My name is Peter LeGrove, and I'm here to tell you my boots on the ground experience, about what it's like to get a job teaching English in Vietnam. I did it and it isn't easy, so I'll try to make it easier for you. Now it is time to sit back and relax, to find out how easy, or how difficult it is to get a job teaching English in Vietnam. Nowadays with the internet, smart phones and Google Play, your world of travelling is a lot easier. But you have to keep up to date with the apps, as new ones are coming out all the time. Like maps.me which is run of GPS not data, so you can still find your way around, as soon as you land in Vietnam or any other country. Vietnam is a tourist Mecca, with tourists crawling all over the cities and countryside. The whole of the Hanoi old quarter is full of hostels and hotels, that cater to all levels of expense. From the cheapest hostel at $2.50 soon to be $3.50, to upwards of whatever you can afford. And the whole country is geared for the tourists, with organized tours to where ever you want to go. And dispersed amongst the tourists are the semi permanent foreign workers, mainly teachers, etching out a living in this beautiful country, with a fair bit of pollution in the main cities, but not as bad as China. It seems the whole teaching system here is, basically going from one school to another. Most teachers ride motorbikes while others take the bus. And they come and go like flies. In the main cities the competition for jobs is fairly intense, but out of the cities they are always on the lookout for teachers. And some teachers come here with hopes of getting a job, and end up in Cambodia, where it is easier to get a job. Some people come here and crash out on a beach, and just give up looking for jobs. Life in good here. It comes under "How To Live Cheap In An UnCheap World." And out of the tourist places and big cities, it is still cheap with beautiful beaches. And the joy of modernization is, you can crash out on an idyllic beach, and teach kids in China over the internet. You are not confined to the four walls of a classroom. And if you love beaches, sun, sand and a few beers after work, then this is the country to crash out in.
About the Author: I started out in Auckland, New Zealand, a good time to be a New Zealander. At the time we were supposedly the best country to live in, but in the 80's that all changed. We dropped dramatically and anyone who could leave left for greener pastures overseas. I ended up as an Exchange Student at Minnesota - St. Paul University. There I thought I was going to save the world so I took a block course on "Education Extension in Developing Countries" It was quite an eye opener about how you could teach people with no teaching materials. After playing around in the USA for a few more years it was time to head down into Mexico and start to save the world. In Mexico City I started learning Spanish at the Universdad Da Mexico City and teaching English in a small private school. Learning Spanish wasn't too good but teaching English was. I was fascinated by the magic aura of big cities, and Mexico City at that time was one of the biggest. Then it was back to civilization for a few years, but the lure of developing countries and trying to save the world was still in my blood. So in the 1990's I crashed in Jember in Indonesia and it was a beautiful place, relaxed and laid back. Mind you that was before the place went mad and I could never understand why. Asia was now firmly planted in my blood and the Middle Kingdom was calling so it was an easy hop to Hong Kong. Hong Kong before the Handover was screaming out for teachers, anyone would do. Here I was stuck in a big modern city, but I paid the price in stress and crowded living. I loved it all the same, and to get away from the crowds and the pressure all it took was a jump across the border. We all had to leave after HK went back to China so it was onto China. This was China before it went economically mad and they were screaming out for teachers. So it was back to a developing country but this country was developing into an economical powerhouse that would influence the world for years to come. Anyway to tackle the adult students --who were all learning English so they could immigrate to a better life, only to realize if they had stayed in China they would be in the top of their fields -- we were teaching everything from beginner to advanced and everything in between. They were the good old days and at that time it was all adult students. We were surrounded by friends who would always help you when you needed it.