English teaching as a non native

Franciuss wrote:

Hi everyone, I've been doing some research on the requirements for teaching English in Vietnam, and most sites say that being a native English speaker is more or less mandatory. Is this true? If I had enough qualifications would I be able to get a job anyway?
I'm from Argentina, have a B.A. in English interpreting and a 140 hours TEFL course. I'm also planning on doing a CELTA course when I'm back home, as now I'm living in New Zealand and it's really expensive to do it here.
Suppose I had those three qualifications and a recommendation letter from a hostel where I've been working here in NZ as a receptionist for mostly English speaking tourists, would it be possible to get a job in VN?
Or am I better off just trying somewhere else? If that's the case, could anyone point out countries where non native ESL teachers might find work? I know in Argentina or pretty much anywhere in South America I may have an easier time, but I really want to get away from the continent at least for a few years.
If you read through this wall of text and are kind enough to answer, thank you in advance haha.

My "opinion", based on discussions with teacher friends and a local school administrator:

If your English speaking voice SOUNDS like a person on the nightly news shows in England, Australia, Canada (not the French) and the U.S.A., then you have the SOUND that Vietnamese parents want their children to learn.

But @THIGV is the person who really knows.

I met  a girl from Rumania teaching English here & making good money at it. I am from UK & could not understand a word she said.

Demand for English teachers in VN is high, although right now, immediately after Tet, things can be a bit slow. There is also a lot of supply but not quite enough. Addiitonally, there are a lot of amateur schools that can't keep teachers. Most of the work is 'teaching' kids using 'edutainment' methods, part-time and casual. So, there's a lot of turnover. Schools can easily drop teachers, and teachers can easily find other work.

There are, I would guess, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands (?) of non-native speakers already teaching in VN and many more throughout all of SE Asia and China, etc. I've worked with or met people from Greece, Switzerland, Peru, India, Pakistan, Burma, Lithuania, the Philippines (of course), and probably a few more I can't think of at the moment, Not sure why people frequently ask this question.

Schools are all over the internet. Basically, if you want to teach in VN (or most any other country), you contact some schools that look like places you might like to work, preferably in person, nicely dressed with CV/resume, or send your documents by e-mail. If you are not in VN, you can contact them by e-mail and let them know you are coming. Many of them have staff who will correspond with you through social media or apps. Skype interviews are also used sometimes.

Wow! Dozens of ads here. I guess the post-Tet slowdown is a thing of the past:

https://vietnamteachingjobs.com

Facebook "teaching in vietnam, hcmc, hanoi, danang, etc." groups are also full of ads as are numerous other websites.

One last thought: the most important qualification is your personality. Schools are looking for fun, flexible and reliable people.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

But @THIGV is the person who really knows.

The above is hardly the case.  My information is getting dated as I have been away from Vietnam for three years, about as long as I lived there.  I am hoping to return in 2020 but not to work.

That said, I had contact with several non native speakers both in my own center and some who worked for other employers in the public schools that I taught in.  (In defense of the grammar of the prior sentence "This is the sort of bloody nonsense up with which I will not put." -W. Churchill    )  Some of these individuals were fine teachers.  In particular, the Filipino teachers who seemed to specialize in teaching young children at our center did an excellent job.  There were a few Eastern Europeans in the public schools that should not have been there.  I think I would not take a hard position on this but would take each instance case by case.

For the OP:  Although you already have a TEFL certificate, taking the CELTA is an excellent idea.  As an IELTS score of 7.0 is needed just to take the course, completion is de facto evidence of your fluency.  A letter from your employer in NZ won't hurt but it may not help much either.