A Website helping English Teachers in Vietnam.

One tool a lot of teachers do not use are English Language Apps. They may be seen as a threat by some teachers and are not offered for that reason. The threat being that the student can study and learn alone and has no need of the teacher. Although I have found most students do not have the self motivation to study alone. And they also prefer to study in a group that is at the same level as them.

But learning English in a class environment doesn’t work for everyone. For different reasons some people enjoy learning a language on their own. And one of the best ways of doing it alone are by using an app.

To understand the use of apps we need to understand why some people like to learn by themselves.

1) Time constraints: You might not have enough time to study formally in the classroom 4 – 6 hours per week. Using an app gives you control of when and how long the lesson is.

2) Disabilities: The student may have a disability that precludes him or her from learning in a classroom. Some classrooms are now using assistive technology to help the impaired. It is still difficult to find these classes in ESL ( English as a Second Language) environments.

3) Shyness: Extreme shyness in any social situation limits the effectiveness of group study and learning. For these people using an app to learn a language is a way around that.

 

Best Language Learning Apps

 

Babbel. Babbel looks like a fun app and a very good way to learn from the ground up. It rates highly in teaching English and offers a 7 day free trial. Babbel teaches reading, writing , listening and speaking. It offers courses for fourteen languages including English.

Mondly. Mondly is a very easy app to use and was named app of the year by Facebook and Best new App by Apple. It has over 70 million downloads. Learning is done by a conversation focused curriculum. Its’ focus is on phrases not individual words. Mondly has 41 languages including English. Mondly starts from $4.00 per month.

U Talk. U Talk has 140 plus languages to learn including English. U talk uses a teaching style called dual coding which link both sides of the brain. The left which controls language and the right which handles visual infomation. It does this by linking a word to an image.

Duo Lingo. Duo Ling is an American language learning website and mobile app. It is also a digital language proficiency assessment exam. This is a free app, however they also offer a premium service for a fee. The premium service removes adds and supports free education. The Duolingo English test is reported on a scale of 10 to 160. Overall scores include a general description of what you can do. While the sub-scores measure your proficiency in specific areas. For example Conversation – the ability to listen and speak. Literacy – the ability to read and write. Comprehension –  the ability to read and listen. Production – the ability to write and speak.

Preply. Preply provides online English Tutors and Teachers. The courses cover; English for work, English speaking practice, English for life abroad, English for exams, English for kids, English for business. Preply English is a professional program designed for teams and organizations offering tailor made solutions with on line tutors. They have easy to use video and audio tools and provide English language learning videos via Preply Space.

 

Using apps to learn English gives you another way in which to study. There is no right way or wrong way, there is just the way that is best for you. Whether you use the immersion method, the classroom method or the dual method ( which is a combination of the immersion method and the classroom method.) , experiment until you find the one method that fits your daily life and learning style the best! My preference is Mondly, it is an intuitive app.

 

Sometimes as an ESL ( English as a Second Language) Teacher it is nice to add more strings to our bow. Teaching ESL in exotic locations has always appealed to me, but sometimes the lifestyle can take a bump or two. Perhaps the school you were contracted with had its funds re-rallocated by the Government or you just happened to start teaching in the middle of what will turn out to be the worst pandemic in over 50 years. Covid has caught up with a lot of teachers I know, forcing them to rethink their careers. Most of us teachers love our jobs and love helping the students attain their language goals. However when it starts to get tight financially you have to be prepared to do something else. and the majic word in that sentence is “prepared”. Like most things in life you have to prepare for change. Do not expect to walk out of teaching and into another job that pays the same, especially in a foreign (possibly) third world country.

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How to get a second income.

There are a number of opportunities around at the moment. we are living in strange times. The U.S.A has a very high unemployment rate currently, yet businesses are complaining that they can not get staff. Restaurants are closing because they can not find waiters and cooks. Small businesses are finding running their business has become impossible because they can not find checkout staff.. However, look on a lot of social media websites and you will always find people advertising for stock brokers and FX traders. Drop shippers and bloggers and crypto currency traders are a dime a dozen. So there are definitely positions out there but you havee to be careful. Blockchain, crypto currency traders scare me, as it looks like gambling to me. Drop shipping seems like more of a safe option. Harder work and not an overnight success story. So that is something I would consider. My only concern is that when someone like Jeff Bozos wants out, it might mean that this form of shopping might be coming to an end. My apologies if you don’t agree, but I just want to keep this in laymans terms. Easy for all of us to understand.

Affiliate marketers build wealth for many reasons – to feel financial secure, to be able to live a meaningful life, Build networks, to help others and to become an expert in what they love to do. The reasons are very individual

Marketing madness, are we all insane.

My favorite form of marketing madness is Affiliate marketing. And especially niche affiliate marketing. Heck, why don’t we make it even harder and develop a super niche and only sell…no..wait..we only offer to sell to those who are interested in our niche. And we are not going to make it more expensive to buy via us. In fact we might put together an incentive package for r patrons to thank them for us making it easier for them to find the product and purchase it. Now, if i could only include some self flaggelation …

SiteContent Editor – Wealthy Affiliate

How to become an affiliate marketer.

Becoming a good and successful affiliate marketer is not done overnight. It takes time like everything else you want to master, but having a commitment, a successful blueprint which the likes of Wealthy Affiliates has laid out, along with training classes that are a priceless help in becoming a good Affiliate marketer.

The most awesome thing with Affiliate marketing is that you can choose any niche you want. You can turn your passion into a business or you can decide to make a business around something you love. There is nothing like the feeling of enjoying your work every day. It is a very smart way of working.

Some people choose to use their time to build wealth and multiple income streams to get the life they feel they deserve.

Jaxxy and productivity.

Teachers use markers and white boards and affiliate marketers use a word or phrase research tool.Thiis tool takes the words and phrases used to find information on the web and uses that to gather in depth research on other websites. This will provide you with a huge quantity of information about other companies. And they can also help uncover low cost domains as well as fast growing businesses in the market place. How much would you pay to find out the next big thing in the financial markets or the next massive thing in the wearable technology market. Would you like to be months, if not years ahead of your competitors.Can your business not afford to have it. Jaxxy is one of these tools. Not the only one, but the only one designed by cutting edge affiliate marketers..While you are deciding on which research tool to use, Jaxxy and its owners, Wealthy Affiliates give you the opportunity to use it up to thirty times on a trial basis. ,

Money and affiliate marketing.

There will be ups and downs in your business, but don’t ever let yourself get beat as a result of lack of effort.That I would say is the #1 contributor to failure that I have seen after working with a lot of people online, many of which have created incredible success. Effort, and sustaining a high level of effort over time will have a profound and very positive impact on your business and success.

Effort alone will take you wherever you want to go within the online business world. Now get out there and be productive! Your business and your success deserves it.

Affiliate marketers build wealth for many reasons – to feel financially secure, to be able to live a meaningful life, Build networks, to help others and to become an expert in what they love to do. The reasons are very individual and drive the success of each affiliate marketer.

Wealthy Affiliates is a wonderful way to provide a second income stream.

We are in the middle of May and the schools are closed and the borders are closed. There are no firm dates ( In Vietnam) as to when everything gets back to normal. Am I going to sit around and moan about life being against me or am I going to take this opportunity to focus on how I can help my students return to the classroom. I want to plan and prepare my classroom lessons and activities for when everything is open again. 

The first thing i want to do is take stock of where I am (professionally and financially), where i want to go and how do i get there as well as how can i help my students achievr their language skill goals. my favorite method is by downloading a swot analysis tool from Microsoft word.   

 

           

I can use this tool on any teachers, students or other external factors that affect my work. This will focus me on moving forward as soon as possible and may even uncover any opportunities that I haven’t thought about.

As an example one of the things I could look at would be…

How to use Technology in the classroom.

  Strengths; Technology in the classroom can be used to focus the student by useing video, powerpoint as well as laptops and i-pads for a more inter active learning experience.

 Weaknesses; By useing tech.in the classroom it might be percieved by others that the teacher is relying on external sources and moving away from the base curriculum that needs to be taught.

Opportunities; Can be used to engage students who otherwise find it difficult to follow the spoken voice. Also for those who have different levels of interest in the subject. 

Threats; Could be seen by other teachers as an attempt to hijack the learning processor as an easy teaching option. Could upset the status quo.

 This is an example only, but at this stage you would decide if it was worthwhile in preparing a lesson plan useing technology.

During this period of relative inactivity you can review the different levels of students you have and the approach you use to teach them.

 

Laugh and Learn.

For the younger learners i am very focused on the laugh and learn approach. Make your lessons exciting with lots of movement ( Especially Kindergarten) as the younger students attention span is not as developed as the older students. Try to change activities every 5 – 10 minutes. Add a lot of visual stimuli ( Pictiures, posters and flashcards) as well as aural input. ( You tube videos and sing alongs). And games. One of the best ways to teach English is by playing games. There are games for every skill . You have.. 

• Listening Games
• Speaking Games
• Reading and Writing Games
• Vocabulary Games
• Grammar Games

You can play hangman, Taboo, Pictionary, slap the board, last man standing and board race just to name a few of the hundreds of games out there. My advice is to try out a few games and see which ones work for you and your students. Happy hunting.

Put your time to good use and get your classroom preparation done. Your emplorers and your students will be impressed and you will be held in high esteem and hopefuly rewarded as a result.

Quite often be bemoan the fact that we don’t have enough time to put together the classroom lessons and activities we wish we had. here is your chance. 

And if finances are starting to whittle away, now is also the time to look at adding other income streams to your ESL Teaching career. I will be covering this in my next post. 

During these times when we can’t move around much because borders are closed and schools are closed due to covid-19 it is a good idea to look at Teaching online jobs. You can improve your skills and earn while you learn.

Who are the best companies to teach online with. here we go.

A list of best companies to teach online with would include;

1) VIPKID

2) PALFISH

3) Q KIDS

4) Magic Ears

5) E.F. English First

6) Say ABC

7) DaDa ABC

8) Cambly

All the above companies are great for teaching English online. And there are over a billionpeople currently learning English globally. As a result, online teaching oppurtunities are happening all around the world to keep up with demand.

The top five countries that need online teachers now are;

1) China. China has over 300 million peoplecurrently learning English. Some Chinese English teaching companies are, VIP KID, Q KIDS, itutor group, Hello Kid, GoGo kid, We talk English and DaDa.

2) South Korea. They come next on the list as most companies in Korea require applicants to have a TOEIC ( Test of English for International Communication) qualification to apply. Along with adults there are a lot of peoplewho want their children to learn Engliush at a young age. Some online South Korean companies are English Hunt, Fine Teacher, Bok tutors, Engliphone and Carrot English.

3) Japan. Like south korea, employerswant their applicants to have the TOEIC qualification. Some Japanese online teaching companies are Best Teacher, Hello English, Cena Academy, English Hunt and English everywhere.

4) Vietnam. speaking English will help boost their career and the government has said they want Vietnam to be a dual language society in the near future. There is a big roll out within the government school system and there are never enough good Native English Speakers ( N.E.S.) to go around. And this also holds true for the online industry. There is a bigger focus on communicatiuon skills rather than a specific type of English.

Two Vietnamese online teaching companies are Antoree and Kidtopi.   

5) Taiwan. A lot of parents want their children to study from a young age as they believe it will help them to study or work abroad in the future, especially the United States. Taiwanese online teaching companies are Hi Tutor, Oi Kid, DMA 1on 1, and tutor ABC. 

So you know there is a high demand for teachers and where the demand is . But does it pay well?

School Teacher Salary

Your hourly rates for teaching online depend on a few factors. These being where you teach (What country) and which company you teach with?. Also what qualifications do you have? Most companies want someone with a degree. Not necessarily in the education field ( Although that would be perfect) but at least something. However you can also totor with some companies without a degree but don’t expect to be paid top dollar. non-degree hourly rates can start from around $12.00 US per hour. 

Teaching online can be a flexible and fun career, but if you don’t like children it might not be for you. Generally I have found most teachers to be good communicators and outgoing. If this is not you and you feel challenged in social situations this might not be for you.

On the upside the set up costs are minimal. A good internet connection, Skype or Zoom and an English teaching “licence” along with a computer and you can make $25.00 US per hour and more in some places.Another benefit are the hours are flexible and unlike classroom based learning, you are not tied to a curriculum. You can decide the hours you wish to invest.

also during these times of lockdown and border and school closuresyou can learn your craft while earning money.

Master Teaching online.

Before and during your recruitment process you will probably want to increase and hone your skills.

First off you will have to obtain n English teaching licence  ( Tesol, Celta or TEFL being some of them) that allows you to teach English as a second language.There are a plethora of Schools, Universities and Companies that provide these qualifications.Some better than others. My preference when looking for a new teacher is to make sure they have done some classroom teaching and not purely online teaching. Different people will recommend different courseswether Tesol, Celta or something else. It also comes down to your style of teaching and also the style of teaching and qualification your country or company prefer. For example if you prefer to teach in the T.P.R. style ( Total Physical response you may wish to go with a TESOL. However if you wish to teach in Japan a CELTA would be more appropriate. Once you have your teaching licence I would recommend specific learning for online teaching. You will find a lot of good information on both the online English teaching companies websites as well as Youtube and other sites you can google up.

Conclusion.

As I mentioned, during these days of covid and school and border closures, teaching online makes a lot of sense. you can get all your qualificationsprior to teaching and this will give you a great entry into the world of the ESL teacher. Even if you prefer teaching face to face (in the classroom) like myself, this will give you income while you are learning your teaching skills. There are obviously differences betweenteaching online and classroom teaching, but there are also similarities. You will discover regional weaknesses in pronunciationof English and how to overcome these. you will also learn how to motivate your students to learn. What works and what doesn’t.

so what are you waiting for, jump in and become the English teacher the world needs. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or feedback.and while it may take me a couple of days for me to reply, I will return your enquiry.    

It is important to know what is happening in Vietnam in regards to school and border closures. Would it be better to stay home and teach in on line schools and colleges or is there some way to get ahead during this crisis?. 

An overview of the corona virus in Vietnam.

The first case of COVID-19 in Viet Nam was detected on 24 January 2020. There have been 3489 confirmed cases with 35 deaths.

The fourth wave of corona virus infections broke out in Vietnam on April 27th after about a month of no transmissions. The Deputy Health minister Do Xuan Tuan has said that the covid 19 pandemic is under control. ( As reported by Tuoitrenews)

As of may12th there were 82 new cases in the last 24 hours. If you have had any contact with others carrying COVID you can be expected to be tested and placed in quarantine for 21 days.

Ho Chi Minh City has barred gatherings of over 30 people and have shut down gyms, buffet restaurants, karaoke bars and massage parlours.It is also mandatory to wear masks in public and at any other social events participants must keep a distance of 1 meter apart. Fines are being handed out to those not complying. 

Temporary closure of tourism sites

Within the country, Vietnamese health officials have temporarily isolated several locations that are deemed high-risk, or those that have been recently visited by travellers with confirmed cases of the virus. Tourism sites across the country are also setting aside closure days to disinfect their premises. From April 23, tourism attractions in the country are allowed to reopen but must ensure safety measures are in place for all visitors. 

School closures

Universities and schools were shut down on May 4th due to the COVID 19 outbreaks and while some schools had intended to re-open on May10th, they have extended the closures and are doing on-line learning. So there are still no schools open and no date quoted as to when classes will start up again. The schools are also going into test season, so I feel there is no urgency to get the students back into the classroom. 

Border closures

If you can get into Vietnam the lockdown or quarantine period has gone from 14 days to 21 days.

Only Vietnamese nationals, foreigners on diplomatic or official business, and highly skilled workers are allowed to enter the country at this time. From Feb. 1, 2021 until further notice, anyone entering Vietnam must undergo medical checks and 21-day quarantine upon arrival.

Vietnam closed its borders and cancelled all commercial flights from March 22nd last year.and has since only allowed Vietnamese repatriates and foreign experts and highly skilled workers ( along with their families) to enter Vietnam.

All foreigners who entered Vietnam after March 1 on visa exemptions, e-visas or tourism visas will be given automatic stay extensions at no charge until April 30, 2021. Travellers still in the country must declare their temporary residence to local police, through their landlords or hotels, and must complete Vietnam’s online health declaration.

Visitors who entered the country before March 1 may be considered for the extension, provided they can show an official letter from their embassy or consulate stating they were unable to leave the country due to objective reasons (letter must also be translated to Vietnamese). Foreigners who have undergone quarantine or treatment for COVID-19 in Vietnam are also eligible for the extension and should bring their certification documents to immigrations when leaving Vietnam. 

Tourism experts are proposing to welcome vaccinated foreign passport holders starting from July. This is only in discussion at this stage and no legislation or plan has been put in place. There has been a 79% decline in tourists over the last year and in conjunction with that it has become increasingly difficult to find good nativ eEnglish speaking teachers. 

ESL teachers needed.

So at this stage, borders are still closed, schools are closed and there are no definite dates for the reopening of either

.So what can you do….a lot. This gives you an excellent chance to get ahead of the pack for when everything is reopened. The first thing you can do is get your TEFL or TESOL or whatever your preferred qualification is. ( Look at my suggestions on this site) Secondly, you can start to join the ESL teacher groups of which there are many. You have groups for each city, groups for market segments. For example there are business English groups, groups for the public schools and groups for private schools and kindergartens. Start applying for positions now and when the floodgates open you will be the first to land that dream teaching position. here are some of the groups available,

Real English Teaching jobs.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/real.english.teaching.in.vietnam/

ESL Teaching jobs (China and Vietnam) https://www.facebook.com/groups/eslassoc/

Tutoring Jobs in Vietnam. https://www.facebook.com/groups/649368095857843/

Vietnam English Teaching jobs. https://www.facebook.com/groups/englishteachingjob/

English Teaching jobs with free accommodation. https://www.facebook.com/groups/531609093889853/

Jobs for foreigners in Vietnam. https://www.facebook.com/groups/2764514153653961/

Business English Teachers in H.C.M.C. https://www.facebook.com/groups/125766108132977/

English Teachers in Vietnam. https://www.facebook.com/groups/723545587776475/

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) ESL Teaching jobs. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1521862661370506/

FETV ( Foreign English teachers in Vietnam) https://www.facebook.com/groups/272425830058329/

As my site is specifically for Ho Chi Minh City most of these groups deal in this area however you will often find they are looking for teachers in differents cities or provinces.

Conclusion

As I said the borders are closed and school is out ( Thankyou Mr Alice Cooper). But for you , this is your break to get ahead of the rest before everything starts to shift back to being normal. so get your qualifications and start applying for those jobs. There are a lot of schools now preparing for new teachers to fill the ranks. If you need any help finding training, positions, accommodation or airport pickups give me a pre emptive call and we can make life easier for when arrivals start happening again. 

I think I am ready, but I am not sure. Somebody please help. What is a Xe-Om? Do I give money to the Buddhist Monks?

So you have everything organized and you are going to Vietnam. You have either been sponsored by a school to start teaching in Vietnam or the latest “covid” travel ban and lock down has been lifted. Either way, you are “on the way” to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. You might be thinking ” what should I take”. I have gotten my health check, police check (If you have been in HCMC for longer than 6 months you should do that here) and done my training. I also have all my paperwork notarized. So..what have I forgotten?

Money and Credit/Debit cards.

The amount of cash you bring is dependent on a job waiting for you or not. And if you have done all your paperwork and training.(However with the training there are two major benefits of doing it in Vietnam, 1. They can help you a job, 2.the training is geared towards teaching in Vietnam).

How much is enough? If you have everything done you could survive on $1,500.00 – $2,000.00. This may sound like too much for some people but it will give you enough for accommodation, food and travel to and from work. Personally I would feel uncomfortable in bringing so little and my comfort level starts at $5,000.00. A credit card is a healthy option but don’t go crazy on clubs or pubs. (OMG, I sound like my parents).

You may be waiting for six weeks until your first pay hits your bank account. (You will need help in setting up your bank account and the school may assist you). It is common for the agencies who act as recruiters and management of teachers to pay monthly. Then you may have to wait for 10 – 15 days for your funds to go into your account. ( Short term money market anyone).

So make sure you have enough to last 6 – 7 weeks. My advice would be to stay in a cheap hotel or something like the “Saigon workers club” ( Cheap boarding house in Go Vap district originally run by a foreigner) until you have a couple of pays under your belt. Work travel is incredibly cheap and a 30 minute Xe-Om (motorbike taxi) or Grab ride will only be $2.00 – $4.00.

Some people may say I am over-estimating the amount of money you need to bring but It is safer to have too much than too little. If you do run short of money and have to contact family or friends, the time it takes to get money from home may not leave you in a happy place.

Additional Services

You may or may not need some extra help when you land. If you do need help I can provide personalized pick up from the Airport (Ho Chi Minh City / Tan Son Nhat International Airport only) And also arrange one or two nights cheap and safe accommodation in district 1 ( Tell me your budget, but look at about $25.00 to $30.00 per night. Along with this an introduction to English Teacher Trainers and recruitment agencies and schools (All known by myself and visa versa) can be provided.

It’s the little things that matter and having a sim card (and mobile phone if needed) and introduction to your own Xe-Om ( motorbike taxi driver who can speak English) or Grab set up on your phone along with a money conversion app. can be helpful.

I have to cover my costs ( remember I am more interested in finding teachers) and time. Cost of this service is $150.00 to $250.00 depending on type of accommodation. Cost does not include smartphone. Contact me on stephenhey1@gmail.com if you wish to discuss further.

There are millions of people worldwide who dont speak English but want to. The ability to teach English is a great career boost and also a meaningful contribution to the lives of others.Students everywhere want to start their journey into learning English. And by doing the training, whether its TESOL (Teaching English to Students of other Languages), TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), or CELTA ( Certificate in English Teaching Language to Adults)  you can help them achieve their goals.
ESL teachers instruct students whose first language isn’t English in reading, writing and conversing effectively. These teachers approach English skills from a real-life perspective, often focusing on conversational and job-related communication skills. They can help students function in an environment built upon the English language, or they may work abroad to introduce students to English. Travel may be required, and teachers might need an abundance of patience when working with students who may become frustrated when trying to learn an unfamiliar language.

There is an abundance of schools providing training which can be either on-line or face to face. The length of the course and cost depends on which type of training you do and the company or school you choose. A two to four week course or 120 hours is common. This will cover your basic English teaching license and if you want to add on more units (e.g. English for business, English for tourism) or even do an ESL Diploma, you may take up to six months.

You may decide to do your course in your home country or do it in Vietnam. There are pro’s and con’s to both approaches. but if you decide to do the training in Vietnam the course is directly related to this market and schools will help you find a job.

I recommend two schools that have different approaches to training both of which I have found to be very professional.

Australian International TESOL.
Australian International TESOL provide a multitude of professional International TESOL training and certification courses, Teaching Assistant training courses, professional International ESL specification upgrades and business and industry specific career ESL education upgrades. AIT TESOL’s intensive courses are renown for their International ESL methodologies, practical ESL implementation, ESL consulting and career opportunities throughout Vietnam and selected Asian destinations.

AIT TESOL offer:
– International TESOL Certification
– Industry Specific upgrade electives
– AIT TESOL Professional Diploma
– Teaching Assistant training courses

AIT TESOL courses are available at multiple locations across Vietnam and now available online!

Visit AIT TESOL and start your TESOL journey today!

https://www.australianinternationaltesol.com.au/

World Tesol Academy

A TESOL/TEFL certificate is an essential qualification required by most schools when hiring English language (ESL) teachers.

Through this qualification course, you’ll learn the foundational skills needed to become an English language teacher. This includes an essential understanding of how the English language is structured, along with a range of classroom management skills and language teaching techniques.

By the end of the course you’ll earn your TESOL/TEFL qualification and gain a set of skills that can be used to teach English overseas and online.

Victoria’s story:

“

“A great course for the price. I’m too busy for going to a class and I need a recognized TESOL certificate for my online teaching work.” 
I’ve recently learned about online teaching and decided to give it a try.  After some researching I found that I would need a “TESOL” or “TEFL” certificate to get employed by one of the big companies. The biggest companies are based in China and the law there says that you need a recognized certificate to teach.

The course took me about 10 days to finish and I completed it using my Ipad. As I was most interested in online teaching (at least for the time being) I found the online teaching module toe be particularly interesting.

www.worldtesolacademy.com