Job Discussion Forums

[ChuckECheese]

Generally, English teachers in Vietnam are paid hourly wage. Full-time salaried wages are very rare unless you're working for int'l schools.

When I was working in Vietnam, pay rate ranged from $12-$20/hour and more if you were doing some corporate teaching.

I was also doing some privates between $20-$25/hour.

[blateson]

the problem with this kind of talk on the internet is that users will be inclined to tell "less than" the truth for whatever reasons. Or "more than".

As for Ho Chi Minh City, I would agree with $12 being the starting wage, but should only be done the first month or two to let the school see you are doing ok. After that a person should be moving up to $14. I personally don't agree that anyone is going to get past $14 or $15 an hour, generally speaking. I wouldn't have any problem with "entertaining" the idea, but not in a sweeping way. As for $20 an hour, or anything near it, I personally don't know where you got that from.

[Hongkonghippo]

It seems that the wages in Hanoi are a little higher that HCM. Supply and Demand.

I think the bottom end up here is 14-16$ and 17-18% is a slightly higher average.

It seems most teacher are on full time contracts and do not tend to work at several schools at once. 20$ an hour is quite doable up here with an international school or private school. My school is starts at 17-18 $ for teachers but we cannot seem to get anyone experienced to fill the position

[ChuckECheese]

I believe with VN's rapid economic development in line with joining the WTO, they have to step up to the plate by offering higher salary and better benefits (medical, housing, vacation, contract completion bonus, airfare reimbursement) to attract and retain the service of experienced and well qualified foreign teachers.

As the income level and earnings of VNese rises, the schools need to consider increasing students' tuition so they can afford to provide these benefits to the FTs. Vietnam must stay competitive to other Asian countries.....

[Hongkonghippo]

I am not sure but it does seem Vietnam pays alot better that Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and even China depending on the deal. I understand Korea and Taiwan pay better but the cost of living in significantly higher and I personally have heard nothing but horror stories from the Korea Vets.

As for Japan, the average wage is 250000 Yen and even this is dropping. There are retards accepting 200000 Yen a month and the costs are unreasonable high...I mean a cup of coffee is 5 $ on average. If I compare my Japan wage to my current wage...just 500$ more a month and the high cost of everything....my rent was double what I pay now and the apartment was half the size. In Japan I struggled to save 600-700 a month and now I can easily save 1200-1400..(not that I ever do) not to mention the fact that I personally found living in Japan a lot like being in a straight jacket all the time.

[ChuckECheese]

In Vietnam, if you don't party all the time and do it moderately, you will save any where between $500-$1000.

I've lived in Vietnam for well over 2 years and only saved $15,000. I escaped from VN last year and came back to Korea.

In Korea, I'm paid $2700 salary and teaching 20 classes(50min)/week schedule plus all the perks and benefits to include (free fully furnished housing which is more than $300/month, medical insurance, pension, severance pay which is one month pay at the end of my 1 year contract, round trip airfare, vacation, etc. I also do privates which is illegal in Korea, but almost everybody is doing it. I do between 5-10 hours of privates per week and charge over $50/hour. I'm living well here in Korea on my living expense budget of $1,500.

Yes, there are risks in Korea. If you end up in a bad blacklisted school, they'll screw you out of your pay and benefits. However, if you do your homework and research about the school properly, you'll do fine. There are also plenty of public school jobs which are all government jobs that won't and can't screw you in any way.

I've been in Korea for nearly 8 months now and managed to save over $20,000. With my pension contribution which I'll get back and severance bonus at the end of 1 year contract, my targeted savings is $35,000 for the year. If you're looking to make and save a lot of money, Korea is the place to be.

Again, in VN, it took me over 2 years to save $15,000.
In Korea, I've saved over $20,000 just in 8 months. Which is better?

[Hongkonghippo]

Chuck I have no idea why you are trolling the Vietnam forums when you are not even in Vietnam.

You started a tread asking what everyone makes and then you go on to say how much better Korea is. If YOU kind Korea so much better then great, but you are trying to mislead people on this forum by how little money you could save. This thread is not about you and your lack of saving ability...but what teachers are earning.

Obviously you where not able to get one of the better jobs in Vietnam and it has left you bitter, but your wasted time trolling the VN four ms shows us your resentment towards failing in VN.

Back to the OP.

For good teachers with experience and qualifications salaries should be around 1400-1600$ easy in Hanoi, and it is very easy to live off of 500$ a month...naturally what each person saves is dependant on personal spending habits, but saving 1000-1200 a month is quite easy while still enjoying a good lifestyle.

Here is some cost of living information.

http://www.ilavietnam.com/about/careers_amtp.asp?lang=eng#information

(the only good thing to come from that school)

[ChuckECheese]

[Riding One]

Brief comment.


This is an important thread.

I think ChuckECheese's posts about Korea are very helpful because teachers do move from RoK to VN and vice versa.

It's important for teachers to be up-to-date on the current situation in both Viet Nam and Korea.


C.E.C, thank you.

[Hongkonghippo]

[just noel]

On the subject of wages, I think the wage for EFL teachers in Vietnam has peaked.

I'm not a hundred percent sure, as no one really can predict the future on these matters.

However, the language schools have the VN teachers do most of the hours and the NESs do only speaking and listening.

Only a couple of schools allow a native speaker to cover all of the material because of the cost of the wage being higher, and also the lack of ability by the native speakers to handle the grammar.

I think the wages have peaked.

In 2 years at the most, I think wages will be the same or even decline.

Lots of competition, YL programs for younger kids that start EFL earlier, and more VN graduates from unis. here with degrees in English that will teach for a couple of year after they graduate, or longer.

I think as a 'white' native speaker with experience, that does love my job, my value is not as strong as it was before.

[ChuckECheese]

[Seibu]

"Only a couple of schools allow a native speaker to cover all of the material because of the cost of the wage being higher, and also the lack of ability by the native speakers to handle the grammar."

Is this true? Sounds like the JET program in Japan....with the exception of JETs being allowed to be involved in the creative process.

So what you are saying is that ESL teachers in Vietnam are essentially a human tape recorder? What's the point in having a CELTA if this is true?

I thought there was more involved to being an English teacher in Vietnam.

[slug93]

it's always good to post market information.. like salary and working condition. this is "helpful".. for everyone.. of course.. you must still do your homework and not take anything on internet forum as "gospel"... it's just exeperiences of various posters.

it does seem that the "value" of QUALIFIED english teacher is not going up.. because of supply/demand.. maybe the market in Hanoi is different.. but HCM.. i notice lots of school WANT qualified FOREIGN teachers.. BUT they are not willing to pay more than a particular ceiling.. 14 to 17 dollars.. As a business person myself, i understand why they DONT and DONT NEED TO..

They use VN teacher for 2 session and Foreign teacher for ONE session(focusing on pronuciation and verbal skills).. So our prep time is minimal and were NOT really using ALL our skills(ie, teaching grammar/reading/writing/etc). So why not pay us for the "part" they really use us for. EVEN if you're a GREAT teacher and actually can teach.. your value is ONLY marginally higher than the NEXT COMPENTENT foreign teacher. So as a BUSINESS(for profit), why pay you $20/hr when you can the next guy 12 to 14/hr? Heck! i've been to VATC and a few other school and they dont even turn on the airconditioner in the hallway or the cafe area! my school ONLY turns on the A/C in CLASSROOM!.. if schools are that tight with their electric bill, it's no suprise they are tight with their FOREIGNER teacher budget. Heck, in an ideal situaion, they would have VN teacher teach ALL lower levels, while QUALIFIED foreign teachers teach mid to high level classes.

It's good to see that MAYBE Hanoi market is paying more. I'm going up to Hanoi next month to talk with a hiring director so this is good info! PLUS hanoi is better weather and about 20% cheaper than HCM!

[sethness]

Seibu, I see what you're saying about "parrot/tape-recorder" teachers in Japan/VN, but let's look at this from anbother perspective.

If the native English speaker doesn't understand Vietnamese, then it's difficult for him/her to explain grammar points, understand questions not phrased in English, or even to predict where VN people are likely to have problems with grammar and pronunciation.

Even suggesting sound-alike puns to make a word more memorable-- that's something a fresh-off-the-boat English native speaker can't do.

I recognize that some schools prefer that classes be taught in pure English, and that it's tempting to believe that therefore a teacher who doesn't know the local language might be able to do the job as well as someone who speaks L1 (the local tongue)-- but that's wishful thinking, in my opinion.

I taught English for 6 years in Japan and 1 year in Taiwan, and can say clearly that even if the teacher never says a word in the students' L1 language, the better teachers all know the local language.

I'd be delighted if a local teacher were there with me, until I learned VN language. And heck, in a big class, that always gives you one more person for crowd-control.

-------
As a side point, many of the schools may simply not trust a foreigner to teach a full class, until the foreigner's been around long enough to prove that he/she is a dedicated language teacher, not (say) a flaky non-professional backpacker trying to make a fast buck or score with chicks.