Teaching English overseas could be a once in a life time experience in any country, and Vietnam is not an exception. If you are considering Vietnam for travelling, why not consider teaching English in Vietnam as your future career or even just a temporary job that helps you deal with your expense while being abroad? Do not miss information below which help you know what to expect when you teach English in Vietnam.
1. Is there any requirement for teaching English in Vietnam?
The answer is perhaps both yes and no.
In general, a four-year college degree in any subject is required for a would-be English teacher in Vietnam and a TEFL certificate (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is preferred. TEFL certificate courses are available in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, each course lasts about 5 days and costing about $1000. However, it does not mean that you could not get a good job without such certificates.
2. Must I know Vietnamese?
Knowing Vietnamese is not a requirement as there are Vietnamese teaching assistants in most classes. Nevertheless, knowing Vietnamese will help you to interact with not only students in class but to communicate with locals easily.
3. How much can I earn by teaching English in Vietnam?
There is no fixed salary. It all depends upon your ability and where you work but the expected salary is between $1000 and $2000/ month. In comparison with local’s salary, this amount is their big dream. With this income, you can get a decent rented apartment with much of budget for food and saving. You are going to have a good and easy life here.
4. Where and whom will I be teaching?
Formal Education Institutions: Most expatriate English teachers choose private schools and English centers as their workplaces. When it comes to private schools, most classes are at basic level, or English for specific purposes such as English for business.
Working at an international school, on the other hand, generally require a college degree (in any subject) and a TEFL certificate or the equivalent. Experience is also required sometimes and such schools typically recruit overseas rather than locally to guarantee their teaching quality. Salary and other benefits make the job deserving.
Language Schools: Language centers in Vietnam recently have appeared as mushrooms after the rains as the desire to improve English proficiency as a job requirement is overwhelming. Almost all centers focus on training students to achieve high scores in international language tests such as: TOEFL, IELTS, and TOEIC. In these centers, salary is good and the schedule is quite flexible. The quality of these centers are varied, depend upon the tuition fees that students must pay. Among the most prestigious centers are ACET, British Council, Language Link, and Apollo.
Private Tutoring: There is private tutoring, which is preferred by most inexperienced English speaking teachers. There is a huge number of potential learners and it is easy to find them through your expat network. Most of the students are the children of expatriates whose parents maybe English speakers who are too busy to teach their children. Posting notices at expatriates’ housing complexes is one of the easiest ways to find your students.
5. Working hours per week
Normally, full-time trainers will be required to teach 40 hours/week, of which real teaching hours inside class are from 18 -20 hours /week, and the rest of time will be spent for curriculum designing, class preparation, test marking, essay editing. Part-time trainers can work for 11-12 hours/week and take care of at least three classes per week.
6. How to find teaching jobs in Vietnam
Community forum such as The New Hanoians or job ads website such as VietnamWork is a great place to search for job opportunities.
7. Visa requirement
As you are working in Vietnam as English teacher, you will be required to have a work visa. Nevertheless, for short term teaching, people prefer to take a business visa which lasts from 1 month up to 1 year. Most employers will be responsible for assisting you with visa extension or arranging a work permit though some will ask you to do that yourself so check with them first.
