English work

Am I wrong that working as English teacher and fixing English reports  are two different aspects? Most foreign people do this, I think. They also work as a translator. They seems to be fine.

@Helena Lin Perhaps. In Japan, where I currently reside, having post-graduate academic credentials means one can get paid rather well for this sort of thing. But there may be less post-graduate work in Vietnam, less appreciation for credentials, lower standards in academics, fewer museums or gallery shows, or less need in business.

I think maybe we have few post-graduate because standards of acedemics are high and difficult that not many people can absorb well. The demand for recruitments is high but not many of them are qualified enough to meet the demand of the job position.  If you are expert at any aspects, you can work and be paid well in Vietnam.

@Helena Lin Thanks for your advice. I've visited Vietnam several time and am impressed by the young students there. But I still have no idea of the general situation. But Vietnam looks to be growing and changing.

What do you mean by general situation? I have not got it. Yes, Vietnam will be changing a lots.

I previously contacted several of the online media websites to offer help for the correction of their English language news, not a single reply. I think you will find a very different attitude here, the amount of times I have been told I know nothing because I am not VN is staggering. In saying that, I'm sure if you hunt, hard and long you may find some work.

colinoscapee wrote:

I previously contacted several of the online media websites to offer help for the correction of their English language news, not a single reply. I think you will find a very different attitude here, the amount of times I have been told I know nothing because I am not VN is staggering. In saying that, I'm sure if you hunt, hard and long you may find some work.

@colinoscapee
I'm not specifically looking for this kind of work but curious about what's going on over there. I was thinking there'd be people producing stuff they'd want checked. I once had a science student in the park in HCMC ask me several times if I was an M.A. It got me thinking that maybe some graduate students might like to work on their theses in English. I did that here in Japan a few years back, for extra money, as well as stuff for museums. Of course, the Japanese attitude is not always great either. Japanese institutions can be arrogant as well and public English in Japan is mostly full of mistakes. But, if you have an M.A. or a PHD in Japan, you might find some people who want to pay you. Anyway, it doesn't surprise me that some places there might just not care about getting it right. I was just curious about the general atmosphere in Vietnam. I have zilch understanding of what expats are doing over there in English besides teaching "wall street" English or what have you. I also wonder if there are VNese students going abroad that need academic skills-preparation. But, maybe they just want to pass tests.  Academic skills are taught in Japan, but only because there are so many foreigners influencing university English programs. It might be that Vietnam is not developed or open enough to need academic skills. This is an area of VNese society that I know nothing about and need to find a way to understand.

Maybe contacting someone like RMIT would be a good start to obtain some work and get a feel for how things work. You really need to be on the ground here to get a feel for what's happening. Once you are known and word gets around,you will be surprised at the doors that will open for you.

@colinoscapee Thanks. I did contact some people when I was there. I felt the job scene was very limited but maybe that's because I haven't spent enough time there. I think I applied for something at the place you mentioned but wasn't considered because I don't have a CELTA. It seems odd that there is only one university-type job that people mention. It's a big country but students I talked to said they had no foreign uni teachers. t'm not looking to move this year but really want to understand the atmosphere and what's available. I may move there in 2017 or 2018. I really would like to start a business in VN but I'm also interested in what kind of consulting work or side work I could do as well. I've taught academic skills, as well as beginner English communication, as a uni teacher in Japan for years. But that doesn't seem to impress anyone, outside of maybe some nice students in the park, over there. Well...heck!...I guess it doesn't impress me either

Yeah, I hear what your saying. Most of the better jobs in the uni's require a diploma in education and experience. They did change the rules somewhat to accepting experience in the jobs outside of the uni's. Maybe you could post on one of the employment agency sites and see what feedback you get. Anything is worth a try to get a feel for what is available.

@colinoscapee Thanks for your reply. I'll be back this summer and look into that. I'm kind of interested in whether people freelance there. I guess that was my original question though maybe I put it clumsily. Can one freelance with teaching there or is there no market for it? Can one pick up classes, do trainings...etc. Supposedly, there are over a hundred thousand Vietnamese students studying abroad, so are high school students interested in necessary skills like academic writing, presentation, or are they only thinking of testing? Are there businesses that need training or individual academics that need assistance producing text. Yes, maybe I could advertise something and see (leaving aside visa and work requirements for the time being - not intending to break any regulation but just to understand). I'm trying here to know people's experience there but It's still foggy. In Japan, there is university, high school, business...all kinds of stuff. I've just started to get an online EFL degree to have a certificate since they seem to need to point to something like that.

i think that there is prolly a huge need for this kind of service. You only have to look at some of the English translations of Vietnamese business websites (hotels are a good example) to see the gibberish they offer as English.

It's not their fault. It's the fault of their web developer. Most of them just copy and paste and don't proofread.

It IS their fault.

What you just posted is very Vietnamese (blame someone else). If I owned a business that depended on a website for new business, I would make damn sure that the translations (into English, Chinese, whatever) are accurate.

you're living in Vietnam and so am I what we think doesn't matter. The Vietnamese way is the way here. You can piss and moan about it all you want.

Hypothalamus wrote:

you're living in Vietnam and so am I what we think doesn't matter. The Vietnamese way is the way here. You can piss and moan about it all you want.

I am not, nor was I, pissing and moaning. I was simply correcting an erroneous point of view. And I was quite clear in my post that if it were my business, I would ensure that my web page translations were correct.

And just out of interest, my wife and I have been offered a free long weekend in an hotel - meals included- for the very purpose of sorting the gibberish out on the English page of their website. I expect we may well get more such offers after we have finished this one.

@Hypothalamus I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to improve something. I don't like fatalism. Vietnam seems to have a lot of potential and if people are interested in doing business globally, they may want to improve their PR. I live in Japan which was very arrogant once upon a time, in the same way. What's the saying? Pride goeth...?

Now if someone could just get someone to correct  what is written on shirts and jackets.

"sniffing glue keeps the family together" absolute classic.

Seems like most of the jobs I've come across in Vietnam are about teaching kids or testing. I haven't seen the appetite for academic skills. It may not be a priority.

VanRoss wrote:

Seems like most of the jobs I've come across in Vietnam are about teaching kids or testing. I haven't seen the appetite for academic skills. It may not be a priority.

Y'know what the parents want for their kids? They don't want their kids to be able to speak English (or whatever language), they want them to be able to pass the English (or whatever) exam. There is sometimes a big gulf between the two.