Job Discussion Forums

[Big_H]

Greetings everyone, Big_H here. While my main goal is always to land a decent position in Japan, it doesn't seem likely to happen this semester. It's still early in my career and as a non-native English speaker, I thought of gaining experience by teaching in Vietnam for a year or two while being sponsored by CIEE.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of teaching with CIEE in Vietnam and whether they had any feedback on how it went.

I'll cease the opportunity to ask also for decent resources to learn about Vietnamese lifestyle.

[Tigerstyleone]

this topic has been discussed before many many times.

[TRH]

[mark_in_saigon]

Maybe he meant responding to the other implied question(s) in his post.

[Big_H]

[Dream_Seller]

Big H,

I do not live in Vietnam yet.

Get credentials and somehow meet a teacher outside this forum and you will have a clearer idea.

Career based forums seemed to be riddled with trolls, haters and generally negative people. They have something you want, answers. Unfortunately, you will have to learn the hard way by taking risks yourself.

Vietnam is usually not the first place others have taught at. You have about a whopping 8 more contributors on this forum and then that's it...grasshopper silence. There are Russians, Germans and Filipino teachers yet I'm sure they get paid less than Native English Teachers. You will have to sell yourself irregardless of racism and elitism. Viet people tend to be a "classy" bunch.

[mark_in_saigon]

About the negativity and such:

For one thing, many of the long time expats do not like other expats, this is not just about teachers, it is a common phenomenon. We just had some interesting posts on it with a great link over to a story that summed it up nicely. A current thread, easy to find.

One can mistake negativity for realism. This is a very difficult environment. Newcomers come with this great optimism (tourists too) and are shocked by it. That is why we have such a poor rate of return for tourists. So to speak of these issues in a positive way is hard. Ahh, I have seen the moon the last several evenings. In Beijing, they can no longer make out the moon or stars because of the lovely decoration they add to the air. Can't wait til we reach that point as well. How nice.

New posters rarely give the detail required to give back a spot on answer. Is the poster male or female, young or old, does he/she look like an English teacher or an Asian? What is his dialect, his work experience, his financial profile, is he unencumbered?

They ask these general questions hoping to get all the answers, but they do not give enough detail to allow posters to tailor their responses. I do my best to be polite, but in all honesty, one has to wonder how qualified some of these guys are, just based on their writing. We are talking about teaching English, you know. Another profession, it would be a lot less relevant. On the other hand, I would say, your skills do not have to be THAT great to compete at the lower levels, and even some of the higher level guys can slide by with less than stellar knowledge, if they have the right overall profile.

If folks do take the time to read in depth on this site (another language skill that one can infer may be lacking from some of the new posters, or maybe they read fast enough but they just do not take the time), you can get a quite accurate picture of life here for some of the unique situations we are in. Obviously, this is mostly about HN and HCMC. Some guys live in the center and chime in occasionally, they seem quite happy. The boondocks is another world for most of us, we drive through it sometimes, but very few of us live outside of these cities. Life for the natives, we see it, but we live outside of that. We write about our lives, but we can never know what the natives truly go through. I have lived with the VN for years, heard the stories of things that happen to all of them, and realize that I am immune from that, because I am not one of them. The life of teachers vary wildly, based on many factors. Again, most new posters do not address those factors sufficiently to enable a good guess as to how they would fit in and what their outcomes might be.

Personally, I am not really changing my feelings on this place as time goes on, it may be getting better actually, for the right situation. For a westerner who has some money in background and can live with or without the job (the best profile), this can be the best time of your life. Very positive. For the average teacher, I think they stay about 6 months. Similar to the tourist experience. Maybe worth the effort, maybe not, probably not something they want to do long term.

Your mileage may vary.

[Dream_Seller]

I hear you. When in HCMC I felt the standoffish nature of the expats there.

Once I move there I have no care to mingle with expats as I don't want to develop bad habits that can undermine my goals for moving there.

I'm not much of a social animal either. I always listen to my gut when talking to others.

[Tigerstyleone]

[Big_H]

Dream_Seller; Thanks but I don't see the replies as being that negative, but you're right to some extent. One can confuse negativity for realism but I don't think that's the case here, more of starting off on the wrong foot; a few bad first impressions from other non-natives and first time posters can do that. There are other threads with helpful info on this forum and even my own thread. For instance, while Mark didn't answer my question, he helped this thread to yield a useful discussion about inter-expats relationships.

Vietnam was not my first choice either and as mentioned in the OP, my aim is to ultimately settle in Japan with an educational role. Plans change, but for now I'm planing to stay for a year or two in Vietnam to found some basic experience before moving on. It's a shame that I can't find much about everyday life in Vietnam even in this forum -let alone my thread's questions-; but lots of technical paperwork and legalities helpful posts though. It doesn't matter, I'll keep surfing for answers.

Tigerstyleone; I appreciate your input, but for creativity's sake I hope that you're going somewhere else with this than what I have in mind when you combine that particular quote with your question. I am a native Egyptian.

[Dream_Seller]

Google "Vietnam" + "Kyle". He's Viet Kieu (Viet from Abroad).

His blog is #1 on Vietnam, no comparison.

[Tigerstyleone]

[mark_in_saigon]

[Tigerstyleone]

MIS,
I understand your sympathy. However, you know how parents feel about it and why. Moreover, it's illegal and he's putting himself and his school at risk.

As you said, he will get only the lowest of the low end jobs, some may not even pay him. He is risking getting scammed and conned along the way. Remember the Filipino who posted a while back and that horror story? Same could happen to him.

I'm sure he can also find a job in Japan too, but how is he going to get a "Specialist in Humanities" work visa?

[TRH]