Teaching English in Vietnam: Everything You Need To Know | MOVE TO VIETNAM (2023)

FAQs

Do you need to know Vietnamese to teach English in Vietnam? ›

Requirements for Teaching in Vietnam

Native English proficiency: Native speakers will have a much easier time getting hired as an English teacher in Vietnam. If you're not a native speaker, don't rule yourself out; as long as you speak fluently, you should still find teaching positions.

Every day dozens of job listings seeking native English teachers for part-time and full-time positions are posted in "English Teaching Jobs in Vietnam" and other Facebook groups. It has become easier than ever for applicants since there are so few of them.

English teaching jobs in Vietnam

There's an abundance of work for TEFL teachers in the country, so it's easy to find jobs teaching English, from private tutoring to teaching English online. Teachers can find work year-round in language centres teaching a range of ages, as well as jobs in private and public schools.

To gain a work visa to teach English in Vietnam, an applicant must be a native English speaker with a bachelor's degree. A criminal background check is also required. A TEFL certificate or work experience is not mandatory to receive a visa but may be needed to qualify for more competitive jobs.

Typically, you should expect to earn between $1,200 to $1,800 per month as an English teacher in a public or language school in Vietnam. This is around $18 - $25 an hour for around 20 hours of in-class teaching per week.

The short answer is absolute yes. Many people in Vietnam can speak English, most of them work in tourism sectors in almost big cities in Vietnam including Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Hoi An, Ninh Binh…

English language schools in Vietnam offer approximately 20 to 30 hours of work per week, allowing for plenty of time to travel and explore. Major cities for teaching English in Vietnam include Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Generally, men are expected to wear trousers, a collared shirt, and dress shoes. A tie may or may not be required, though it's best to wear one during the interview stage for the purpose of professionalism. Shirt requirements can range from a simple polo to long-sleeved, button-up dress shirts.

Public schools, however, will hire into the mid-50s (especially those with teaching experience). Teachers older than 50 will find it much more difficult to find jobs. Other Asian countries, like China, Thailand, Vietnam maintain official retirement ages of 55-60 that have been increasingly enforced in recent years.

Education is highly valued in Vietnam, and learning English is an important part of the education system. Teachers are typically respected and valued by both parents and students.

What skills are in demand in Vietnam? ›

87% of HR professionals selected “active learning” as the most needed skill for employees, followed by “ICT literacy” (77%), as well as “monitoring self and others” (77%). Communication skills such as verbal communication, writing and reading comprehension are no longer prioritized.

Foreigners who are the Board of Directors members of the joint-stock company or foreigners who are the legal representative of the company are people that do not have to submit degrees when apply for work permit. In most cases, a work permit is required when working in Vietnam for more than three months.

One of the most important requirements of securing a job teaching in Vietnam is to have a TEFL certificate with at least 120-hours. Choosing a course with a TEFL practicum, or in-class teaching component, is also important.

The simple answer is: yes! The honest answer is: still yes, but be aware that it's going to be more of a challenge than it is for teachers who do have a degree.

Luxembourg. According to an OECD report, Luxembourg (a European country) has the highest-paid teachers in the world. Another source indicates that a bachelor's degree holder is entitled to an initial salary of €67,000 (US $70,323.20) per annum at the start of their teaching career.

Many teachers in Vietnam generally save around $500 USD or more a month. To earn even more money, some teachers will take on private students looking to learn English or will even teach English online a few hours a week to pad their pockets.

The Vietnamese people are welcoming, generous, and curious about foreigners, which makes this an ideal place to make local friends. It's not unusual to meet a stranger, only to find yourself being invited to their home or to their village just a few hours later.

Yes, living in Vietnam for expats is relatively safe. The country rarely experiences horrible natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. The security, especially in large cities, is acceptable.

Vietnam has everything an expat could want. It offers beautiful beaches, mountains, a great expat community, amazing local people, delicious food, and an affordable cost of living. In fact, Vietnam is one of the best places to live in Asia.

What is a good monthly salary in Vietnam? ›

Which city pays the highest salaries in Vietnam? The median salary is highest in Ho Chi Minh City at ~10 million VND/month (~$440 USD/month).

VietNamNet Bridge – Banking officers and air stewardesses are believed to have some of the highest incomes in Vietnam. VietNamNet Bridge – Banking officers and air stewardesses are believed to have some of the highest incomes in Vietnam.

Vietnamese Values

The Vietnamese people value humility, restraint, and modesty. Avoid being boastful or showing off wealth. Public displays of affection are generally frowned upon so try to avoid touching people of the opposite sex. Dress conservatively and keep your body covered.

The national traditional dress in Vietnam is the ao dai, a silk tunic with pants worn by women and men. Ao dài are worn for special occasions including Tet, the new year celebration. Since the twentieth century, Vietnamese people have also worn contemporary clothing that is popular in many places in the world.

In addition, there is also a prohibition on items packed in your cabin luggage such as sharp objects (knife, sword, box cutter, dart, scissors, etc.); firearms and other weapons (all types of firearms, parts of firearms, ammunition, stun guns, imitation firearms, toy guns, etc.); other dangerous items (crowbar, shovels ...

Kenyan Peter Tabichi, who has been teaching for 12 years, was recently named the best teacher in the world.

Is TEFL Certification Worth It? Yes. If you want to get a good teaching job and be an effective teacher for your students, then it is definitely worth it. Remember, most schools worldwide require a TEFL certification; and once you're certified you can the ball rolling on applying and interviewing for jobs.

Yes—You can teach English abroad when you're 50's+!

Teaching abroad requires nothing but your presence and dedication. Although most program's target people fresh out of college or in their twenties, there are no age restrictions for teaching English overseas.

Can I teach at 70? ›

Students and schools need all kinds of teachers. Your experience will most likely be an asset: part of what makes your teaching and your classroom uniquely valuable to your school community. In short, it's never too late to teach!

Vietnamese people typically avoid direct eye contact and may gaze downward when talking. Avoiding eye contact demonstrates respect to elders, people of higher status or of the opposite sex. Speaking in a loud tone with excessive gestures is considered rude, especially when done by women.

Vietnam is one of the best places in Asia for expats to live abroad, and there are plenty of reasons as to why. For pennies on the dollar, you get a year-round tropical climate and access to modern comforts and conveniences. Here are the best cities in Vietnam for expats to live.

The Vietnamese job market and prospects. Compared to other countries in the region, the Vietnamese unemployment rate is incredibly low. The majority of Vietnamese people living in the countryside work in the agricultural sector.

Vietnam's quality of life index in 2021 is 78.49 points, holding the position of 62/165 countries on the ranking of the world's best quality of life index of CEOWORD.

Applicants need to get an official entry clearance from their sponsor, usually their employer. This visa allows for multiple entries and lasts for up to one year. If you plan to apply for a business visa, you have to obtain approval from the Vietnamese Immigration Department through your sponsor.

No visa is required for travel to Vietnam within 05 years. Those people having a 5-year Vietnam visa exemption certificate are allowed to stay in Vietnam for 180 days at maximum for each visit. If they want to stay longer than 180 days without leaving the country, they can extend visa in Vietnam.

Can Foreigners Own a Business in Vietnam? Foreigners may own businesses in Vietnam. Some industries such as tourism, advertising, and entertainment require a local partner. But most businesses can be 100% foreign-owned.

Can I do TEFL without a degree? ›

If you're looking to TEFL abroad, but don't have a degree, it's no problem! Even though a number of countries want a university degree in order to qualify for a working visa, there are still some amazing destinations for those that don't have a degree but want to find a TEFL job abroad. Read on to find out more!

While the value of a Bachelor's degree speaks for itself, you don't necessarily need one to teach English abroad. With a great TEFL certification, you might just have all you need to get started teaching overseas!

Winner: Vietnam

You also don't have to do any unpaid work like in Thailand with things like English camps, events at school and so forth. The downside of Vietnam though is that you'll work at language centers. That means your hours will evenings and weekends.

The most important thing you need to know is that you cannot be issued a work permit without a degree. It's a legal requirement in Vietnam for foreign English teachers to have a bachelor's degree. So with that being said, the answer is, yes, you do need a degree to teach English in Vietnam.

You know you need it, but how much does TEFL certification cost? Prices vary depending on some key factors, but expect to pay about $200 for very minimal online certification and closer to $400-$500 USD for online certification of enough hours (at least 120) to qualify for most TEFL/TESOL jobs.

If you look at any TEFL jobs board, most entry level positions will simply require a TEFL certificate from an accredited TEFL course provider. Therefore, a level 5 TEFL certificate, the CELTA and CertTESOL should all fit the bill.

Why it's hard: Vietnamese is a tonal language with six different tones that dictate the meaning of a word. The high number of vowel sounds also prove difficult for English speakers to nail down.

Generally speaking, Vietnamese can be hard to learn for English speakers for its grammar, vocabulary and even alphabet are completely different from what you are used to. However, the language is very basic in structure and its rules are straightforward.

REASONS WHY LEARNING ENGLISH IS A PROBLEM FOR STUDENTS IN VIETNAM. Learning another language is not easy and English is a difficult language to learn as it is a mixture of many different languages. Vietnamese learners can have a hard time trying to learn it as there are not many similarities between the two languages.

According to the US's Foreign Service Institute (FSI), for a native English speaker to be proficient in Vietnamese, it would take approximately 1,110 class hours. This means that if you dedicate 1 hour every day, 7 days a week to learn Vietnamese, you will be proficient after 40 months (~3 years).

Is Viet harder than Chinese? ›

Which Is Easier To Learn Chinese Or Vietnamese? To English speakers, Vietnamese seems to be easier to learn than the Mandarin language. FSI put Mandarin in the category 'super-hard languages' that requires a native English speaker 2,200 hours to be fluent, while the Vietnamese just requires 1,100 hours.

Vietnamese is easier than Thai. The use of the Latin alphabet is easier to learn and start reading. The pronunciation and grammar are similar and take an equal amount of time to learn. The Thai alphabet has a more significant learning curve and therefore takes longer.

Students lack the confidence to use the English language

Many Vietnamese learners face the common problem that although they spent six or seven years studying English at school, they can't pronounce and English sentence correctly, and they are not confident enough to communicate in the English language.

Generally, Vietnamese attitude towards foreigners is hospitable and warm-hearted. A random question in Quora was “are Vietnamese people friendly?” This question garnered positive answers from people saying they are hospitable and helpful.

Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.

More than half of the Vietnamese vocabulary can be traced back to Chinese. Thai has also taken some loan words from the official language of China. This is why the two languages have shared vocabularies. There are plenty of terms that are the same in both languages.

Option 1: the American accent

The most popular English accent of them all. Spread around the world by American cinema, music, television and more than 350 million North Americans (including Canadians, eh), this is the easiest accent for most people to understand, whether native speakers or non-native speakers.

Vietnamese, like many languages in Southeast Asia, is an isolating language. So about theory, the easiest languages to learn for an Vietnamese speaker are isolating languages. Such as Thai, Laos, Hmong, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Cantonese...

Is 30 minutes a day enough to learn a language? ›

Learning a language has a lot of similarities to learning to play an instrument, and many music teachers advise practicing for about 30 minutes per day. Shorter periods of learning have the added bonus of making you more likely to stick with it and keep up a consistent schedule.

Fluent: 10,000+ words.

At around 10,000 words in many languages, you've reached a near-native level of vocabulary, with the requisite words for talking about nearly any topic in detail. Furthermore, you recognize enough words in every utterance that you usually understand the unfamiliar ones from context.