Teaching in Vietnam - Where to start?
Posted: 13 Feb 2014, 15:51
Teaching in HCMC
I am a natural-born American citizen, and I am 100% Vietnamese ethnically. My parents were born in Vietnam. I have been to Vietnam numerous times recently to improve my Vietnamese and to visit family. I currently have a 5 year visa exemption. I have no criminal history.
I speak English as my native language, and I consider myself above-average in the Vietnamese language and am more than capable of communicating in Vietnamese. I have been learning how to read and write Vietnamese for the past couple of months.
I have a Bachelor's degree (BA) in Psychology at a state university in the USA. I enrolled in teacher's education at the same school after I got my BA, and have some experience in a classroom setting as a Teacher's Assistant (TA), but I stopped pursuing my teaching credentials due to unexpected life occurrences.
I want to teach English in Ho Chi Minh City. I want to teach primarily kids and teenagers (adults not preferred). Here are my questions:
1. What exactly are the educational requirements for teaching in Vietnam? I want to ask to be completely sure. I read online that only a BA in any subject is required, and that a TEFL is not required, but preferred if I have want to have more career opportunities in Vietnam.
2. Regarding the TEFL, I read there is also a TESOL and CELTA. Which of these two (or something else I did not mention) is recommended for me? And assuming I want to get accredited with the TEFL (or something else), I have these questions:
a. How long is the process?
b. Are there online courses available?
c. What is the price to get this certification?
d. Where do I look if I want to get my TEFL (or equivalent)? I don’t know where to look.
3. What is the average pay if I work there? I plan to start off working 20 hours/week.
4. How much of my income gets taxed in Vietnam? To my knowledge, I am not a Vietnamese citizen. Is it beneficial, tax wise, to get Vietnamese citizenship? I plan to keep my US citizenship.
5. How much of my income gets taxed by the US? I know that as a US citizen, my worldwide income is taxed by the IRS. But I also read that I can get my income exempt from US taxes if I meet certain requirements. I don’t know the exact requirements.
6. Assuming I met all of the educational requirements, what is the next step? What do I do now? Where exactly do I look for jobs?
7. If a school requires proof of degree, how would I provide this proof? I assume I don't have to send my physical degree to Vietnam.
I have more questions, regarding topics like obtaining a work permit, where to look for employers and something called “exchange rate”, and job security. But I will ask them later.
I am a natural-born American citizen, and I am 100% Vietnamese ethnically. My parents were born in Vietnam. I have been to Vietnam numerous times recently to improve my Vietnamese and to visit family. I currently have a 5 year visa exemption. I have no criminal history.
I speak English as my native language, and I consider myself above-average in the Vietnamese language and am more than capable of communicating in Vietnamese. I have been learning how to read and write Vietnamese for the past couple of months.
I have a Bachelor's degree (BA) in Psychology at a state university in the USA. I enrolled in teacher's education at the same school after I got my BA, and have some experience in a classroom setting as a Teacher's Assistant (TA), but I stopped pursuing my teaching credentials due to unexpected life occurrences.
I want to teach English in Ho Chi Minh City. I want to teach primarily kids and teenagers (adults not preferred). Here are my questions:
1. What exactly are the educational requirements for teaching in Vietnam? I want to ask to be completely sure. I read online that only a BA in any subject is required, and that a TEFL is not required, but preferred if I have want to have more career opportunities in Vietnam.
2. Regarding the TEFL, I read there is also a TESOL and CELTA. Which of these two (or something else I did not mention) is recommended for me? And assuming I want to get accredited with the TEFL (or something else), I have these questions:
a. How long is the process?
b. Are there online courses available?
c. What is the price to get this certification?
d. Where do I look if I want to get my TEFL (or equivalent)? I don’t know where to look.
3. What is the average pay if I work there? I plan to start off working 20 hours/week.
4. How much of my income gets taxed in Vietnam? To my knowledge, I am not a Vietnamese citizen. Is it beneficial, tax wise, to get Vietnamese citizenship? I plan to keep my US citizenship.
5. How much of my income gets taxed by the US? I know that as a US citizen, my worldwide income is taxed by the IRS. But I also read that I can get my income exempt from US taxes if I meet certain requirements. I don’t know the exact requirements.
6. Assuming I met all of the educational requirements, what is the next step? What do I do now? Where exactly do I look for jobs?
7. If a school requires proof of degree, how would I provide this proof? I assume I don't have to send my physical degree to Vietnam.
I have more questions, regarding topics like obtaining a work permit, where to look for employers and something called “exchange rate”, and job security. But I will ask them later.