Teacher experiences

I am 62 with a TEFL certification, MBA, 3 years teaching experience in Thailand with support documentation, a US citizen, well spoken with no accent and perfect diction, also physically fit and good looking for my age who had a very successful business career in America.

That said: I was unable to find a suitable teaching position in HCMC. Hours were sporadic, compensation was minimal at best and working conditions were poor. My salary at the University in Bangkok was $3000 USD per month and in HCMC they would not even pay 1/3 of that!!

Good luck

Manpower is very cheap in Vietnam. If you just need enough to live, you are welcome to the world of teachers! Otherwise can do some 'side businesses' together with your teaching if you are interested. Vietnam is not the place to make money from teaching profession! For a simple life.... good place. Good luck!

Prem Charma

Having had such a lucrative post in the Bangkok University, why did you decide to leave? You thought this was a greener pasture? Sorry, mate, this economy is centrally controlled and capitalism, as you were taught, does not technically hold water in this city.
We can teach all the theory but practice wise, it is hardly carried out.

Seniordogsg46 wrote:

Having had such a lucrative post in the Bangkok University, why did you decide to leave? You thought this was a greener pasture? Sorry, mate, this economy is centrally controlled and capitalism, as you were taught, does not technically hold water in this city.
We can teach all the theory but practice wise, it is hardly carried out.

I absolutely hated living in BKK. Great place to visit but to live there--traffic is mind boggling, humidity is over the top and typical asphalt jungle big city living. In addition the Great Recession hit America and in 09 I had to go back and do some major shuffling of investments. Took me almost 3 years to regroup. So I decided to give Vietnam a chance.

Actually I'm in Da Nang right now looking at opportunities as there are none in Nha Trang. Thank God I don't need the money or I would be back in BKK Uggghhh!!

Seniordogsg46 wrote:

Having had such a lucrative post in the Bangkok University, why did you decide to leave? You thought this was a greener pasture? Sorry, mate, this economy is centrally controlled and capitalism, as you were taught, does not technically hold water in this city.
We can teach all the theory but practice wise, it is hardly carried out.

charmavietnam wrote:

Manpower is very cheap in Vietnam. If you just need enough to live, you are welcome to the world of teachers! Otherwise can do some 'side businesses' together with your teaching if you are interested. Vietnam is not the place to make money from teaching profession! For a simple life.... good place. Good luck!

Prem Charma

Solo1 wrote:

I absolutely hated living in BKK. Great place to visit but to live there--traffic is mind boggling, humidity is over the top and typical asphalt jungle big city living. In addition the Great Recession hit America and in 09 I had to go back and do some major shuffling of investments. Took me almost 3 years to regroup. So I decided to give Vietnam a chance.

Actually I'm in Da Nang right now looking at opportunities as there are none in Nha Trang. Thank God I don't need the money or I would be back in BKK Uggghhh!!

As Charma said, for a simple life, Vietnam is a good place.  Money isn't everything and shouldn't be the sole focus for a happy life.  Good for you Solo1 for giving up a lucrative but miserable means of supporting yourself and giving Vietnam a chance.  If you're 62, why not take your SS early?  You can live a simple life in Vietnam just on SS alone. 

If you're in Da Nang, try visiting the Bread of Life restaurant.  It's on 4 Dong Da street, Da Nang.  I'm sure you'll make some good contacts with American Expats there.  Here's their website.

http://breadoflifedanang.com/?lang=en.

It's also the location for Central Vietnam where the US Consulate meets to service American citizens.

Tran Dung Hao wrote:


If you're in Da Nang, try visiting the Bread of Life restaurant.  It's on 4 Dong Da street, Da Nang.  I'm sure you'll make some good contacts with American Expats there.  Here's their website.

http://breadoflifedanang.com/?lang=en.


Just had a double cheeseburger and potato salad!! It was great. Thanks for the tip!!

I always believe that those who opted to teach or lecture have a passion for imparting knowledge and help others to better understand society and the world. The point I am trying t o make is that an MBA is not a cheapskate degree, especially if it came from a reputable University, and not a degree mill. It is a long term investment. Solo1: Assume you have recovered your investment and now seeking for something that you will enjoy doing in priority? Those who teach will not make big money unless you are on professor levels and for a lengthy period! Bread of life is essentially a business but coupled with a social mission, and meaningful..

Greetings,
There has been some nice responses, but most are off topic.  Does anyone have any teaching experiences in Vietnam they could share?

Sploke77 wrote:

I always believe that those who opted to teach or lecture have a passion for imparting knowledge and help others to better understand society and the world. The point I am trying t o make is that an MBA is not a cheapskate degree, especially if it came from a reputable University, and not a degree mill. It is a long term investment. Solo1: Assume you have recovered your investment and now seeking for something that you will enjoy doing in priority? Those who teach will not make big money unless you are on professor levels and for a lengthy period! Bread of life is essentially a business but coupled with a social mission, and meaningful..

I have recovered as best I can considering the state of the US economy. Many of my acquaintances have not been as fortunate. I am at the season of my life where I have accepted to live on what I have. I am not concerned with accumulating wealth at this point but merely seeking a quality of life. I don't have to work but I need to have purpose and meaning in my daily life. I am bored more than anything right now. Perhaps I'm somewhat selfish in that I want paid a reasonable compensation for my employment efforts. I have not found a charity of interest to devote my volunteer efforts as of yet. And so this is the journey in my life for now.

I am truly blessed and not ungrateful to my Heavenly Father.

Ancient pathos: I was a lecturer here some 15 years ago. I taught at government/private business colleges and at a Western joint-campus University in HCMC. For the working adult learners, most were generally hungry for knowledge and studious, always submitting assignments readily. The undergrads were young, boisterous in class and some were downright immature in behavior. I had to demand silence before any lessons could take place. I was also assigned to do English preparatory classes to upgrade their level of English, which I found to be less than satisfactory. Most put it down to poor foundations laid previously. Grammar was atrocious and reports were unintelligible. In fact, often, I just didn't know how to mark the papers and written project reports. Most were supposed to have a 'good' grade in English, though. sorry, I did not do any prep type of course for TOEFL or TOEIC, so cannot share on this. Cheers

Solo1 wrote:

Sploke77 wrote:

I always believe that those who opted to teach or lecture have a passion for imparting knowledge and help others to better understand society and the world. The point I am trying t o make is that an MBA is not a cheapskate degree, especially if it came from a reputable University, and not a degree mill. It is a long term investment. Solo1: Assume you have recovered your investment and now seeking for something that you will enjoy doing in priority? Those who teach will not make big money unless you are on professor levels and for a lengthy period! Bread of life is essentially a business but coupled with a social mission, and meaningful..

I have recovered as best I can considering the state of the US economy. Many of my acquaintances have not been as fortunate. I am at the season of my life where I have accepted to live on what I have. I am not concerned with accumulating wealth at this point but merely seeking a quality of life. I don't have to work but I need to have purpose and meaning in my daily life. I am bored more than anything right now. Perhaps I'm somewhat selfish in that I want paid a reasonable compensation for my employment efforts. I have not found a charity of interest to devote my volunteer efforts as of yet. And so this is the journey in my life for now.

I am truly blessed and not ungrateful to my Heavenly Father.

I am also in a position in which I do not need the money from teaching. My desire is to act productive, put some structure in my life by doing something I enjoy. These last 4 years I have been retired, the 1st 3 saw my marriage finally end then on a whim I came here for 3 weeks and stayed.  It is a great feeling to be starting my life over at age 53. The injuries that caused my retirement seem to have improved enough where I want to try teaching conversational english. Thanks for sharing.

Hi, I'm teaching about an hour away from HCMC in a local uni. I did my course in HCMC and found that students in HCMC were more vocal and confident.

Here, the students are shy. They are sweet, polite, some work hard but sometimes you have to constantly teach them basic studying habits such as organizing notes and writing on a fresh piece of paper (instead of bits of scrap paper, sometimes torn or scrunched up) to hand in their assignments.

I sometimes get frustrated with them not having their own opinions or fear of saying something different - although I do understand it is the culture.

I am a simple person with a simple lifestyle, so my salary is more than enough for me. It's slightly higher than my salary then back home, but the cost of living is much lower here.

It is lamentable that the educational landscape has also fallen prey to unscrupulous beings out to hoodwink the gullible and uninformed. What will people not do for sake of money! I just read you can buy a Bachelor degree for usd 199. And just 30 dollars more and you get a Ph.D!  Seems this has gone on for last 5-6 years or so. So with that, you can go around and boast you are a graduate although you did not lift a finger to write anything!  Show that to some silly boss and get employed- unless he is smart enough to check and confirm your credentials (he has no time). There you go, get preferred over someone else more honest but with just a diploma. Bertrand Russell did not define 'education' this way!!

Sploke77 wrote:

It is lamentable that the educational landscape has also fallen prey to unscrupulous beings out to hoodwink the gullible and uninformed. What will people not do for sake of money! I just read you can buy a Bachelor degree for usd 199. And just 30 dollars more and you get a Ph.D!  Seems this has gone on for last 5-6 years or so. So with that, you can go around and boast you are a graduate although you did not lift a finger to write anything!  Show that to some silly boss and get employed- unless he is smart enough to check and confirm your credentials (he has no time). There you go, get preferred over someone else more honest but with just a diploma. Bertrand Russell did not define 'education' this way!!

Diploma mills have been in existence far longer than 5-6 years. Not only on the internet but at major cities across the world. In BKK there is one street that specializes in an array of forged documents.

Sigh ! What is the world and society becoming? All in the name of earning money to survive - pitfall of capitalism?

Harry Stack Sullivan, noted American psychologist got his degree from a paper mill.