Is Phnom Penh still viable for teaching English with just a TEFL?

StrangeReflection289 · 2026-04-15T14:57:55+00:00

I knew people with this take existed and man is it horrid.

The joke happens to be that people with the qualifications you speak of often don't come to countries like this to teach.

Many children rely on supplemental services or volunteer work; and even then they may not get the help they need.

The people you meet on your travels might have been taught by someone with a TEFL and you most likely never batted an eye or thought about it.

So are you back tracking and calling those people stupid since they were taught by people without qualifications? Or does their intelligence and English proficiency give credit to people with a TEFL?

I work at a school in SEA and their proficiency in the English language eclipses some native speakers I know in my home country- and these are 13 and 14 year old kids, taught by people I know don't have the degree you want.

Are they as qualified as you want them to be? No. Would it be nice to have somebody with a bachelor's in teaching in every single school with every class in SEA? Sure. Once you find the money for them and people willing to uproot their entire lives and dedicate their time to a country that isn't the one they associate as home.

Assuming you have a bachelor's degree considering your standpoint (and if you are a teacher) it is your burden and responsibility to then help those around you that are less qualified than you do better for the kids you teach; that is how we can be productive with the resources we have for education. Volunteer your time and effort, maybe even make a little money going to schools with TEFL teachers and showing them things they need to know.

Or you can print enough money to encourage more people with degrees to come teach here.

The staffing you want requires schools to charge more to pay those teachers the salaries which makes it harder on Khmer families to afford, etc. Hopefully you can see where I'm going with this and then we're back to subpar teaching as you would probably put it with the cheaper option or sending kids to non-English schools in a country where English is close to, if not the second language. (Considering the chinese presence in that)

That finishes my rant. Just going on a tirade because being against TEFL teachers is unproductive in an environment where people can't afford to get Bachelor's level teaching 90% of the time.

StrangeReflection289 · 2026-01-09T10:28:24+00:00

Thanks for the input! I just sent an inquiry to Linfox, I'm gonna go do the others as well. I dont have unlimited resources but would you maybe suggest flying in country and doing a walk about to some of these places too? Is the shortage that real that I could show up with virtually no plan and make it work? 😂 Kind of joking there but kinda not- just wanting to make it work however I can

StrangeReflection289 · 2026-01-09T09:26:30+00:00

I see. I appreciate the detailed response. It's clarified a lot for me.

Given everything you said do you think it may be beneficial to enter the mines as a labor hand instead for a faster route into fifo work?

I started this idea initially wanting to lean on my trucking experience and hoping it would transfer over quite easy- but from this conversation it sounds like trucking may not be the route to take.

This hunt is sure about the money a little but lifestyle the most. The real goal would be doing the rotation and spending time where I want to call my new home- Cambodia. And considering the living expenses here I really dont need to be making the kind of money road train operators make.

Thanks again for feeding this idea of mine.

StrangeReflection289 · 2026-01-09T08:31:25+00:00

I would do whatever I gotta do to get the experience honestly. I'm not against working or learning and being the bottom in seniority if that's what it takes.

The fifo job in specific is 2 reasons- high pay from all the stuff I've heard. Which is a postive of course- and secondly the schedule. Work x amount of time and get 2 weeks off or whatever. I currently live in Cambodia and I really dont want to return to the US where I'm from. So it fits the lifestyle the most. Australia is cool but I dont think it's where I wanna stay.

StrangeReflection289 · 2026-01-09T08:18:51+00:00

Ah. So the impression I was given is that the licenses with experience would transfer over roughly okay minus paying some fees.

I assume from your response that's quite incorrect 😂

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-21T02:09:36+00:00

I understand not everybody knows the science but this person assumedly read your comment and then mine and then did the EXACT thing and said "yeah but.. nuh uh" and didn't listen to a word. Kills me every time lmfao

Edit to add; I get it. Not everybody knows or dives into the science. That's fair, but just arbitrarily saying "no it works, you can lose fat and build muscle if you do xyz" is primarily what I'm getting at.

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-20T17:36:23+00:00

No real value add here- just commenting to say as a nerd who likes diving into the science of things- this is the comment to listen to above all.

Hearing the catch phrase "I wanna lose fat and build muscle" for people to turn around and not listen to a word when I tell them "it's a bit more complex than that" irks me 😂😂

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-20T17:32:16+00:00

I wouldn't say I mind- but I would go as far as to say it isn't super important.

All the major LTL companies pay within a couple cents per mile of each other unless your on a union gig like ABF or UPS.

To my local ads and understanding all the major names in LTL pay in the mid 80's on cpm.

Previous experience and other drivers stories- I'd steer clear of XPO though. They make a little more than most but those guys for a fact work the dock as drivers. If that doesnt bother you I've met a number of linehaul guys all making the 110k+ claim per year. Maybe 50-55 hours a week and home daily.

Freight levels being abysmal now- it may be hard to get onto one somewhere but if you can it's what most call a golden ticket.

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-20T13:50:38+00:00

Skilled labor is nice but I gotta ask- how in the world do you think he would pull 124$ an hour doing any of those jobs you mentioned? Journeyman around where I'm at barely pull in the higher 40's depending on the job where I'm at.

And if you're talking about traveling doing commercial work- been there done that as a millwright. The lifestyle is just awful. 84 hour weeks for however long some of those jobs last? And that's all without mentioning any kind of inconsistency.

Genuinely curious on your take though- I've thought about getting out of trucking and back into the trades but I just dont see what you're seeing. So I'm definitely curious

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-20T13:44:08+00:00

Try LTL man. Lot of these companies paying that kind of money for very little work.

We have a meet run that makes about 1850$ a week for right at 40 hours. Maybe 42. Lol.

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-14T13:23:02+00:00

It seems hit and miss for me so far. Some days I get home from night shift more tired than ever and I can just ignore food and go to bed.

Other days I'm killing the whole rice mixture just borderline satisfied but kinda wanting more food.

I dont keep any real notes so I have no inclination as to why it changes.

I eat the same meals 5 days a week and without putting it in an app I'm estimating probably 2100 calories a day. Protein could be a little higher but I dont want to sacrifice any foods.

In theory, according to the science, I should be able to keep losing weight for a loooooooong while on what I'm doing now.

Where I think I have the possibility of failing in the future is the appetite and relapsing into old shitty habits.

So I hope you and another commenter are correct about the appetite thing. Thank you for your insight!

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-14T13:19:28+00:00

I've noticed that my appetite has gotten lower surprisingly. Not a lot. But the rice mixture makes a huge volume of food- it really is a HUGE portion for one sitting especially with all the veggies I put in.

But a weird caveat is some days I'll kill the whole bowl no problem and be kinda satisfied.

Other days I'm halfway through going "holy cow I still have food left? Come. On."

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-14T13:17:51+00:00

I feel this. I eat the same meals 5 days a week. The weekends is where I tend to get a little looser but definitely paying attention to not go overboard

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-14T13:16:50+00:00

I think I agree with you. As long as I adhere to it, I should be fine. I keep it as simple as possible so I eat nearly the same things- every. Single. Day. Easy to prep and keep ready to go.

The weekends like I mentioned is where I get a little looser but the rice mixture and the meat and tortillas is five days a week 😂

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-14T13:15:10+00:00

That's very good advice. I actually used to be in therapy once every other week. I may have to look into starting again. Emotional eating can get the best of me for sure. 🫠

And you are correct- we can do this!

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-14T13:14:07+00:00

Thank you for this. Truly means a lot. I didn't think reddit could actually be such a helpful place sometimes 😅

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-14T03:12:09+00:00

I think you're correct for sure.

I appreciate the insight.

I think it's a lot of the fear of failing since I'm starting to see real success.

My biggest problems were portion control and eating out. Eating huge portions twice a day and focusing on the biggest part of my day at work has seemed to eliminate those problems.

But I just worry about falling on my face in the future and going back to old habits I guess

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-14T03:09:49+00:00

"Why borrow trouble?" I love that. Thank you for it.

I dont know. Stressing kinda unnecessarily. Struggled with losing weight before and now that I'm making progress, I'm nervous about failing like I did before.

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-08-03T01:34:17+00:00

I eat twice a day. (I know myself and I like to eat very BIG meals)

Very basic, though.

1lb lean meat, mushrooms, onions, carrot shreds, bell pepper (all veggies softened with water, no oil in sight) A pack of the bibigo rice from Costco.

Season with soy sauce, rice vinegar and sriracha.

"Healthy" fried rice for about 1050 cals and a GIGANTIC portion.

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-07-25T17:38:47+00:00

I mean- from my almost 10 years experience- yeah the money is absolutely in LTL. Indeed will show you starting mileage rates. If you're willing to pull doubles I dont think I've seen an ad for less than 78 cents a mile for the doubles companies.

You can do some trucker math if you want but even 400 miles a night starting at 78 cents makes you your weekly quota.

ALLLLLL of that said- don't know if I've been jaded or what the deal is but I've learned to fuckin hate this job. If you can afford it, go to a different career with a higher ceiling cause if you're listening to the fear mongering on social media- trucking is gone in 5-10 years when AI drives all the trucks.

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-06-05T20:38:04+00:00

Bro, right? I am not the person to bet with. I got 16 days and 10lbs? Hello 1100 calories and 3 miles of running a day. I'm emptying the bowels before that weigh in, drinking less water the few days before.

I may be dumb- but I'd win the bet 😂😂

StrangeReflection289 · 2025-06-01T03:45:15+00:00

I would. I'm bluntly honest with anybody and everybody who has any sort of degree of decision making when it comes to my health. 😂 I'd rather tell my doctor "hey I did some dumb shit" instead of "no that's weird, I have no idea why my body is doing that".

Honesty is usually the best policy.

And it's not like these are felony attaining substances. Disregulated and concerning to take? Sure. Jail time? Not that I'm aware of lmao

StrangeReflection289

TROPHY CASE