Almost two weeks of teaching to Thai students, what can I say ? Thai students are amazing !
They are genuinely happy to learn and when they are happy, you can be sure that you will hear them cheer ! (Which happens a lot)
Every morning, some teachers stay at the gate to greet students and check if their uniform is correct.
For example : Girls can only wear white socks and boys can wear brown or white socks. If they are wearing other colors they are punished. The punishment for wearing wrong uniform or being late is : Jumping jacks. What a healthy punishment, don’t you think ?
Then, at 8.00 AM, the whole school pays respect to their nation by singing the national anthem and raising the Thai flag. The ceremony is followed by announcements, like today, I had to announce that for 5 weeks every Thursday will be a "Shall we chat ?" day. Meaning, students and teachers have to try to speak in english with each other as much as possible during the day.
At 8.30, all lessons start. I have 25 hours of teaching planned per week, but to that I've added 3 hours to help a student prepare for a competition. When I am not teaching, I just chat with students and teachers who want to practice english. Until now, it has never felt like I am going to work every day because I truly enjoy the students enthusiasm and my colleagues are delightful.
When the day is over, Teacher Mel goes back to her host house and practices english with the family members, especially with Pitum (Mom) and Angkor (Daughter).
When I arrived, both were shy and they said they could not speak english. It turns out that, they can ! And every day, it is getting better. We learn from everything we can, playing games and sharing through activities.
I am really thankful for this experience, I can see the positive impact of my presence at school and at my host family. In fact, I am receiving more than I can give as Thai people are infinitely generous and kind.
Language is not a barrier as long as you are willing to share with others.