Teaching in English

Currently I'm working as a teaching assistance (TA) in the Database lab at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), the place where I was graduated. Roughly two years ago I attend this lab as a student. 

Now being a TA. This gives me the opportunity to see a different view, a teaching view. Teaching is both art and science. Not only that you have to understand the subject matter precisely and clearly but also you need the ability to express the message so that students will understand easily. 

Though many people said having a subject taught in English is a major challenging factor for them to understand. In my opinion, English should not made the subject difficult. A treatment to difficult subjects is proper English. English is undoubtedly universal, therefore expressing a message in English, gives senses of smoothness and purity in words.

Imagine explaining something in Thai language and you can't avoid English words. Flipping back and forth between Thai and English destroy the beauty of both languages. English terms are meant to be described in English. As you would dress your sushi with soy sauce not with fish sauce, tomato ketchup or anything else. I would called this approach a purist style.

But who knows, mixing two things could be more meaningful than using one alone, if we can understand perhaps 90% Thai and some 40 % English, by expressing 100 ideas using both maybe we might get more ideas understood than totally expressing them in one language. So this is a fusion approach. 

The lesson learned is that language should be made simple, since the subject itself should be the primary actor. Let the subject be the focus, make it big, so big such that one could not see that you are describing them in English or Thai. Make them understand the subject from the essence of itself.