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lexpat
Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 56
Location: Meh
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 Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:06 am Post subject: Pre Tet Slow Down Deepest in Memory |
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I've been teaching in Vietnam for about four years now and the last few months of the year are always slow. This year, with the financial crisis, things are especially tight. Many teachers are seeing their hours cut and there are hiring freezes at a number of schools.
Also, many of the highest paying gigs here have long been teaching privates, largely Koreans. Those Koreans are leaving town in droves, which is probably one of the main reasons things seem so tight. (Lots of teachers are slipping back into the school market).
Word on the street is that after Tet there will be a lot of property foreclosures in HCMC (many factories outside town have closed already). I very much doubt the normal post Tet hiring will go on. Think twice before considering VN a safe landing spot. My suspicion is China is a better bet for your basic economic refugee. |
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roym
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 2:13 am Post subject: |
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Optimism is my best friend.....
roll on February...any one up for a beer when I arrive? |
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BenE
Joined: 11 Oct 2008
Posts: 321
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| Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:23 am Post subject: |
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I will say the same. Let's see what things are like when I arrive in Feb. I'm doing my CELTA in Hanoi and hopefully then finding a job there with it.
If things are really bleak I might have to pile everything on a train and head North to China.  |
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Tanker
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 72
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| Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:00 am Post subject: Re: Pre Tet Slow Down Deepest in Memory |
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| lexpat wrote: |
I've been teaching in Vietnam for about four years now and the last few months of the year are always slow. This year, with the financial crisis, things are especially tight. Many teachers are seeing their hours cut and there are hiring freezes at a number of schools.
Also, many of the highest paying gigs here have long been teaching privates, largely Koreans. Those Koreans are leaving town in droves, which is probably one of the main reasons things seem so tight. (Lots of teachers are slipping back into the school market).
Word on the street is that after Tet there will be a lot of property foreclosures in HCMC (many factories outside town have closed already). I very much doubt the normal post Tet hiring will go on. Think twice before considering VN a safe landing spot. My suspicion is China is a better bet for your basic economic refugee. |
It does seem to be slowing at the moment for hiring and hours. I also seems like there are more teachers coming from abroad to the two largest cities, and this means more teachers competing for available hours.
Because of the bad economic conditions in the West I personally know several teachers that are delaying any return to home-country for the entire year of 2009. People are spooked, right now, with the constant negativity, in the US and UK, in particular.
As for VN, the VN economy has had strong GDP growth for a few years, so I suspect a softening.
I agree with lexpat that this Pre-Tet, Tet, and Post-Tet slowdown will be longer than in the past. |
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Waldorf Salad
Joined: 03 Apr 2004
Posts: 56
Location: Saigon, Vietnam
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:50 am Post subject: Re: Pre Tet Slow Down Deepest in Memory |
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| lexpat wrote: |
Also, many of the highest paying gigs here have long been teaching privates, largely Koreans. Those Koreans are leaving town in droves, which is probably one of the main reasons things seem so tight. (Lots of teachers are slipping back into the school market).
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Where did you get this information about 'Koreans leaving town in droves'? I was told by someone who works at the Korean school that they've just started building new classrooms, because they expect more students. The same person also told me that he can't handle all the work teaching Koreans privately. Walking around in Phu My Hung I don't see any signs of a mass exodus. |
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Tanker
Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 72
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| Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:09 pm Post subject: Re: Pre Tet Slow Down Deepest in Memory |
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| Bart wrote: |
| lexpat wrote: |
Also, many of the highest paying gigs here have long been teaching privates, largely Koreans. Those Koreans are leaving town in droves, which is probably one of the main reasons things seem so tight. (Lots of teachers are slipping back into the school market).
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Where did you get this information about 'Koreans leaving town in droves'? I was told by someone who works at the Korean school that they've just started building new classrooms, because they expect more students. The same person also told me that he can't handle all the work teaching Koreans privately. Walking around in Phu My Hung I don't see any signs of a mass exodus. |
A lot of the building and construction going on in Phu My Hung started last year and even before that. These are projects that were investigated, approved of, financed, and are now being built. So yes, they're still being built. They are being finished.
There are and will be, enough Korean students to attend the Korean School.
But some Korean International students attending the international schools that are paid for by the Korean employers of their parents (as well as free housing) may be pulling back, and having Korean employees return to Korea to save costs for the downturn.
Here is an article today, from the Financial Times. It's getting rough in Korea. How much will this affect the number of students? This, I do not know. But it could be a sign of things to come in the entire VN teaching market.
Article:
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S. Korean exports fall as slowdown accelerates
December 1, 2008
SEOUL, Dec 1 � South Korean exports suffered their biggest drop in seven years, prompting a warning from a government that the economy was slowing faster than expected and piling pressure on the central bank for more interest rate cuts.
Analysts said that as the global downturn cuts into exports that have long underpinned growth in Asia�s fourth largest economy, the authorities had no choice but to focus on sagging domestic demand for some economic support.
�The speed of the economic slowdown is faster than expected. The economy is seen recovering in the second half of the next year ... but the speed is likely to be very slow if the situation remains tough,� a finance ministry official told Reuters, asking not to be identified.
The official was speaking after the government announced that November exports plunged 18.3 percent from a year earlier, much more than expected.
Analysts painted an even bleaker picture.
�The figures showed the country�s economy is going down the tubes rapidly and indicated overall Asian exports are shrinking very quickly. Next year, South Korean exports are expected to post a fall, probably up to 30 percent.� said Oh Suk-tae, an economist at Citigroup.
....Imports fell 14.6 percent due to sliding raw material prices, also more than expected, but not enough to improve the deteriorating trade balance.
South Korea reported a $13.3 billion trade shortfall during the first 11 months of the year, putting the country on course for its first yearly deficit since 1997, when it was hit by the Asian financial crisis.
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d7481ebc-bf7a-11dd-9222-0000779fd18c.html |
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deessell2
Joined: 11 Jun 2005
Posts: 132
Location: Under the sun
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| Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 1:02 am Post subject: |
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| Things are also a little tighter in Hanoi. I have heard that Apollo are paying some of their full-time contracts out - overstaffed. |
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spycatcher reincarnated
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 236
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| Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 1:50 am Post subject: |
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I generally find that an early Tet is better for the EFL industry, and this year we have an early Tet.
Last year Tet was relatively late: 18 Feb
This year Tet is relatively early: 25 Jan
Because of the dates of Tet this year it is only natural that if one is looking at the Gregorian calendar then the Tet slowdown is happening ealier, but if one is looking at the lunar calendar then things may be different. |
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roym
Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:14 am Post subject: |
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| spycatcher reincarnated wrote: |
| I generally find that an early Tet is better for the EFL industry, and this year we have an early Tet. |
Love it!!! No negativity!! |
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