Teaching English to Thai buddhist monks

As a volunteer, you'll gain access to the completely different world that are schools or universities in Thai temples. In these educational institutions, day starts very early: students arrive at around 7:30 to school, where they receive some morning announcements and proceed to meditate until 8:30 when classes start. Students also pray and meditate at lunchtime. Being able to participate in these practices, reciting mantras with students, celebrating festivals, and getting to know traditions as a guest of the monastic community will surely prove to be a uniquely enriching experience. 

Volunteers' experiences will vary depending on whether they collaborate at a school or a university:

Firstly, at schools, volunteers shall be assigned their tasks depending on their abilities. If the volunteer feels capable enough and has the required confidence to teach and manage a class, they could directly teach it themselves; otherwise, the volunteer shall be assigned a Thai teacher, who the volunteer shall support through daily classes and tasks. 

Being able to speak English in Thailand is a very sought-after and important skill that can really change the lives of the students that are able to learn it. Through your help, you will help your students build strong connections in their lives. 

At most of these schools, every single student and faculty member is a Buddhist monk. Students are between 12 and 15 years old, and usually have had little to none interaction with foreigners. Volunteers are very welcome to join students and faculty during lunch so that they can get acquainted better.

We ask volunteers to prepare and plan every lesson before giving them. 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.

At the university, the environment is quite different: there are usually around two hundred students; most students are aged between 18 and 22; students are not exclusively Thai, but also from many other nationalities like Laos, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and India (it's an international institution focused on higher education for Buddhist monks). 

The university our volunteers collaborate with is located at one of Chiang Mai's most historic and well-known temples. Every volunteer will be supervised by highly qualified and bilingual staff members working at the university's English department. 

Volunteers may expect to assist English teachers with scheduled lessons, and also support students outside the classroom informally to practise topics like pronunciation, writing, grammar, conversation, and other tasks or studies. Sometimes, Thai teachers will also ask volunteers for support in the preparation and qualification of their class. These responsibilities will be assigned based on the relationship the volunteer and the teacher may have. 

Some religious considerations to keep in mind:

Firstly, remember that things or people that follow religious rules cannot sing, dance, play active sports or games, or clap. Buddhist monk students may play simple games, as long as these are not too physically active. Additionally, Buddhist monks may act; art programs are usually very popular among students at these education centers, as students really like using art as a means of expression. We encourage our volunteers to bring artistic projects or ideas to class, as long as these are withing Buddhist regulation.

Secondly, volunteers must wear adequate clothing. This means that volunteers must not wear clothes that are too tight or too bare. Also, volunteers will be required to wear long skirts for the projects at the university (volunteers may wear non-fitted pants for the projects at  schools), wear shirts that cover their shoulders and breasts, and to remove/cover piercings and tattoos.

Thirdly, smoking and drinking is prohibited both in educational centers and accommodation.

Lastly, be aware that not all monks can touch or be touched by a woman. Furthermore, women may not directly deliver something to a Buddhist monk; they must first place the object on a secondary object like a chair or a table (never the floor).

Every week a Buddhist day is selected, in which the university will be closed. When this day is a weekday, volunteers may make up for that day on that week's Saturday. The university is closed on Sundays, Thai holidays, and Buddhist holidays.

Classes at the Buddhist temples follow these schedules:

At schools:

8:00 Morning announcements, assembly, and prayers

8:30 School day starts, first class of the day begins

11.10 Lunch time 

12:10 Assembly and prayers

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. 

Furthermore, 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.