Thailand’s population is relatively homogenous. More than 85% of its population speak a dialect of Thai and share a common culture. As a foreign individual who came in the country for the purpose of teaching, several problems took place in every aspect during the whole duration of my stay.
1. Language
The English language is mainly considered as a foreign language of almost all the Thai students. Unlike the rest of the subjects which are taught in Thai, I found that the English subject is behind in terms of the lessons taught. During some interviews that I had with a number of teachers in VRU, Thai students are afraid to use and at the same time learn the language for they already have this mindset that they are not capable of learning and that they will never develop the passion in using the language. Since the sole of language of the country is Central Thai, it has also become the principal language of education and government and the language spoken all over the country.
Since the school is situated in Pathum Thani, one of Thailand’s provinces, a huge number of residents living in the place belong mostly Thai-speaking groups. Language became my top difficulty during the entire month-long experience. As a person who is innately talkative and loves the idea of initiating conversation, there was a feeling of deep sadness and frustration within. Only a few teachers and students were able to deal with us for the rest might have be afraid for they cannot speak English. Knowing that there is a lot of things that I need to know from them, I made the a very simple solution to the said problem. I kept myself surrounded with different people, trying to figure out who can speak English and who cannot. It was my way of identifying as to whom can I seek for help whenever I needed to. Whenever I bumped into someone who can hardly speak, instead of uttering the sentence using proper grammar construction, I tend to adjust by speaking in chunks in a quite slow manner.
This is one of the conversations I had with one of the teachers:
Me: Hello! (Waves) Good Morning!
Teacher: How are you?
Me: Me, good. (Smiling while doing thumbs-up sign)
Teacher: Do you have breakfast?
Me: Yes. You?
Teacher: I do not breakfast yet. But if you want to eat, the food hall is there.
Me: Thank you!
As observed, more attention is given to understanding rather than the proper English structure. However, even if how much enthusiasm I had, there were some teachers who remained distant and preferred not to initiate any conversation with me. They would just pass by me without even giving a glance or a smile. During flag ceremony, I, together with other SEA Teachers were just standing in the left corner while the rest of the teachers were on the other side. It was also difficult to stand and listen at the back understanding nothing. So whenever they clapped their hands, we just clapped ours too without knowing the reason why we were clapping. As days passed by, I got used to it and it was no longer a problem to me anymore.
Now, the very first time I had my class, my mind was absolutely blank. It was like a plain canvass with its painter having no idea at all. I tried to make myself look comfortable and relaxed but my body did not cooperate. My hands and feet were obviously shaking while my whole body turned extremely cold. The students were all staring at me and they seemed very curious. As I was preparing the laptop and the projector, my mind was full of different thoughts, mostly negative ones. I was too anxious and it felt like I want to run and cry the whole time. I’m used in doing public speaking and having classes but this time it really felt different. The strong and confident woman turned out to be a timid and a coward one. As soon as I finished all the preparations, I stood straight before them, told them to stand up and looked into the eyes of each one of them. “Good Morning, Class!” “Good Morning, Teacher!”, they said in reply. I formally introduced myself to them and started the class. Since most of them cannot really speak and understand English the same way as I am in terms of Thai language, I made myself more animated. I tend to speak with actions and exaggerate my facial expressions. In one of my classes, I discussed about the Comparative and Superlative Degrees of Comparison. Instead of showing them a presentation with just a bunch of words, I made use of the objects found in the classroom. I even asked the participation of some students by letting two students stand in front, asking the rest about their observations between the two. I asked about their height while pointing their heads, the length of their hair, their size, the complexion, and so on. I let them repeat their answers for them to be more familiar of the English words. During activities and seat works, I roomed around and tried to understand them for me to be able to cater their questions and concerns. Sometimes, I would scribble and draw objects just to visualize the explanation that I am giving them. By the time that I figured out how each class works, it was already then when I knew as to what methodologies and approaches as well as the set of activities that must be given to them. It took a little while to get them into the path that I want them to be in, but as soon as I achieved my goal, fulfillment came into its existence and even put more effort to heighten its sustainability.
2. Learning materials
Visualization and the utilization of realia (real objects) are found to be a very essential aspect in teaching students, especially when language barrier often hinders understanding and collaboration between the teacher and the students. In my case, it was difficult to find all the materials that I needed knowing that I was not familiar with the place and I got no idea where to buy those. I was planning to personalize some learning materials like I usually do, however, the time was unfortunately limited and the materials for its construction were not even available. It was a bit frustrating. I was used in creating and utilizing manipulative learning aids. I consider it as a fulfillment whenever I receive appreciation and acknowledgement from my teachers and classmates because of my aesthetically pleasing handmade materials. But taking into account that I am currently not in my own place, the only choice left was to adapt. I took a deep breath and started to think rationally. Instead of forcing things that seemed impossible, I made use of the available materials that we had in the dormitory. Given some construction papers and pens, I made handwritten lettering. I also made use of some condiments, beverages, and food as my realia. I also borrowed some flash cards from the English room. Fortunately, the materials that I had were really more than enough, I even picked up some objects inside the classroom as an additional. It was truly satisfying to surpass a dilemma which you considered very heavy at the beginning. I have learned that believing in one’s capacity is truly a key towards achieving self-fulfillment.
3. Time pressure
It was never easy to teach under too much time pressure. For me, 50 minutes will never be enough to cover everything that I wanted and needed, but the only choice left was to make use of it. Every time I conduct my classes, I am frequently disturbed by negative apprehensions and anxiety for I was really afraid of not making it successful. It was only then when I learned the value of time management, leading me to the realization of making a systematic time table for my classes. Before going to sleep, I would organize the time table and rehearse it several times. It was definitely satisfying to see how successful I am in every class, knowing that I made it within just a small amount of time and knowing that I have learned to develop values which I never taught this experience allowed me to learn.
4. Effective teaching
Knowing that I was facing a class embracing a way far different perspectives and practices as mine, it was very difficult to seek for the right blend of approaches, methods, and techniques that will perfectly fit the kind of learners that I have, individually and collaboratively. It was a series of personal experimentation, trying to figure out everything, creating probable solutions, without even knowing the chances of its effectivity. Still, I gave my best. As a person who is very much into animation and the art of speaking, I made use of my gestures, differentiated tones of voice, exaggerated facial expressions, and the like in order to act as a live animation, helping them to visualize and understand the context of the current lesson presented. I found that it is one’s drive and commitment that will help a person to keep going. Even if I was struggling a lot, seemingly losing my voice day by day, I tried to become the teacher who carries out the lesson in a manner of storyteller, putting life into the lesson as well as encouraging students to speak and express themselves in the most creative manner possible.
5. Building a good rapport with students
Considered as a very important aspect in teaching, it was a huge dilemma, knowing that understanding and appreciation might not happen in between, but with my determination to teach and at the same time relate with my students, I found that rapport is possible even amidst the existence of several great differences. At the beginning, most of them were obviously not interested and not yet throwing oneself into the process. They were distant and they tend to isolate themselves. I felt like they were intimated and afraid. With this, I decided to lower the level of my strictness and blend within their level. When they found out that I am also a big fan of the famous KPop group, Blackpink, they were getting well along with me and all the negativity started to fade. I could see their smiles even outside the classroom. Their responses were really good and they showed the amount of respect that I was asking them at the start. The key is to put limitations to everything, like limitations on being strict and limited kindness as well on the other hand.
6. Managing student behavior
Students nowadays are very active. They tend to be very rowdy and very chaotic. It was very challenging to deal with them since we had no common understanding for we speak different languages. I was not even able to know their names for it was too difficult to pronounce, for as we know, Thai names are constructed in contrast to Philippine names. It took a quite while for me to figure out an effective strategy. But along the way, I discovered that it is just the right amount of strictness and kindness that will keep them follow the right path. I established gestures for my commands such as sit down, stand up, quiet, etc. As soon as they were conditioned, they were very quick to follow my instructions even if I was only using gestures and facial expressions. They also figured out that once I turned silent in the middle of the class, there must be any of their classmates doing unnecessary things that annoys me. As the days passed by, it became easier to handle them for I was putting lesser efforts because they were already accustomed to my rules.