Thai Students Just Love the Boy-band Westlife

It is not all hard work and seriousness when working in a Thai secondary school; in fact seriousness is completely frowned upon a lot of the time. One activity my students and I enjoy the most is song club. This is not a required part of the curriculum, but is something that I decided to introduce myself.

One day a week we are given an hour to do what we like with our homeroom class. Some teachers use this time for more intellectual pursuits like poetry or math problem solving, but I prefer just having a sing-a-long with my students. The advantage of this is that it doesn't involve thinking too much (which is considered a crime by most Thai students), but is an easy task which actually leads to good vocabulary acquisition. It is also one of the few activities where my charges can't copy so there is no having to look over their shoulders.

Most weeks I pick the songs, but occasionally I allow for the students to pick one; their selections often surprise me. They often select songs that were in the charts years ago, and I wonder how these fourteen year olds could have found out about them. I get the video for each song and print out the lyrics before arriving at class. These are hardly ever songs that I would choose to listen to at home. I found quickly that my favourite type of music ( stuff like the Pixies or Billy Bragg) isn't suitable for ESL students; instead they prefer vomiting inducing stuff like Westlife or other pretty-boy bands. I often feel like a traitor to the music of my youth when I observe the female students "ooing" an "aahing" at my selections.

The most popular song by far is 'My Love' by Westlife and the girls scream when it comes to the solo by the blond blue-eyed guy. I often have the urge to stick up a photo of the now grown-up members of the band who are fighting, and often losing, in the battle against middle-age - I wonder would the girls scream then.

Despite the mostly lousy selection of music it is hard not to enjoy it when the students sing their hearts out. There is something so uplifing to be found when 50 teenagers join as one and lose themselves in the music. It makes the whole thing worthwhile. It is a class that frequently runs over time, because we have all forgot to look at the clock. If only all my classes were as enjoyable and pleasant as this one.