Beware English Teachers

bluenz wrote:

Beware of meeting VN's in coffee shops, I was recently fined 10 mil VND, and nearly deported, after being ACCUSED of " illegal labour "

You live in the boon docks in the Central Coast. I also read the Cong An are after you because of your motorcycle!

You are notorious!

Besides, Cong An can't deport you - only Immigration - and when you explain they were after money everything will cool down.

You should use the audio record function on your smartphone. In the Big City the Cong An rarely leave their store-fronts unless they are looking for 'freebies'.

Hi bluenz!,

Welcome back!

You can go to paltalk or skype broadcasts to teach English for Vietnamese. I believe there are many serious English learners and don't close your heart because of this incident.

Regards

Dejavu.dot wrote:

Hi bluenz!,

Welcome back!

You can go to paltalk or skype broadcasts to teach English for Vietnamese. I believe there are many serious English learners and don't close your heart because of this incident.

Regards

Sorry, my basketball hasn't really dropped on this one yet.
Can you actually make real money on these skype lessons?

mas fred wrote:

Sorry, my basketball hasn't really dropped on this one yet.
Can you actually make real money on these skype lessons?

Oh. I thought Bluenz means a free lesson.

Jaitch wrote:

bluenz wrote:

Beware of meeting VN's in coffee shops, I was recently fined 10 mil VND, and nearly deported, after being ACCUSED of " illegal labour "

You live in the boon docks in the Central Coast. I also read the Cong An are after you because of your motorcycle!

You are notorious!

Besides, Cong An can't deport you - only Immigration - and when you explain they were after money everything will cool down.

You should use the audio record function on your smartphone. In the Big City the Cong An rarely leave their store-fronts unless they are looking for 'freebies'.

Haha, small place isn't it, did they mention my dog? And my bike trailer?
Here's the funniest part about the bike complaints, they suggested I buy, and drive a car, ( on this shitty little over congested road , full of retards, returning 1/2 pissed from the beach at night, with their headlights blazing, usually in the middle of the road,  forcing people traveling in the opposite direction to play hit and miss with the other idiots with no lights ), how intelligent is that, they think I'm dangerous on a bike, WTF do they think I will be like in a car??? But wasn't it nice of them to be concerned about MY safety????
I'm not sure who was stirring the shit, but the wife says she paid the fine at the same office where I had to pay the 1 mil for being 2 days late renewing my Visa, ( VEC, 90 days ), probably the same xenophobic party member?
Now my new school has told me I'm not allowed to carry a box on the back of my bike, or carry my dog around with me anymore, they say the students parents think I look like a " Backpacker ", ( must be a very lost one, I've been carrying around the box and dog for 4 yrs now??? )

Dejavu.dot wrote:

mas fred wrote:

Sorry, my basketball hasn't really dropped on this one yet.
Can you actually make real money on these skype lessons?

Oh. I thought Bluenz means a free lesson.

They were advertising for Native Speakers on Skype last year, ( hourly rate ), this is ok for people who THINK they can learn from just listening to a Native speaker, but from my experience, 90 % of the time, it just doesn't work like that, I've even tried speech therapy, diagrams, mirrors, recorders,  and still haven't been able to get through to some of them, it doesn't help when they were taught by a VN English Teacher with really bad pronounciation. ( that's 88% of the VN English teachers that I have met , the other chelve % were ok).

bluenz wrote:

Haha, small place isn't it, did they mention my dog? And my bike trailer?

Your trailer is the real problem!

bluenz wrote:

But wasn't it nice of them to be concerned about MY safety????

It wasn't safety, it was the fact you keep on paying bribes over the going rate!

bluenz wrote:

I'm not sure who was stirring the shit, but the wife says she paid the fine at the same office where I had to pay the 1 mil for being 2 days late renewing my Visa, ( VEC, 90 days ), probably the same xenophobic party member?

Sounds like either your wife likes giving bribes to Cong An or you have too much money. I seem to remember the late visa penalty is over scale, too. A doctors note saying you have been in bed, sick  is enough to beat the fine.

Jaitch wrote:

bluenz wrote:

Haha, small place isn't it, did they mention my dog? And my bike trailer?

Your trailer is the real problem!

bluenz wrote:

But wasn't it nice of them to be concerned about MY safety????

It wasn't safety, it was the fact you keep on paying bribes over the going rate!

bluenz wrote:

I'm not sure who was stirring the shit, but the wife says she paid the fine at the same office where I had to pay the 1 mil for being 2 days late renewing my Visa, ( VEC, 90 days ), probably the same xenophobic party member?

Sounds like either your wife likes giving bribes to Cong An or you have too much money. I seem to remember the late visa penalty is over scale, too. A doctors note saying you have been in bed, sick  is enough to beat the fine.

No , the fact that Tinh Khe is apparently the only area in VN that has banned trailers, 10 kms up the road , they have a signpost with a picture of a bike and trailer, 30 kph, I do what the locals do now, I wait until 12--1pm , when the cops are asleep , and use it then.

My wife is paying bribes to GOVT OFFICES, not to individual people, do you know of anyone who gets an official RECEIPT, when they pay a bribe???? BTW, Pls post a link to this " fine scale ", so we can tell the Cong An what we should be fined, I'm sure they will appreciate our help.
A Doctors note wouldn't work here, these people seem to know what you have done before you even do it here. Plus everyone would know why you had been to a Doctor. The joys of living in a small country town, and one reason why I don't anymore.

Any VN " concerned " about a Foreigner, ( except on working out how they can rip one off  ), would be a first.  That was a joke. ( so people might even find it funny ? )

bluenz wrote:

They were advertising for Native Speakers on Skype last year, ( hourly rate ), this is ok for people who THINK they can learn from just listening to a Native speaker, but from my experience, 90 % of the time, it just doesn't work like that, I've even tried speech therapy, diagrams, mirrors, recorders,  and still haven't been able to get through to some of them, it doesn't help when they were taught by a VN English Teacher with really bad pronounciation. ( that's 88% of the VN English teachers that I have met , the other chelve % were ok).

I taught English in a Skype broadcast many years ago. Most of learners are from the other nations. There were some Vietnamese but they didn't attend full lesson. Just appear once or twice and disappear.
I think many of them arent really serious in learning languages which need patient and attempt. Moreover learning with teacher isn't enough.

Maybe you need to build up a tend and make a board like " Secret activity" to hang in front of it. So you won't worry about hungry policemen.

Dejavu.dot wrote:

bluenz wrote:

They were advertising for Native Speakers on Skype last year, ( hourly rate ), this is ok for people who THINK they can learn from just listening to a Native speaker, but from my experience, 90 % of the time, it just doesn't work like that, I've even tried speech therapy, diagrams, mirrors, recorders,  and still haven't been able to get through to some of them, it doesn't help when they were taught by a VN English Teacher with really bad pronounciation. ( that's 88% of the VN English teachers that I have met , the other chelve % were ok).

I taught English in a Skype broadcast many years ago. Most of learners are from the other nations. There were some Vietnamese but they didn't attend full lesson. Just appear once or twice and disappear.
I think many of them arent really serious in learning languages which need patient and attempt. Moreover learning with teacher isn't enough.

Maybe you need to build up a tend and make a board like " Secret activity" to hang in front of it. So you won't worry about hungry policemen.

My " secret " activity has been teaching at a small school here for the last 13 months,without a Work Permit,  but for some strange reason, this has never been a problem, until I was recently employed by a larger school, and we applied for the Work Permit??? ( I still work at both schools now though ).

A lady told me that applying for a work permit isn't easy any longer. That "large school" doesnt help you to apply?

Dejavu.dot wrote:

A lady told me that applying for a work permit isn't easy any longer. That "large school" doesnt help you to apply?

One school here seems to have no problems, Permit in a week, no charge for the new employee, But I've just had to shell out 300k for the 3 hour medical, ( at least I know I'm not pregnant after seeing the ultra sound ), and 400k for the application, this was supposed to take only 1 month, ( mainly waiting for the VN Criminal check, which is a joke, as everyone will know what any Foreigner here has been doing ), they said I could start working immediately, ( I knew by law I wasn't supposed to , but played along ), and sure enough, after 4 days, the school was told to stop, ( but some how allowed me to work another 2 days )., so 6 weeks later , I'm back at work.

Hey--

I taught, too.  I'm going to take just a second to encourage you to do anything else.  It's not that teaching isn't a totally noble profession-- it totally is.  It's not that teachers teach because they can't do, that's bullshit, too.  Actually, it's a totally different matter.  The problem is that teachers, worldwide, get shafted, hard, with the exception of 2-3 places in Northern Europe.  Teaching is much harder than jobs that require equivalent credentialing, and the pay & respect are much lower. 

I loved teaching, every single, ridiculous day of it.  The thing is, no one really cared-- at least, not enough to make it worth the amount of work that went into doing it well.  Bosses can be jerks and don't necessarily care about the students.... etc, etc, etc....

I'd just like to let you know that in terms of my personal happiness, ending my teaching career was the best choice I've ever made (and REALLY, I LOVED it.  I just hated everything that came with it....)

Best,
-Jake

faddat wrote:

Hey--

I taught, too.  I'm going to take just a second to encourage you to do anything else.  It's not that teaching isn't a totally noble profession-- it totally is.  It's not that teachers teach because they can't do, that's bullshit, too.  Actually, it's a totally different matter.  The problem is that teachers, worldwide, get shafted, hard, with the exception of 2-3 places in Northern Europe.  Teaching is much harder than jobs that require equivalent credentialing, and the pay & respect are much lower. 

I loved teaching, every single, ridiculous day of it.  The thing is, no one really cared-- at least, not enough to make it worth the amount of work that went into doing it well.  Bosses can be jerks and don't necessarily care about the students.... etc, etc, etc....

I'd just like to let you know that in terms of my personal happiness, ending my teaching career was the best choice I've ever made (and REALLY, I LOVED it.  I just hated everything that came with it....)

Best,
-Jake

Thanks for your thoughts Jake, yes it can be rewarding , especially when you hear a student with correct pronounciation and a good understanding of grammar, etc, but many of these kids these days, ( and coming from rich families doesn't help ), have lost any respect for their elders, and obviously any classmate who is willing to learn, ( it really makes you wonder what the parents are like? ), I say bring back the cane , ( in my day ), although threatening to expel them from the classroom can have very quick results. One problem with this new school, is the managers lack of English, ( she isn't teaching ), I have no idea of the school policies, ( re discipline, punctuality , etc ), so have yet to find where to draw the line with some students, but I'll no doubt be finding this out very soon, I've had enough of disruptive, disrespectful students.( I got off to a good start while on " trial ",, I'd already moved this disruptive student and had threaten him with expulsion from the classroom, when 10 minutes later , a woman comes into class, and say's she is the boys mother, to which I replied, " lucky you ", ( she laughed, I've noticed VN's have yet to discover sarcasm ), then she precedes to re arrange the students seating,  I asked , " excuse me, but who are you ? ", she says " this is her class as well ", ,I tell her ,"  Not tonight , this is my class, and the students are seated this way for a reason "   amazingly she apologises,  Nothing like having a good communication with your new place of work is there???

I have lived in Nha Trang for three years. I am retired and not too busy with anything special, except cooking, walking, reading, cycling and watching Netflix (via an IP from Canada). In other words: enjoying life. Many young people over time had asked me to teach them English. Since I always replied that if I was to do so, it would be for free, the number of candidates was increasing exponentially; many kept asking when I would start. So… after a long hesitation I decided I would give it a very serious try. It took me more months to get ready…

I need to say here that I never taught in my whole life, and that… I'm French-Canadian. Nevertheless, I'm very fluent in English (but not perfect), and I really loved that idea. So… I choose six of them who were at college and who were knowledgeable enough and equal in English, and scheduled them for three nights a week at my apartment. I bought binders, dictionaries, and was printing all the lessons for each class – free. After six weeks (18 lessons) I had covered the essence of grammar (8 parts of speech), along with speech and reading practices. I never gave homework, but I kept repeating that at the end of those first 18 lessons, they would have a 2-hour test on grammar and other subjects we had covered. I kept saying also that ALL the answers to the questions were in the some 60 pages I printed so far, and that there would not be any multiple answers to choose from – like A, or B, or C. I only asked them to read and learn all I was printing.

That night came. I handed out the questions, and I went to my computer in my room. My Vietnamese daughter in-law, who was home, came to me in my room and asked: “What are you doing?” I replied that they had a 2-hour exam, during which time I would be busy on my computer waiting for them to finish. She said they would all be cheating and that I should be checking on them, siting right at the table with them. I reply with so much assurance: “Nahhhhh, never. They are serious young people, they would never do that.” She kept warning me and left. I waited for some time, and reluctantly went sneaking pretending going to the kitchen… Sure enough! To my surprise, but most of all to my sorrowful disappointment, one had her binder wide opened on the table, and all of them except one, were openly exchanging their answers.
I felt pain inside me like having been cheated and betray. I sat there with them until they finished, not believing what was happening, because even so, some kept cheating. I gathered the exam sheets, they all left, and all I wanted that evening was to serve myself a double Captain Morgan. I flipped through the exam sheets, and I immediately saw many blank pages. The next day I made the corrections… even with their bold cheating, they all had between 20% and 30%!
Having dealt during 6 weeks with their very obvious lack of interest and motivation, with their frequent absenteeism, this was the bitter “sundae topper”! I cancelled the next class not being able to get over with my profound sadness. Then I sent them an email with the results and cancelling the entire course.

Some friends had told me that teaching for free would mean for them that I was a cheap teacher and my teaching worthless.

Never again. I'm still feeling so sad about all this. But I have my freedom back again.

hahahaha, all the stories read like a road of sorrow, especially the one from AlegreViajero. I really wonder how that many English teachers here make their living. Here in the forum I did read many times USD 20 per hour / 4000 a month + and in the long run, 2 weeks after their new expat ... they are disappeared.

Living here in NT, a huge percentage of the younger ex-pats are "English" teachers, they way how the speak/write often leave the impression of more like a stranded plumber or carpenter then a teacher, needing invitation from Vietnamese to afford a cheap beer.

I know, it is not true for all. I hope it actually. Can someone of the longer on the board here enlighten me? Sure there are differences in pay as well as working conditions/locations.

Now the 2nd part of my thoughts:
Currently there is a quite global recession ongoing, decreasing numbers of western tourists others are seeming to double and triple. Could this be a cause of "supported fluctuation", that now English teachers are less in demand and minor things get blown up?

AlegreViajero wrote:

Some friends had told me that teaching for free would mean for them that I was a cheap teacher and my teaching worthless.

I, and my business partners, have taught many students on a no charge basis. In fact several of them are Users in this chatroom.

Whilst in HCM I teach on a one-on-one basis, they are completely free to study what they want, I simply don't teach grammar - too boring and, besides, you can do it from a book.

However, in Buon Ma Thuot, we offer 'homework classes' where students come and study at our offices, doing their homework. We kick them out at 21.30H weekdays. They are free to use any of our resources for any purpose that interests them - other than play games.

They are well behaved, applied and take things seriously. In fact they line up well before our offices close - all rearing to go.

They are made to understand that whilst we offer resources, and staff, free - it doesn't mean it has no value. They are self-guided and most take this seriously. We have only had to terminate two of them.

In HCM I offer English language aid, and again it has been very successful. Only one has dropped out but several have gained employment due to their ability to read and speak English. Each session is two hours in length and, as with BMT, they are self-guided to the extent the choose what they want to do.

I have a 13-year old whose fluency is simply amazing. She has determined what she wants as a career. Another is an automotive electronics technician and each week we work through his technical manuals which teaches me a lot of what goes in to current vehicles. His job, his first, pays VND7,500.000 per month.

Another is an order department supervisor and she often wants to compose letters for various job related purposes.

So, Alegre Viajero, keep on, concentrate on colloquial English and on a one-on-one basis and you will be rewarded with success.