moving to vietnam

Hi Davidski,
I am a Vietnamese who don't have experience about teaching English in Vietnam. But you can find your own answers by reading these discussed topics:
http://tnhvietnam.xemzi.com/vi/aska/answers/qid/2369
You can also find some teaching English centres in Hanoi and send your resume in advance.
I see that Expats in Hanoi mostly live in West lake area (around the biggest lake in Hanoi).

Hey there
I think you should look for a job first.

The best area in Ha Noi - its very difficult to say. It is up to how far is it from ur house to ur school? Where are u from? Where do u want to live? Around forgenier or around vietnamese?

PS. You need certifications (CELTA) if u want to get teaching English job

i'm currently getting my tefl certification right now.....it appears i have to actually be in vietnam to get a job.....are you saying i should get a job before i find a place to live......?  i don't have a preference of who i live with or around at the moment.......i think i'd like to live somewhere centrally located with someone else as it seems kind of expensive in hanoi..........i'd  be fine with a vietnamese or a foreigner.....can you recommend an affordable guesthouse or hostel i could stay in on a monthly basis until i get things sorted out?  thanks for your time.....

i see you said find a job first....sorry i missed that part before i replied......and i'm from the united states......

Find a place to live, have some spare cash to live on for a month or two, you can find a job pretty easy here.
Most of my expats friends stay near West Lake area. search on google map for Tay Ho district. There are many restaurants, bars and places to chill around here.

Not sure if you have to have a teaching certificate to be able to teach, because some of my friends don't have, yet they managed to find jobs with decent pay.

Been teaching here for a month now (but in HCMC not Ha Noi) and I'd say search around on tripadvisor, and I'm sure some people here could recommend a good guesthouse where you could stay for the first month or so while you look for a job and somewhere to live.

I was here about a week before I got offered a job and then about another two weeks until I found somewhere to live that I'm happy with, within 10 minutes drive of my school.

My guesthouse gave me a reduced rate since I wanted to stay a month at least, and then when I moved out before that ended they also reimbursed me the days I didn't stay, which was great of them.