Interview with Alex King, Vietnam Q & A

My name is Alex King and I am a 22 year young man from Canada. 

I am university educated in Business with a major in marketing, as well I have the TESOL certification (150 hour). 

This is actually my first time leaving North America, so it’s quite an experience for me! 

My motivation arose from a desire to experience new cultures as well as expanding the English language to others in hopes that it can benefit their future. 

Personally I wanted to not only help teach foreign youth, I also wanted to teach myself. What I mean by this is that I wanted to learn how to succeed in a new surrounding and new circumstances so as to truly challenge myself. I believe so far I have seen success in this as I feel stronger in my personal growth and my independence. I also believe that after this experience I will be a new person with stronger ideals and stronger passions. 

I applied for this program with a friend from home whom I currently live with in Vietnam. I believe that this experience is best spent with a friend from home as you won’t feel quite as overwhelmed with these new experiences as well as having someone familiar to experience with. 

I personally did not know anyone who had taught abroad, however whenever I talked to someone about how I planned to teach abroad I was told how they had some friend or relative who taught abroad and absolutely loved it. 

A major concern of mine was being accepted by the locals as well as how to receive my money from home. My concerns about acceptance from locals was washed away within a week as a vast majority of the locals are very warm and love seeing foreigners coming to their country. As per the money from home, I was mostly concerned about how I could take out money from banks as I couldn’t open up a bank account until I received a job; this concern was also easily resolved as many ATM’s accept foreign debit/credit cards. 

I decided to do a TEFL course as it gave me the experience and knowledge necessary to successfully teach abroad. A TEFL course is also a necessity for a vast majority of jobs in foreign countries. I chose TEFL Heaven as I researched multiple TEFL companies and found TEFL Heaven to have some of the strongest reviews and best offerings for the course. 

I chose a face-to-face option as it gave me to the opportunity to find like-minded people who are doing the same that I am. This option also gave me real life experience in teaching while doing the course online only gave me the information. 

The TEFL program I completed was a month-long course for 150 hours TEFL certification in Vietnam. 

I enjoyed this course most as it gave me the opportunity to meet new people who are experiencing the same things I am, as well as being able to experience real classroom teachings. 

After this course I felt well prepared for teaching and even more excited than I was before.

I plan on staying for long-term in Vietnam and I haven’t actually started teaching as of yet, however I do have a job set-up for after the new years holiday.

I secured my English teaching job through Face Book groups online built specifically for teachers looking for jobs in Vietnam.   

A typical working week will be focused from Wednesday-Sunday with varying hours.

The age group I will be teaching ranges from kindergarten ages to high school ages. 

As I previously noted I am not currently teaching, however I am most excited to see the growth in student’s understanding of the English language as well as being able to help be a part of that growth. 

The company I am employed with will be helping throughout the course of receiving my work visa and my work permit. 

I found my current residence through AirBNB as I was waiting to find my job and didn’t want to commit to long-term housing, however now that I am employed I will be relocating to an apartment closer to my job. As per what it is like, the housing and apartments located in Vietnam are very nice and carry a home like feeling. Some apartment buildings include gyms and swimming pools as well that are included in the price, giving you a discount in the long-run. 

​When I first arrived in Vietnam I was concerned about how I could transfer money that I brought over with me into the local Vietnamese currency, however it’s quite an easy process. There are multiple “gold” stores located around the cities where you can exchange your home currency into the local currency, I would recommend however to check the exchange rates personally before you go to ensure you don’t receive the wrong amount of currency. As per food there are multiple street-food stands that offer very cheap sandwiches as well as other types of food. If you hope to explore around the city in which you’ll be residing there are many tours set-up through organizations as well as locals who you can find on the streets who would be delighted to show you around the city.

Rent: 350$ Canadian or less

Food: 300-400$ Canadian

​Social life: 100-200$ Canadian

Transportation: 50-100$ Canadian

Phone: 10-15$ Canadian

Absolutely, with my current salary I could easily thrive and save my money whilst here however I enjoy Western food and living arrangements which can lead to higher spending costs. If you live modestly and try to save whilst here, you can easily do so.

My advice for prospective English teachers is to ensure you do your research about weather patterns in your prospective country to ensure you come during the advised season. I would also advise to check on the exchange rate between your home country and your prospective country to ensure that you will actually be making money (if that’s what you’re trying to do) or be able to live comfortably without worrying about money. One more tidbit of advice would be to look into air quality and other sorts of health concerns you may have to ensure you pick an area or country that fits your needs. My final advice would be to bring along a friend as I found my experience to be a lot better shared with a friend from home, however it is very easy to make friends abroad! I would also recommend teaching English in Vietnam as the locals are very welcoming and the students are very fun to teach and be around!