Link to page talking about ‘Teaching English in Vietnam in 2016‘

Summary:

I met a Vietnamese English Teacher in a town in Vietnam who had his own English school while I was vacationing in Vietnam. He asked me for help as he said he hardly met any Western born English speakers in his town. I helped in whatever I could. I explained my situation that I was a “computer guy” and would teach whatever English skills I had to him in person during my downtime vacationing and eventually help teach his class “but online” which was very, very, very brief because of my personal reasons. I volunteered my time doing all this.

I hope the following information is helpful for anyone thinking of teaching English in Vietnam.

Location and Time: 

Paid small rural school where families have some money to attend in Núi Sập, An Giang, Vietnam in 2018 but online. I helped the teacher in person first. I got to know him and taught him a few things about my knowledge. Then I went home to Canada and went online to teach.

Length of Teaching in Vietnam:

Very, very, very short: taught conversational English only for 2-3 times? to help students over video call (Zalo app: Vietnam’s Facebook Messenger). Cut short because of my personal reasons explained below.

Classes Taught:

Younger levels around 10-16 years old

What the expectations are as an English Teacher in Conversational English:

1. Accept the student how they are
2. Ask questions about their hobbies
3. Ask questions about their dreams for career and skills

I did not do enough classes to get a good understanding of what to do in Conversational English. My talks were very brief per student and did not really flow. The reason is explained below.

What I Learned:

It was very short because it actually took away a lot of my time and energy working in Canada because this was not my field. I just tried to do what I could but found out I was overextending myself.

My family did not want me to volunteer all this time and energy while I could be doing what I want, which is working and going back to school in 2018 for computers.

But it was a good experience, I understood the mindset of students from rural Vietnam wanting to achieve more since they came from a rural background.

The students had fast Internet and good cellular data service so most students were tech savvy, up-to-date and knowledgeable. Some students even at 14 years old knew what they wanted to pursue and were so intelligent and understanding. Some already made up their minds and knew what to do.

Seeing the bright, determined students made me rethink what I wanted to do with my life so I kept on working and going to school after my short brief teaching.