Vdara Resort/CELTA Course; Selection of School

On October 8, we checked into the Vdara Resort a few miles south of downtown Chiang Mai, Thailand, for a 4-week course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.  Vdara is lovely:

The resort was chosen by the sponsors of the CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages -- that doesn't match up with the acronym, but that's what Cambridge says it stands for) course as a place for students to stay and to take classes, study, and teach.  We had applied for the course back in April 2012, then had each done an interview with an interviewer in Thailand via Skype.  We passed those two steps.  We had been repeatedly warned that the course is very intense and would require long days and nights of hard work, so we can't complain about not being warned.  George noted in his journal early on:  "Intense CELTA training with classes every weekday, then Teacher Practice (lesson planning and then feedback on lessons), then lessons at night from 6 to 8, dinner afterward."  Mary suggested early on that we drop out, reminding George that the original intention for taking the course was to get a 12-month visa, which we were able to obtain another way, but George had argued her out of that. 

Students are constantly being assessed in the course -- on class participation, written assignments, and, most important, lessons actually delivered.  Local Thai folks (all adults) sign up to take classes 2 hours a night, 5 nights a week; and the CELTA students teach almost all of them and are assessed while they do it and then debriefed by the tutors the next day.  Failure to meet standards on more than a few of the requirements means no certificate.  We both were scoring "Up to Standard" on all of our assessments and lessons, but accomplishing that entailed working until midnight many nights and then spending the days in classes and doing more lesson planning. Ten days in, when George realized he had a knot in his stomach as he was leaving a class with yet more work to do, lessons to prepare and papers to write, he decided he had had enough. 

Our fellow students were almost all young folks with either prior foreign teaching experience or a strong desire to travel and to teach English for pay.  Most were from the British Commonwealth (UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), although there were three other Americans in our class of 12.  For most of them, the CELTA certificate is the key to a job or a better job.  We are volunteer teachers and no one is asking for certificates of our training, so the certificate didn't mean much -- or anything -- to us.  George told Mary what he had decided and she said she would quit as well; he told her she shouldn't do that because of him, but she reminded him that the idea had been hers in the first place.  So we went down to meet with our two tutors and told them; they immediately offered us the option to audit the classes without having to do the papers or prepare lesson plans or teach.  We didn't know that was an option but accepted immediately.  So we continued to learn all the good ideas that Cambridge has about teaching English to non-native speakers during our final two weeks without the pressure.

We actually had time to leave Vdara and see some more of Thailand -- more about that to come.  The course ended on November 2 with final lessons taught and then a party with tutors, CELTA students, and the Thai students.  It was a delight.  Tutors and CELTA students had an after-party at a nearby British-style pub, The Dog and Bone -- that was especially nice because the tutors "let down their hair" with us.  We think we will stay in touch with our classmates and follow their adventures as well as report on our own.

Most of the CELTA group (Front row:  Mary, tutors Percy and Rufus, Rene, Sam; Back row: Daphne, Jenna, Hillary, Mike, Melissa, and Tris.  Not in picture: Randy and George.) -- unfortunate flash-in-the-eyes problem.

George wearing 2008 Obama-Biden t-shirt in honor of the election just days away.

George hanging off the back of of the songthaew on the way to the Dog and Bone.

Mary especially enjoyed our time at Vdara.  Here's a note from her trip diary about it:

It's great being at the Vdara resort here in Chiang Mai.  I have become friends with our housekeeper.  Shortly after we arrived, she asked me, "You like Buddha?"  She had seen my photo of the Buddha that I had put up on my desk with the flowers she had left in the room in front of it.  I said "yes" and we spoke (or tried to, with neither of us knowing the other's language) and mimed about meditation, etc.  Then, we hugged each other.  I've also gotten to know the wait staff and cook in the restaurant.  They are so warm and welcoming.  This morning, the lead wait lady brought to our door some donut-like food that she had made, along with warm soy milk for dunking.  She said, "Vegetarian.  For you."  So kind!  And it was delicious!!!  Arroy, mahk, mahk! (delicious) I told her in Thai.

While at Vdara, we knew the schools we had visited were awaiting our decision so that they could plan for the coming semester.  We assessed what factors we should consider and then weighed the various pros and cons.  We finally decided on Baan Nong Phue (as you might have guessed from the earlier post).  We liked its size (not too large, not too small) and its location near the Mekong River, and we were so impressed with the teachers and staff we had met.  They made us -- foreigners they had never seen before and who did not speak their language -- feel as if we were (or could easily be) part of their family.  We very much look forward to working with them, helping their students, and being part of that family.