I decided to do the placement because I have always wanted to travel and visit Thailand, so I thought with having a few months off after my first year at university would be a good opportunity to do it.
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During my placement, my main role was teaching local Thai students, ranging from kindergarten to secondary school age, where I taught different levels of English. I taught three full days a week, however before each week, myself and the teaching group I was in had to build and create lesson plans that we needed to follow.
Each day varied, making every day different. One day each week was assigned for lesson planning and learning about Thai culture, preparing us for being in the schools. On teaching days, we went to schools and taught three to four lessons per day. Other than teaching, Camp Thailand had activities and excursions planned for us or we had free days to do what we want. On these days, we visited an elephant sanctuary where we looked after elephants, went to the sky bar in Bangkok where The Hangover 2 was filmed and explored lots of sights and temples in and around Bangkok.
I enjoyed the experience I gained from teaching as it allowed me to gain an insight into Thai teaching and culture. I also enjoyed visiting the elephant sanctuary, where I looked after, fed and washed elephants - they were so cute! Exploring the city of Bangkok was also very enjoyable as I loved learning about and visiting places such as temples. I liked the fact that we had things planned but we also had some freedom during my time in Thailand.
Even though I enjoyed teaching, I also found it the most challenging part of my placement because of the language barriers. The Thai children spoke very limited English and I didn't speak any Thai so interacting with, and teaching them was sometimes difficult.
During teaching days, I used my language skills that I have learned from the language side of my degree. It was interesting to interact and teach English to foreign students as I learned about their language habits, accents and dialect.
Having visited Bangkok and Phuket, it definitely makes me want to travel more and have a career that involves travelling.
Take an opportunity you're given and although it may be difficult, going out of your comfort zone will be worth it.
Form completed: 05 Sep 2017