5 and 6, tossing English and Thai words back and forth for the various objects and actions (“catch”, “hit”, “I got it!”, “serve”, etc).
The most difficult thing I experienced was… the language barrier with other Thai teachers. For the students, it was really no problem, as the class should be English immersion, but I wanted to discuss my feelings about the students and my life in Thailand with the teaching staff; this proved to be impossible.
Tip for Future Volunteers: Even if you’re not an experienced teacher, don’t stress over lesson plans or preparing for classes; it’s far better to come in with the idea of what simple vocabulary or phrase you want the students to learn, and let the class develop as you figure out if they understand what you’re saying, or are just repeating everything and not comprehending. In addition, you should be enjoying your time in Thai Mueang, not spending hours on end inside doing paperwork.
Practical tip: Be careful of any small cuts and scrapes you may get just walking around; they take a lot longer to heal over here (some dry powder helps with keeping the wound clean). Use talcum powder on your face if you find you’re sweating all the time. Learn to accept the fact that it’s raining, and walk with dignity.
Personal Paragraph: Stay out of Phuket. I really like coming to smaller towns in foreign countries like Thai Mueang because you have the chance to see this “undiluted” culture, for lack of better words; there is no tourist industry here, just normal people living their lives and genuinely interested in where you come from and what you’re doing, how you think, how you live. Whereas if you stick to the road more often traveled, people only see your wallet and just how much they can potentially get from you. Thai Mueang has a beautiful beach, friendly people (oh, they’ll know who you are and where you live soon enough after arriving), delicious food, and some great country to explore.
 
Volunteer: Zachary App
Nationality: American
Volunteered at: Thai Muang Vocational College
My favorite memory: There are several, it's hard to say, but I think some of my favorite memories were the ones outside the classroom - having lunch at Ms Sunisa's house eating home cooked Thai food, hanging out in Khao Lak with some of my students at the weekend, taking part in a Chinese/Thai ceremony one night with my students, going out to lunch on the beach with Ms Sunisa and the accounting class, and planting trees in Khok Kloi with Ms Fon and all the students in the pouring rain. Whether I was shopping at the Tuesday market or riding on my motorbike into a random village in the area I would somehow always run into some of my students and stop to talk to them. I'm going to miss that especially.
I was surprised that… some of the students didn't know how to say "my name is..." or "I'm 17 years old." There were several occasions I had to help them spell Thailand. I was also taken back by the level of respect people have for each other, both at the school and in the town itself. Sadly to say; this is something I don't see back home.
My best received lesson: We had a lot of fun at our cooking lesson in Ms June's class when I taught them how to make an omelet and French toast with step by step instructions in English. I cooked first and explained what I was doing; "break the egg"-"pour the milk"-"pour the mix into the pan"-"ready to serve." The class was split into four groups and each group explained as they cooked. Ms June and I were the "testers."
The most difficult thing I experienced was…Trying to learn and remember their names. The first couple of weeks I had a really hard time. It was also difficult at times helping them with their pronunciation, example: the word "sport" they would pronounce "saport". They are taught English by Thai teachers, so native speaking volunteers can really help them with pronunciation.
Tip for Future Volunteers: Bring stuff from home to make lesson plans. I brought with me menus from restaurants and some brochures from hotels which I used for some of my lessons. Also bring photos from home of your friends and family, your house, town etc. The students like to play games like hangman. Flash cards are also great to use.
Personal Paragraph: This was my first time outside the United States. The managers of this program helped me with lesson planning the first week, offered new ideas when I needed them, and treated me like family. The locals here are very laid back and some of the nicest people. When you have free time pick a random back road and purposely get lost. I ended up meeting some local kids and they took me through the villages, down narrow dirt roads, into the jungle and to a beautiful waterfall where the local kids swim, somewhere you won't find in any tourist book or map.

Ms Sunisa's House - Having Dessert

Planting Tress in Khok Kloi

Cooking an Omelet - Arooy!

What's your name?

The Tuesday Market in Thai Muang

Visiting a Rural Village
 
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