Udon Education Foundation (UEF)

Don’t be fooled into thinking that Udon Education Foundation (UEF) is just another language school out to make a fast buck. By having Foundation status any profit must be put back into the organisation. The idea behind the venture is to provide an education service to the local community that is not being addressed by existing establishments at this time.

It all came about after a group of concerned educators, parents and local business people decided to break with tradition and experiment with new innovative ideas and technology in order to provide a better education service to members of Udon Thani province. Whether you are considering IELTS or TOEFL; if you are in need of conversation or computer courses, this may well be the solution you are looking for.

This is not just a language school; it is an education center that caters for the individual. This new foundation aims to provide a personalised service that takes care of the needs of the individual, resulting in smaller classes and more varied courses being made available.

UEF is situated on Jamnusorn Road, opposite Udon Wittaya School, just off Prajak Road. There are four floors with plenty of space allowing students to use the many facilities on offer. In addition to the normal computerised services that we come to expect from an education center, students also have the opportunity to use the latest SpeaKIT voice recognition software to put into practice what they have learned in their lessons.

Another area that UEF has decided to concentrate on is teacher training. For example, there are methodology courses for primary school teachers of English (Smooth Transitions) as well as for university students who want to become teachers. There are also many courses available for primary and secondary school children with the choice of Thai teachers, foreign teachers or both if that is what you require. Thai language courses for foreigners are offered as well as courses on problem solving and critical thinking.

Having listened to the local community, UEF is prepared to offer individual academic courses and services for specific purposes such as thesis writing, presentations; and the writing of papers and articles. Proofreading of advertising and menus for local businesses is also provided as well as free advice to all students and businesses in the area.

One of the newest innovations from UEF is a conversation class incorporating “Living English” which is an Australian drama series specifically made for English language teaching. Integrating this series with conversation classes with teachers has provided very encouraging results in recent trials that have been conducted. This could be the conversation class that you have been waiting for.

Mr Dave Williams (formerly Ajarn Dave from Udon Thani Rajabhat University) is on hand to help you with your course selection from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm every day and offer advice on the best course of action for your educational needs. Thai staff are also available for those who prefer to speak in Thai about their educational requirements.

The majority of UEF staff are current or former university teachers who have many years experience of teaching in Thailand. They will be only too happy to answer your questions. Open seven days a week with special “Fun Nights” on Fridays from 5:00 pm onwards and “Movie Nights” on Saturdays from 6:00 pm, Udon Education Foundation offers a brand new learning resource for the community. What do you want to learn? 

Article reproduced from The Udon Thani Guide Issue 15 page 38

MM Publications and their Thailand distributor Book Access

A big thank you goes out to Book Access, the Thai distributor for MM Publications for their charitable donation of educational materials to UEF. Due to their generosity it will be possible to equip schools in the province and beyond with the resources they need to teach English in line with the Thai curriculum. This will happen once Tooh has gone through the material first, which looks as if it will not be a five minute job!

Book donation by Apakarat and Supichaya Prumprasidh

UEF would also like to thank Apakarat and Supichaya for donating their books to a worthy cause. Supichaya has some really nice hardback Disney books as well as paperbacks from a different series which have been given to the ERIC Center at Bantatprachanukoon School in Ban Phue district Udon Thani. Now children from a rural school have the opportunity to read English books; and as the books are contained in the ERIC Center, other schools will also be able to access them too.