Opportunity to Change Lives as a Teacher of English in Vietnam

Hello sir/ madam,  I am a Cameroonian and I have been teaching English language in China for over 4 years.  Don't bother where your school is located, what really matters is whether the area is conducive for studies and the availability of teaching materials. Teaching English is  really fun and playful  when the teacher likes what he or she does. Teaching English for me is to be able to change life's and show a good example to your students  by making them fall in love with the language.

It's a poor beach village,

Poor - Who pays?
That might be a hole in your plan as it won't be cheap to set up and run, but locals may very well not be able to afford fees ... assuming they're interested in their kids learning English in the first place.

VanKhanh Ho wrote:

I have this idea to build an English center back in my hometown - Nghe An - 1.5 hours flight time away from Saigon. It's a poor beach village, kids study English in school but mostly grammar. So I really want to give them an opportunity to learn real English - pronunciation and fluency...

Thanks again for reaching out to me via Zalo for my input about this.

As I mentioned, I think THIGV will have meaningful feedback for you about your idea.

The only suggestion I want to reiterate here would be that, unless there is in fact some one-right-way of pronunciation at your school, then you will always have some Vietnamese teachers resisting correction of their pronunciation, and thus the children will not fully accept the pronunciation of the Foreigner teacher as much as they would if it were the only English pronunciation they heard.

I'm saying this from first-hand experience during my brief teaching time in Tam Kỳ, Quảng Nam.

It's understandable that you are saying the teachers are expected to follow official guidelines for teaching and not complain about it or try to undercut those guidelines.

But here I'm talking about proper pronunciation, which seems to be a key benefit you want the children to reap from attending the school.

As far as I know, there is no specific regulation regarding pronunciation in Vietnam, and it ends up being a very subjective value, inconsistent from one place to another.

Of course that will mean that you can't just hire people who qualify as ESL teachers on paper.

To be true to the goal of the school, anyone applying as a teacher will need to undergo a video interview to be certain that they speak English well enough to be a teacher in your school

As a NOTE to the casual reader, the OP is my lawyer in HCMC.

We have known each other over two years now, to the point where I'm even personally acquainted with her partner and her mother.

In my opinion, she is very trustworthy and totally sincere.

VanKhanh_Ho wrote:

I added here some pictures of my hometown:

Here are those photos you attempted to post...

Fred wrote:

It's a poor beach village,

Poor - Who pays?
That might be a hole in your plan as it won't be cheap to set up and run, but locals may very well not be able to afford fees ... assuming they're interested in their kids learning English in the first place.

Good point. so I checked with the people back in my hometown and they spend about 250k VND per month for each child to study English. My proposed classes may be too expensive. Worst scenario, I may upscale the class (12 instead of 6), sacrifice quality.

VanKhanh Ho wrote:

I have this idea to build an English center back in my hometown - Nghe An - 1.5 hours flight time away from Saigon. It's a poor beach village, kids study English in school but mostly grammar. So I really want to give them an opportunity to learn real English - pronunciation and fluency. 

For foreigners it can be boring to live there, the only thing you can do is to swim in the beach everyday and eat fresh seafood. You still have access to all kinds of meat and vegetables in the local market but there is no proper restaurant. Also, it can be extremely hot in the summer. This can feel more like a charity project where you help to give the opportunity to learn real English to a remote area.

So, I am writing to get your opinion on whether it is a feasible plan. Would I be able to recruit any foreign teacher to such a centre at all?

Yes, but I think once you move to Phase 2, this sort of thing would work well as a volunteer teaching program that would appeal to gap-year young adults and retirees, basically people looking for a unique experience. Professional teachers generally won't be very interested.

As such, you wouldn't really need to pay a salary. Instead, invest the money in providing the volunteers with a fantastic experience, Also, maybe work permits may then not be necessary. Not sure what kind of visas volunteers will need/can get.

In addition, you might partially format it more like an "English Camp" with a focus on activities rather than all classroom instruction.

I will be looking for a teaching job in Vietnam next year and if I didn't have my teenage daughter with me, I would definitely be interested in taking a job in a small beach village - I enjoy small remote places, and although most foreigners will want more social life, restaurants etc, I'm sure there must be other more unusual people like me out there! I would do it, but right now it is not possible for me. I wish you all the best with your project!

I have followed your contributions to expat.com over the years and have appreciated your "Vietnamese view" and guidance in matters. I wish there were more good Vietnamese contributors in the expat.com community!

It is so great that you want to help people in your home town to have more opportunities, I wish you the best of luck. I am not a candidate for the position, I'm retired and too old to teach, though I'd like to do some one-on-one coaching later. Anyway I have an idea that is a variation on your plan. 

I've been following an English cafe in Saigon, and visited a few times, and I help answering questions online. Coffee Talk English - on Facebook - started with a cafe and English club in District 5. Mostly 20 year olds turned out a few nights a week for a chance to speak English, play board games. A couple foreigners might show up too.  You had to buy a drink to hang out. Personally I don't think a lot is learned when eight introverts sit around a table and two extroverts talk, but English clubs are social magnets.

Then they added a second cafe and classrooms in a house in Binh Thanh, and started providing courses, maybe 2 years ago now. They have a full program now, teaching small English and IELTS classes,  plus Youtube and Zoom and Facebook community. The teachers are a mix of advanced Viet and one or two foreigners.

So instead of starting a school outright, you could build up from a community group, have a cafe for income to hire helpers. Perhaps lease a large enough house for AirBnB apartments, also for bootstrapping, and attracting foreigners to your town. I don't think you have to begin with a native English teacher, that may be overrated. Start with a very fluent Vietnamese, maybe one who has been overseas. A local or someone from Vinh? and grow from there.

In either case, I bet Hương at Coffee Talk would be a good person to bounce your idea off of, she is very nice and so enthusiastic.

Do you had Facebook  ? 🤔😂 or zalo ?

Good Morning.
I am interested in your idea of starting your program. I have messaged you on Facebook. Also sent a friend request. I would like to talk to you. I have included my mobile in the message. I will give you my e-mail ***. I have the experience and background needed to help you with this project.
Thank you
John Baratki

Hi VanKhanh!

I really like your idea and yes, I think you would be able to recruit teachers. It would definitively attract volunteers, as someone already suggested. Your conditions are fair and the program would be a great experience for them. No restaurants or bars may be a bit boring for some, but being able to go to the beach every day is a huge plus! You also did not mention how many teachers there would be - it is much more fun if there are more people so they can spend free time together. If it was only one or two teachers there at once, that might be very boring and difficult for some.

If there are no restaurants, having someone to prepare lunch or dinner would surely be convenient. I also think a good idea would be to offer Vietnamese lessons for your foreign teachers, just some basics like numbers, fruits and veggies, questions like "How much does this cost?" and such, that will be handy when they are shopping at the market.

How to make it successful?
- organisation and curriculum, materials and good lesson planning. supporting and taking care of your teachers. good marketing and reviews. being trustworthy.

I was working at a center in Vietnam doing marketing and bringing new teachers and volunteers in, so if you have any questions at all, you can message me and I will be happy to talk to you and give you some tips!

I am currently at home in Europe, but am thinking of coming back to Vietnam, so maybe I would even be interested in staying at your village and helping you set up the center, if we talk and you give me some more information. I was also in charge of preparing the curriculum and some lesson planning, so I could also help with that.

Anyways, good luck and get in touch! 

Hi I think it is a wonderful idea.  I hope to be in hcmc in June.  I did work like this for a charity in Cambodia.  It was called conversations with foreigners.    I really think getting older people looking for the experience is a great way to do it.   Loads of older irish people like myself want to experience something like this. You don't need to pay them - you just need to provide accommodation and food and some cultural experiences.  I willl be working as a teacher in hcmc / hopefully. But I am very happy to talk to you about attracting people in later adulthood out to teach.   It is absolutely so possible without paying for flights.   Younger people won't last as long if there is nothing in place.  But older ones will - they can make their own entertainment and immerse in the culture.  Let me know if you want to chat more.  Best of luck carol

Caroby wrote:

Hi I think it is a wonderful idea.  I hope to be in hcmc in June.  I did work like this for a charity in Cambodia.  It was called conversations with foreigners.    I really think getting older people looking for the experience is a great way to do it.   Loads of older irish people like myself want to experience something like this. You don't need to pay them - you just need to provide accommodation and food and some cultural experiences.  I willl be working as a teacher in hcmc / hopefully. But I am very happy to talk to you about attracting people in later adulthood out to teach.   It is absolutely so possible without paying for flights.   Younger people won't last as long if there is nothing in place.  But older ones will - they can make their own entertainment and immerse in the culture.  Let me know if you want to chat more.  Best of luck carol

Long term (longer than 3 months) that will only work if the older people have a bachelor's degree and are certified to teach English as a second language.

And they would definitely need to be in a legal (with work permit) paid position in Vietnam.

Vietnamese teachers in local schools who teach any level of English to their students make extra money by requiring homework from their students; paid for by parents.

When one of those teachers (or a local English language center) learns that someone is taking away their opportunity to earn money, they will quickly report the foreigner to immigration.

In addition to penalties and possible deportation for violating visa laws, the government of Vietnam has recently announced a push to ensure that all students are receiving English language instruction from fully certified teachers, in order to raise the level of English language proficiency amongst students.

It's a nice concept in theory, but Vietnam would have to significantly change visa rules and employment rules in order for that to be allowed.

“Kids study English in school but mostly grammar. So I really want to give them an opportunity to learn real English - pronunciation and fluency.” I've noticed that many schools in Vietnam make a Big Thing about grammar and in so doing take all the fun out of it. Language is about people communicating with each other, not about obeying formal rules. So I absolutely see that  having ‘foreign volunteers' can be a useful way to get them to enjoy the subject. As to “fluency” well, let's start with “competency.”

CHRISLANGTON wrote:

“Kids study English in school but mostly grammar. So I really want to give them an opportunity to learn real English - pronunciation and fluency.” I've noticed that many schools in Vietnam make a Big Thing about grammar and in so doing take all the fun out of it. Language is about people communicating with each other, not about obeying formal rules. So I absolutely see that  having ‘foreign volunteers' can be a useful way to get them to enjoy the subject. As to “fluency” well, let's start with “competency.”

Well, this really depends on the purpose of the kid or kid's parents for the kid's future. If the kid never need to work in an office job which he/she need to write report or announcement which require accuracy, then yes, have all the fun in learning.

Recently, I've been watching a couple of videos about unschooling, and I enjoy this idea.

“Kids study English in school but mostly grammar. So I really want to give them an opportunity to learn real English - pronunciation and fluency.” I've noticed that many schools in Vietnam make a Big Thing about grammar and in so doing take all the fun out of it. Language is about people communicating with each other, not about obeying formal rules. So I absolutely see that  having ‘foreign volunteers' can be a useful way to get them to enjoy the subject. As to “fluency” well, let's start with “competency.”

- @CHRISLANGTON

Just last evening we were discussing the strata of children seeming out of the loop, parents unable to afford even higher education (beyond primary) let alone private language schools.

- @Mac68

I sent a message to Ms. HO also about VN's intentions to transform education. (DTI News, Education Section). MY question, how I can best work as an educator here in VN, with VN goals in mind?
@Mac68

What you teach will be different from what local teachers teach, keep in mind to always have a compromising attitude. Never try to argue that what you teach is the ultimate truth, even if it is.
- What you teach may not help your students at their school at all. The students still need to follow the state school's program in order to pass their exams and get into a university. You simply help them to be able to communicate in English. Even if the state school's program sucks, you are not there to point that out @VanKhanh Ho