Teach English to Thai children

English is a very important and sought-after skill in Thailand; any children that can efficiently learn it will have a lot more opportunities available to them that they wouldn't have had otherwise. Through this volunteering program, you can support children get exactly that, give children the possibility to finish their studies and get new tools to better develop in their day to day. Every volunteer plays a key role in the care and teaching of the children in the program. This volunteering experience is particularly valuable because it also allows you to discover and understand first hand Thai culture, just as another Thai. 

At the program, there are about one hundred 3 to 5 year old children. 

The role you may fill in as a volunteer depends on the particular school you choose and your interests: you can be assigned to a Thai teacher so that you go to classes with them and support them in the development of classes and lessons, or —if you have the skills to plan your own lessons and confidence— you are free to lead a class on your own. When planning, we suggest volunteers to try cover the four main skills in English (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) within one hour period of a class.

Some topics you could cover within your first English classes are animals, food, colours, numbers, time, days of the week, months of the year, sports, places around the city, countries, things at home, and music. We also suggest you to use some activities such as memory, word searches, crosswords, parodies, dialogues, bingo, bottle spin (conversation and vocabulary, no kisses), Simon says, and dictation.

At these schools, textbooks and workbooks are used in English classes, although you must keep in mind that certain books are above the capacities of the students who use it. We like volunteers to use textbooks and workbooks as much as possible —as children will continue to use them— but volunteers are also welcome to use creative resources in the development of activities and lessons

A usual school day looks like:

8:00 morning assembly and announcements

8:30 classes begin

11:10 lunch time

12:10 assembly takes place and classes continue

16:20 school day ends

We shall also give volunteers an official schedule to follow when they start volunteering.

You will be volunteering in the beautiful, northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. A complete contrast to Thailand's capital Bangkok, Chiang Mai is a smaller city with a huge connection to the environment, as it provides direct access to the nearby beautiful forest mountains that are a hotspot for adventurers and lovers of nature alike. In addition to that, Chiang Mai also has very intriguing traditionally Thai sites such as its well-known open air markets, its historic center filled with centuries old temples, or the Buddhist temples near the city. 

In addition to that, Chiang Mai could offer you excursions and trekking on mountains and rice fields, beautiful handicrafts at its markets, night safaris, a bustling nightlife you can enjoy with other volunteers at the Zoe Yellow area, among other things.

During your stay, you could also visit some of the other beautiful places in Thailand, such as its beaches or historical sites like Ayutthaya.