The reasons people give for deciding to move to Cambodia to teach English are as varied as the characters that walk into English institutes here and call themselves “teachers”. Many people start as English teachers after coming to Cambodia as tourists. The unsuspecting immigrant finds it all so intriguing and they decide to make a home out of their newly found paradise. Most foreigners, lacking the ability to speak Khmer, generally aren’t qualified to do anything else in Cambodian society, so teaching English seems a natural immediate fit. Others use teaching English as a means to an end. They see teaching as a job to get themselves established with while they look for work in another field or attempt to set up a business. Some teachers in Cambodia are career teachers and have followed the teaching circuit around Asia and down to the tropics to finish up their careers before retirement. Still others are here for the cheap beer, pussy and drugs and they have no qualms explaining that to you. Yes it’s a mixed bag of tricks down here in the jungle and you meet new and interesting people everyday.
When someone in Phnom Penh asks you, “What’s your job?” and you say, “Why, I’m a teacher,” the inevitable follow-up question is going to be, “What do you teach?” You see in Cambodia, there are good teaching jobs and there are English teaching jobs. Foreign teacher’s salaries range anywhere from the bottom of the barrel slop-job schools that pay $5/hr to sustain a teacher’s boozed up/drugged out existence – all the way up to a king-like (by local standards) $30,000+ a year for teachers who qualify for positions at international schools.
A native speaking English teacher makes about double that of a junkie tourist, with his or her salary averaging in at about $10-$12 an hour. There are generally no benefits for lowly newbies. The top-off point, salary-wise for an English teacher who has been here a couple of years and stayed with the same school is capped at about a max of $20 an hour and a few benefits if the school is generous. Most English teachers in Cambodia are making between $900-$1300 a month, depending on what the terms and conditions with their employers are.
If you’re in Cambodia, low on cash and want to make a go of it here, chances are, you’re going to end up teaching ESL sooner or later; but weary traveller, fear not. Asia Pundits is going to going to be bringing you an in your face series on what you need to know about the ESL scene in Cambodia. We are going to give you the low-down and the ins and outs on the industry. We are also going to let you know about pitfalls that you can avoid, should you choose to jump ship and set up shop in the Kingdom of Wonder.
Our first part of the series will feature the people who are the most involved in the ESL “education” community, the movers and shakers, the teachers. We are going to let you know about the characters you’ll be working and running around with, should you choose to move to Cambodia to pursue a career as an English teacher. Do you have what it takes to make it in this highly “competitive” and rapidly expanding industry? You’ll see it all when you come to Cambodia; it’s best to be prepared before you arrive. Let us introduce you to who’ll you be working with.
The Teachers
The ESL rodeo clowns running around Phnom Penh are a colourful and sorted set of folks. Some are perfectly normal people who lead lives comparable to ESLers in other countries; however, the normal sort are in the minority at the several schools in Phnom Penh that I’ve had the pleasure of working at. The majority of “teachers” living in Phnom Penh are characters cut straight out of a Kerouac or Bukowski tale, true specimens of the human species. Many go off the rails while in-country and others were off the rails before they even got here. English teachers in Phnom Penh lead precarious and unconventional lives by western standards. The dark and dirty nature of Phnom Penh sucks in people of a certain ilk and Cambodian society chews them up a bit and spits them back out into what they are while they’re here. It’s a place where anything goes and everything is for sale and available 24 hours a day. Booze and sex are as cheap as can be and the drugs are plentiful. There is nobody to tell you “no” in Cambodia except for yourself. The country is a true degenerate’s playground, a testament to the glorification of instant gratification in the digital age.
As Cambodia has emerged from it’s not too distant genocidal past, the Cambodian government has opened it’s arms and welcomed international investment and “tourism” of all kinds. In trying to draw foreigners in and shake the country’s reputation as a land mine ridden hell hole, Cambodian officials have made visa regulations very lax for citizens of most countries. Unlike most other countries in the world, Cambodia has no real restriction on the amount of time a foreigner is allowed to stay in-country. Prospective teachers simply pay for a month-long business visa upon arrival at the border. It is possible to renew the business visa for up to a year at a time indefinitely. There are no background checks or questions asked as to what you are going to be up to for the next year. Your reasons for being here are taken on good faith, a wad of cash, and a wink and a nod from a travel agent, no visit to the immigration office required. With little to no visa regulations, schools get quite the mixed bag of characters rumbling through this dusty outpost on the edge of the Mekong.
Another reason for the apparent lack of quality teachers in Phnom Penh is simply the transient nature of the place. The leading industry in Cambodia is tourism. There are backpackers and travellers coming and going through the country all the time. Some of the travellers fall in love with the place (or a find a local girl that fits their fancy) and decide to set up shop. That is, until they realize that Cambodia really is still a third world country, people are poor as fuck and that maybe things back at mom’s house weren’t too bad at all. These type of teachers are the most despised by the long-term ESL crowd in Cambodia because they feel the backpackers intentions for coming here were nothing more than self-serving at best. Long-termers feel the midnight-running backpackers ruin the “good name” of foreign ESL teachers in Cambodia. The way visa regulations are set up here basically allows and encourages bottom feeder teachers to exist and thrive. So far it seems, the government doesn’t seem too interested in changing the immigration regulations any time soon and Cambodia will continue to see backpacker teachers for some time to come.
The place draws in all kinds of “teachers”: There are sexpats, love-begotten travellers who took the plunge and married a local, ice-heads, middle aged conspiracy theorists, stay-drunks, grizzled Vietnam war vets, backpacker “teachers” fresh out the local clown college, paedophiles, dead-enders, teachers that give it there all and fall flat on their faces, quiz night junkies, real junkies, economic refugees from the West, pill poppers, waste-awayers, midnight runners, dope fiends, gossip queens, jaded career teachers, wanna-be rock stars, aged hippies riding on those waves from a different time, “professional” teachers, who show their true profession after a few drinks, warrant dodgers, thieves, already goners, drugged out madmen, perves, dipshits, loudmouths, lowlifes, Cali girls, teacher for one-dayers, wandering mystics and you’ve already been introduced to all the rest on your last backpacking adventure through Asia or the last time you visited the local expat watering hole.
One type of teacher you are sure to meet in Cambodia is the long-termer. This type of teacher can usually be seen sitting around the office, drinking black Vietnamese coffee, reading copies of the Phnom Penh Post or the Cambodia Daily and bitching loudly with other long-termers about the ills of Cambodian society and the poor working conditions of the school. These teachers usually sit segregated in the corner of the teacher’s room and away from other teachers because of their self-perceived higher status for being in Cambodia for so long and putting in the time. You can also find them talking shit over at Khmer440.com, where they can regularly be seen discussing the finer points of life in Cambodia or offering helpful advice to new arrivals.
Schools have mixed feelings about long-term teachers. On one hand, schools like long-termers because they are willing to stay indefinitely, unlike most of the trashbags that blow through town. On the other hand, schools aren’t sad when they go because new teachers don’t command as high of a salary and are more easily manipulated. Long-term teachers would be great assets to schools if they actually gave a shit about anyone besides themselves. Most long-term teachers do their job adequately, but rarely go above and beyond the call of duty. They rush out the doors of the school as soon as the bell rings and are usually on their motos before the students are even out the door. They generally have no interest in showing a newbie the ropes. Unfortunately you’re going to have to ask these cynics for help when you first start because Khmer management, are for the most part, incompetent about training new teachers. Try to play nice with these guys when you first start your new job.
I saw one of the more famous posters from Khmer440 and a long-term English teacher in Cambodia tell some geezer part-timer from America, clearly inept with computers and needing a little help entering his scores, “I don’t have time to listen to your dribble! If you need help, go down to the office and ask one of the admin women to do it. They aren’t doing anything and you clearly don’t have a clue!” The old man sat there speechless for a moment and said, “Well, OK then,” and got up and walked out of the room, clearly stunned by the long-termer’s outburst. The riled-up long-termer then turned to me and asked, “Shouldn’t he be dead by now?” It’s this type of attitude that you’ll be up against, so one should be wary about asking “stupid questions” or things can quickly go awry. The old codger from America who couldn’t figure out the spread-sheet was fired, and of course they kept the long-termer, who despite his crotchety attitude, did know how to properly run an Excel spread-sheet.
Cambodian language schools usually keep around at least one or two foreign drug addicts/alcoholics in-stock. This type of teacher sometimes comes to Cambodia with good intentions, but is quickly sucked in by the 50 cent beers and easy access to prescription and illegal drugs. You will often see these guys coming into work looking all sweaty and haggard after missing a few days due to being “sick”. Their ruse is eventually discovered after their drug and boozing efforts over-take the efforts they are putting into teaching and they begin to miss work for days at a time. These teachers either end up going back to their country to sober up or/and to continue their misguided existence, or they go home as a pile of ashes to sit quietly on the family’s fireplace mantle for the next 30 years.
Cambodian schools also like to keep a fresh supply of middle-aged western women around as well. These sex-less creatures are there to make sure conversations during the break-time don’t get any more out of hand than they already are. Most of these women last a term or two before moving on to another job or another country. While middle-aged dregs generally don’t mingle well with other teachers, they can be insightful resources into the mindset of your mother and shocking examples of lives too far gone after years on the road.
Another type of teacher you’re invariably going to meet is the aforementioned and infamously dreaded backpacker teacher. These teachers rock into Phnom Penh and think they are going to save Cambodia from itself. They have grand plans of taking the city over and the sky is the limit. They always start the job off saying they are going to live here for several years and may even plan to learn Khmer. Some backpackers even go as far as getting “qualified” from Language Corps, a 30 day and $1500 qualification that is essentially worthless outside of Cambodia and is a total waste of time because schools here couldn’t care less about a teacher’s actual qualifications.
The same routine always inevitably follows with backpacker teachers. After the course, the teacher finds a job with ease. A month or two into the job, the teacher realizes that the training program has taught them absolutely nothing about what they need to actually be a teacher. The new “teacher” is usually then promptly fired or they quit on their own accord after the term finishes. A backpacker might drift around from school to school for a while until funds dry up and they’re forced to call mom and dad for a ticket back home or they may simply jaunt off on their next backpacking trip, never to be seen or heard from again.
Language schools also contribute greatly to the low quality of teachers in Cambodia. It seems that they will hire anyone who fits the bill of a “westerner”, so long as they speak passable English. There are absolutely no standards; white is right in Cambodia. The schools usually don’t even bother to check-up on the applicant’s CV or see that degrees presented by applicants are in fact legitimate. Khmer management see foreign teachers as a means to an end. The end game is the school making money and the smaller details aren’t important. It doesn’t matter to the schools who’s standing in that classroom; it could be some slack-jawed idiot for all they care, so long as it’s a westerner with a pulse. Teachers are the replaceable parts of the school in Cambodia. There will always be someone who is willing to teach for 10 dollars an hour here. Throw someone in there, kill that time, fill up those classes and get er’ done. It’s the Cambodian way!
{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
Spot on.
Jolly good show. Perhaps uncomfortably on the mark for some. (much of this applies to all expats, not just the ESL crowd…)
I started doing the Language Corps course on the 12 of March. I really cannot believe your comment about this company. I'm having a positive experience with them here in Phnom Penh but I agree that things are perfect like back home. The peers in my class are not backpackers and want to take teaching is Asia seriously. I have shown this article to the staff and they have said that you have never done their course! So how can you talk about something you haven't done??? Also This company sends teachers all over the world, so how can you say that this certificate is "worthless" outside of Cambodia!!! Clear it can't be if you look at the blogs on the internet that have Language Corps on them. I researched this company thoroughly before committing my money to them. They been running for more than 9 years. It seem that you have a personal issue with them?
They're obviously doing wonders for your grammar…
Nick for the Win!
My recent post Episode 36
@Sandra Thank you for reading and taking the time to respond. Let me address a few of the points you mentioned. I have no personal issues with Language Corps and I personally know some people involved with the company and they are outstanding folks. They work with what they get. What I wrote in this piece was my opinion after living and working as a teacher in Kingdom for the last year. As you can tell from the first sentence of the post, it's an editorial piece, something we here at Asia Pundits like to do from time to time, and not to be taken as hard and fast breaking news.
While there are some success stories out of Language Corps, the number of failures is disproportional. This is mostly because Language Corps requirements for entrance are so low because they are a business. For example, we had a 19 year old kid, fresh out of Language Corps meltdown and flee the scene a few months after starting. Another Language Corps graduate, first time away from home, good intentions and all –became a pill popper and couldn't keep a job. Another Language Corps girl quit our school without giving notice and went on a months long backpacking stint through Southeast Asia, never to be heard from again. And the list goes on. There are good graduates from the school, and I know some of them personally, but most Language Corps grads don't stick around for more than a few months.
If you would have done some more research, you would know that the CELTA is the most widely recongized ESL teaching certificate, and would have been a better value financially and career wise. In Korea, schools will say, "Where is your CELTA", not "Where is your Language Corps certificate?" Again, my main complaint with Language Corps is that if people actually read about Cambodia and knew about this place before they came, they would know that this course is totally unnecessary and a waste of money because schools here don't require it. You can take the course and make $10 an hour or you can not take the course and make $10 an hour. If you are a good teacher, the course is going to matter little and your natural skills are going to see you through. I hope you can see where I am coming from and you should be able to figure this all out after you get a job and work here awhile longer.
You can get a job outside of Cambodia with a Language Corps certificate, as there are a couple countries that don't require ANY form of certification.
Anyone who pays for not a CELTA/DELTA/TrinityCertTEFL etc is not really intelligent enough to teach in a good school.
Highly informative and right to the point. I appreciate the fact that the truth can be told so those thinking about it can deal with the facts.
"The place draws in all kinds of “teachers”: There are sexpats, love-begotten travellers who took the plunge and married a local, ice-heads, middle aged conspiracy theorists, stay-drunks, grizzled Vietnam war vets, backpacker “teachers” fresh out the local clown college, paedophiles, dead-enders, teachers that give it there all and fall flat on their faces, quiz night junkies, real junkies, economic refugees from the West, pill poppers, waste-awayers, midnight runners, dope fiends, gossip queens, jaded career teachers, wanna-be rock stars, aged hippies riding on those waves from a different time, “professional” teachers, who show their true profession after a few drinks, warrant dodgers, thieves, already goners, drugged out madmen, perves, dipshits, loudmouths, lowlifes, Cali girls, teacher for one-dayers, wandering mystics and you’ve already been introduced to all the rest on your last backpacking adventure through Asia or the last time you visited the local expat watering hole."
Where would you place yourself on this list? I had fun reading this editorial and agree with most of it, but it seems unbalanced. There are good people, who are also good teachers, in Phnom Penh. Don't these people deserve a shout out for doing something positive with there life? People who are doing something like…teaching to pay the bills and running a blog, all the while not engaging in hard drugs, prostitution or marrying locals.
What's wrong with marrying locals?
@anonymous Thank you for reading and responding. If you will reread the article, I wrote, "Some (teachers) are perfectly normal people who lead lives comparable to ESLers in other countries; however, the normal sort are in the minority at the several schools in Phnom Penh that I’ve had the pleasure of working at." I'm not denying or saying there aren't good teachers here; there just aren't many that I know personally. Now, if you want to work in international schools, the whole nature of the game changes because the requirements for the job are greater. I have no experience at international schools in Phnom Penh, so I can't comment. I am talking strictly about the language schools I've worked at.
I say in the article that there are good teachers here and I know some. Again, there are SOME good teachers here, but they aren't in the majority. Most teachers here are fly by night types; just look at your office from month to month. There are a few keepers every term, but the line-up is going to change quickly. People who know more than I about education will tell you that high staff turn over is indicitive of either bad teachers or bad schools – which I will discuss next week.
The folks I listed are actually people I have come across in my year in Cambodia. I am not making any of these characters up.
Here are another couple of anacdotal examples you might find funny:
My school took a staff photo last year at the end of December. In just 3 short months, we've lost 8 teachers, 2 this month. So they have us all there on the yearly calander, lookin the part of the slackjawed fool. Now the kids can go home and point and show their parents what teacher has quit this week and for what reason. And believe me, some of the reasons are ridiculous and the kids know about them.
Our school is bleeding teachers so badly right now that they threatened to turn midnight runners into the US Dept of State and the US Dept of Labor, not knowing that the US government would probably encourage it's citizens to flee from a shifty English school in the middle of Cambodia and that the Dept of Labor has no authority outside the United States. Great stuff, I would take a picture of it, but I don't want to lose my job. Anyway take what you read lightly and try not to get upset, know it's a generalization and character portrait of the community at large. Nothing wrong with a little bit of inward reflection is there?
I stand corrected. Good read, wasn’t offended at all. Yeah, it’s true a large majority do fit the categories you mentioned. And you’re spot on with the biz and admin aspect. Just didn’t want potential, well-adjusted teachers to think teaching here is a complete joke…although it often is! Keep up the good work!
Nailed it. After looking into the vortex of my future–the middle-aged Western woman–I've decided to jump ship. Too bad for the 3 kids that actually gave a shit in class…
Out of interest, which category would you put yourself in, or are you an exception to the rule?
Thank you for writing this editorial piece. I am about to graduate from college and want to teach in Cambodia, but wonder if it's worth it. Any tips for getting hired quickly?
I'm not an English teacher, but here's a good tip: If you want something, show up. If you want a job teaching in Cambodia, get a one way ticket, find an apartment for a month, walk outside and go get a job. Any other way is wasting time.
Hi there. Enjoyed your article as I'm going to be teaching for a year at a NGO, and I like to know what I'm getting myself into. But, your unprofessional-ism really turned me off, and really called into question the legitimacy of your article. I will be taking what you have said with a huge grain of salt..
Thanks for reading Matt. Have you actually spent any time in Cambodia? If not just wait and see. You can call into question the "legitimacy of my article" all you want, but until you've actually been in country and lived, you really don't have any idea of what Cambodia is really like at all. If you want to see the place through rose colored lenses that is your choice. I'm just telling it like I see it. Reply back to me after you've been in country for a year and let me know how that "huge grain of salt" worked out for you.
You are right that I don't know what it's like. But, as I've said before, your negativity and unprofessional-ism really shows. If your article shows that, how are people out there supposed to trust your words? Maybe, you are just a negative nancy in real life and cause problems with those around you? Maybe you are just the opposite and an awesome hard worker. But, if you want to be taken seriously I would have others review/edit your work before posting online.
This article has been reviewed and posted on other sites besides my own and has received, for the most part, positive reviews from people who've actually lived in-country. Again, since you've never been to Cambodia, you really don't know what it's like. I think your problem is that I see life in Cambodia differently than the land of positivity you've built for yourself in your mind, where foreigners come and do good things to help a struggling nation. Cambodia is the land of "negativity and unprofessional-ism", and you will see it first hand once you arrive, not from the locals, but from the expats and "professionals" you see running around Phnom Penh. I'm just doing my best to give you and other readers a heads up about what they are getting themselves into.
Take it for what you will and have a good time. But don't think for one minute you are heading into a professional work environment that's going to change Cambodian society in any meaningful way. Any change to the country needs to come from within and it will. Let me guess, your even paying for the honor of volunteering? So from the very beginning, the game is rigged and someone is making money off your intent to do good. And once you leave and the students who've become attached to you? Who cares right? It was a fun year in Asia. That's the problem with westerners who come to Cambodia and think they are doing good for the country. In reality they are just continuing Cambodia's long and sad tradition of being a curiosity to the west, when it serves their own selfish needs. http://www.expat-advisory.com/articles/southeast-…
You like to assume a lot about me don't you? No, I do not plan on going there thinking "I'm going to save the world". And no, I'm not paying for the "grand experience to volunteer". I'm not joining an aids organization, and I'm not giving away anything except for my time. I'll be honest in that my volunteering is mostly for my own selfish reasons in that I'm in a rut and I'm heading off to some of my own self-discovery. Granted, this can be done anywhere, but I love teaching English and I love working with kids. I've done it before for 4 years in Korea. So I do know what its like somewhat in a third world country, and I've dealt with unprofessional coworkers/teachers.
Like you said, you can't save anyone without them helping themselves. The change that needs to come to bring the country out of third world status needs to come within. Now, like I said, I can understand what you are saying and there may be some truth in this article. I know Korea had to pass laws making it to where you need a 4 year degree to teach legally over there. That was to prevent all of the dirt bags/child molesters from teaching over there. My point is that the way you present yourself is shitty at best. And your last post exemplified it.
" I've done it before for 4 years in Korea. So I do know what its like somewhat in a third world country"
Right Matt, because Korea is a third world country like Cambodia. I bet you won't even be able to tell the difference.
Like I said, somewhat. Some would argue that Korea is closer a first world country. And I still not completely sure what its like in Cambodia. And I won't until I arrive and do my stint. But South Korea is still considered a third world country. Especially in the rural areas. I know because I've been out there.Korea has its own share of "orphanages' and shitty teachers. I've seen poverty and people living in shacks. I realize that most if not all of Cambodia is like that where as its in smaller pockets in Korea(you should know this as you've been to Korea, unless you never left Seoul). I know that Cambodia is 10 times worse.
And I like how you upvoted yourself. I accidentally upvoted one of your other comments. If this is not your company/website, I don't see how they keep you here with the way you are acting. I can act like a dick on here because I'm just a stupid commenter. But unless all you care about is page views, then you should get your act together and act more like a professional. Otherwise, neither you or this site is going to grow.
Matt
I have lived in Siem Reap for 8 months and vouch for everything that was written..the thing about Cambodia is..You can only find out about this place until you experience it firsthand..Korea indeed, when was they last time the people in South Korea ate corn from faeces just to stop the hunger pains …You will find out the hard way if you come here with your Fox TV attitude..good luck..ps..I teach English and am stoned all day….EASY LIFE….
You seem to know a lot, Matt, for someone who's never been away from his mum's teat. What are you, about 20? Quit shitting all over the man's site, and for God's sake, stop commenting on others' professionalism until you develop your own. Tosser.
i can teach very good english
Great article. Where is part 2?
Thanks for reading. I have had this article finished for awhile, but haven't posted it for whatever reason. It can be found here: http://www.asiapundits.com/regions/se-asia/the-es…
Thank you all for reading. Part 2: Soft Landings, Getting a Job (and Keepin’ Your Sanity) can be found at this URL – http://www.asiapundits.com/regions/se-asia/the-es…
Great article!
All I can discern from Matt's comments is that one doesn't actually need to speak English to get a job teaching English in Korea. And those aren't all typos Matt. Your grammar is lousy too, which of course you're imparting to hundreds of future English speakers. Thanks. Those of us that actually know the language will have to fix your shoddy work.
don't be so bloody anal. read the other comments. well written and true. regardless of the shitty grammar and lack of hyphens, etc. hell, who am i to talk? i can't be bothered with capital letters now can i.
Couldn't agree more
Some people tend to write as they speak
we don't live in a perfect English literate world.
Maybe you do.
I generally find teachers like yourself who like
finding fault in other people, are the worst teachers to hire.
You like to lecture not teach.
Give me someone with a desire to teach and enthusiasm over a
boring academic any day.
This is Asia not Cambridge.
Thanks for an entertaining and enlightening editorial piece, asiapundits…pundit?
Is it easy to work as an ESL teacher in Cambodia?? i'm actually teaching as an ESL teacher in Cebu, Philippines and i'm very much interested to teach English in Cambodia…would it be possible??
I taught in southern China for eight years and it's the same shit there too. Same personalities, same 'issues', same collection of drifters, bums, deadbeats and – may God help us all -'professionals'.
Great article.
Is there any other ways that we actually help this country'? I would really like to help out since my family is from Cambodia.
That was a flippin' great read. Love your style
I am a mature person about to retire as an Adult Educator in Australia(TAFE).I have the Cert 4 TESOL-lots of expereince plus other degrees.I would like to volunteer for 6 mths teaching ESL to adults in Cambodia–can anyone tell me a reliable way of organising this please?
Hahaha, Great post that actually for some, probably unhealthy, reason makes me want to dessert my plans of Teaching and Thailand and move back to PP straight away! I stayed there in 2006. Lovely city, completely insane city, but still lovely.
But I have heard that things there actually has improved the last few years? (with exception for the corruption of course).
And what is this CAMKO city plans I've seen on youtube? Some kind of Korea/Cambodian project as far as I've understood. Any inside information on this?
I also heard that they erased the trashy backpacker getto/green light district around Boeng kak, is that true? Well, when I was there it was a chaotic place, and I really laughed when you described all these characters. I can really imagine the picture from the peers I met while being there. For someone who never been there (or been there on a cultural educational family trip and somehow succeeded to not see what was going on right in front of their eyes), this article may seem a bit over the top. But if you stayed around there for quite some time, you are bound to meet people you never thought you would meet ever in your life! Like the proper English retired man I met who had a habit of injecting Heroin after dinner, the guys who completely lost all morals and who would go insane without a 15-17 year old bar girl beside them before the booze shuts down their system for the night. Not to forget the Huge numbers of stoned hippies! (which is inevitable in a city where every moto driver screams "SKUNK SKUNK!" as soon as a westerner passes).
Well, it was some time since I was there, but it might not be too long until I'm back.
Although I love to live on the Thai side for all it's worth, at least I will be a legal worker over in Cambodia (lack 2 year uni degree…) could be worth a try while I'm finish my studies on distance. I'm sure I would fit right in there! hahaha, thanks!
Thailand is no different and my question to you would be.
If the teachers are so shit in Cambodia why is the level
of English so superior to their neighboring counties.
Thailand as an example is shocking in comparison,yet they would have
you believe that they have all the best teachers.
What you describe above happens in most Asian countries and Myanamar
will be the next haven.
Keep sending all the boring teachers to Korea they can can continue to
lecture on how good they are.
Kind of true in South America, too. I think it's the ESL subculture.
Good article… but it also sounds quite a lot like rural China and maybe bits of Korea.
Thank you for provide an inside information about teaching English in Cambodia. I just setup a small blog that aims to help people to find a part time job in Cambodia.
I believe teaching English would be the best choice for them. I look forward to see you in person soon!
Cheers
Santel
My recent post Teaching English In Cambodia
Beautiful article. Try to write the truth on Khmer440.com as you have and the trolls roll out (mostly admins pretending to be teachers) to protect their interests. Its a real shame as its the only real site here to get info. Check the dates on everything you read. Anything more than 4 yrs. old is outdated and most of it is.
Guess you could call me an economic/political immigrant as I left Amer. 14 years ago and never looked back. After 7 years of Thaksin destroying all that was good in the land of the now missing smiles, I came to Cambodia 7 years ago. The work sucks but the freedom quotient is very high which is the main reason I'm here and not in the land of too many laws.
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I'll share 2 things you should know before coming :
First is "hourly pay". The administrators will happily sign you up for $10/hr and quote and average $1000/mo. This would be a lie. They will require you to not only grade and prep as you might assume but go to "meetings". When I first came, I worked at PUC and was surprised to find out they have an incredible amount of holidays from Dec. to May meaning no $1000/mo. The next surprise was they gave so many meetings and tests that with all hours included, actual take-home pay was closer to $4/hr. Admins here are unable to translate "hourly wage" and are totally aware of the fact that they are lieing and pretending they can't understand but fight continually to keep the lie alive. New teachers are fed the line of it being tradition knowing such teachers are fearful of challenging such but its only another argument with no fact. Its actually fashion as its only been happening for a decade or so starting with a little and growing each year. They love newbies as they fall for it every time. Long-timers get our jobs when no newbies are available and then grudgingly. No reason to hire a teacher when you can have a slave for the same pay. We know their game and thats bad. We are labeled as those with bad work ethics for not working for free. We have our reasons.
Its not that they can't afford to pay. They'd just prefer to keep the money. Ly Cheng, owner of Beltei school is now a multi-millionaire while not one teacher has seen a raise in all these years and the extra demands have grown along with price of living. Rattana, owner of PUC owns homes outright in Canada, Amerika, and Cambodia. And most of these kids get delivered from a house full of maids and servants in $100,000 SUVs if not Hummers. These people don't need charity and so I term it "charity for the rich" which seems immoral and wrong. Newbies though, faced with "tradition" and "poor starving Cambodia" fall for it every time. Great scam over-all.
Secondly, Some meetings are quite long and compulsory. These would be illegal in most countries. I used to work nights at Beltei (7.5 hrs/wk.) and had to go to 2 "meetings" of 6 hours apiece in 2 months to be photographed while listening to endless Khmer drivel. In 7 years I never heard a single thing I needed to know at a meeting but you'll find my face advertizing many schools.
What newbies need to do is know about the "honeymoon period" which lasts about 1-3 months. To actually make your $10/hr., smile and say yes to everything at the interview. Then don't go to any meetings. They'll then talk of "tradition" and "work ethics". Keep smiling and saying "yes". There's good arguments as to why you're not going to them such as the fact that there is no such tradition (Teaching at Pagodas by monks receiving food, healthcare, housing, and other needs is traditional), the meetings are not meetings but photo-ops set up by the massive sales departments, and the very fact that "hourly pay" means payed for each hour. As well as the "its normal" argument as they expect the same duties one with salary would get in nearly every teaching job on the planet making salaries normal but not a normal worth mentioning. Arguing will go nowhere as only those who follow the "Getting Teachers to Work for Free" playbook achieve admin status. Don't argue. Just smile and don't do it. Then just change schools every 6 months or when the honeymoon is over and they discover you know their game and you actually want the actual $10/hr. promised.
If you do, as I do, have a good work ethic than stay away. Those of us who have many years experience will do things not understood by our less qualified admins and what they don't understand is wrong. I'd love to improve many of the schools I've worked at with a modified PBIC behavioral management program and specialized phonetics programs to address the aspirating of end consonants and the more difficult sounds with programs I've worked on and have evolved for 14 years but am prohibited due to the fact admins here don't even know what they are and are lazy to study. They only know they need control and they can't control what they don't understand.
In conclusion, For success here, dumb everything down, smile like you're on glue, and do as they do right or stupid. Your reward will be more of the same, you'll never get a raise, and after doing great, watch the worst and newest teachers get better schedules while the admins out of laziness give no consideration to your superior work. Not so much as the benefit of a better schedule. Success here is survival.
PS for those not white, expect $2/hr. less.
Good luck. You might well need it.