We have received quite a few reviews and comments on Camp Thailand, which seems to be based in Surin, but also with camps in Phuket and Chiang Mai. It also has the backing of Americamp, which is certainly superficially a plus. However, it's unclear whether Camp Thailand is a franchise or a company in its own right. The man running it is Philip Crabb (click here). Interestingly, Philip Crabb is the same man as Philip Dunne, who used to run Island TEFL, and the Camp Thailand courses are basically the same as the Island TEFL ones. As one would expect, the website is very impressive, with lots of bells and whistles - and, of course, testimonials. But always beware of testimonials. No company is going to give any kind of negative report about itself. It's also very easy for companies to massage testimonials on their own and other sites (e.g. GoAbroad) by giving students an incentive to post a review. That could be in the form of a discount or a pass or a special position. To get an idea of the kind of standards to expect from Camp Thailand and some of its early history, simply google "Island TEFL Review" and a good mix of reports will come up.
Do check out the other posts on this blog too. Just click on the blog title in big letters right at the top to get to the latest post. Read particularly the posts about accreditation and pricing. Finally, and importantly, read the comments below.
Good luck with your search for a good summer camp.
Greg
Wednesday 27 January 2016
Wednesday 20 January 2016
Camps in Thailand
Hi EFL World!
A new trend has been developing recently in the EFL world, and that is the summer camp as a way of combining EFL training, practice and adventure activities all in one package. It's certainly a great idea and very attractive to youngsters today, particularly gap year students. So, as there are quite a few of them, we thought it might be a good idea to have a site committed specifically to reviewing these camps. Often testimonials on the websites themselves are massaged up and don't give a properly objective overview. Hopefully, through this site prospective students or trainees can get a clearer idea of what to expect, and will be better informed when making a decision or choice.
Please submit reviews to our email address (below) and we will post it if it meets our criteria, which are as follows:
1. Please be specific with regard to the name of the camp, as many of them have similar sounding names, many of them almost generic in nature.
2. State clearly when and where you attended.
3. Who ran the course?
4. Did you feel it represented good value for money?
5. Did you actually receive everything that was advertised? If not, what?
6. What was the customer service like? Did they help you overcome difficulties?
7. Describe the main features, positive and/or negative.
8. Please be objective. Make sure you can support any negative comments, and please don't degenerate into using abusive language.
I hope we can get a good mix of comments about a variety of camps.
Look forward to your responses.
Greg Watson
Secretary,
Camps in Thailand Review Committee
gregeflwatson@gmail.com
A new trend has been developing recently in the EFL world, and that is the summer camp as a way of combining EFL training, practice and adventure activities all in one package. It's certainly a great idea and very attractive to youngsters today, particularly gap year students. So, as there are quite a few of them, we thought it might be a good idea to have a site committed specifically to reviewing these camps. Often testimonials on the websites themselves are massaged up and don't give a properly objective overview. Hopefully, through this site prospective students or trainees can get a clearer idea of what to expect, and will be better informed when making a decision or choice.
Please submit reviews to our email address (below) and we will post it if it meets our criteria, which are as follows:
1. Please be specific with regard to the name of the camp, as many of them have similar sounding names, many of them almost generic in nature.
2. State clearly when and where you attended.
3. Who ran the course?
4. Did you feel it represented good value for money?
5. Did you actually receive everything that was advertised? If not, what?
6. What was the customer service like? Did they help you overcome difficulties?
7. Describe the main features, positive and/or negative.
8. Please be objective. Make sure you can support any negative comments, and please don't degenerate into using abusive language.
I hope we can get a good mix of comments about a variety of camps.
Look forward to your responses.
Greg Watson
Secretary,
Camps in Thailand Review Committee
gregeflwatson@gmail.com
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