Job Discussion Forums

[hochigene]

Hello everyone,

First of all, I see that VATC has a lot of campuses throughout Vietnam. Does anyone know how much they pay and what kind of benefits they offer? I would really like to find a job that offers a contract completion bonus and a flight allowance for after my contract is over (I'm already in Vietnam now).

Also, I'm heading up to Danang for a few days, and wanted to check out some schools there. Is it worth bringing my cv and cover letters over to ILA and Apollo there even though it looks like they do everything through a country-wide recruitment process? Are there any schools in Danang I should definitely check out?

If I wanted to meet and talk to other teachers in Danang, where might I go?

A little about me: I finished my CELTA with a Pass B this month. I don't have any direct experience teaching ESL, but do have some experience working with kids and tutoring in other contexts.

Thanks so very much for your help!!

[yogurtpooh]

It's kind of doubtful to find a place that will offer bonus airfare back, but I know some schools offer some kind of monetary bonus at completion.
As far as salary goes, it will depend on you and your negotiating skills. On their official website VATC lists current openings in Pleiku at 1500USD a month with a little bit of accommodation allowance for 80 hours a month. So you can expect around that area. As far as benefits goes, I wouldn't expect much. At least VATC will fly you to Pleiku for free... I actually might look into that position myself.

For whatever reasons, English schools seem to be quite limited in Da Nang despite its population. Here's a list of them http://indanang.com/english-schools-in-danang/

[Oh My God]

[hochigene]

Thanks for your replies - very helpful info! Sounds like VATC may be worth looking into, though Pleiku sounds like it could actually be a bit TOO remote for me.

I will definitely check out Christie's Cool Spot; it's in my trusty Lonely Planet, so I should be able to find it!

[snollygoster]

Many years ago I did some opening classes, demo classes and admin and teacher training for VATC in Danang.
I quite liked the city, and had no problems with Danang VATC. That was several years ago when VATC was the only show in town.
I think VATC, despite being sold to another company, still is a good solid bet, and Danang has a lot to offer-A bit off the beaten track, beaches that have surf (sometimes), and just a short hop away fro Hoi Anh, the Marble Mountains and Ba Na Hill Station.
If you are looking for vibrant night life, then Danang does not have that, BUT Hoi Anh- just 20 minutes away, is alive with western influence.
Have fun. I am a little jealous actually.

[haller_79]

I know negative comments don't get much love on this board, but I'm not sure I agree with the above poster's comments about VATC Danang.
VATC Danang would be a fine gig if you're an experienced teacher, can create good lesson plans through drawing on experience etc.
For a novice teacher I wouldn't recommend it. Why? Because VATC Danang (at least when I was there in 2008) doesn't really have a 'curriculum', so you'll have to pretty much re-invent the wheel every time you step into the classroom, the first few times you might be able to wing it, but after a while it starts to take its toll.
You'll have some great students and some not so great ones, but you'll be expected to teach them all, the older ones are also allowed to give feedback about you so if they're not happy with your teaching the powers that be will soon know about it.
The books they give you are practically unteachable and only a really good teacher (and that means an experienced teacher) could extract well structured lessons and activities from them. You are only allowed/supposed to teach 2 pages from the books each time (if you can find yourself a copy of Superkids or Cutting Edge then you'll know what your in for), this to cover about an hour or more of teaching. Class duration at VATC is quite long so you'll often need to go into class armed with plenty of ideas, again not easy for a newbie.
The Viet staff and admin are (when I was there anyway) good people but they are busy and don't expect to have to explain / help you too much, in fact they may see it as a sign you're not very competent. If this is the case it's unlikely they'll fire you, but rather you may find yourself with lot's of classes of 6 or 7 years olds who are still learning Vietnamese let alone English.
At VATC Danang you may find yourself visiting Dave's ESL Cafe quite a lot - particularly the 'games' section.
Other options in Danang (which is a great place to live btw) include ILA and Apollo. I have no idea about ILA but one of my former students whom I became friends with eventually transferred to Apollo and spoke of it in much higher terms than VATC, worth thinking about anyway.
I think about my time at VATC and realise that I could have stayed there for another 4 or even ten years instead of just one, but I don't think I would ever have learned how to teach there.

[Jbhughes]

[snollygoster]

Haller is probably quite correct in his opinion of VATC Danang- As I said, it was when it was brand spanking new that I was there. I was very much the "man from out of town with the briefcase". To be honest, I only spent about 6 weeks there to give them a boost into the fledgling market in that area.

VATC lessons are (or at least were when I worked for them) 2 hours in length, and Haller is correct in saying its hard to get 2 hours (thats one hour too long) out of 2 pages of Cutting Edge, particularly as he states, if you are not an experienced teacher with access to a good supply of supplementary material. ESL is about recycling, recycling the same Target language in as many ways as possible, and to do that, its true you have to know what you are doing.
The Target Language usually looks to an inexperienced teacher like it could be taught in about 15 minutes-BUT that is NOT the case. It must be recycled in a number of ways, and the lesson plan needs to incorporate that recycling in interesting ways that will engage the student even though the Target language gets a bit stale by the end of the lesson.

It saddens me to learn that VATC Danang seems to have slipped somewhat, as I was always quite proud of it as my special baby. I admit they tried to get me to go back as a full-time Lead Teacher there, but by the time their offer was made, I had other fish to fry.

I see that Apollo and ILA are competing with VATC in Danang, but the top spot is at the Uni with the ESL wing of the University of Qld. Dont bother if you dont have the correct degrees etc, as they are very strict about this and must comply with the very stringent guidelines laid down by the Education Dept in Australia.

Good luck!

[Andy123]

I too think Haller is quite correct. Spot on. Da Nang is beuatiful but I am not sure how good the work is. Not a good place for a newbie. I would move there if there was good work but I know after many years that it is unlikely.

I wish you the very best.

[haller_79]

[Jbhughes]

[Jbhughes]

As for the OP - apologies for this weird coursebook meander of mine.

If your CELTA tutors taught lesson planning in the same way that mine did, then you'll probably also find that Cutting Edge doesn't follow the same structures as you've learnt. Having to adapt the coursebook so much can be a pain when you are trying to bed in the skills you learnt on CELTA, let alone get used to teaching if you haven't had that much experience yet.

Da Nang seemed like a great city when I went through as a tourist a couple of years ago. China Beach (if the officials let you call it that!) is spectacular and really can't get that crowded at any time of year given how massive it is. I doubt that Da Nang has become too overrun with other expats, at least not so as for you not to feel a bit of a rarity and the locals will probably be friendlier and pay you more attention, compared to HCMC/HN - a double-edged sword of course, depending on how you look at it. Having Hoi An so close for your foreign kicks - food, music, bars, general westerners everywhere - sounds like a perfect compromise. I MAY have information on an opening with a different school, although I don't think it will become available for at least a month or so, if at all. I'll PM you if it comes up.

[ajc19810]

As far as pay goes they usually get u to do a demo class which involves taking one hour of a two hour class. They grade you on this class and decide your pay from there. $12 p/h = $20 p/h

Like most schools their bread and butter is children's classes so plenty of hours can be made on the weekends especially with the foreign teacher teaching the whole 2hrs.

Cutting Edge is a very comprehensive book and the students are expected to do homework which includes looking over the next unit. I have always liked the book as the teacher has plenty of material and i love the glossary which helps promote an English speaking environment along with the speaking activities.

Super Kids is OK and like another poster mentioned it does get repetitive, but saying that most teachers have a set way to teach kids which they simply adapt to whichever book they are teaching.

For those that have taught GENKI English before they may well apply this approach to their lessons. I'm a big fan of the GENKI approach.

We often talk about ILA as one of the language mills but also respect its attempts of professionalism and i think VATC is very similar. As far as the standard Vietnam ESL model goes they do it quite well albeit a bit boring.

[snollygoster]

Books which do the job well? I have always been very impressed with the set of books used by the state schools in Vietnam-named Tieng Anh 1-7.

They use very good English in a Vietnamese setting, are stepped in grading, and students can relate to them very well as they talk about things students know-ie Viet culture and surroundings.

Apart from that, I suggest such web sites as Lanternfish for supplementary materials- Bogglesworld and ESL KIds also work well.
Google "ESL FOR KIDS" and you will have a wealth of materials.