Thai language teacher attracts students fascinated by Thai movies and TV

Описание: Now we meet a language teacher from Thailand who embraces popular culture. Teerayudh Somwatee came to Taiwan seven years ago for graduate school. He found many of his classmates were fascinated by Thai movies and TV, and were keen to learn the language. That’s how his career in teaching began. And he stays true to his students’ interest, incorporating popular music and idol show references into class. His hope is to tempt more students to the challenge of cross-cultural exchange.

Originally from Chiangmai, Teerayudh Somwatee has been in Taiwan for seven years. He first came here to study, but in the last few years the popularity of Thai “BL” stories has meant a surge in demand for Thai language classes. It wasn’t what he expected, but now he finds himself teaching Thai.

Teerayudh Somwatee
Thai language teacher
I realized there were people who were interested in Thai current affairs. So I found some news articles, translated them to Chinese, and posted them on fan pages online. Then some people were interested in the Thai language, so I took some Thai language materials or simply Thai words or sentences and put them in as references. Then people private-messaged me asking if I taught Thai. I like teaching Thai. I think it’s a great job. And I also like the lifestyle and the living environment here.

Somwatee’s teaching style incorporates current affairs, and he treats his students like friends. They go to the cinema and even follow celebrity news together. His fun classes make easy the arduous work of language learning.

Teerayudh Somwatee
Thai language teacher
Lots of Thai people are studying Chinese now, actually. I want more and more Taiwanese people to study Thai. That way we can use each other’s languages to understand different cultures better.

With his experience of life in both Thailand and Taiwan, Somwatee can easily bring the Thai language into everyday life for his students. His greatest wish is to bring more people into a genuine cross-cultural exchange.


This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

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