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racetrack
Joined: 24 Apr 2010
Posts: 8
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 Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:36 am Post subject: Work is Slowing Down |
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I work at a large language school in Hanoi. (LL.) Enrollments are down at my school and many others in Hanoi.
Many people, including myself ask 'why?'
Regardless of the reasons, it's slow all over.
Can anyone comment on why this is?
Economic slowdown causing some students to delay studying English?
University exams coming up? Are they?
Changing market?
I do not think it is more schools operating to take students away from the large schools. The reason is because many of these smaller schools have poor quality and high turnover of staff and teachers.
Where have all the students gone? |
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LettersAthruZ
Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Posts: 466
Location: North Viet Nam
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| Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:53 pm Post subject: Re: Work is Slowing Down |
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| racetrack wrote: |
I work at a large language school in Hanoi. (LL.) Enrollments are down at my school and many others in Hanoi.
Many people, including myself ask 'why?'
Regardless of the reasons, it's slow all over.
Can anyone comment on why this is?
Economic slowdown causing some students to delay studying English?
University exams coming up? Are they?
Changing market?
I do not think it is more schools operating to take students away from the large schools. The reason is because many of these smaller schools have poor quality and high turnover of staff and teachers.
Where have all the students gone? |
It's still just after Tet......give it late March....early April.....that's when enrollment generally begins to ramp up towards the peak summer season!
I don't see this January 1st to March 1st as being any different in terms of enrollment numbers than the past five years during that same time frame!
If general enrollment numbers are still this low come, say, April 15th.....well....OK - THEN something weird's going on......but beyond that, no need to panic yet.....
....it's not just schools -freelancing is down right now as clients are taking a break from studies because they are still recovering from the dropkick to their wallets known as "The Little Red Envelopes"!!  |
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travelinhobo
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Posts: 35
Location: U.S.
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| Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Because the world is beginning to understand that English is NOT the language of the future? |
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VietCanada
Joined: 30 Nov 2010
Posts: 590
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| Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 11:59 am Post subject: |
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| travelinhobo wrote: |
| Because the world is beginning to understand that English is NOT the language of the future? |
If one wants to study medicine, be a pilot, sell anything to America or Europe generally for example then it certainly is.
I can't believe how many English signs I've seen on storefronts in Korea and Ho Chi Minh city.
But I doubt the whole world is going to start speaking English if that's what you mean.
If you're talking about China they've got a long way to go yet. That's assuming they're up to the task. Which is a big assumption.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29
Edit: I spent four mornings hitting the pavement in HCMC last December. I have 30 hours from 3 schools and 3 more schools recently inquiring as to my availability and I turned down a couple wack jobs. If I wanted to work in the evenings I could have 40 hours a week at least. So I have not noticed a slowdown. |
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Mattingly
Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 249
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 5:42 am Post subject: Re: Work is Slowing Down |
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| racetrack wrote: |
Regardless of the reasons, it's slow all over.
Can anyone comment on why this is?
Economic slowdown causing some students to delay studying English? |
We can only speculate.
But it is slow. Slower than usual for late March.
More classes should be starting up than are actually starting. And those that are starting have lower enrollments.
Pretty slow, right now.
The international world economic problems as well as internal economic difficulties (inflation, bad bank loans, and failing companies) all add up to dissuade enough students to delay English study.
We'll see if thing pick up in the next 2 months.
If things do not pick up in the next two months, we'll know that there is an economic slowdown happening, in earnest. |
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LettersAthruZ
Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Posts: 466
Location: North Viet Nam
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 10:07 am Post subject: Re: Work is Slowing Down |
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| Mattingly wrote: |
| racetrack wrote: |
Regardless of the reasons, it's slow all over.
Can anyone comment on why this is?
Economic slowdown causing some students to delay studying English? |
We can only speculate.
But it is slow. Slower than usual for late March.
More classes should be starting up than are actually starting. And those that are starting have lower enrollments.
Pretty slow, right now.
The international world economic problems as well as internal economic difficulties (inflation, bad bank loans, and failing companies) all add up to dissuade enough students to delay English study.
We'll see if thing pick up in the next 2 months.
If things do not pick up in the next two months, we'll know that there is an economic slowdown happening, in earnest. |
Maybe....maybe....
Like I said above - I give it until mid-April.
IF -
A) - The number of clients in my client base is down from the April 15th mark of the past five years
B) - The number of students in both, classes that I operate and classes that my clients operate and contract with me to teach is down from the April 15th mark of the past five years, AND
C) - The number of students enrolled in the centres/schools in Ha Noi and Hai Phong where friends and colleagues of mine teach at is down at the mid-April point from years past......
.....THEN it'll be time to realise that, for Viet Nam's economy, the chickens have come home to roost!
By my benchmark, we still have 22 days to assess things! But truthfully, no, it isn't looking like sunshine, unicorns and rainbows this year so far. |
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inhanoi
Joined: 22 Oct 2011
Posts: 165
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh well. Things are looking good for me. They really are. So where does that leave us? Anecdotes. That's all. Anecdotes. Give me a break. |
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The Mad Hatter
Joined: 16 May 2010
Posts: 165
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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Agreed, things are certainly looking up.
Personally I'm enjoying a very rosy period in my life here.
That being said, it's been a helluva ride!
We've got a new kid at our place recently, I haven't really looked into his background but he's a major winner. Great stuff, great place, great opportunities!
Now, all we need is to clear out the dead meat! |
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Jbhughes
Joined: 01 Jul 2010
Posts: 254
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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So, does that mean enrolments at your schools are up at the moment then, or some other positive economic sign?
I think people have genuine worries about the VN economy and it seems reasonably logical that any problems would impact our line of work... It would be nice to hear some positive news. |
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Andy123
Joined: 24 Sep 2009
Posts: 206
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| Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
travelinhobo Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 4:29 pm Post subject:
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Because the world is beginning to understand that English is NOT the language of the future?
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Europe, Russia, India, Pakistan, Central America, South
America, etc. use English as their second language. Pakistan and India alone out number the population of China.
Do the numbers and this will give one a more accurate predictor of the next 50 years.
By the way, why is French not the second dominate language in Vietnam?
Enrollment is down because the world economy is in deep trouble and the grads from those so called schools produce "workers" making 5 to 6 million dong a month. This out weighs the bragging rights to family and friends.
A bowl of pho is more important than a pipe dream.
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Mattingly
Joined: 03 Jul 2008
Posts: 249
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| inhanoi wrote: |
| Oh well. Things are looking good for me. They really are. So where does that leave us? Anecdotes. That's all. Anecdotes. Give me a break. |
Things are looking for for me and a lot of us, also.
But anecdotes are not the issue.
Declining enrollments are.
We'll wait and see. |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 1276
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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It's quite clear that enrollments are down because the most of best teachers left VN several years ago upon seeing the signs of economic troubles ahead. Many schools have little to offer these days in the way of experienced teachers.
Parents and professionals alike don't see the value of paying good money for a kid in his first year of teaching. |
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inhanoi
Joined: 22 Oct 2011
Posts: 165
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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| "The most of best teachers"? Sorry, not trying to harass you, but was that a typo? I hope so. I have seen the opposite: in Hanoi, many of the worst teachers have left, because of the influx of better-qualified, more serious teachers combined with the visa crackdown. We welcome this progress, the system is getting cleaned up. And the students will benefit, which is the main consideration. |
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LettersAthruZ
Joined: 25 Apr 2010
Posts: 466
Location: North Viet Nam
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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| inhanoi wrote: |
| in Hanoi, many of the worst teachers have left, because of the influx of better-qualified, more serious teachers combined with the visa crackdown |
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sigmoid
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 1276
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Many schools have little to offer these days in the way of experienced teachers. |
"Experienced" is the key word. We've all heard that the "big chains" in VN are $elling kids (and sometimes retirees) a cert, then hiring the ones with no previous teaching experience (and sometimes no work experience at all) so that they can low-ball them on the salary. It's a nice business model that's been the trend for several years now. But students that are used to teachers who have been standing in the front of classrooms for years can easily spot the difference and so now the strategy seems to be backfiring on these schools. People just don't want to pay the same amount for greenhorns. |
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