There’s no doubt about it, Ho Chi Minh City has a well-deserved reputation for being full-on – and the epicentre of teaching English abroad. Anecdotally, there are more advertisements, ‘day in and day out’, for English teaching jobs in Ho Chi Minh City than advertisements for teaching jobs in any other city on planet earth.

‘Buzz’ 24/7, commercial pursuits of all sizes, traffic and local people going about their everyday life, epitomise Ho Chi Minh City. While art and culture capture your attention in Hanoi, it’s commerce, motorbikes, coffee, street food and nine million friendly people that capture your attention in Ho Chi Minh City.

Weather

The climate in Ho Chi Minh City is either hot or very hot. Unlike the north of Vietnam which has the classic four seasons, Ho Chi Minh City has only two seasons – the dry season and the wet season. During the dry season, there’s a high chance you won’t see a drop of rain, but you will feel the oppressive heat. The wet season comes with a daily downpour lasting for an hour or two and high humidity. The downpour often results in flooding and consequently, those folks who are pursuing English teaching jobs in Ho Chi Minh City need to be attuned to how they’ll get to class on time. Arriving at school before the daily downpour is one option.

There are upsides to the ‘extreme’ weather in Ho Chi Minh City. It allows you to do things outside well into the evening – socialise, pursue a hobby and suchlike – that are not possible in cities that are cold and dark by late afternoon. My favourite upside is the one hour ‘siesta’ under a fan, an air conditioner or both, to ‘avoid the midday heat’. The daily ‘siesta’ is observed with religious fervor. It’s a sight to behold.

Getting around

Getting around in Ho Chi Minh City is relatively easy with Grab (motorbikes or cars) and metered taxis. Almost certainly, however, like most folks in English teaching jobs in Ho Chi Minh City, you’ll end up buying or renting a motorbike of your own. You’ll appreciate the independence and keep you’re commuting costs to a minimum sum.

Must-visit locations in and around Ho Chi Minh City include Ben Thanh Market, Reunification Palace, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the War Museum and Cu Chi Tunnels (approximately 47 kilometres from the downtown area). Dam Sen Park receives an ‘honourable mention’ if only because it gives you a respite from your usual routine and it’s a great place to meet like-minded souls.

Nightlife choices in Ho Chi Minh City are abundant. The following places come highly recommended by AVSE-TESOL alumni: Bui Vien Walking Street, the Roof Top Bar at the Rex Hotel (where media correspondents congregated during the war years), the Lush Night Club, the Catwalk Night Club or any one of the hundreds of cheap coffee shops and ‘hole in the wall’ Bia Hoi establishments scattered across the city.

TESOL course

AVSE’s TESOL training centre in Ho Chi Minh City is in Go Vap District, immediately north of Tan Son Nhat International Airport. It takes 40 minutes (+/-) by taxi (US $14.00 +/-) from Go Vap to reach the downtown area. Landmarks close to the AVSE-TESOL training centre include Mercedes Benz (Vietnam), Isuzu (Vietnam), the Pandora Shopping Mall, Quang Trung Software Park (the largest information technology hub in Vietnam) and the internationally renowned Go Vap Orphanage.

Meeting the requirements of the TESOL course and setting yourself up for English teaching jobs in Ho Chi Minh City will be your priorities while you are at AVSE, but there’ll be plenty of time to do other things. Socialising with your TESOL classmates, mixing with local people as they go about their everyday life and exploring the alleyways that characterise Go Vap District are all part of the adventure. If you’re a ‘hardcore’ shopper, enjoy ‘window’ shopping or you’re somewhere between the two extremes, you’ll be pleased to know that Go Vap District has a great night market. Banks, medical clinics, cheap restaurants, movie theatres and more coffee shops than you will have time to visit are all close by.

It is worth noting that teaching jobs in Ho Chi Minh City are available 12 months of the year, except for the two-week TET holiday period, which starts in late January and goes through to early February. The TET holiday is the Vietnamese version of ‘Christmas / New Year’ and the country closes for a couple of weeks. Like the daily ‘siesta’ – see my earlier comment – it’s sight to behold.

Ho Chi Minh City – Course dates

The table below provides dates for the TESOL course in Ho Chi Minh City at AVSE-TESOL through to early 2026. You are encouraged to apply at least three months before the course date that is most suitable. If you’re up for an adventure of a lifetime, apply now to join the TESOL programme at AVSE-TESOL in Ho Chi Minh City using the application form at the bottom of this page.