ASSIGNMENT 1: INTRODUCTION

[Hollie Lloyd]

Hello, my name is Hollie, and I am extremely excited to soon be taking part in the Thailand 6 Month TESOL Fellowship! I am twenty-one and I am from East Yorkshire in England. I have recently graduated with a BA Degree in Primary Education, and I have also achieved QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) alongside it. Before this, I also achieved an Extended Diploma in Child Play, Learning, and Development in which I received the award for ‘Best Student in Childcare’. From these, I have amassed around 1500 hours of placement experience within Primary Schools. Previously, I have dabbled a little bit when it comes to travelling; I have explored Menorca and both Paris and the South of France, as well as parts of the USA and the Caribbean. However, I have never spent longer than two weeks away from home (aside from when at university), so this will certainly be a new and exciting adventure! I want to take part in this Fellowship in Thailand for a multitude of reasons, but the main two are as follows: Firstly, I want to expand my knowledge and repertoire of qualifications by learning how to teach English abroad, so that I can build a career abroad and help children in developing countries gain access to the education they deserve. Secondly, I wish to travel much more and experience unfamiliar cultures. In doing this, I am marrying my passions and hobbies together in the hopes of helping others (especially children) along the way. Some challenges I expect to encounter include culture shock and being so far away from home for an extended period of time. I intend to combat this by throwing myself into community life and becoming part of the Thai culture. I also have a dedicated support network at home which include family and friends, of whom I will stay in consistent contact. From this experience I hope to expand my independence, ability to adapt to new environments, and a solid grasp of the TESOL teachings. I can’t wait to embark upon this new experience and get stuck in to learning and growing, as well as helping children to learn and grow too.

[Harriet Woliter]

Hi,
My name is Harriet, I was born and raised in Plymouth, England. It’s a small seaside city in Devon that’s next to Dartmoor National Park, so I am no stranger to a hot girl walk/swim no matter the weather. I have a degree in Television Production from Bournemouth University, I specialised in Scriptwriting and Directing, as of this I have worked on a reality TV series called The Courtship, which was a hybrid dating/reality TV show based on the Netflix series Bridgeton. For the past year and a half, I’ve been saving up to solo travel by working as a Supervisor at Starbucks, so far I’ve solo interrailed for 2 months in Europe, It’s been amazing and really eye-opening to experience so many different cultures.

After my interrail experience I decided that while I am able to I’d love to experience living in a different country, learning to adapt, and challenge myself to gain more confidence in newer surroundings. Thailand seems like the perfect place personally, as it has such enriched culture and traditions, which I’m hoping will help me refresh my perspective on my own value of life. I have never been to Asia before but I have much appreciation for the countries on the continent, due to their history and heritage.

The challenges I’m expecting from this program are, working with young children, dealing with loneliness, balancing work and old habits, and overcoming culture clashes and a new environment.
Personally, I haven’t worked with children yet in my career, but I’m hoping that having an open mind and working at my own place will help build my confidence.
Moving away permanently from friends and family will be hard but I hope that staying connected and really immersing myself in this new environment will help me feel less overwhelmed and lonely. I can also achieve this by keeping old habits and keeping on top of my schedule by making time in my day to process the change, whether it be the difference in time zone, weather, or habitat.

At the end of this experience, I really hope to boost my confidence in myself, gain new connections, hopefully learn a new language and just welcome new perspectives to my life values.

[Emma Holmes]

Hi Olivia! I might be asking you for advice on teaching soon haha! I think coping with the heat will be okay if you are spending most of your time indoors, and maybe even napping at lunch during the worst heat.. that’s something i’ve heard some schools in Thailand do. But its true, it might be pretty warm having to dress conservatively in 30 degrees. But like you said, we’re all in this together!

[Lily Hutt]

Hello! My name is Lily, and I am from England. I am 23 years old and have a degree in Musical Theatre. I have worked with children for many years in classrooms and as a children’s entertainer but nothing as ambitious as this!

My reason for moving to Thailand is that I have always wanted to travel and see more of the world. I have never been to any of Asia but have a strong passion for travelling. I felt I wanted a change in my life, and this found me at the perfect time.

I expect that I may struggle with slight culture shock in terms of language, lifestyle, social expectations etc but I am eager to immerse myself in the culture. I know that I always have connections to other English speakers (you guys) should I ever feel out of place, so I know I won’t ever feel lonely.

I hope that I learn more about myself through this experience in terms of what makes me truly happy and what I want in life. I also hope to gain the confidence to travel more in the future.

[Georgia Tarttelin]

Hi everyone!

I’m Georgia and I’m from Bedfordshire. I graduated last year from Aston University in Birmingham, where I studied International Business and Spanish with Mandarin Chinese. For the past year I have been working as a legal recruiter in London. I decided to go into teaching as I have had a lot of experience working with children and younger students through tutoring and sports activities while I was in university and school. I am very excited to be going out to Thailand with Gotoco in order to gain teaching experience and learn all about Thai culture. I love to learn languages so I am very excited to start learning Thai and see how it compares to other languages I have learnt so far. I also look forward to completing this course with you all and sharing our experiences as we go to Thailand, learn more about Thailand itself and get to know each other!

[Georgia Tarttelin]

Hi everyone!

I’m Georgia and I’m from Bedfordshire. I graduated last year from Aston University in Birmingham, where I studied International Business and Spanish with Mandarin Chinese. For the past year I have been working as a legal recruiter in London. I decided to go into teaching as I have had a lot of experience working with children and younger students through tutoring and sports activities while I was in university and school. I am very excited to be going out to Thailand with Gotoco in order to gain teaching experience and learn all about Thai culture. I love to learn languages so I am very excited to start learning Thai and see how it compares to other languages I have learnt so far. I think my main challenge will be learning about Thai customs and what are the norms in Thailand, as I am sure it is completely different to the UK, but I aim to be open and learn as much as I can about the Thai way of life. I also look forward to completing this course with you all and sharing our experiences as we go to Thailand, learn more about Thailand itself and get to know each other!

[Jodie Davies]

Hi Holly, your experience with teaching and learning about Education sounds amazing. I’ll definitely be asking lots of questions! This will also be my first time away from home for this long, so I agree with your thinking; throwing myself into the community and experiencing Thai culture to the fullest!

[Poppy Sophia Clarke]

Hello everyone! I am Poppy, from the UK and I am a recent graduate from The University of Edinburgh where I studied Infectious Diseases. I am moving to Thailand to join an English language teaching programme with Gotoco. One reason for this is that it provides an opportunity for expanding on my teaching skills that I have been developing in part time roles alongside University such as classroom assistant, tutoring, volunteering in Sunday schools and as a supervisor within hospitality. I am also keen to experience new culture and learn more about an entirely different country to my own, which is something that was restricted during the global pandemic. Throughout my degree I have also learnt a lot about experiences of young individuals in developing countries and so by helping these children learn English this could provide a smoother pathway for children in these countries such as Thailand to access the world of work through use of the English language.

A barrier I expect to face when moving to Thailand is getting used to the way of living. Scotland and Thailand are two very different countries and so I believe the culture shock and getting used to a new way of living will be uncomfortable at first. However, by communicating with peers and throwing myself into the experience with a growth and positive mindset I believe this will be a worthwhile and exciting challenge whereby I will gain knowledge of culture, history and hopefully pick up some of the Thai language too!

Hence, with all this in mind I look forward to taking my next steps into the future completing this programme with Gotoco and creating new experiences with new people in an entirely new country.

[Poppy Sophia Clarke]

Hello everyone! I am Poppy, from the UK and I am a recent graduate from The University of Edinburgh where I studied Infectious Diseases. I am moving to Thailand to join an English language teaching programme with Gotoco. One reason for this is that it provides an opportunity for expanding on my teaching skills that I have been developing in part time roles alongside University such as classroom assistant, tutoring, volunteering in Sunday schools and as a supervisor within hospitality. I am also keen to experience new culture and learn more about an entirely different country to my own, which is something that was restricted during the global pandemic. Throughout my degree I have also learnt a lot about experiences of young individuals in developing countries and so by helping these children learn English this could provide a smoother pathway for children in these countries such as Thailand to access the world of work through use of the English language.

A barrier I expect to face when moving to Thailand is getting used to the way of living. Scotland and Thailand are two very different countries and so I believe the culture shock and getting used to a new way of living will be uncomfortable at first. However, by communicating with peers and throwing myself into the experience with a growth and positive mindset I believe this will be a worthwhile and exciting challenge whereby I will gain knowledge of culture, history and hopefully pick up some of the Thai language too!

Hence, with all this in mind I look forward to taking my next steps into the future completing this programme with Gotoco and creating new experiences with new people in an entirely new country.

[Melanie Krupa]

Hi, my name is Melanie! I’m from Port Townsend, WA, a small town on the tip of the Olympic Peninsula not too far from Seattle. I have a long history as a teacher of English as a foreign language–starting from when I first taught children in India for a summer back when I was 19 and fell in the love with the vocation. I’ve also taught in Ireland and Ecuador, and in the states I’ve taught ESL at the elementary, high school, and community college levels. I’ve never been to Thailand, however, and am very excited about my upcoming opportunity to teach English in the Thai public school system. I’ll be traveling with my husband and nine-year-old daughter. We decided to embark on this adventure together because we wanted to experience a new culture as a family and to give our daughter the opportunity to see a different part of the world and different ways of life while she was still young. Also, it has been several years since I’ve taught, and I was missing it! I love working with students, helping people experience the joy of expressing themselves in a new language. I imagine there will be some challenges balancing family life with work life while abroad, and helping my daughter navigate culture shock, etc. (although she is a very game and enthusiastic traveller!), but I feel like I can face these with the help of my family by being honest, talking things through, and supporting each other. I hope to gain family closeness, new maturity for my daughter, lots of fun and adventure, new connections (potentially lifelong!) with students and colleagues, and valuable teaching experience!

[Eva Fraigniaud]

Hi everyone, my name is Eva and I graduated this year from Cambridge University. I did a Law degree and decided to do a gap year to go and teach in Thailand. My travel experiences are very broad as I have lived in three different countries and usually spend my summers abroad. I have always wanted to go to Thailand because of the beautiful scenery, the rich culture and the amazing people, so I am extremely excited to go!
Some of the challenges I expect to face include not being able to speak Thai and cultural differences in terms of food and customs. I believe putting in effort on my part is very important when it comes to trying to learn the language in order to communicate with people, and so I will try my best to overcome this. I will also do as much research as possible to learn the customs and traditions of Thai people. I am willing to challenge myself and really immerse myself in Thai culture.
I cannot wait to start teaching and make a difference to these children’s learning. I hope to meet a lot of new people (and hopefully make life long friends), and also have many fun adventures!

[Azaria Godwin]

Hi everyone, my name is Azaria and I’m from Aylesbury (near London). I finished my biochemistry degree at the university of York a few years ago, and have since been working as an outdoor sports instructor. I love travelling, and especially slow travelling, where I have the opportunity to work in different countries, and so I am very excited to move to Thailand.
I am sure that the language will be one of the largest challenges initially, however I am prepared to study and do my best to learn as much as I can.
I hope to learn more about Thai culture and way of life, and get to know more than just the tourist side of the country.

[Kimberley Pearson]

Hi everyone,
My names Kimberley, I have recently graduated at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom. I was studying English language and volunteering to teach English to refugees and asylum seekers. Whilst also studying TESOL at university, I was inspired to begin my postgrad journey teaching abroad. I have always wanted to travel south east Asia, especially Thailand as I really resonate with the culture and history surrounding Buddhism and its values. I decided this would be the best place for me to start my teaching career. I expect that there will be many cultural challenges as there are many social differences compared to the UK, so some things might seem unusual to me, but I’m excited to embrace them! I hope to gain a good cultural understanding as well as confidence as a teacher during my time in Thailand, I can’t wait!

[Sophie Mccain]

Hi, my name is Sophie and I am from the United Kingdom. I have completed a three-year undergraduate degree at Sunderland University in Primary Education and recently finished a postgraduate Masters Degree in Education.

I used to be a gymnastics coach for five years prior to university and I have volunteered my time to teach travelling children, tutored children to help prepare them for their exams, read to children from poor backgrounds and getting involved in forest schools and learning through play in local primary schools. I have had a passion for teaching from a very young age and my degree at university confirmed that this was the career for me. I am equipped with many knowledge and strategies and have experience in teaching in a variety of different settings which enable me to be a successful teacher.

However, I want to expand upon my experiences and knowledge and teach English to children in a different country – Thailand. I want to improve my confidence in teaching topics children may not grasp straight away and use my previous and newly learnt strategies to ensure all of the children I teach begin to understand and confidently use the English language. I would like to learn about and experience Thai culture whilst living and teaching in their beautiful country, whilst gaining a TESOL degree that opens up further opportunities in the future. I know that there is going to be challenges along the way, the main one probably being a language barrier, but I am motivated to both teach and learn and ensure everyone enjoys doing so. I am excited to meet new people from a variety of different backgrounds, learn about different cultures, travel the world and enjoy every minute of this amazing opportunity.

[Tariro Hombarume]

hi my name is tariro and i am going on a 6 month fellowship teaching English in Thailand.
Why are you deciding to travel/move to Thailand?
it looks like a beautiful country offering the unique opportunity to travel and gain valuable knowledge and experience
What challenges do you expect to face along the way and how do you expect to overcome them?
probably the language barrier but i am very excited to learn some thai
What do you hope to get out of your experience?
i want to have learned more about the country, myself and others.

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