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26 | Eight Easy Steps To Great Teaching Job In Vietnam Step six: pinpointing | 27

STEP SIX:

PINPOINTING

our TESOL course at AVSE-TESOL in Vietnam will take four weeks.
While the course is unashamedly intensive, you’ll have ample time
Yto turn your mind to other issues, such as the general location where
you’d prefer to work as an ESL teacher.

If you’re a ‘big city’ person, your choices are essentially twofold, Ho Chi
Minh City or Hanoi. But what about working in a regional city, like, Can
Tho in the Mekong Delta, Haiphong in the north of Vietnam, or perhaps
Hue in the middle of the country? Does living and working near a beach
appeal to you? If the answer is ‘yes’, Danang, Nha Trang, Quang Ngai or
Vung Tau might meet your needs. How about a rural location - schools with
dirt floors, outside ‘bathrooms’, limited access to utilities, more mud than
you’ve seen in your entire life (during the wet season), pretty much nothing
in the way of teaching and learning resources and abject poverty? I had
the privilege of teaching in a semi-rural location in the south of Vietnam
when I first arrived in the country, and I loved every minute of the 12-month
assignment. Teaching in a rural area of Vietnam, Dong Thap, Pleiku, Bac
Kan and similar locations, will certainly test your ability to adapt when
confronted with unfamiliar surroundings.

Settling on a location to begin your ‘teach abroad journey’ has, in my
view, three key components. Firstly, research, research, research. Secondly,
rapport with the designated employment person at the AVSE location
where you’re doing the TESOL course (Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi). Thirdly,
flexibility. So, let’s have a closer look at these three components.