Life of a Shopping Mall English Teacher

shopping mall english teacher

 

IELTS               TOEFL       

 

Some people love teaching at a traditional school whilst others prefer working in a shopping mall, can we learn to respect each other? I’m a shopping mall English teacher. I’m the guy who you see walking around the mall on the weekend or heading to a class in the evening midweek.

I’m highly trained, help students and provide a service but it seems I’m at the bottom of the teaching barrel in a lot of people’s opinions.

I actually wrote an article for Ajarn.com which you can check out here about why I work in a shopping mall language center so I apologize if I do repeat myself a bit but I feel people are being snobbish about us “shopping mall language school chalkies”.

This article is mainly focused on Thailand but I am sure it applies for TEFL language school teachers around the world.

Knowing Our Place

Head into pretty much any shopping mall in Thailand and you will find an education zone with many tutoring schools covering English, maths, science, music and many other subjects. Looking specifically in Thailand you will see ECC, Inlingua, Wall Street and British Council in many malls as well as many other smaller companies and private operations. The question is why do these places exist?

I could argue that they exist because the local school system, including the foreign teachers who work there, are failing and students need the help of us poor souls who can only get jobs in a mall to help them but I’m not here to make enemies or look down on others. In reality I feel there are so many shopping mall English centers because parents want their children to learn and it is part of the culture here to push them academically.

Another important thing is that we teach many adults who have no other way of leaning English. There is also an element that parents want to drop there kids off for a few hours in the evening / on the weekend whilst they go shopping or get some peace and quiet.

Overall, whatever the reason, there is demand for language schools and as such TEFL teachers are needed to help teach at these locations.

Money and Hours

The main thing I get is people think shopping mall English teachers are at the bottom of the list for pay and work the worst hours.

In terms of hours I can see how some people may not think they are appealing but for me it is perfect. I work 4 days a week, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and full days on the weekend. I guess this is pretty common for many teachers in my position although I’m sure many do work an extra day (I actually know a few who only work weekends too).

It is pretty subjective as to whether these are good times to work but I love it as I have a lot of free time midweek to do things when prices are lower and crowds smaller. On weekends I am finished by 4pm so have time to go out but I do know some teachers work later than this. My girlfriend has lots of time off midweek so it suits us just fine but for others it could be a huge problem.

People also assume us shopping mall teachers are poor. Sure I see adverts for 300 Baht an hour jobs but a quick look online shows schools offering more than this:

British Council – at least 900 Baht an hour

Language express – 600 Baht an hour

Inlingua – at least 400 baht an hour

Pattaya School of Languages and Computers – at least 500 baht an hour

Education Gateway Chiang Mai – 400 baht an hour

An argument with this is that you only get paid what you teach and whilst that is true you would normally sign a contract with a minimum number of hours so you get an idea of how much to expect. I just moved onto this style of contract and have a minimum 8 hour contract but so far have 17 hours, all guaranteed to be paid even if students no show (hasn’t happened yet in 6 months).

Just as an example lets say a language school teacher makes 500 Baht an hour and has 20 hours guaranteed a week which works out at around 40,000 THB a month. Another thing to bear in mind is that you can sometimes pick up overtime if you want to, something which I take advantage of every so often when I feel like it.

There are also many language centers offering full time salaries for those who are looking for a guaranteed salary and a bit more security.

Wall Street English – 47,500 Baht

Modulo Language School – at least 40,000 Baht

Siam Computer and Language – at least 40,000 Baht

Just from looking at these three schools you can see the salaries are better than most government high schools (30-35k a month) which should hopefully put to bed the idea that shopping mall English teachers are at the bottom of the list in terms of salary.

Overall, whatever type of teaching you do there will be jobs offering good and bad salaries. Just be sensible and know how much you need to make and chose the best option for you.

Working in a Mall is Sad and Depressing

Walking around Central Chaengwattana where I work, I see many foreigners but they all seem to look at me as if they feel sorry for me. The same happened at my previous job at Fashion Island. I guess some foreigners I see in the mall work here in traditional schools and it’s as if they feel I work in a food van compared to their swanky restaurant.

I don’t know why people get snobbish about this and feel that as I am not working in a traditional school I am not a “proper” teacher. The thing is I did work in a traditional school and, in my opinion, working in the mall is so much better.

Shopping malls usually have great transport connections which means you can live in an area you want and commute easier than traditional schools which are more likely to be in residential areas with less public transport.

School canteens are normally pretty crap so being in the shopping mall I can take advantage of the many restaurants and the food courts! I can eat Japanese food one day and then Thai the next or take advantage of western food options. Also if I fancy a snack I can pop out and get something easily.

As I work in the mall I can go shopping whenever I want and pick up things from the supermarket in my break. I rarely have a wasted hour. Talking about breaks I can also go and do things in the mall when I have free time during the day, I’m not stuck to a teachers room on the school campus.

Work Environment

shopping mall english teacherOver my 4 years in Thailand I have been to the following language centers to either work, train or have interviews: Wall Street, ECC, Inlingua and British Council. All of them had modern classrooms with whiteboards (some interactive), computers and air conditioning. Compared to the standard Thai school classroom they are a pleasure to teach in.

The standard shopping mall language center is a class above a traditional school in terms of appearance, facilities and temperature! I don’t need to worry about sweating or working in a fan cooled room anymore, sometimes it actually gets a bit too cold in my classroom and I have to put a sweater on!

I’ve been lucky that I have had great Thai colleagues and managers over the time and have been hired directly each time, no agents needed…..

Talking of managers I have mainly had foreign managers in language centers which means more cultural understanding (Christmas is always a day off for teachers!) and someone who has been in TEFL and has experience. I only had one government school job in Thailand and the Thai manager couldn’t really speak English and didn’t listen to any of the foreign teacher’s concerns.

Type of Work

I think a lot of people assume language school teachers are pretty much babysitters who don’t do “real” teaching.

Throughout my time in language schools I have taught IELTS, business English, grammar courses and conversation classes to name but a few. I worked in a traditional school setting and I must say a language center provides smaller classes and a better chance to actually teach students.

I actually get the chance to use many skills I learnt in my teacher training and with class sizes a  lot smaller than average (8-20 students in general) compared to traditional schools, I feel more comfortable in the classroom.

I have also been lucky but the languages schools I have worked in have provided training sessions and development opportunities.

The Shopping Mall English Teacher

So overall I ask that you don’t feel bad when you see us walking around the mall, give us a smile and know that we are doing alright.

As I said at the start of this article there are different types of teachers here in Thailand and I wish there was a bit more respect between us all. I personally don’t enjoy teaching in traditional schools but maybe you do. If you love being in a government school then good for you, I’m glad you enjoy your job, just remember I love mine too!

About Richard 176 Articles
British guy living and working in Bangkok, Thailand since 2013. Running LifeInANewCountry.com teaching and writer of Settling in Thailand expat book.

8 Comments

  1. I wouldn’t worry too much about comments from “Bangkok Phil” as he is clearly regretting his life choices as he creeps slowly into old age. Despite the teeth whitening and personal trainer 😉 Check out his tweets and you can see he wishes he was in a small village in England rather than a faceless suburb of Bangkok. Thems the breaks, Phil!

    • I think Phil just worked in the low paying side of things although I recall he did manage one center for a time. I would like to know what he feels about 30K paying government school jobs and if these are better.

      My main point is that there are language schools who do pay good salaries and offer good conditions to staff.

    • Hi Julien,

      Thanks for writing!

      Schools like yours are what I am talking about in my article, good pay, insurance and paid holidays. I just don’t know how people could recommend teaching government schools at 34K a month over a language school with decent benefits. It seems some people cant get past the idea of 300 Baht an hour being normal when it isn’t really.

      I always recommend people take a look at language schools and I’m sure you have a lot of people keen at the very decent salary you’re offering!

  2. In 1997 I moved to Bangkok at the recommendation of a friend who also helped get me a job at a school a few months later. I started at Siam Computer Language School for 150 Baht an hour going to different branches usually at malls. It was before the crash and I think the rate was around 25 to the dollar.

    My experiences were similar to what you described. I enjoyed it, the pay was crap but costs were low, still lived well. The first year while at the private school, I still moonlighted on weekends as I it was enjoyable teaching a varied range of students.
    I did notice other teachers giving condescending looks but hell I was living and teaching in Thailand, good times.

  3. Hi Richard, and thanks for your insightful post about shopping mall English teachers! I have lived in Phuket now for the past 16 months and have to admit that I’ve never noticed any “education zones” at either of the two malls on the island (Central Festival & Jungceylon). I teach in an International Program (aka EP) at a Thai government school and can relate to many of your comments about the horrid conditions of classrooms, including technology, when available. It sounds as though the conditions, management and pay at many of these shopping mall education facilities are well above the standard Thai government school. Thanks for opening my eyes and best of luck to you in the future!

    • Thanks Mike,

      I did a few months in a Thai government school and it just isn’t for me. The conditions at the language schools I have taught at are certainly a cut above and I wont be changing back.

Comments are closed.