Teaching English -- Good Schools

Just tell you not ILA. My teacher, who is working there, told us that its a terrible place to work for, even though its very big.

KTDC Group is a good one but it has very high standards.

Hi Redbeard and Vankhanh Ho,

Actually I have heard many bad news about ILA a long time ago..(Don't ask me what they did cos tornado just occupies my memory). I usually wondered what working place is good.. I guess many people have the same questions like you do redbeard. And since you don't have many certifications and you HAVE TO teach for leaving, you won't have many chances to require for a good teaching place. But hopefully I hope magic will happen to you as it did to me.

Regards

hello dejavu..
I was asking peoples opinions of schools..
Not someones presumption as to what my life is about.
Info on schools welcome....
Judgement comments on my life.... Keep to yourself....

I can also add to the discussion and tell you that ILA is definitely NOT a good school to work for!
Take a look at their glassdoor reviews for plenty of good reasons not to work there... http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/ILA-Vi … 443012.htm

Hello Redbeard42,

I invite you to browse our job section which might interest you.

>Teaching jobs in Ho Chi Minh City

Hoping that the list of job offers in the field of teaching enlighten you,

Good luck in your endeavor,
Gavind.
Expat.com Team.

[p.s] We are on a public forum that strives on mutual helping, let's keep doing so harmoniously.

Dejavu.dot wrote:

Hi Redbeard and Vankhanh Ho,

Actually I have heard many bad news about ILA a long time ago..(Don't ask me what they did cos tornado just occupies my memory). I usually wondered what working place is good.. I guess many people have the same questions like you do redbeard. And since you don't have many certifications and you HAVE TO teach for leaving, you won't have many chances to require for a good teaching place. But hopefully I hope magic will happen to you as it did to me.

Regards

Are you a teacher?

I  haven't heard anything about Wall Street, be it good or bad, but I see a few things that indicate that they're a good place to work, such as:

A maximum of 4 students per class.     I find that hard to believe.

  Visa and work permits organized and paid for by Wall Street English Vietnam  That's always good, but a low starting salary would negate that benefit.

Medical check for work permit application & health insurance  It's hard to find schools that provide health insurance, which I've always found surprising, considering the fact that money could be made by forcing employees to enroll and be responsible for paying their own premiums.

This industry is as bad as used car and timeshare sales combined, so you're likely to hear bad things about them all.  Finding the one with the least amount of disgruntled staff/former staff is the trick.

Redbeard42 wrote:

hello dejavu..
I was asking peoples opinions of schools..
Not someones presumption as to what my life is about.
Info on schools welcome....
Judgement comments on my life.... Keep to yourself....

Hi,

I am sorry if I made you feel offended. I didn't try to judge or do anything. I dislike judging. I just wanted to tell you that it is very hard to find a good school and you can recruit students to teach instead of looking for a good school . I can suggest you to search some information about New York English school to see how is that. It covers Insurance too. I have a friend who was manager here and seems she was very happy with her job till she moved to another company.

Regards

Ps: Teacher Mark: I haven't been a teacher but I have met many expats doing teacher jobs who are willing to tell me about their job.

Thank you all for your replys. Especially the students. Unexpected from you and most welcome to get your perspective.
I have put in my resume to Wall St and see what happens.
Other comments about other schools will be stored away for future reference, Thank you.
Glassdoor seems like a good reference point, WSE got twice the rating of ILA, though included other countries.

Thanks again, please feel free to add for others benefit as well

Oh my god
My Account on Expat-blog was delete suddenly, I don't know that's why. Today, I have a complementary class in WSE( PICO Plaza Cong Hoa Street) at noon.  Are you near hear? And I am having an encouter class in WSE on 25/05 at 4 pm.

Beware of schools in Quang Ngai, ( Central Coast ),  there are too many schools here now, 3 new ones this year alone, at least one of them will fold before the end of the year, I predict it will be AMA, ( about to open on 29/05 ), they are advertising now for teachers now, but most people already know of their reputation.
  Their are many ' teachers ' on Hanoi Massive, probably a good place to ask about schools, especially in Hanoi.

Teacher Mark wrote:

I  haven't heard anything about Wall Street, be it good or bad, but I see a few things that indicate that they're a good place to work, such as:

A maximum of 4 students per class.     I find that hard to believe.

  Visa and work permits organized and paid for by Wall Street English Vietnam  That's always good, but a low starting salary would negate that benefit.

Medical check for work permit application & health insurance  It's hard to find schools that provide health insurance, which I've always found surprising, considering the fact that money could be made by forcing employees to enroll and be responsible for paying their own premiums.

This industry is as bad as used car and timeshare sales combined, so you're likely to hear bad things about them all.  Finding the one with the least amount of disgruntled staff/former staff is the trick.

Just want to make it clear that health insurance for employee working under a labour contract is compulsory in Vietnam, applied for both Vietnamese and foreigner. So that if the school provide health insurance, it just complies with the law.

Please note that this is public Compulsory Health Insurance, not private insurance like Prudential...

VanKhanh Ho wrote:

Teacher Mark wrote:

I  haven't heard anything about Wall Street, be it good or bad, but I see a few things that indicate that they're a good place to work, such as:

A maximum of 4 students per class.     I find that hard to believe.

  Visa and work permits organized and paid for by Wall Street English Vietnam  That's always good, but a low starting salary would negate that benefit.

Medical check for work permit application & health insurance  It's hard to find schools that provide health insurance, which I've always found surprising, considering the fact that money could be made by forcing employees to enroll and be responsible for paying their own premiums.

This industry is as bad as used car and timeshare sales combined, so you're likely to hear bad things about them all.  Finding the one with the least amount of disgruntled staff/former staff is the trick.

Just want to make it clear that health insurance for employee working under a labour contract is compulsory in Vietnam, applied for both Vietnamese and foreigner. So that if the school provide health insurance, it just complies with the law.

Please note that this is public Compulsory Health Insurance, not private insurance like Prudential...

I appreciate the information,. but after 7 years here I don't even bother checking to see what's compulsory and what's not.  Why bother....

From Craigslist.
Jobs all over Vietnam (Vietnam)
compensation: Maybe you will get a week of salary

AIC is a giant scam, working with some Taiwanese company, called "Life ABC " they provide a full range of "scam services". If you like to get ripped-off, have your salary stolen, have threats made against you, apply to AIC - Because we are always hiring. Why you may ask? Don't ask why, just apply. And with a 5 minute "interview" you are hired. No "short-list", no 2nd round interview, no demo class, they don't even ask if you have ever used a computer. Which is odd, since they seem to want sales people for their gadgets more than they seem to want qualified teachers able to deliver a quality course.

And they will give your personal info-Phone, full name etc to anyone as well. Just to warn you ahead of time. The salary is a SCAM- They won't even send/sign an official contract. Salary amounts are just some number you are promised to make you happy without sounding too outlandish. When payday comes, you will be told that many Ss have complained against you, but there's no written proof, just a massive salary deduction. If you get paid at all. They say one salary but on payday (again, IF you get paid at all) you will get a much lower amount.

They also hire Filipino teachers and pay them dirt wages, but some of them are lacking a related degree and/or TEFL cert., and one person they hired was a baby-sitter/nanny but she is somehow qualified to teach VNese EFL teachers in an "intensive" 3 month course. They use/abuse the Filipino trainers, controlling their housing, keeping passports, making threats to report teachers etc. AIC even hired a native-speaker with only 6 months exp. to work as a "master trainer".

Good luck ever getting paid your salary in full or on time from these people. And of course, none of the foreign teachers have work permits/TRC's.

ANGLIA exams is supposed to give something called the AISET exam, which is ONLY given in VN. Yje Taiwanese joke that they have the test so simplified, combined with drill/repeat, their other main task is pitching their "teachnology" on the VNese teachers. They spend 3 months pushing their overpriced Taiwan supplied SMART boards on the teachers whom they are supposed to train. They get the teachers to memorize just what they need to pass the exam and then make sure they also have to buy overpriced Life ABC Limited-Taiwan SMART tabs and computers SUPPLIED by AIC. Of course the Taiwanese company is playing a "shell" game, they ARE the main investor in AIC-Joint Stock Company, but the Taiwanese obviously don't want to be directly responsible for the illegal hiring of unqualified teachers to train Vietnamese public school teachers, they let "AIC" do the actual hiring.

Again, when you have a contract dispute (not being paid on-time, not being paid at all, having your salary "deducted" etc) the Taiwanese (who are the ones in charge) will say they have nothing to do with it. If you want to work for a month and NOT get paid, yes, you will like AIC very much. However, if you like being treated with respect, no, you will not like AIC/ABC much.

You have been WARNED- STAY AWAY FROM AIC-Joint Scam Company/Life ABC.

Google this school, and others for reviews, on ESL Teachers Board.

Thanks for posting that Bluenz.  I didn't write that, but I can confirm the information it contained. 

I worked for them a grand total of 3 days!  I walked out after I was told by their Taiwanese "master trainer" that they would replace me if I pointed out any of the numerous errors in the Life ABC textbook to the students/Vietnamese teachers.

You should try this: vass.edu.vn

But apart from all that they're OK, is that fair to say? Now that I know a few of their little 'shimmies' I can act accordingly, fore warned is forearmed.The interview sounds to me that as long as I'm on good form I should meet with their demands, the freebie phone, and the guaranteed complaints so you know how the lesson went before you've even done it, all sound like it could be a good fit for me. Threats being made against me is not unusual, I'll be interested if they can come up with any new ones, do they have a dictionary? And the salary thing is really just a question of factoring in how much they'll take off you, it sounds like a lot so all I need to do is settle with them, say....15K USD a month, they sting me for 10, and I trouser 5 large. Have I missed anything, Bluenz? Quite sure I haven't, if I don't hear from you within the next 10 minutes I'll presume that's a green light, I'll let you know how it goes, what could possibly go wrong, though????

SiCoTic wrote:

But apart from all that they're OK, is that fair to say? Now that I know a few of their little 'shimmies' I can act accordingly, fore warned is forearmed.The interview sounds to me that as long as I'm on good form I should meet with their demands, the freebie phone, and the guaranteed complaints so you know how the lesson went before you've even done it, all sound like it could be a good fit for me. Threats being made against me is not unusual, I'll be interested if they can come up with any new ones, do they have a dictionary? And the salary thing is really just a question of factoring in how much they'll take off you, it sounds like a lot so all I need to do is settle with them, say....15K USD a month, they sting me for 10, and I trouser the remaining 5! What do you think? Have I missed anything, Bluenz? Quite sure I haven't, if I don't hear from you within the next 10 minutes I'll presume that's a green light, I'll let you know how it goes, what could possibly go wrong, though????

bluenz wrote:

From Craigslist.
Jobs all over Vietnam (Vietnam)
compensation: Maybe you will get a week of salary

AIC is a giant scam, working with some Taiwanese company, called "Life ABC " they provide a full range of "scam services". If you like to get ripped-off, have your salary stolen, have threats made against you, apply to AIC - Because we are always hiring. Why you may ask? Don't ask why, just apply. And with a 5 minute "interview" you are hired. No "short-list", no 2nd round interview, no demo class, they don't even ask if you have ever used a computer. Which is odd, since they seem to want sales people for their gadgets more than they seem to want qualified teachers able to deliver a quality course.

And they will give your personal info-Phone, full name etc to anyone as well. Just to warn you ahead of time. The salary is a SCAM- They won't even send/sign an official contract. Salary amounts are just some number you are promised to make you happy without sounding too outlandish. When payday comes, you will be told that many Ss have complained against you, but there's no written proof, just a massive salary deduction. If you get paid at all. They say one salary but on payday (again, IF you get paid at all) you will get a much lower amount.

They also hire Filipino teachers and pay them dirt wages, but some of them are lacking a related degree and/or TEFL cert., and one person they hired was a baby-sitter/nanny but she is somehow qualified to teach VNese EFL teachers in an "intensive" 3 month course. They use/abuse the Filipino trainers, controlling their housing, keeping passports, making threats to report teachers etc. AIC even hired a native-speaker with only 6 months exp. to work as a "master trainer".

Good luck ever getting paid your salary in full or on time from these people. And of course, none of the foreign teachers have work permits/TRC's.

ANGLIA exams is supposed to give something called the AISET exam, which is ONLY given in VN. Yje Taiwanese joke that they have the test so simplified, combined with drill/repeat, their other main task is pitching their "teachnology" on the VNese teachers. They spend 3 months pushing their overpriced Taiwan supplied SMART boards on the teachers whom they are supposed to train. They get the teachers to memorize just what they need to pass the exam and then make sure they also have to buy overpriced Life ABC Limited-Taiwan SMART tabs and computers SUPPLIED by AIC. Of course the Taiwanese company is playing a "shell" game, they ARE the main investor in AIC-Joint Stock Company, but the Taiwanese obviously don't want to be directly responsible for the illegal hiring of unqualified teachers to train Vietnamese public school teachers, they let "AIC" do the actual hiring.

Again, when you have a contract dispute (not being paid on-time, not being paid at all, having your salary "deducted" etc) the Taiwanese (who are the ones in charge) will say they have nothing to do with it. If you want to work for a month and NOT get paid, yes, you will like AIC very much. However, if you like being treated with respect, no, you will not like AIC/ABC much.

You have been WARNED- STAY AWAY FROM AIC-Joint Scam Company/Life ABC.

Google this school, and others for reviews, on ESL Teachers Board.

SiCoTic wrote:

    But apart from all that they're OK, is that fair to say? Now that I know a few of their little 'shimmies' I can act accordingly, fore warned is forearmed.The interview sounds to me that as long as I'm on good form I should meet with their demands, the freebie phone, and the guaranteed complaints so you know how the lesson went before you've even done it, all sound like it could be a good fit for me. Threats being made against me is not unusual, I'll be interested if they can come up with any new ones, do they have a dictionary? And the salary thing is really just a question of factoring in how much they'll take off you, it sounds like a lot so all I need to do is settle with them, say....15K USD a month, they sting me for 10, and I trouser the remaining 5! What do you think? Have I missed anything, Bluenz? Quite sure I haven't, if I don't hear from you within the next 10 minutes I'll presume that's a green light, I'll let you know how it goes, what could possibly go wrong, though????

I worked for VUS for a short while when I first arrived. I quite enjoyed it and found the facilities, on the whole, great and heartily recommend them. No idea of your experience, but you may also want to try for some the District 7 international schools as well.

I knew a lot of ILA workers and, for the most part, didn't hear any grumbling but the work permit thing is a real, genuine pain. I was lucky that I got in and started my process just before they revised the laws and had a two-year residence permit.

bluenz wrote:

Beware of schools in Quang Ngai, ( Central Coast ),  there are too many schools here now, 3 new ones this year alone, at least one of them will fold before the end of the year, I predict it will be AMA, ( about to open on 29/05 ), they are advertising now for teachers now, but most people already know of their reputation.
  Their are many ' teachers ' on Hanoi Massive, probably a good place to ask about schools, especially in Hanoi.

I often see AMA advertising. What is the problem with them? I think it is best to work part time in 2 or 3 different places so you stay in control. When I worked for Apollo, you had to give one month's notice for annual leave and that notice period would only commence once the manager could be arsed signing the form lol..people just rang in sick..

philip983 wrote:

bluenz wrote:

Beware of schools in Quang Ngai, ( Central Coast ),  there are too many schools here now, 3 new ones this year alone, at least one of them will fold before the end of the year, I predict it will be AMA, ( about to open on 29/05 ), they are advertising now for teachers now, but most people already know of their reputation.
  Their are many ' teachers ' on Hanoi Massive, probably a good place to ask about schools, especially in Hanoi.

I often see AMA advertising. What is the problem with them? I think it is best to work part time in 2 or 3 different places so you stay in control. When I worked for Apollo, you had to give one month's notice for annual leave and that notice period would only commence once the manager could be arsed signing the form lol..people just rang in sick..

AMA is based in Thailand, and has many " franchises "??? throughout VN, ( their excuse for ongoing advertising ), they used to pay at the most only $12 an hour, ( now up to $15? )one of their methods of teaching is probably not suitable for many people, 1 or 2 students with one " teacher ", but there are 3 or 4 " teachers " in the same room, with no partitions between them????
It wasn't a good start for the new AMA here, when they had their " grand opening ", another school that had started a few months earlier, JUST happened to have their " grand opening " the same day???? The other new school has many " connections ", it's owned by a 1/2 Filipino/VN young girl, her rich Daddy owns a big coffee shop, directly opposite the Cong An HQ here. ( they even have one of their advertising banners hanging on the Cong An fence??? ), she poached some " teachers " from the Phils, ( where she was educated ), one of them is a Negro, a first for this little city, the other 2 " teachers " are Filipino's, I wasn't too sure how this would go here, but with all Daddy's connections/friends, ( who don't mind paying the same fee for a NNES as they would for a NES ), it seems ???? to be doing ok. Only in VN would the number of schools in a small city more than double in 1 year, ( now 7 , that I know of ), and the fee's actually went up????

Working part time is a good option, but to do it legally, requires you to have a Work Permit for EACH employer.

I'm surprised you could take leave when YOU wanted it, usually it's a couple of weeks at TET only.

bluenz wrote:

philip983 wrote:

bluenz wrote:

Beware of schools in Quang Ngai, ( Central Coast ),  there are too many schools here now, 3 new ones this year alone, at least one of them will fold before the end of the year, I predict it will be AMA, ( about to open on 29/05 ), they are advertising now for teachers now, but most people already know of their reputation.
  Their are many ' teachers ' on Hanoi Massive, probably a good place to ask about schools, especially in Hanoi.

I often see AMA advertising. What is the problem with them? I think it is best to work part time in 2 or 3 different places so you stay in control. When I worked for Apollo, you had to give one month's notice for annual leave and that notice period would only commence once the manager could be arsed signing the form lol..people just rang in sick..

AMA is based in Thailand, and has many " franchises "??? throughout VN, ( their excuse for ongoing advertising ), they used to pay at the most only $12 an hour, ( now up to $15? )one of their methods of teaching is probably not suitable for many people, 1 or 2 students with one " teacher ", but there are 3 or 4 " teachers " in the same room, with no partitions between them????
It wasn't a good start for the new AMA here, when they had their " grand opening ", another school that had started a few months earlier, JUST happened to have their " grand opening " the same day???? The other new school has many " connections ", it's owned by a 1/2 Filipino/VN young girl, her rich Daddy owns a big coffee shop, directly opposite the Cong An HQ here. ( they even have one of their advertising banners hanging on the Cong An fence??? ), she poached some " teachers " from the Phils, ( where she was educated ), one of them is a Negro, a first for this little city, the other 2 " teachers " are Filipino's, I wasn't too sure how this would go here, but with all Daddy's connections/friends, ( who don't mind paying the same fee for a NNES as they would for a NES ), it seems ???? to be doing ok. Only in VN would the number of schools in a small city more than double in 1 year, ( now 7 , that I know of ), and the fee's actually went up????

Working part time is a good option, but to do it legally, requires you to have a Work Permit for EACH employer.

I'm surprised you could take leave when YOU wanted it, usually it's a couple of weeks at TET only.

Aside from Apollo being awkward, I have never once had problems booking leave (usually unpaid of course) at ANY time of the year. The schools just get a substitute teacher or ask me to do a 'make up' class at a later time. (I have tended to work at smaller schools and universities). My friend works for ILA and, as i type, he is flying back to the UK for a couple of weeks on agreed annual leave. He does that a couple of times a year and has no problems.

" Aside from Apollo being awkward, I have never once had problems booking leave (usually unpaid of course) at ANY time of the year. The schools just get a substitute teacher or ask me to do a 'make up' class at a later time. (I have tended to work at smaller schools and universities). My friend works for ILA and, as i type, he is flying back to the UK for a couple of weeks on agreed annual leave. He does that a couple of times a year and has no problems."

Now that's another 2 that are always advertising, especially ILA.
Now I think about it, last Xmas I was sucked into relieving for a Filipino " teacher " here, she returned to the Phils for 6 weeks, boy, did I have to work for my money, amazing how a Filipino can make so many words sound like swear words the way they mispronounce them. i.e, horse, can't, as, etc, coming from what looked like a " respectable " woman, and spoken in front of young children, it startled me.  When the students told me, " But that's how Ms ..... pronounced the words ", I had to tell them, " Sorry girls and boys, but Ms ...... first language is Tagalog, ( if even that ), her 2nd language , ( or even 3rd ) is English, Mr Chris's first language is English ", most of them had a genuine. shocked expression on their faces.
If they're paying big money to learn English, they should at least be taught how to pronounce words properly.

bluenz wrote:

" Aside from Apollo being awkward, I have never once had problems booking leave (usually unpaid of course) at ANY time of the year. The schools just get a substitute teacher or ask me to do a 'make up' class at a later time. (I have tended to work at smaller schools and universities). My friend works for ILA and, as i type, he is flying back to the UK for a couple of weeks on agreed annual leave. He does that a couple of times a year and has no problems."

Now that's another 2 that are always advertising, especially ILA.
Now I think about it, last Xmas I was sucked into relieving for a Filipino " teacher " here, she returned to the Phils for 6 weeks, boy, did I have to work for my money, amazing how a Filipino can make so many words sound like swear words the way they mispronounce them. i.e, horse, can't, as, etc, coming from what looked like a " respectable " woman, and spoken in front of young children, it startled me.  When the students told me, " But that's how Ms ..... pronounced the words ", I had to tell them, " Sorry girls and boys, but Ms ...... first language is Tagalog, ( if even that ), her 2nd language , ( or even 3rd ) is English, Mr Chris's first language is English ", most of them had a genuine. shocked expression on their faces.
If they're paying big money to learn English, they should at least be taught how to pronounce words properly.

Things being as they are here, it might take years to figure out that the teacher has to teach how to pronounce the english words correctly lol..false economy and all that if nobody can understand them when the vietnamese  are trying to speak english....in a couple of weeks I am going to be teaching vietnamese teachers for a couple of months..it should be interesting! For those who get upset at ANY criticism of the vietnamese (in any way shape or form), I hereby acknowledge that the vietnamese can speak vietnamese and can pronounce it much (even infinitely) better than me lol..so my ability to speak english better than probably 100% of the vietnamese in no way, shape or form suggests ANY superiority lol (double lol)..

" .in a couple of weeks I am going to be teaching vietnamese teachers for a couple of months..it should be interesting! "
When there was only 2 " real ", ( or I should say registered ),  English language schools in my city, they had a Dutchman teaching VN English teachers once, during the break I was talking with him,  his English was ok, but I couldn't help getting the impression he was overdoing the accent to make himself look better than he really was, as some of my VN English teacher friends do when they're with me and their VN friends, ( pathetic to watch ), but being typical VN teachers, some of them came out, and asked him the answers for some of the questions he'd given them, (  test questions ), he couldn't answer many of them, a little embarrassing for him,  I think the multiple choice answers confused him?

AVOID ES school in Quy Nhon. He snares new backpacker/ retiree suckers every month, works them 45 + hrs a week then pays 1 month 1000$, knowing they will quit.
Does the same with T/As.

Thaiger wrote:

AVOID ES school in Quy Nhon. He snares new backpacker/ retiree suckers every month, works them 45 + hrs a week then pays 1 month 1000$, knowing they will quit.
Does the same with T/As.

That must be why I see a " school " in Quy Nhon advertising on Craigslist quite often. They were that desperate they offered a night's free accommodation, etc, for any potential teachers just to come and meet them. They advertise for months at a time.

hey guys

Does anyone know something about VASS- Vietnamese American School System? Any feedback,experience, etc?

I don't like Wall Street English. Too big. I would suggest schools that are good but not large corporations. High Schools are frustrating but really rewarding (maybe not always in pay).

I agree with a previous poster that one reasonable strategy is to work at two companies. A language mill on the weekends and evenings and at a different centre that sends one to public schools during the school year. Another option would be a private school full time.

I'm also wary of large corporations such as VUS, ILA and Wall Street.

Working at two companies leaves you with pay in the summer and pay should something go south at one of them.