Job Discussion Forums

Bette · Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 43

I am wondering which one is better to get started in Vietnam with?
"OR" is it better to find a government school to start with??
P.s. Has anyone taken the Delta Course, is it beneficial to have.?
Thank you.

Bette · Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 43

Do you know anything about the Delta course. For one thing, do you have enough time to do it for starters. Is Apollo worth staying with once you have it.
Thanks alot.

MiBoo · Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Posts: 9

As far as I know there are no 'government' jobs for foreign teachers- only private schools, unis etc. Based entirely on hearsay (sorry!) I'd say Apollo have a slightly better reputation, more satisfied staff and so on... But both are pretty solid and offer good prof. development opportunities.. And you can be reasonably sure you'll always get paid Laughing

Having said that, although the market is dominated by these two, there are loads of other schools out there!! I know that from a quick look on most of the websites you'd think there were only 2 or 3 employers in the whole country.. I guess unfortunately you don't get to pick between them unless you actually go and hang out for a while- I'd say this is the best way to get decent, reliable jobs, but again its a big risk!!

As for the Delta.. if you have a celta or equivalent i wouldn't think you really need to 'upgrade'...certainly not for jobs in VN anyway (unless of course you harbour DoS ambitions!) Smile

Bette · Joined: 12 Feb 2008 Posts: 43

I spent a year in China and everything there was very cut and dried. You applied to a school, they gave you a job + furn apart. + airport pickup. The salary was low however, and the work environment wasn't that good.
I've decided to go to Vietnam so that I could see what that country is like. The game of getting a job seems a little different. A bit more of a risk is involved I think. I am a little turned off of working for a corporate type of a school which is what ILA and Apollo seem like. Is there another way of finding a job (a website) that I can use to secure a job before I arrive? I think I would rather work for a school than a corporation.
One last question: Why are you having to get your TESOL notorized? I have never heard of this before. I also taught in South America and this is the first time that I have heard of it being notorized.
Thanks again. Your input is very much appreciated and valued.

just noel · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 168

MiBoo · Joined: 01 Feb 2008 Posts: 9

Hmm.. I don't know if you'll find any school in VN (or most Asian countries.. heck, any country in the world Smile

) which isn't first and foremost a money making concern. That's the bottom line. I guess in VN the most choice you can exercise is whether you want to work for a large chain or not. I worked for a smaller chain of schools and loved it (most of the time!), but was always aware that management's priority was profit.
Wish you the best of luck anyway!

fischerles_hump · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 19

ILA you need 120 hour teaching cert, face-to-face, with a practical teaching component. There is no differential scale for different certs. Although obviously you get more money if you have a Delta, or Master / Phd in Tesol, or Applied Linguistics. Pay scales are calculated on experience and what contexts you have taught in post-teaching qualification.

AnnMouse · Joined: 06 Mar 2007 Posts: 14

Are you talking about a Trinity TESOL? Coz that's what I've got and it's recognised worldwide

fischerles_hump · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 19

Yeah, Trinity is a good cert, along with the CELTA it is probably the most widely recognised. But there are some really shoddy ones around. Online ones and ones where you don't teach real students but teach other people on the course pretending to be students.