Hi. My name is Peter LeGrove, and I'm here to tell you my boots on the ground experience, about what it's like to get a job teaching English in Vietnam. I did it and it isn't easy, so I'll try to make it easier for you.
Now I have spent most of my life travelling around the globe teaching English. From Mexico to Indonesia then onto China via Hong Kong.
And the biggest change over the last few years is how countries have tightened up on visas, and how long you can stay inside the country. Only a few years ago in Vietnam, all you needed to do was leave the country and come back in again for another three months. Now you have to leave the country, get a 30 day e-visa and come back in again.
So the days of running round the globe on cheap visas, are getting less and less. But in South East Asia there are still a few more countries to go to.
Gone are the days in China, where we used to run the border to Hong Kong, to get another three month visa. Now it is 30 days and that is all you get. So teaching in China has taken a nose dive, and I think that is why there are so many teachers here in Vietnam but here now all you can get is a 30 day e-visa and you have to leave the country to get it.
Even Thailand has tightened up, and a number of teachers have relocated here to Vietnam, where you can only get a 30 day e-visa.
Now it is time to sit back and relax, to find out how easy, or how difficult it is to get a job teaching English in Vietnam. Nowadays with the internet, smart phones and Google Play, your world of travelling is a lot easier. But you have to keep up to date with the apps, as new ones are coming out all the time.
Vietnam is a tourist Mecca, with tourists crawling all over the cities and countryside. The whole of the Hanoi old quarter is full of hostels and hotels, that cater to all levels of expense. From the cheapest hostel at around $3.50, to upwards of whatever you can afford. And the whole country is geared for the tourists, with organized tours to where ever you want to go.
And dispersed among the tourists are the semi permanent foreign workers, mainly teachers, etching out a living in this beautiful country, with a fair bit of pollution in the main cities.
It seems the whole teaching system here is, basically going from one school to another. Most teachers ride motorbikes while others take the bus. And they come and go like flies. I met an American teacher who has been here for over 8 years. And he still didn't know if he was going to stay any longer. He just went from one visa run to another.
And I'd say a lot of teachers are the same. The last visa run, turns into an exit to Thailand or China or some place else.
In the main cities the competition for jobs is fairly intense, but out of the cities they are always on the lookout for teachers. And some teachers come here with hopes of getting a job, and end up in Cambodia, where it is easier to get a job.
Some people come here and crash out on a beach, and just give up looking for jobs. Life in good here. It comes under "How To Live Cheap In An UnCheap World." And out of the tourist places and big cities, it is still cheap with beautiful beaches.
And the joy of modernization is, you can crash out on an idyllic beach, and teach kids in China over the internet. You are not confined to the four walls of a classroom. And if you love beaches, sun, sand and a few beers after work, then this is the country to crash out in.