Job Discussion Forums

[jennjenn]

I'm graduating with a B.A. in May and am considering coming to VN to get my CELTA, then teach for a year. I'm a Viet Kieu and have never ever been to VN (nor any other country in the world). I can speak (very) minimal Vietnamese but can understand it when people are speaking to me.

My dad is begging me not to go to VN because he says the government is going to screw me over and then toss me in prison. I said that since I'm American I won't have to deal with that, and he said no, since I'm not a "real" American it doesn't matter. He's a refugee. He absolutely does not want me to go there, at all, ever, unless he's with me and we're doing the tourist thing.

Does he have a valid point? I'm not asking about discrimination in hiring practices. I'm wondering about my personal safety in everyday life. I have common sense and won't be attracting attention to myself. What gives?

[ChuckECheese]

Listen to your father. You will be discriminated against at schools and may be treated like locals here or even worse.

If you do get a teaching gig, the local teachers and staff will treat you like a black sheep.

Based on what I saw, locals here are very mixed about Viet Kieu's, some people like them for their money (if you're rich) and others hate them for various reasons and often discriminated against (and even worse if you don't speak the language).

[lizarddoctor]

lol, that is one of the same questions I asked myself 3 years ago and the response I got from people at home were the same. "It's not safe" because of the instant thought back to the VN war. I was coming from Korea (which by the way isn't the safest modern day country to be a foreigner on a daily basis, and even less so if your stupid enough to go to districts where the AFN network tells you there are anti-western protests happening) and my vision of Asians in general wasn't the most positive.

As fas as hiring practices go, you will face quite a different set of barriers than most people go since your VietKieu (please research a few other threads and sources for that).

As far as your person, you are more likely to get hurt if you decide to drive a motorbike here on your own vs. any physical harm from someone else or the gov't. Your father is just being over-protective from his own experience, but way too paranoid and his fears are just that, his own fears. You have nothing to worry about. Hire a xe-om though, let the Vietnamese drive.

You would be better off not speaking any Vietnamese from the experience of my VietKieu friends unless your with a tight circle of friends and family if you want personal respect also. Not a safety issue, but you will be judged differently if you are speaking Vietnamese and are butchering the modern language as I'm sure your father's VNese is the old (and quite out of date) version of the language here.

[ble21ach]

So it is not to your advantage to say that you're a native English speaker with proficient Vietnamese? I would think that since you can speak English fluently, and can converse in Vietnamese you would make a better teacher compare to westerners without knowledge of vietnamese.

Speaking from personal experience, will I be able to get a teaching position if I am Vietnamese American with a BA and TEFL certificate? Thank you for answering

[lizarddoctor]

It depends on how you look (and I am not being sarcastic in any way). If you look 'western' (aka white, black, non-asian) speaking Vietnamese can be a huge benefit (I sometimes do and am encouraged to do so in my elementary classes). Asian looking and speaking Vietnamese just cut your pay in half or more from everyone else and you have to fight an uphill battle just to get to the spot where you probably would have been if you had just kept your Vietnamese language to yourself.

IMPORTANT: If you look Asian, VietKieu especially, DO NOT SPEAK VIETNAMESE TO YOUR STUDENTS. Why would a school pay top rate to someone they can't physically market to parents to teach in Vietnamese when they could be paying a near fluent English speaking Vietnamese peanuts for the same position. You will find yourself on the short end of the stick in the long run and may lose your position. It has happened to others. Again, looking 'western' is actually an employment benefit in trying to communicate in Vietnamese. Other industries is a different story, but you are on an ESL forum and the statement above is just how it is for schools.

Keep your Vietnamese to yourself and you will find some work for sure, the Asian looking barrier isn't something you can keep to yourself though. Just accept the simple fact that you will have more difficulty than most and don't get bent out of shape when you see it happen. And again please do research other threads and sources for that information as it is an exhausted topic and this is supposed to be a thread on safety in coming here.

[jennjenn]

I did do a search, but only found info on discriminatory hiring practices. As I stated, that is not what I am concerned about (at this moment, anyway).

Thank you for the info. I suck at Vietnamese and am better off not speaking it, period, as I tend to butcher any version of it, new or old. In other words, I'm far from proficient.

So Chuck, if I'm a poor VK that only understands the language enough to know if I'm getting ripped off, would I be in a good position?

[ChuckECheese]

[Mr Wind-up Bird]

Apollo & RMIT recruit VK & treat them equally, so might be worth looking at those places. More & more VK are coming back now, and as Chuck says, if schools have any sense they'll recruit them as teachers. I'd rather have my kids taught by a qualified VK than some backpacker who couldn't give a toss about his adopted "profession".

[slug93]

I'm VK from US(Orange County/San Diego), VN students(and parents) dont seem to think VK as "AMERICAN".. they think we(VK) are OVERSEAS VN.. NO MATTER if you are born or raised in US.. to local VN.. you are still VN(who HAPPENS to live overseas).. So they will initially think you CANNOT speak english as a native speaker or dont know english as well as a "native-speaking, white" person..

I sub for one class at my school, and the students asked me where i was from? I told them US.. California.. They said.. I didnt LOOK like an AMERICAN! HAHA.. I asked them, what does an "American" look like? They replied with descriptions, big nose, blond, round eyes, etc., So I asked them