This page is meant as a resource for Thai teachers to help them use English in the Classroom. It is not meant to be comprehensive. What we want to do is to share some of our ideas with you. Many schools teach English by rote which results in students who are very good at spelling and who know many grammar rules, but not many of them can actually use English in a real situation. At Sriwittayapaknam School, we use English as much as we can.

GETTING STARTED: When speaking English, it is important the students are not afraid to make a mistake. Sometimes, when I ask a student a question they hesitate for what seems like a long time. This could be for one of four reasons: didn't understand the question, didn't hear the question properly, didn't know how to reply or were just afraid to make a mistake. As long as they can give some sort of quick reply in English then they shouldn't be punished. Appropriate answers for the above examples would be: "I don't understand the question", "Say again please" and "I don't know how to answer".

Everyone is usually scared when starting something new. I usually try to break the ice by playing some fun games and singing some easy songs with the students for the first week or so. Don't worry if these activities are noisy or seem to be irrelevant to the course material. The important thing is that the students are "warming up" and are getting used to speaking English in a relaxed atmosphere.

CLASSROOM COMMANDS: English should be used in the classroom as much as possible. At the start of a new school year, spend a few days going through all the classroom commands that might be useful.

  • Please stand up/sit down.
  • Stand at the front of the classroom.
  • Sit up straight.
  • Fold your arms.
  • Come here please.
  • Go back to your seat.
  • Go and stand outside.
  • Line-up outside.
  • Come in.
  • Look this way.
  • Take your books out.
  • Take out your exercise book.
  • Take out your text book.
  • Put away your books.
  • Pass your books to the front.
  • Open your book to page 34.
  • Open your book at the back.
  • Close your books.
  • Use a red pen.
  • Draw a margin
  • Underline the title.
  • Draw a line.
  • Write today's date.
  • Start a new page.
  • Do your corrections.
  • Stop working and listen to me.
  • Hands up/Raise your hands.
  • Listen please.
  • Quiet please.
  • Stop talking.
  • No talking.
  • Are you ready?
  • Quickly/Hurry up.
  • Speak louder.
  • Speak slower.
  • Say again, please.
  • How do you spell ........?
  • What does ........ mean?
  • Repeat after me.
  • What else?
  • Anything else?
  • Well done/Very good.
  • Today we are going to.......
  • We are going to sing a song.
  • Hand in your homework tomorrow.
  • Who wants some help?
  • Is it difficult?
  • I don't understand
  • What does this mean?
  • I don't know how to say.
  • Sweep the floor.
  • Mop the floor
  • Turn on the lights.
  • Turn off the lights.
  • Switch on the fan.
  • Close the door.
  • Open the windows.
  • Tidy the classroom.
  • Tidy your desks.
  • Clean the blackboard.
  • Who is absent today?
  • Have you finished yet?
  • May I go out side please?
  • May I come in please?
  • Who is collecting the milk today?
  • Do you understand?
  • Sorry I am late.
  • You have five more minutes.
  • We have no more time today.
  • See you tomorrow.

10 MINUTE FILLERS: The following are some ideas for using English if you have a spare 5 or 10 minutes:

  • INTRODUCTIONS: Students are told to write an introduction about themselves and their family. They should write about 250-300 words. They then have to memorize what they wrote. Then, every day, ask two or three students to come to the front of the class one at a time and introduce themselves. The rules are that they have to keep talking for one minute without pausing. If they stop or can't think of what to say next they then have to try again another day. [Examples and vocabulary]
  • SHOW AND TELL: Students are invited to bring a favourite object in from home to show their friends. This could be a teddy bear, watch, book, game, pictures of a holiday or a toy. The students should try and speak about their favourite object and at the end invite their friends to ask questions. [Examples and vocabulary]
  • MORNING ASSEMBLY: During assembly in Thailand, the duty teacher will give the students an obrom. This is a talk on ethics. Sometimes they will remind the students to walk on the left while going up the stairs or that they should greet the teachers properly when they first arrive at school. Invite some of the students to the front of the class and ask them "What did the teacher say in assembly?" If they don't know how to say or admit to not listening to the teacher in assembly then let them return to their seats. This speeds things up. But, make sure they say this in English! [Examples and vocabulary]
  • LAST NIGHT: Choose someone to come to the front to tell their friends what they did last night or at the weekend. Make sure they speak for at least one minute. [Examples and vocabulary]
  • MATH PROBLEMS: This is a good example of using English. Make up ten easy math problems for the students to do. Remember, this is testing their English and not their math. A good example would be: "Five pencils cost thirty five baht. How much is one pencil?" Once they are used to these kinds of questions give them a strict time limit of only 10 minutes. This will force them to think in English. It is a mistake for them to translate into Thai first, work the problem out in Thai and then translate back into English. [Examples and vocabulary]

Return to homepage.

 E-mail us at: webmaster@thaistudents.com