Zach is an American graduate who moved to Vietnam three years ago and makes a living teaching English.
He decided to get TEFL-qualified to earn money on his travels, but it’s morphed into a full-blown career path.
Here’s his story…
Mornings are Mine
My day starts at 9am with a cup of coffee from the Central Highland jungles of Vietnam. Vietnamese coffee is brewed through a metal filter that drips directly into the cup, which can take five minutes; ten if I pack it too tightly, which I usually do. While I wait, I gaze out the kitchen window. From my 16th-floor apartment I can see a large section of Hanoi, mostly the red roofs of three-and-four-storey houses, as well as West Lake where the national rowing team sometimes practice.
The mornings are mine, to read, to go to the gym and sometimes to mark student essays. I teach at a private language centre, running test prep courses for the IELTS exam, the test that students have to take if they want to study in an English-speaking university overseas. Lessons start at 6pm every day, after the students finish work or school, and finish at 9pm. Often I teach intensive afternoon courses for students who are between jobs or semesters.
Keeping it Fresh
It can be chaos; Vietnamese students often wait until the last minute to sign up. Just yesterday I got a frantic late-morning text telling me I was starting a new class that I hadn’t expected. And it can be dull to teach the same material over and over, but the students help to keep it fresh.
As part of preparing them for the test’s essay section, every night I get to discuss controversial issues about education policy, gender roles, the environment, and the like. In class they must express, defend and challenge opinions, a task which is often daunting for students who have largely been taught by the school system to memorize and repeat the wisdom of Ho Chi Minh and other party leaders.
Most of my students have never written an essay in Vietnamese, let alone in a foreign language. They are hard-working, though, because they know that a good IELTS score is their ticket to a quality education and a better life.
My New-Found Career
I came to Vietnam for one year, and now I’ve stayed nearly three. I read TEFL was one of the best things to do on a gap year, and when I started teaching English, I had nothing more than a bachelor’s degree, a US passport and a pulse. That was enough to land me my first job teaching in Korea.
I thought TEFL would be a good way to make some money while I travelled. And it certainly is. Somewhere along the way, though, TEFL has become a career for me, a way to make a meaningful contribution in my own adopted corner of the world. More than that, it’s also given me an unexpected degree of stability. Though I’m happy in Vietnam, with a few years of experience and a couple of certification courses behind me, I know that I can find a job teaching English in nearly any country I fancied.
For anyone who is considering teaching English overseas, I’d say go for it. Invest in a basic qualification, like a TEFL Certification, so you know what you’re doing. If you aren’t yet qualified, view courses with companies like Premier TEFL or International TEFL and TESOL Training – both have trained thousands of teachers.
After completing you courses, start deciding on a country. If you can afford to volunteer abroad in Africa or elsewhere, that’s wonderful. If not, it’s easy to make enough money to support yourself.
Asia pays the best right now, especially Japan and South Korea, and the cost of living is quite low in Thailand and Vietnam. But there’s an adventure waiting in every country, whether it lasts a few months or a lifetime.
Thinking of teaching English abroad? Check out our guide to the best websites for working abroad.
Have you got any experience of teaching English abroad? Is it a casual job for you, or something more? Share your thoughts below…
