5 COMPELLING REASONS WHY TEACHING ENGLISH IN VIETNAM IS A BRILLIANT GAP YEAR OPTION

The decision to take a Gap Year from my studies at UCLA was made within a day or two. In stark contrast, deciding what to do during my time away from university took months. There are plenty of attractive Gap Year options in the marketplace offering programs like volunteering with native Americans, conservation work in Australia, ski instructor opportunities in Japan – and the list goes on – and on. Independence is important to me so an ‘organized’ Gap Year program was always an unlikely choice. I settled on carving out my own Gap Year experience teaching English in Vietnam – specifically, in Ho Chi Minh City, and it was ‘brilliant’.

While the term ‘Gap Year’ and the desire to take a Gap Year are common in North America, from my observations, the whole Gap Year thing is less prevalent in other parts of the world. It’s certainly less commonplace in Southeast Asia where I spent most of my Gap Year. For the benefit of those who read this post and are unfamiliar with what a Gap Year is, here’s my take. It’s a period of time – usually a year – when students put their studies or the transition to their ‘forever’ career path on hold to experience something completely different. Succinctly, it’s time away. In my case, it was 12 months away from my studies at UCLA and the United States. Before starting my Gap Year, I took an Online TESOL course at AVSE-TESOL to learn how to teach English as a Second Language. The TESOL course at AVSE comes highly recommended.

Here are four compelling reasons why teaching English in Vietnam is a brilliant gap-year option:

1. Cultural Immersion: Teaching English in Vietnam provides a ‘cultural immersion’ experience ‘on steroids’. You’ll have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the local school community – and the wider Vietnamese community. For sure, there will be invitations galore to all kinds of school-related cultural events – for example, Teacher’s Day, and national cultural events including the Lunar New Year (Tet), the Wandering Souls Day, the Mid-Autumn Festival, Independence Day, Reunification Day and the list goes on. You may even feel inclined to work on acquiring Vietnamese language skills, which will go down very well indeed with the locals.

 

2. English Skills: Teaching jobs in Vietnam provide a terrific opportunity to build your skill level with the English language. In my case, I have spent all of my school years in the United States, including three years at university (to date), but have never attended a ‘grammar’ class and knew close to nothing about grammar rules – present perfect, simple past, and suchlike. By the end of my 12-month stint teaching English as a second language in Vietnam, I was almost on par with the kids in my Wednesday afternoon Elementary School English class. True, there’s more work to be done! If you’re a native English speaker, you might think your English skills are pretty good and there’s no need for improvement. Wrong! Learning is a life-long process.

 

3. Professional and Personal Development: Spending a Gap Year teaching English in Vietnam will be a distinguishing factor in a highly competitive employment market when the time comes to secure a ‘forever’ job after completing university. Living and working in an ‘emerging’ country like Vietnam requires you to step outside your comfort zone, enhancing both professional and personal development – ‘big-time’. You’ll learn a thing or two about cross-cultural communication, the ability to adapt to a new environment, resilience, problem-solving, and the like. You’ll gain a broader take on global issues, which is pivotal in our interconnected world.

 

4. Travel Opportunities: Vietnam is ‘smack-bang’ in the middle of Southeast Asia – the perfect home base and geographical location to explore the length and breadth of the Asian continent. Teaching English in Vietnam comes with a decent salary by local standards and plenty of paid Public Holidays. You’ll have the money and time to take in the best of what Asia has to offer. Traveling to neighboring countries, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines to name only four, will be quick and easy – similar to a trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, but much cheaper. How about a weekend shopping trip to Singapore, a couple of days in exotic Hong Kong, or chilling on a beach in Sri Lanka – all are distinct possibilities.

 

5. Make a positive difference: Those of us who were fortunate to be born in wealthy, developed countries where English is the dominant language – the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and suchlike – enjoy a raft of privileges that in many instances are not available to folks in developing countries. Exposure to the ‘international’ language – the English language – from birth, is one of those privileges. Sharing a bit of personal good fortune will do wonders for your self-esteem and help make the world a better place, even a safer place through enhanced mutual understanding.

I’m supremely confident that at the end of your 12 months away from whatever you’re doing now, you’ll share my view that teaching English in Vietnam is a brilliant gap-year option. You will have: immersed yourself in a different culture, improved your English skills, enhanced your professional and personal skills, travelled all over the Asian Continent – and made a positive difference in the lives of people who are less fortunate than yourself.  Overall, teaching English in Vietnam is a compelling choice for a gap year experience.

Author: Brian Airlie

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA

Date: 14 July 2024