TEFL Courses, TESOL Courses and TEFL Certificate Training, TESOL Certificate Training for Teaching English Abroad: Thailand

Ian Miller's Story - about his Training
at Text and Talk

***   A letter from Ian Miller   ***

     Dear James,

I'm writing to extend to you my utmost praise and sincere thanks for the absolute professionalism and support given by some of the important members of your staff.

Firstly, I would like to point out that I have a degree in business management and have run companies and dealt with many varied types of “service” over 30 years. But it’s EXTREMELY rare that I will put pen to paper to extend my thanks for what I feel is the “above and beyond” level of service and professionalism exhibited by individuals.

So it is with my utmost thanks and praise that I would like to extend a long overdue and HUGE “thank you” to both Leigh Richards and Tom Hands.

First, a little about Leigh. When I first began enquiring about living in Thailand and considering the various training courses, it was because of Leigh’s super fast, honest and genuine replies to my emails, including helpful suggestions and encouragement, that finally decided me. His efforts stood head-and-shoulders above those of any of the other course providers, so it was with my utmost confidence that I selected your course from all the myriad of others.

This decision was soon backed up while attending your course, as EVERY individual on the course WITHOUT EXCEPTION was praising the efforts of Leigh. Some of the stories I heard were honestly amazing, as it was hard to believe an individual could be so dedicated and professional in his work, and ALWAYS willing to go out of his way for EVERYONE, which is something I have never in my years experienced or heard anything the like of before, with everyone saying it was because of Leigh’s continuing efforts that they had chosen “Text & Talk”.

As the point of first contact for almost all of your clients, Leigh’s efforts are of the highest caliber that I have experienced anywhere, and I unequivocally recommend your academy to all whom I talk regarding teaching in Thailand. Whatever you are paying Leigh, he deserves so much more, as I'm sure without his efforts many people would have chosen to train elsewhere! There is much more I could say about Leigh here, but will move on to another area of excellence in your staff.

That is Tom, my trainer. Having been in the business and training industry for many years, I was very interested to observe the training methods employed when I was embarking on my new chosen career in Thailand.

I was pleasantly surprised, when the group of such diverse and eclectic people and individuals and backgrounds that were in my training room were masterfully brought together by Tom, and within a space of about 3 days we were all talking and behaving as a group. This is no mean feat, believe you me, our individualist Western thinking, pride and egos being not so easy to control. Tom freely gave out a host of caring advice, lent books and information, and was always just a phone call away when we were in trouble. He freely lent out his own personal materials, including helpful teaching tips, games, etc, from all his years of teaching, which have proved to be highly valuable over the past year.

I watched as he patiently guided and led through the course as deftly as a battle-hardened drill sergeant (but with far more compassion). He was always patient, only moving on the next step when he was sure that we fully comprehended what he was explaining. There were so many other small, helpful things and “hand-holdings”, far too numerous to mention here, which pulled us through when we all thought we had bitten off a bit more than we could chew and were starting, we imagined, to become nervous wreaks.

At one point in the course, some trainees had a “problem” with one of the practice teaching evaluators, which could have tempted many to drop out of the course. He stepped in and handled it masterfully. It wasn’t easy for him, I was sure. Having been in similar situations myself, I really felt for him, but, true to his years of experience, he pulled us all back together and before long we were walking, talking and acting as a polished “team” once more. A potentially explosive situation had been handled with deftness and aplomb.

We, of course, all graduated and have gone various ways, but we all stay in touch as great friends, with all thanks to Tom and his outstanding efforts.

I would like to extend a huge thank you to your company, and especially to the individuals mentioned, there being, of course, other people who I have dealt with who continue to hold the torch up high, so to speak, and are wonderful representatives also.

Please keep up the good work and pass on my long overdue praise and congratulations to these outstanding individuals, for the highest caliber of both verbal and personal character that they have demonstrated.

     Sincerely,

Ian Miller

Graduate  001331

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