Job Discussion Forums

Passion for ESL · Joined: 15 Jun 2010 Posts: 18

Hi,
I'll finish my CELTA in December 2010. I was interested in applying after that for ILA because it's registered as an approved centre by NEAS in Australia. Does anyone have more information/personal experience of ILA they would be willing to share? The website is quite comprehensive but things such as salary and the reality of working there are of interest as I have a young family that I'll be supporting during that time. We're happy to live basic but obviously I need to be realistic as to whether this is possible. Da Nang interests us the most. Sorry, I posted a small part of a reply asking about ILA on the Newbie forum but later found this for ILA specifically. Thanks for any info.

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

I would just repeat what I said in an earlier post on this thread about so called tier 1 schools. You can be very disappointed with the lack of professionalism in any of these schools, I find it a little easier to swallow in the lower level schools for some reason. You may want to PM Kornan on this, he had some very detailed comments about his experiences with ILA. I also had a very negative experience with them, again, this is not at all unusual in VN, the lesson I take away from it is do not expect the prestigious schools to operate at a higher level than everyone else. If you can accept that, you are fine.

Passion for ESL · Joined: 15 Jun 2010 Posts: 18

Thanks for your comments. I had thought perhaps because of it being registered with an organisation in my home country that it might mean it rated higher by 'Western' standards than some other schools, but maybe that's not the case. I appreciate any feedback because I'm trying to find out as much as I can about various schools before going. Have PMed as you suggested too, thanks again!

mark_in_saigon · Joined: 20 Sep 2009 Posts: 837

Western standards is mostly just a concept when living in VN. If you are paying a lot of money for something, maybe you can get them, like 5 star hotels would be an example. Then when you are in the real world, like 98% of the restaurants in VN, you can throw the concept out the window. So, businesses like these schools hold some middle ground. They are of course teaching English, and even have some western staff. But what power enforces western standards on them? None that I know of. Of course it is disappointing to deal directly with a westerner there and have him or her be the one to prove that the organization is what it is. For some crazy reason, I prefer to have that proved to me by a native, or a less respected establishment. But you know, when the western employee gets on his motorbike and drives away, he has to follow the same crazy rules as everyone else, the western standards just are not there, and we have no real choice but to adapt to the reality of the situation. Not that there is this huge group of expats just dying to change the scene. The nature of the environment is part of the attraction for many expats, if not most. Not all the foreigners who come are here strictly to help create the most modern environment imaginable.

Passion for ESL · Joined: 15 Jun 2010 Posts: 18

Good to hear your thoughts Mark, and yes when I did volunteer work pre-kids we went with a 'native' organisation rather than a Western one, for reasons similar to what you say. I think perhaps because I'd be relying a bit more on money, and having kids to consider now, I'm a bit more cautious - being responsible for others changes things for me a bit, but then again we'll be making sure we have back up money/plans etc regardless, and would be open to taking back with us whatever experience we gain. Cheers!

I'm With Stupid · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432

Magic8ball · Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 27 Location: HCMC

bule_boy69 · Joined: 05 Mar 2007 Posts: 158 Location: Jakarta

I'm With Stupid · Joined: 03 Sep 2010 Posts: 432

BrentBlack · Joined: 11 Apr 2010 Posts: 96 Location: Quan 3, Saigon

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AJR · Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 6

Hi- I just wanted to chime in here as an insider. A lot of people seem to be offering insight based on understandings gained looking on and I leave it to anybody to judge that insight on whatever merits you may. I was hired last Spring to teach at ILA HCMC and I got on a plane and showed up and signed the contract. I had only a Pass Celta and some volunteer teaching experience, you could say 6 months or you could look at the hours- I really did it, but hey, I was only volunteering. I signed on as a Scale one teacher. The pay scales are published and not really arbitrary- they're based an your Celta grade and your experience, yes with some discretion involved when the contract is drawn up by the supervising manager. For regular hours a scale one teacher makes a little over $17 an hour and for overtime a little over $20. You are reviewed every 6 months and automatically brought up a scale if you have met every basic requirement (2 workshops a month, one meeting a month, one observation every 3 months, not tardy without notice). For full-time you are contracted at 20 to 26 hours per week classroom hours. I teach kids with my oldest students being 14 -15 years old. Teachers with more experience teach adults and do level testing for new students. At almost 6 months I am being urged to take on more adult classes.
Our pay goes into our bank accounts every month on or before the 10th. There is nothing dodgy going on here. You get tons of professional support and on the spot lesson planning support. With any big organization there are flubs and some unhappy people and also an eye on the bottom line. ILA is foreign owned with a large Vietnamese staff that I am often grateful to and fond of. The amount of "Asian" native speakers, i.e., American, Canadian, Australian, English and so forth is a minority that I haven't correlated to their statistical presence in the population at large. I will say it is not rare or noteworthy to have such a colleague. One of my best friends here is an American child of overseas vietnamese, full on viet name, full on american guy, I would say maybe 15% of the teachers at my center were as such when I arrived.
Anyway- the weekends are tough but rewarding. Sure I would take a "better job" with better pay for less hours with better development- I could go on, but its a square deal here- take a better one if you've got it, don't be afraid if this sounds good.

elliot_spencer · Joined: 26 Feb 2007 Posts: 495

Does anyone know how much salaried teachers get at ILA?

Thanks

bingmayong · Joined: 27 May 2010 Posts: 24

Kornan DeKobb · Joined: 24 Jan 2010 Posts: 242

Zajko · Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2010 12:43 am Post subject:

Full time salaried teachers get between about $1400 and $1800 a month according to experience. This is based on 82 hours teaching per month, and as most teachers actually teach around 24 hrs per week, this equates to about 100 teaching hours per month. Meaning about 18 hrs a month on average of overtime, paid at $20 to $25 per hour. Total salary therefore about $1800 to $2300, gross, based on 24 hours work a week. Likely to be very weekend heavy with two non consecutive days off during the week. In addition, they also now add around 7 extra hours of holiday pay each month for full time teachers.