VOLUNTEERS' RELFECTIONS

Some stories and insights from some of Island TEFL’s past volunteers

“When I told my mother that I wanted to travel to Thailand to volunteer as an English teacher, she considered having me committed! The thought of sending her daughter half way across the world, alone, was not on her ‘to-do’ list. I must admit, as excited as I was about going to Thailand for the first time, I had my own reservations. I didn’t know anything about Koh Samui or TEFL, and the fact that I didn’t know a word of Thai made things all the more interesting.

It has been over a year since my time there, and I still can’t seem to shut up about it. Choosing Island TEFL as the place to gain my TEFL certificate turned out to be one of the luckiest things that has ever happened to me; especially now knowing the illegitimacy of many of the ‘schools’ that exist. Not only was the TEFL course challenging and enlightening, it was also a lot of fun! The comforting environment of the classroom and the amount of actual practice time with Thai students turned out to be even more than I had expected.

After graduating from the TEFL course, I was placed at a primary school close by, named Ban Laem Hoy. I could easily write a book about the two months I spent there. The kids at this school are extraordinary. So full of energy, smiles, and an eagerness to learn, that I think is rare in many Western schools today. I had the opportunity to teach children of all ages at the school, from five to twelve, and probably ended up learning more from my experiences with them than they learned from me.

I will never forget my last volunteer day at the school, and the lines of children who came up with cards, gifts, and hugs, after we had only known one another for two months. From teaching English lessons, to my daily, highly entertaining interactions with Nan and the other teachers, the school quickly made me feel as though I was part of its little family. Before I began volunteering, I hadn’t imagined that I would have my own part of the teachers’ room, share daily meals with the other faculty members, and learn quite a bit of Thai at the same time (or at least attempt to learn Thai - as I found out just before I left the island, I had been saying to everyone, “Thank you, dog!” rather than “Thank you very much!”…those are some tricky tones!)

Although I was able to maintain a very independent life style on the island, whether going to the beach after school, taking yoga classes in Fisherman’s Village, or simply exploring the island, I never felt alone. Whether it was Sue, the teachers at Ban Laem Hoy, the staff at the wonderful Save House Resort, or other volunteers, there were always people around to swap stories with and to go to for help. I think about my time in Koh Samui and my volunteering experience at Ban Laem Hoy all the time, and I can’t wait until the day when I can return. If I could go back and relive those three months, the only thing I would change would have been to stay longer…maybe to have smuggled some coconuts back home too!”

Lindsay McCormack (USA)

“My husband, Andrew, and I spent countless hours on the internet looking for the perfect TEFL course. We knew we found the right course when we came across Island TEFL in Koh Samui, Thailand. It was exactly what we were looking for! The Island TEFL course has excellent trainers teaching modern methodologies with input from some of the brightest minds in TEFL. We highly recommend Island TEFL. We had a wonderful experience socially and academically. We cannot say enough positive things about the course. The facility, trainers, course administrator, and location are absolutely fantastic. Andrew and I consider ourselves well trained for teaching English as a foreign language.

After completing the TEFL course, we volunteered to teach English for one month at a local secondary school. The experience was incredible! It’s an immersion into a different culture, but we adapted quite quickly. The kids were so bright and eager to learn, and we gained a precious relationship with them. They were extremely happy with having foreigners teach them English. We primarily focused on pronunciation, which seemed to be the biggest challenge. It is so rewarding to know you have influenced the children in a positive way, and they make sure you know you have done a great job. After classes we had so many hugs, and they even wanted our signature! By the way, for a heads up, high fives are a great way to reward the kids, but your hand might end up sore by the end of the day!

All in all, there was no one particularly memorable event; it was the entire meaningful TEFL volunteering experience that was so wonderful. The privilege to teach so many enthusiastic children, the generosity of the local teachers, the friendliness of the Thai people, the fantastic beaches, and the opportunity to learn a new language. We feel this is an opportunity not to be missed!”

Casey Jackson (USA)

“After completing the Island TEFL course in February, I decided to volunteer at Ban Laem Hoy School on Koh Samui. This was the school we did our first teaching practice at while on the TEFL course, and it just felt right. The classes have about 30–35 children, so James, one of the other students on the TEFL course, and I went in together. We divided the classes into two, and taught a more manageable amount of children.

We fell in love with the children. Naturally, each group had the naughty or difficult child or children, but luckily there were no major problems.

While at the school, I discovered that children really loved playing the English games, especially Hangman! During every lesson, there would always be a couple of children who would keep asking to play a game. The trick here was, I discovered, to make each section of the lesson as much fun as possible. This was just as much fun for me.

During the production period, the children were reluctant to talk much, but after class there would always be a few that came and chatted with me. They were always interested in my family and any detail I would give them. At this stage, I encouraged them to talk as much as possible. During these discussions they seemed reluctant to let us go and tried to talk for as long as possible. James always said it made him feel like a famous person because the children liked to shake his hands all the time.

Because it was at the end of the semester, they had already completed their work books. This meant that we could decide what lessons to give. This helped a lot as we got some practice in coming up with ideas. We started off redoing our previously taught lessons and then came up with new ideas - this was also great fun.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to volunteer at this school and in retrospect, the only thing that could have made this experience better, would be to have been for it to last longer.”

Madeleine Roux (SA)

“I’ve just completed one of the most amazing experiences of my life! After completing my TEFL course with Sue and the team at Island TEFL, I went on to volunteer for a month at a local Thai primary school in Bophut. From start to finish, the whole experience was amazing!

Having never traveled outside of my home country of New Zealand, I was kind of apprehensive about the whole thing. However, Sue was incredibly helpful, picked me up from the airport, tucked me safely into Save House resort, and reassured me that I would have a great time. She was right - I have!

The children at the school were delightful. Sometimes a bit naughty, but that’s kids in general. They would run to meet me when I arrived at school in a songtheaw (local taxi) and hold my hand until I got to the staffroom. The staff were just wonderful to me. I felt like a part of a big family. I was invited back to their homes for meals; we went out to karaoke a lot (it’s BIG here!); and they were really helpful with planning and management ideas.

I’m now moving on to a paid teaching job in Chiang Mai, which I’m really looking forward to. My time on the TEFL course and as a volunteer has prepared me perfectly for this next big step in my adventure. The experience I’ve gained has me feeling confident and excited about my new teaching job.

I can’t recommend this course and volunteer placement highly enough. Everything about it was above and beyond what I expected, and I have made some wonderful friends and have learnt quite a bit of Thai, thanks to the great staff and the gorgeous kids at my school. I also came away from my volunteering experience with a nice feeling of actually having given something back to the wonderful Thai people of Samui. It feels good!”

Kellie Auberton (NZ)

“I can honestly say that volunteering for 2 months in a local Thai school was one of the most worthwhile things that I’ve ever done.

Leaving the course, as a qualified TEFL teacher was one thing; the thought of what to do next was another thing entirely! Nothing can truly prepare you for teaching on your own, however by doing an EFL volunteer placement, it helps you to not only get into teaching for real, but gets you used to the life that you will lead as a teacher. Plus, having the support network of teachers that already know how things work, you end up leaving feeling much more confident and very aware of how a school runs on a daily basis.

Lesson planning was fun, especially with two of us being volunteers and having twice the amount of ideas to throw around. Often though, even the best lesson plans go wrong especially when you add children into the equation. The best advice I can give is to just make the lessons as much fun as possible. Occasionally there were days when other things were going on in the school and you would end up with a class of mixed age ranges and abilities, but you’d find yourself changing things on the spot and coming up with a suitable alternative in no time.

The children were just so lovely and easy going that lessons were made fun just as much by them. Giggles prevailed in the classroom, whether it was from wrong pronunciation from the children or my forgetting the words of a song! Obviously you always get a few naughty ones, but we found but that by the time we left, they were some of our favourites. I’ll always remember how much they seemed to love having us there from the minute we arrived at school, to leaving.

From the moment we turned up a few days before the volunteer placement to meet the staff and look around the school we were made to feel part of the team. The hardest thing to do was to leave at the end of the teaching period. We found ourselves staying late to play football or petanque with the children, helping to make decorations for the King’s birthday ceremony, or just talking to the staff. On our days off we went to school football matches, public shows that the children did about health, inter-school competitions to support our school and not forgetting the time I got talked into taking part in the teachers day show…dancing with our other female teachers in full Thai dress!!

The staff took us out on weekends for lunches and to visit local waterfalls with their friends. The children introduced us to their families and on several occasions we found ourselves in bars that the children’s families owned, having been taken in there by the children themselves. We were very much made to feel part of the family.

When we finally left there were tears all round. I can seriously advise doing the volunteer placement, not only to give you some confidence at your new career, but also to put something back into a local community. Enjoy it!”

Sonia Cork (UK)