Where to Teach ESL: Vietnam

Where to Teach ESL Besides Korea: A New Series

Today, I'm going to start a series on places to teach ESL besides Korea if you're making an escape plan or are still in your home country and doing a bit of research. This series will be excerpts from my book The Wealthy English Teacher: Teach, Travel, and Secure Your Financial Future, so the emphasis will be on each place as it relates to money savings potential. I've ranked places as "good," "okay," or "bad," which indicates nothing about the culture or people. I'm talking about money! The first place I'll talk about is Vietnam since I've just returned from a fabulous vacation there; I've put it into the "good"category.

ESL Teaching Destination #1: Vietnam

"Vietnam is an up and coming English teaching destination and where many of the teachers from Japan and Korea are ending up as they look for greener pastures. The economy is booming and they offer a good combination of decent salaries (around $20 per hour), low cost of living, relaxed culture (especially after somewhere like the Middle East or Korea), and amazing food and travel opportunities. 

They have all the big companies like International House and the British Council, which if you can get a job at, is a good step towards advancing your career into management or teacher-training and they also have a massive number of international schools, which are an excellent choice if you are a certified teacher. If I were to continue in my career as a teacher after Korea, Vietnam would be my number one choice. The biggest downside is the tax rate of around 15-20%, which is higher than most other places popular with English teachers."

Here are some good websites with additional information;

Teach Away- Yes, they are a recruiting company but their information is solid and gives a nice introduction to teaching English in Vietnam.

Everything You Need to Know about Teaching English in Vietnam- Lots of "insider" tips here and plenty of links to all the major schools where you might look for work.

Apollo English Vietnam- They are one of the biggest schools in Vietnam that hire foreign English teachers, so check out their information at the very least. They will certainly know the most up-to-date regulations regarding things like health care and taxes.  

Korean University Jobs are Not What they Once Were, Part 2

A couple weeks ago, I talked about how I think university jobs in Korea (and actually all ESL teaching jobs in Korea) are on a downward slide to the bottom.

Korean University Jobs are not what they once were, part 1

Yesterday, at my staff meeting I got a bit of new information which just further confirms what I originally thought.  The head of my department was talking about how the Korean government is deadly serious about shutting down a good number of unis in Korea (although he didn't say this, due to a very low birth rate there are fewer and fewer Korean students going to uni so something truly does need to be done).

Starting this year, the government is instituting a ranking system with 5 grades: A, B, C, D, F.  The F-rated schools will be forcibly shut down. The C and D-rated schools will have to reduce enrollment by 30 and 50% respectively, which will in essence mean their closure because it will just be too hard for them to be profitable with such reduced numbers. The B-rated schools will have to reduce their students by 10% and the A-rated schools can do whatever they want. 

The writing is on the wall, especially for those with working at lower-ranked universities. You could be losing your job, sooner rather than later.

Anecdotally, my school which is the 2nd or 3rd highest ranked in Busan (the second biggest city in Korea behind Seoul) lost a good number of students and some of the extra-curricular English programs that I would normally do for overtime got cut. There is just less money floating around and often the first thing to go is English programs.

Exit-plan = put into full effect.  Want to know my choices for up-and-coming English teaching destinations?  Check out: The Wealthy English Teacher: Teach, Travel, and Secure Your Financial Future

   

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