Why Vietnam
TEFL Jobs are abundant all over Vietnam. Teaching English abroad in Vietnam is a thriving business. It couldn’t be easier to find a TEFL job here. With a National Foreign Languages Project in place, there is a massive focus upon learning English now. The goal is to have Vietnam’s students use English confidently in their study, daily communication, and work by 2030. There are numerous language centers, kindergartens, international schools, agencies, and private schools dedicated to teaching English to the students of Vietnam. This abundance of opportunity combined with the all-year-round hiring system creates a very lucrative experience.
Teacher Compensation
TEFL teachers in Vietnam enjoy a fantastic living standard. The average salary for a TEFL-certified, degree-holding, native English teacher is between $20 and $30 per hour. This is often higher depending on your experience and qualifications. Prospective teachers arrive in Hanoi with no prior teaching experience and can find a part-time job in a language center, teaching children for $20 per hour within a couple of days. There are opportunities to teach all ages, from kindergarten to adult, although finding a TEFL job teaching English to adults is a little more difficult to come by.
Essentially, there are two routes you can take to become an English teacher in Vietnam: you can sign up for a long-term, full-time contract at one of the major schools, or you can take on multiple part-time contracts at several smaller centers. A standard full-time position is considered to be around 20 to 25 teaching hours per week; however, there are opportunities to take on less or more hours depending on your goals and priorities.
Work Visa Application
The school at which you accept a teaching position will usually help you with this process. This will often require the following documents:
An internationally recognized TEFL certificate (original document)
A health check from an approved hospital (this is very easy and cheap to have done in Vietnam)
A university degree (original document) an academic transcript (original document)
A police clearance check (original document, no more than 6 months old)
Business Visa
The second option is a more casual route; something that is not as readily available in nearby TEFL countries such as Japan or South Korea. Many people are attracted to the “no-strings-attached” lifestyle that is available in Vietnam. It is possible to enter the country on a three-month business visa (which, depending on your nationality, should cost around $90-$130). Find more information about this visa at Vietnam Visa, an official website of the Vietnamese Government.
With this business visa, you can easily find cash-in-hand work at many of the smaller language centers. This will require you to renew your business visa at the end of every three months (at a similar cost as the initial visa but with no need to leave the country). This option won’t provide you with the benefits of signing up full time with one school, but it will allow you to create your own timetable and working hours. It is common to have multiple jobs of this nature, as these centers usually offer contracts of around three or four teaching hours per week. Three or four of these part-time contracts can provide you with enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle. It is possible to survive on as little as 10 hours upwards per week in Vietnam.
Benefits
While business visas only provide you with the salary for your taught hours, work visas provide for such benefits as vacation & holiday pay, airfare, a housing allowance, health insurance, bonus payments, etc.
Cost of Living
Living costs are exceptionally inexpensive in Vietnam. A meal at a local food stand (which can be found everywhere) will cost you around $2. This will be for a traditional dish of Pho (noodle soup) or similar. If you want to ‘splash out’ and eat Western food, you can easily go for a nice meal in a restaurant for around $5-7. Local beer is available everywhere in Vietnam; you can get a glass of organically brewed ‘biahoi’ for less than 50 cents. Local markets provide fresh fruit and veggies in abundance. Just be aware that your status as a foreigner will leave you exposed to massive overcharging. Always be prepared to haggle your way down to around half of the originally quoted price. It is possible to find more ‘Western’ supermarkets where the prices are set, and you can find a good selection of groceries for a reasonable value.
Accommodation
Unlike other TEFL destinations, schools here generally don’t help you to find accommodation. Don’t be afraid! It is surprisingly easy to do. It is possible to find short-term or longer contracts, depending on what suits you. A room in a shared house cost, on average, from $200-$250, depending on the quality of the room and the area. $250 will get you a nice room in a decent house, located in a good area. For $180, you can still get a decent room, but it may be smaller, or a little further away from the center. Utilities in general are not included in this price, and for Wi-Fi, electricity, water, and usually a weekly cleaner, you can expect to pay around $30-50 per month, depending on how much you use the air-conditioner.
Setting up a bank account
Opening a bank account in Vietnam is easy, and recommended banks are ANZ Bank, Sacom Bank, and HSBC. All you usually need is your passport and a Vietnamese address. You will have to fill out lots of forms, and the card may only be a cash withdrawal card, making it difficult to transfer money out of the country. There are ways around this, and usually your school will be able to help you.
