Tefl waffle

Taking a day out is always a good thing, and when it's a day out with a meaningful purpose, it's even better. It's the beginning of school term, and the kids aren't quite ready for the start of school yet, so six teachers from the Spencer team took the Friday off, hopped on bus up to a small rural school in Lopburi province for a day of English fun with the kids. And rural school it really is. Nestled in a bright green string of rice paddies recently dealt an agricultural b

Travelling in Cambodia is a thrill for the taste buds. Name anything you feel like eating – it’s here! Nachos? Sure. Chicken tikka? No problem! KFC? Absolutely. MacDonald’s? Well, actually no. But really, there is no shortage of delicious meal options. A large community of French expatriates has ensured a wonderful array of French restaurants, each better than the next. The old market in Siem Reap is a gourmand’s dream come true. The riverside in Phnom Penh is an gastronomic

Teaching English in Asia offers a veritable plethora of options for the qualified teacher. Teaching young learners is one of these, but understandably not everyone's first choice. For some, children are something best grilled on an open fire. For others, there is nothing more rewarding than the energy and unconditional response from young learners. Are you unsure? If you are, I have prepared a little (tongue-in-cheek) quiz for you to find out how you think you'd do with a gro

I was coming to the end of my first year of teaching in a Thai school when I was offered the chance to teach in a business. The timing was perfect. I had had chance to learn about Thai classroom culture and hone my activities and lesson planning. The business was a food retailer and I was given a class of 20 students, who would attend two evenings a week, whenever their workload allowed. Generally, I saw about 15 students. They came from all areas of the business and the leve