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William Feirkert
From Miami, Florida, USA
I have been living in Vietnam for
almost five years. I originally came from
Miami Florida, the US. I have worked
at several schools in Ho Chi Minh City,
some famous and well known, and oth-
ers not so well known. I have enjoyed
teaching at all the schools and have met
some really great students along the
way. I have many Vietnamese friends
and look forward to another Tet holiday
with them again this year. This Tet I will
travel by motorbike to Vinh Long, Can
Tho and Tra Vinh. My friends have a
farm in Vinh Long and many cats, dogs
and chickens. They also have fruit trees
and a large vegetable garden. A typi-
cal evening in Vinh Long entails cook-
ing food outdoors on the fire, drinking
beer, playing with the dogs and going
to sleep early, at about 9pm.
Working in Vietnam is a challenge
and not always easy. The traffic, noise,
congestion, and heat are things we
must cope with on a daily basis. In
spite of the hardships, I’m still here
teaching and having a wonderful time.
My advice for new teachers is to go
with the flow and learn to adapt to the
enviroment, and everything will be ok.
The educational opportunities for Viet-
namese students to learn English are
many and varied. Many schools cater
to university students and to business
professionals as well. I must say that I
enjoy my life and work in Vietnam and
hope the coming year is great for all of
us. I expect 2013 to to be properous
and fun.
Marilyn Gagnon
From Quebec, Canada
I’m from Canada and I’m 21 years
old. I study accounting at Sherbrook
University, located in the French part
of Canada, Quebec. Three weeks ago I
arrived in Vietnam to work as an English
teacher. I’ll be here for four months and I
really want to discover everything about
this beautiful country. I decided to do an
internship in another country because I
wanted to travel around the world and
discover new cultures. The only places I
have seen in my life are France and the
United States. I thought Asia would be
a very good choice because it’s very af-
fordable and because it’s very different
from everything I’ve seen before.
A lot of my friends have travelled in
Asia and they all appreciated Vietnam.
Actually, most of them told me that
Vietnam was the country they liked the
most when they travelled around Asia.
Fortunately, my friends were right - Vi-
etnam is amazing. I’ve only been here
for three weeks and I’ve already met a
lot of lovely people. Every Vietnamese I
meet is very nice and generous with me.
They are interested to know where I am
from, what I do in Vietnam and where I
live. I also enjoy a lot Vietnamese food. I
love the fact that it is spicy, sour, sweet
and so healthy. The main advantage of
working here is that the salary is very
good compared to cost of living. Also,
students here are very funny and I am
discovering a culture that is totally dif-
ferent to mine. The key disadvantage is
that I have to work a lot so there is very
little time to relax and see friends.
Educational standards in Vietnam
are very high; parents expect their chil-
dren to be the best in every topic. Here,
people put a lot of importance on learn-
ing English; students usually have to
learn English during the week ends. I
haven’t enjoyed a Tet holiday yet, but I
plan to travel around Vietnam and Cam-
bodia and see my friends. I find it very
interesting to see people prepare for a
holiday I don’t know anything about.
Jeremy Pearce
From Australia
I work in Vietnam be-
cause I love the culture,
traditions, the people and
of course the food. My
work in 2012 included
teaching all levels, from
children, through to teen-
agers and adults, and
from beginner level to ad-
vanced. There have been
many challenges, but the main one has been ensuring a
fast-rate of learning. There is a big demand for English
tuition in Vietnam and I hope to continue to explore
that. I’m expecting higher demand from people wanting
to learn English as well as improving myself further. You
can always improve yourself.
During Tet holiday in Vietnam usually I go back to
Australia to visit family. But I can say, I have enjoyed the
customs of Tet from what I know about it. For example,
traditonal Vietnamese food, events and time with friends.
And I would say there is no good, bad or ugly of the festi-
val. It is a matter of how you perceive Tet which therefore
determines the level in which you want to participate.
I can only imagine that if you are looking to immerse
yourself in a new culture, full of fun and many interesting
happenings, then Tet can only be a good experience for
myself and anyone else that enjoys something different to
the customs they know back in their native land.
Alex McCarl
From Portland, Oregon on the west
coast of the United States
I chose to work in Vietnam for sev-
eral reasons – I knew that I wanted to
travel, but I also had a strong desire
to teach. In order teach in an entry
level position in Portland, I would have
needed a master degree.
A friend of mine who had taught
in Korea for three years told me that
he’d fallen in love with Vietnam after
visiting for just three weeks. After hear-
ing this story and seeing the photos
an old roommate from college posted
depicting his life teaching ESL abroad, I
decided I’d be crazy not to go.
My work in 2012 was a really in-
sightful experience. Every country has
its own unique set of challenges and
obstacles, and Vietnam is no excep-
tion. I think the biggest advantage of
working in Vietnam is the willingness
on the part of some language cent-
ers and institutions to let the teacher
decide their own approach to teaching
the materials that are provided. In this
way, the book functions as a guide,
as opposed to a manual. This allows
the teacher to feel out the pacing and
structure of the lesson for that day,
teaching according to how the class is
responding to the content.
One challenge in working in Vi-
etnam is getting students to be more
vocal in class. There is sometimes an
unwillingness on the part of the stu-
dents to speak, which is rooted in the
fear that their level of English is insuffi-
cient. This creates a catch-22 situation
in which the student who is trying to
improve their English is unwilling to fail
in order to practice to get better.
I’m not terribly familiar with the
education standards taking place in
other South East Asian countries as I
have no formal personal experience.
However, based on what I’ve heard
from friends and colleagues, I would
say that Vietnam has a willingness to
adapt and incorporate new technolo-
gies into their programs.
In the past I’ve enjoyed Tet holiday.
It’s so quiet in Ho Chi Minh City. It’s a
great time to drive around at night and
clear your head with no one around.
Everyone is in good spirits as they pre-
pare for new business endeavors and
celebrate with friends and family. Plus I
like the time off from teaching; it’s nice
to decompress and to reflect.
Gordon Fraser Stephen
From Scotland
I have been living in Vietam a year
now and this will be my first Tet here.
The people are very nice and I have
made a lot of friends here now, plus
the food is great, so overall I love it.
Working for the EIV has been good.
The guys are great and they always
try their best to help you. Working in
most of the districts here the children
are all very keen to learn English - you
will have the time of your life here and
you will learn and see most beautiful
things. I have worked in Can Lanh and
Camu and the children are the same -
they want to learn. In the new year I
will work hard to make a life here for
many years to come.
tet special
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Teachers’ Tet
Timeoutdiscoverswhatteachersfromaroundtheworldthinkofwork-
ing in Vietnam and the Tet festival.