UniTEFL | 120-Hour Professional Certificate

I left London and started traveling in the spring of 2012 and my first destination was Thailand. Two weeks into my travels I decided I wanted to live here for a period of time. As I’ve been thinking about teaching for many years I thought it would be the perfect time to finally do a TEFL course and look for some new opportunities. I did a lot of online research and decided to go and visit UniTEFL first. I sat down to talk with Susan, the senior coordinator, and as she is quite convincing, I decided to sign up with UniTEFL.

The course at UniTEFL was very intense and I certainly gained a lot of experience and knowledge over the 4 weeks. The course structure is very good; it suits inexperienced people just as well, it builds up nicely with step by step instructions and explanations and thorough guidance throughout. For me, the most important part was the teaching experience. UniTEFL sets up 8 practice lessons for their students, each in government schools around Chiang Mai. Therefore when I finished, I felt relatively confident about my teaching skills and standing in front of a class. And of course it made me realize just how much I loved teaching and that Thai children are absolutely adorable! All the staff I met at UniTEFL were fantastic, including our teacher Peter and our tutors Judy, Kirk and Susan. On top of it all, I was also lucky enough to have a really fun group to work with and spend my first month with living in Chiang Mai.

I am currently the Head Trainer at UniTEFL and held the position for the past four years. I did six months of teacher training at Chiang Mai University. Before that, I worked in Chiang Mai as a teacher and language instructor for over ten years. At first I taught young learners, but advanced up to adults who were preparing for certain English language exams (IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC etc.). I was the English Principal for a language centre for a number of years, where I experienced dealing with other teachers as well as the school administration.

As mentioned above, all my teaching experience has been in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I, initially, only planned on teaching here for one year, but fell in love with the place and have been here for more than fourteen years already!

I, however, would like to take my teaching skills to other countries as I am very familiar with how Thai students learn and the struggles they face with English. It would be nice to have a new challenge with other foreign students who have specific language learning needs. The inspiration to actually leave the UK was just a sense of adventure and a willingness to help others; plus I didn’t want to get caught up in the “rat race” that is life back home.