South Africans in Vietnam

Hi, I'm a 48 year old South African woman who is looking at living and working in Vietnam.

I am an attorney by profession, however I like the idea of teaching English and thought this might be a possibility while also giving me the opportunity to see more of the world.

Vietnam looks lovely to me, and I would love to hear from South Africans living there what their experience has been like and more about work opportunities.

Tks

Sheralee

Hearty welcome to HCMC, Vietnam!

Hi,Iam Vietnamese.Have you ever been in Vietnam before? You try to apply job before you will come,Many school they need foreign teacher,and they offer very good salary,
Where will you live in n Vietnam ? In North or South? In the North Vietnam,always have 4 seasons ,spring,summer,autumn and Winter but in the South ,only summer season,
I am living in. North Vietnam,If you want to come here,I think we can see  ,if you need to know any where,I can help you,
good luck,
Ha

Good evening Sheralee,

As Attorney, you can work as Consultant for some companies which export from Vietnam to South Africa because at the moment, many Vietnamese companies want to expand to African Market.

Ha! Did you confirmed that you are living in Hai Duong :D  I saw some of your postings which shows you want to relocate to Vung Tau or some other Country! I lived near Hai Duong some months and escaped to HCMC :D

ha1976 wrote:

Hi,Iam Vietnamese.Have you ever been in Vietnam before? You try to apply job before you will come,Many school they need foreign teacher,and they offer very good salary,
Where will you live in n Vietnam ? In North or South? In the North Vietnam,always have 4 seasons ,spring,summer,autumn and Winter but in the South ,only summer season,
I am living in. North Vietnam,If you want to come here,I think we can see  ,if you need to know any where,I can help you,
good luck,
Ha

Yes,I am living in Hai Duong,but my income is very small.
I am thinking to move to Vung tau city or another country,
my problem is that I have 2 kids with me now,I can't leave them,
what did you do in Hai Duong for 3 months ago?

:D

sheralee wrote:

Hi, I'm a 48 year old South African woman who is looking at living and working in Vietnam.

I am an attorney by profession, however I like the idea of teaching English and thought this might be a possibility while also giving me the opportunity to see more of the world.

Vietnam looks lovely to me, and I would love to hear from South Africans living there what their experience has been like and more about work opportunities.

Tks

Sheralee


Sheralee, I would suggest you read this tread in regards to discrimination in hiring English teachers.

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=304733

If you are from South Africa and you are black skinned, I honestly will tell you that they will NOT treat you the same as if you are white skinned. 

They will NEVER tell this to your face but you can rest assure, if you are black, the language center will not hire you in fear that parents would not enroll their kids at that language center.  On the other hand, if you are an Afrikaner or have white skinned then your chances of being hired is better (they will even ignore the certification requirements..i.e. no degree - no problem, no TESOL - no problem, no white skin - problem).

I know South Africa just went through the whole Apatheid thing but unfortunately the rest of humanity hasn't caught up in terms of social justice yet.

Hi, thank you for your replies.

I am a white English speaking South African. My home language is English.

Thank your for the info links.

Hi Sheralee,

I've got several south african friends who live here and teach english, sadly none of them post on this blog.
That aside they enjoy the lifestyle and work here, much the same as other teachers from elsewhere do.
Is there something specific you want to ask and I can relay messages to them.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

If you are from South Africa and you are black skinned, I honestly will tell you that they will NOT treat you the same as if you are white skinned.


THD: FYI - Most expats in VN from South Africa (the country, not Africa, the continent) are white, native English speakers, as is the OP.

Thank you for your replies everyone. I think I'm getting older and realizing that I don't want to spend the rest of whatever life I have left in a corporate environment shuffling papers day in and day out.

I also know that the grass isn't always greener on the other side, but I feel such a need to break out of my comfort zone and conventional little life, if I could call it that.

What are your thoughts on that, what reasons/events/ideas inspired you to leave your home countries and settle in VN?

saigonmonkey wrote:
Tran Hung Dao wrote:

If you are from South Africa and you are black skinned, I honestly will tell you that they will NOT treat you the same as if you are white skinned.


THD: FYI - Most expats in VN from South Africa (the country, not Africa, the continent) are white, native English speakers, as is the OP.


Blame Google Search!!

Solo1 wrote:
saigonmonkey wrote:
Tran Hung Dao wrote:

If you are from South Africa and you are black skinned, I honestly will tell you that they will NOT treat you the same as if you are white skinned.


THD: FYI - Most expats in VN from South Africa (the country, not Africa, the continent) are white, native English speakers, as is the OP.


Blame Google Search!!


I was playing the odds there.  You're right though...the information I got was from Google Search.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa

About 80% of South Africans are of black African ancestry..

Didn't know about the Expat thingy....Reading and learning some interesting stuff about South Africa.

The skills drain in South Africa tends to demonstrate racial contours given the skills distribution legacy of South Africa and has thus resulted in large white South African communities abroad.