Home / Projects & Destinations / Thailand / Teach English / Teaching English Bangkok
| Location | Bang Na - suburb of Bangkok |
| Start dates | Twice a year: - mid-January - July |
| Duration | 4 - 6 weeks |
| Availability |
1 space available January 2013 |
| Cost |
£695 (one off fee) - this placement is unpaid |
| Discounts | £50 per person for friends / partners, £135 if sharing a room |
Volunteer helping to teach English to students aged from 15-21 years old in a very friendly college in Bangkok.
It is a large vocational college with over 4,000 students. The students are aged from 15-21 years old, mainly female, studying a variety of subjects including computer science, marketing, accounting, and secretarial skills.
Read what past volunteers have said about this project in our Bangkok Teaching English reviews.
Your role will be to work in the English department at the college. The college teachers will suggest topics to cover and your role is to help the students to practise English as much as possible, focussing mainly on speaking and listening skills.
The students are extremely friendly and inquisitive and having native English speakers generates a lot of excitement and fun! It is hoped that this will really spark their interest to learn more English. It is also a great opportunity to learn more about each other's culture. As it is a big college there are often activities such as exhibitions and festivals and you are encouraged to attend and participate in these.
You will work for around 5 hours per day from Monday to Thursday, leaving you long weekends to explore Bangkok and the surrounding areas.
If there are 2 volunteers at the same time you will teach together and share classes.
The college is located in outer Bangkok and in an excellent location for exploring Bangkok, not far from Bangkok's 'Sky Train' system, so very easy to travel into the centre of Bangkok and visit the temples, palaces and other sights there, enjoy the nightlife or just go shopping!
For the Thai people, good English means good opportunities. This is a vocational college and many of these students will go on to jobs where English will be needed and help them to progress.
It makes a huge difference to have native English speakers who can help the students to practise English and get them enthused about learning the language. It's also a great opportunity for cultural exchange.
Even though the college is based in Bangkok, the students do not often have the chance to meet westerners so you will be highly appreciated and receive a very warm welcome!
The following items are not included and estimates are given as a guide for your budgeting: flights to Bangkok from the UK (£550-£650), visa (£50 if staying longer than 30 days), travel insurance, food and personal spending (£50-£75 per week).
We organise your accommodation for the first month, located just a few minutes walk from the college. It is based in a hotel / apartment building and you will have a very comfortable room with air conditioning, TV and fridge. The building also has a roof garden to relax in.
If you are staying longer than a month you can continue to stay here (approx £75 per week) or there are basic options from £35 a week.
Food is not included in this placement but there are plenty of restaurants and food markets which give you a lot of choice for eating out. You can also eat lunches very inexpensively at the college cafeteria.
You will be supported by the very helpful and friendly teachers at the college, including Bryan who is one of the main English teachers.
During your first day at the college you will be given an introduction to the college where you are shown around and meet the teachers, and you will normally be given your timetable at this time so you are ready to start joining in with the classes.
This placement has two set start periods a year and a maximum of 2 volunteers, so you may find you are the only volunteer there or there may be one other volunteer. We will put you in touch with any other volunteers who will be there at the same time as you. The teachers and students are very friendly so you shouldn’t feel isolated even if you are the only volunteer.
Volunteers normally work 4 days per week so with long weekends free, there are some fantastic options for you to explore, all within a few hours of Bangkok. Popular choices include the beaches on the island of Koh Samet, visiting the ancient city and temples of Ayuthaya, and the Bridge over the River Kwai at Kanchanaburi.
The teachers at the college will help to provide suggestions for places to visit and activities to do, both locally and further afield. The college is also keen for small groups of students to show you some sights at the weekends - a chance for them to practise their English!
The placement is designed for volunteers who are happy to be quite independent and it may be possible that you are the only volunteer there. The teachers will do their best to inform you on what’s going on and what is expected of you; however there will be times when you have to use your own initiative to organise activities and locate resources or information. You should be open-minded, patient, willing to accept new things and be prepared to get stuck in.
We also like to warn volunteers that the area the college is located in is a typical Bangkok suburb and not particularly pretty! People can initially find Bangkok a bit overwhelming, although after the first week they are usually raving about it!
PoD is run as a non-profit organisation and does not receive any external funding. We charge a fee for all our placements to cover the overseas costs of volunteering and the costs of running our organisation in the UK. Fee levels are set to match costs (on a non-profit basis) and any surplus monies are distributed to the overseas organisations and charities we work with via the PoD Charity.
For over 10 years PoD has been providing volunteers to help charitable projects around the world. The PoD Charity was established in 2010 to build on this success by also providing financial assistance. Find out more and get involved in fundraising for this project through the PoD Charity.
Gemma in the PoD UK team looks after this project so if you apply you will hear from her soon!
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We are passionate about volunteering and are dedicated to providing well supported projects where there is genuine 2 way benefit.
"Teaching at the college was a fantastic experience, it was good to get an idea of how Thai schools work and they are all very keen to learn. The students are all polite and friendly and make the experience." - Samantha
98% of PoD volunteers rate their experience as good or very good!
Population:
approx 65 million
Capital:
Bangkok
Time zone:
GMT + 7 hrs
Currency:
Baht (THB)
Phone code:
+ 66
Visa:
required for stays of over 30 days
Health & Safety:
click here for the latest UK government travel advice
If you are interested in volunteering as a family we have a range of amazing projects suited for families with children under 18
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