Job Discussion Forums

[emeraldblu]

Hi,

I am a newbie teacher hoping to make a new start in Vietnam and was wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of reasonable schools in Hanoi. I have booked my flight already (18th June) and having not heard back from my application to ILA, I am wondering if it is better to see the schools in person when I get there.

I am 39 years old and have a DFA hons which was 4 years of study in fine art, majoring in painting.... maybe not a useful degree but at least my creativity and problem solving skills are A1 !
I completed my CELTA in Auckland NZ over a year ago now and am concerned that with such a large gap I may need to do a refresher course to get me back on track. I live in Wellington and have found the volunteer projects all require further in-house intensive training plus the few prof schools here are small and need more experience/qualifications. I am about to try and see if they will allow me to sit in as an observer or as an assistant .... fingers crossed !
It may be a confidence thing in the end but thought I could do the i-to-i grammar module online to refresh my language awareness. The other alternative is to do the CELTYL extension as I imagine a lot of my students would be young learners.

Any guidance would be wonderful !

[skarper]

Lots of jobs in Hanoi. ILA are not the only place nor the best to work for in many ways.

Language Link are supposed to be the best.

Yes - most places you will teach kids from as young as 5 years old. Lots of teenagers too.

ACET is purely 16+ but has it's drawbacks for sure.

Good luck with it - briing plenty of money to see you through the first 3 months. There will be a lot of competition from people similar to yourself, but there has always been a surplus of jobs and a high turnover of 'teachers'.

Many people work here without even a degree, so your CELTA is plenty to get started. Don't waste your money on any i to i stuff. Just reread your CELTA books/notes.

[emeraldblu]

Thanks,

Yes I forgot all about my CELTA notes tucked away out of sight behind a chair ! Have just today delved into some good text books and things are coming back .... ideas starting to flow which felt great.

Think that all shall come together while there and if not I am keen to try out Laos as well. I loved traveling through SEAsia 3 years ago, love the people and as an artist am well used to living on the smell of an oily rag. I just really want to get over there now and make a go of it. My current retail job is getting me down. Further qualifications can always be added later once I decide teaching is for me.

Thanks again

[BenE]

Hi I work for a small teaching orgaisation here in Hanoi. We might be looking at recruiting new teachers in the future. If you are interested please send me a PM.

[inky]

Hi. You'll be arriving at an odd time, unfortunately. Hanoi public schools have summer break from approximately 1 June to 1 August, so the summer YL English programs will be well underway by the time you arrive. It's possible, however, that you could pick up classes from someone who decided that Hanoi wasn't to their liking (hard to imagine, but it does happen!), so definitely contact Language Link and Apollo since ILA hasn't responded. Also, as Skarper mentioned, there are always openings for adult General English classes as well, since teachers are always "moving on."

You seem to have a positive attitude, and I expect that you'll find something shortly after your arrival; for example, BenE is a reliable resource and you'll find others. And I agree with the above, forget about taking another ESL course, your CELTA training will all come back to you rapidly, and decent schools will offer lots of training and support to a new teacher. It's generally very easy to teach here, the students are wonderfully receptive and motivated.

[halito27]

Hi Newbie,

I'm also a certified teacher moving to Hanoi (in May) and returning to the classroom after a long break (though I've maintained a foot in the ESL industry through materials development). While I can't help you with specific Hanoi jobs/schools, I'll be happy to share teaching materials and give you support while you acclimate yourself to the classroom. PM me when you get to town (I also have the same user name on New Hanoian).

By way of encouragement, I agree with what others have said about your credentials and attitude. Look through your CELTA notes so that the methodology and theory are in your head, but a positive attitude and an honest desire to support your students will, in the end, guarantee you success.

You sound like you have what it takes to do well. Best of luck to you.

[emeraldblu]

Thanks for the support everyone,

I feel like things are moving in the right direction and I have a good feeling about it.

BenE, thanks for your message. I cant PM you yet as I haven't written enough posts yet but I am very interested, so I will send my info with covering letter to the school and will pop in when I get to Hanoi.

best wishes to all !

[kenners]

i'll be in a similar position, but have a BA under my belt also, and have also recently decided to head out east to look for work this summer, rather than move back to madrid which was my initial plan. i've lived in madrid before and moving in july is just the wrong time for esl teachers. plus, my money will go further in s.e asia and i've been told there's a lot more jobs for esl out in places like vietnam.

so anyway, would it be naive to just hit up language academies when out there?

[saigon cowboy]

Summer is a tough time and a good time to start teaching in vietnam. Bad points are the rainy season and traffic jams. You get to school wet, tired, cold.
A good point is regular school is out for the summer and the private
language schools start getting busy.[color=green][/color]

Many teachers leave to their home countries because of the heat and rain leaving more work for the hangers on.

Summer is good.....and bad.

[inky]

It should be noted that saigon cowboy is referring to Saigon, not Hanoi. The OP's original question was in reference to Hanoi. In Hanoi, you'll certainly be soaked when you arrive at school, but it will be from sweating in the intense heat and humidity (sometimes worse than in Saigon).

[kenners]

all sounds good. thanks for the heads up. i'm pretty flexible as to where i'll work, i'm guessing that both hanoi and ho chi minh/saigon is basically where the work's at.

i'm looking forward to it though. i've absolutely no idea what to expect as never been to asia, but from what i've heard vietnam's an awesome place, the people are accommodating and the country itself is immense. i'm going to try learn some basic vietnamese before i head out and then whilst there do some kind of course so i can at least hold a basic conversation with people. it's one of those things, the best way to pick up a language is to be out there at the time.

[dovmob]

Im planning on heading to vietnam in july, ive paid of all of my debts and got my place on a celta course so just looking forward to a change of scenery.

[junan70]

Ay up!

I'm just curious if you all headed over to VN?? I am hoping to get there in late July. I've only had the one 'possible' response to a job application. I'm debating on whether to head over there and approach schools off my own bat if nothing comes up.

Would be good to know if those posted here did in fact go and how they're doing??

[kenners]

I'm not there yet, going in July. Undecided what to do about teaching jobs. Might just see what happens and see where I wanna end up (I'll be spending July travelling through VN with two of my friends from here).

I've been contemplating a summer school in South Korea for four weeks. Reckon it'd be a good introduction to esl work and I guess it eases off the stress of commiting to a twelve month contract. I heard back from a few schools/agencies. All seemed promising, but now all contact has dried up bar one which I got told the school was full. Does anyone know of anywhere else good to check for summer schools? (sorry if this is off-topic from this forum).

I would really like to see myself teaching in Vietnam, though. Here's hoping that whimsical, approaching of schools will pay off when out there!

[junan70]

Hiya

I'm also planning on heading over in late July. HCMC seems cheaper to fly into for some reason. Will travel up north to Hanoi and start pounding the streets. Here's hoping...