TEFL Institute – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

TEFL Certification Course Vietnam

TEFL Institute course in Ho Chi Minh City relies on this wealth of experience to combine the best and most current academic thinking in the TEFL field with decades of hands-on wisdom from practical teaching in remote areas of the world.

About the Country

While working in Vietnam, you should absolutely tour the countryside and visit the beaches and islands. The landscape surrounding Ho Chi Minh City is lush with greenery, while wide sandy beaches and breath-taking islands are within easy reach.

Vietnam offers an opportunity to see a country of traditional charm and rare beauty. This thriving nation possesses one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, yet it is home to some of Asia’s most beautiful scenery. Divine beaches dot the coast, while inland the soaring mountains are often cloaked by dense, misty forests. Mirroring the country as a whole, the Vietnamese people are hard working and industrious, and at the same time strikingly friendly and optimistic.

About Ho Chi Minh City

TEFL Institute is located in Ho Chi Minh City. It's a bustling, dynamic and industrious city. This is a city that churns, ferments, bubbles and fumes. The streets, where much of the city's life takes place, are a jumble of markets, shops, pavement cafes, stands-on-wheels and vendors selling wares spread out on sidewalks. It's impossible not feel its exhilarating vibe of native heritage, French cultural influence, and Western capitalism.. There you will witness a mix of the old and new where modern skyscrapers are juxtaposed with fading colonial buildings, Chinese-style pagodas, and historical landmarks such as the Notre Dame Cathedral, Old Post Office and the Reunification Hall.

Ho Chi Minh City has a vibrant nightlife with many local and Western bars and cafes concentrated in the city center. The city is also the culinary capital of Vietnam. You can sample a variety of foods ranging from Vietnamese regional specialties to international cuisine. The best Vietnamese, French, and Chinese restaurants in Vietnam are found in

About the Course

The 140+ hour, four-week course integrates the aspects of real teaching that we have found most important:

• Ninety hours of classroom-based Academic Inputs
• Thirty hours of Vietnamese Language and Cultural Awareness Training
• Up to thirty hours of Teaching Practice

TEFL Institute Vietnamese Language and Cultural Awareness program is designed to:

• Give you the local language skills necessary for daily life in Southeast Asia
• Put you in the learner’s seat, re-acquainting you with the struggle to acquire a new language
• Let you be part of the learning process
• Provide a major cultural overview and orientation to Vietnamese customs – what’s polite and acceptable, how to fit in, the importance of making an effort toward understanding, etc.

Our TEFL Practicum is similarly goal-based:

• You will typically be seeing the same students on a regular basis for 8 to 10 hours each week, so your lessons will be continuous, one building-on and leading-to the next. The students you teach are actually your students, allowing you to plan from class to class based on student progress and need.
• Your teaching assignment will often be a local community resource (hospital, police station, city hall, orphanage, immigration office, etc.) so your teaching time directly benefits the community. By the end of the class, your students will have had thirty hours of English Language classes, free. This may not seem like much, but it is approximately the same number of hours a class in many public schools will get in one academic year.

You will be given access to the Internet at the Training Center during training. Most select schools have internet access available to teachers during school hours. Public internet cafes are also available. They usually charge about US$1.00 per hour.

Tuition Covers:

• TEFL course fee – 4 weeks tuition
• Airport pick-up/transfer to accommodations
• Course materials
• Job placement assistance

Program fee does not cover:

• Living accommodations
• Meals
• Visa, immunization
• Airfare
• Personal expenses
• Medical insurance

Housing & Communication

During training, TEFL Institute participants stay in private rooms in small boutique hotels very close to the Training Center. Rooms typically have air-conditioning, a private bath, and are clean and nicely furnished.

The housing cost is $600 USD per month, $150 per week thereafter.

Budget additional housing for about an additional week or two following training, after which time you should have secured a job.

Once your job assignment is secured, hiring school will assist you in locating a local apartment near the hiring school. Typical apartments are small, but most are comfortable and stylish, with air conditioning and Western appliances. Houses usually have 3-4 bedrooms that you can share with roommates. Often, a one month security deposit and the first month’s rent is required at the time of rental.

Cell Phones may be purchased for a nominal fee in and around Ho Chi Minh City on a “pay as you go” plan.

Job Placement Assistance

TEFL Institute participants can expect to work in and around Ho Chi Minh City. While we do not guarantee job placement, our students, with our assistance, have been very successful finding multiple opportunities.

 

Food & Clothing

Vietnamese cuisine differs strikingly between the north, south, and central regions, but two key features stand out.

First, rice plays an essential role in the nation's diet as it does throughout Southeast Asia. But this is also a noodle-crazy population, regularly downing them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in homes, restaurants and at roadside stands. Noodles are eaten wet and dry, in soup or beside soup, and are made in different shapes and thicknesses.

Second, no meal is complete without fresh vegetables and herbs. A key portion of every meal, north, south and central, is a platter containing cucumbers, bean threads, slices of hot pepper, and sprigs of basil, coriander, mint and a number of Southeast Asian herbs. A typical meal ranges $2-4 US dollars.

Chopsticks are standard, especially with noodles or rice. Western utensils are nearly always available, however, and are commonly provided with international fare.

What to wear

Light, comfortable, easy to launder clothing in natural fabrics such as cotton suits Vietnam. Good walking shoes and sandals that can be easily slipped off are recommended, as shoes are removed when entering temples and homes. No need to over pack, as high-quality clothes are strikingly cheap, while inexpensive laundry service is generally available wherever you go.

Vietnamese people are quite conscientious of their dress. The nationwide stress on maintaining a neat and clean appearance creates a marked disparity with some Western visitors. For instance, Vietnamese would never dream of wearing dirty clothes while traveling, and visible tattoos and piercings are frowned upon.

When working, TEFL Institute Teachers are expected to adhere to the local working culture and ideas of professionalism. “Casually smart” attire means that women should cover their shoulders (sleeveless shirts are acceptable, but very thin straps or tank tops are not). No low-cut necklines or very short skirts. Bare midriffs must not be visible, even when lifting arms up. Open-toed shoes are acceptable.

Men should wear long pants (not jeans), short- or long-sleeved shirt with a collar (possibly with a tie), and loafers or dress shoes. Sandals and tennis shoes are not acceptable when teaching. Long hair should be neatly tied into a ponytail.