Moving to HCMC in July

Hello Ed,
You should check out this link below.  Scroll down slowly and find the right posts.  Unless you come with a large bank roll, district one rent is generally expensive for a new comer English Teacher.  The neighboring districts are cheaper like Phu Nhuan or Binh Thanh or Tan Binh districts.  You can check out the classified ads for housing in this site also, to get some idea.

https://www.expat.com/en/jobs/asia/viet … acher.html

Besides District 1, you can choose binh thanh or dis 1 for your staying cos they are also near the center and the expense there is not much expensive!

wrightEd wrote:

Since this is my first post I will introduce myself. My name is Ed and I am from Richmond, VA in the U.S. I am 26 years old. I am planning on moving to HCMC this summer to teach English. Planning is as far as I have gotten and I have yet to find a job or place to live. Any advice on either of these would be welcomed. I would like to take a Celta certification course when I arrive. I guess my specific questions would be 1) Where is a good place to live? I am looking in district 1, but would be up for a place that is close. Mainly I just want to be in a place that is close to schools and nightlife, but is not expensive. 2) How likely would I be able to find a job as a teacher and where should I look? I play poker online as supplemental income but would like to try teaching. Thanks for your time and sorry for the long post. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Hi Ed,
You can live in District 1, District 3 or Binh Thanh district. But I think District 3 is the best place. It is safe for foreigners and has many foreign language schools, many services, entertainment and so on.It's is next to District 1.From Dis3, you can easily move to other districts in HCMC.On the other hand, Dis3 has many supermarkets, the price of goods is less expensive than Dis1.You can see many shopping centers in Dis1 but the price is not cheap at all. If you can't find any places in Dis3 or Dis1, the last selection is Binh Thanh. In fact, a place that is not expensive in District 3 can be found if you can live in simple living conditions.
About the place for you to teach English. You should go to famous language schools in the central area. These schools are most located between Dis3 and Dis1.Some places that you can look:
-ILA
-VUS
-Apollo
-Cleverlearn
-ACET
-AMA
-AUSP
-FLC
-Seameo
-VATC
....
Google it to get more information.
Best wishes for your new life in our country.
PS: Binh Thanh is a little complex, and not very safe.DO NOT live in Tan Binh district. It's great if you can find a house/room in the area between Tú Xương and Phạm Viết Chánh street.
-------------------------------------------------------

Hi Ed,
One of my friends (American also) is teaching English at ILA Vietnam, living in district 5, it's quite close to the ILA center in district 5, and he's planning to go to Thailand this September.
The apartment has 2 floor, quite and the landlord is so funny . You can rent at about 250$/month
So if you need help, don't hesitate to contact me just leave a message in my inbox

Hey Ed,

I went to Hanoi last week and bumped into a New Jersey fellow, who was living just a couple of doors down from where I was at.  He has been teaching English in Asia for 12+ years and thought that he and his family are having a time of their lives out there. 

I spent an evening with him and kind of agreed:  he is making good money, teaching at a prestigious school and living just 1/2 a block from where he works.

Pretty cool.  You might want to look that way too.

Best of luck,
Howie

Thanks for all of the information, it helps out quite a bit since I am coming into this without knowing anything about the city.

@docwood
Thank you for the link, I will check it out. I definitely do not have a big bankroll so I am willing to live in the surrounding districts.

@Teacher Mark
I have looked at the TEFL and TESOL courses. The information I have been reading makes it seem like the CELTA course is regarded higher throughout the world. At this point all I know is that I am going to try and teach in Vietnam next year. I might want to teach/travel in another country or part of the world afterward so I feel like as long as I am getting certified I should just go ahead and get the CELTA. They look to be around the same price too, I would consider a TEFL or TESOL course if I was going to save a lot of money.

@truc_nguyen
I will look into those. I do not mind commuting, but I would rather be closer to where I will work and it sounds like that is going to be the center of the city.

@vivile
Thanks for all of the info and your personal observations. I will look more into district 3. I do not mind simple living, what exactly does that mean though? I would prefer to be away from the touristy areas and maybe close to some local markets with good fresh food. I don't mind living in a place that is not the safest as long as I am not in imminent danger. I would rank safety below Cost of Living, uniqueness/attractions of a neighborhood, nearby markets, proximity to where I will work. I will check into those schools, thanks for the list.

@smilekiss
Thanks for the info I will keep that in mind.

@Wild_1
I looked at Hanoi when I first decided to go to Vietnam and it looks great. I have decided to live in HCMC though, but will definitely travel to Hanoi when I am in Vietnam. I bet he is happy, that sounds great living so close to where you work that you would be able to walk.

Cambridge has protected their brand.  They've also marketed and self promoted the CELTA very well.  When you're applying for a position, however, all the schools want to see is that you've been observed in a classroom. 

The classroom you'll probably end up in will consist of children.  They don't prepare you for that, since it's a certificate for teaching adults.  You'd probably be denied enrollment for the CELTA-YL, unless you work for ILA and they're the only school in Vietnam that offers it, conveniently enough for them.  The TEFL International program has you teaching in local schools and they include an additional certificate, like the YL.

I wouldn't recommend Apollo or ILA for the CELTA or for work.  The only other option is Language Link, in Hanoi.

Good luck.

I was looking at ILA because they had a good early bird discount. I don't know anything besides what I've read on their website. What are the reasons you would recommend against them?

Thanks,
Ed

wrightEd wrote:

I was looking at ILA because they had a good early bird discount. I don't know anything besides what I've read on their website. What are the reasons you would recommend against them?

Thanks,
Ed

I'll PM you the reasons tomorrow.  I have a friend who's going to send me an email detailing his bad experiences with them.

wrightEd wrote:

@vivile
Thanks for all of the info and your personal observations. I will look more into district 3. I do not mind simple living, what exactly does that mean though? I would prefer to be away from the touristy areas and maybe close to some local markets with good fresh food. I don't mind living in a place that is not the safest as long as I am not in imminent danger. I would rank safety below Cost of Living, uniqueness/attractions of a neighborhood, nearby markets, proximity to where I will work. I will check into those schools, thanks for the list.

Maybe Binh Thanh is easier to find a cheap room than Dis3. But it's far from language school. Rent rooms in Tan Binh are cheaper than Dis3 but I think you shouldn't live there. Of course it doesn't have imminent danger but your luggage can be stolen, specialy laptop, money...The best way is living in areas in Tan Binh that is near Dis3.
I am a student of a university in HCMC. I live in a rent room between Dis1 and Dis3 near a supermarket.It's so safe. We have 3 people. The price of renting is just 25USD per month for each one (also include power/water/internet bills).You will pay 50USD per month if you live alone.There are many markets and bookstores near here (Co-opmark Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Maximark 3 thang 2, BigC, Hoa Hung Market, Co-opmark Cong Quynh, Minh Khai/Kinh te bookstores...).
In searching rent room, you should go with a Vietnamese person and have him/her hire for you. Because lessors will increase the price fromm 2 to 4 times when they see a foreigner.Haha.
I just advice you. Maybe this advice is not right because of my individual point of view.I hope you will have the best choice.
Goodluck!

Hi WrightED,

You can find more detail on teaching job in ILA as link below. Good luck to you.

discovereltvietnam.com/page.php?p=158&gclid=CKbD8czquK8CFeFV4godNmIWhw

Hi there!

Some posts have been removed due to inappropriate content.

Thanks,

Francesca

“A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation”

- Mark Twain