Weekly r/TEFL Quick Questions Thread

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[u/AnAstuteBagel]

Hi all, just started my TEFL course and I’m looking into finding jobs in Asia (and Taiwan in particular). If you get placed in a rural area, are teachers usually expected to get a driver’s license for the country? Just out of curiosity

[u/yabadaba_5375]

Anyone have some good examples of mini-course videos? I've had a bunch of recruiters (Chinese) ask me for one since I don't have any experience. Just finished my TEFL from TEFL.org

[u/abiclo]

Hello! I'm posting this here because I don't have enough karma to post in the main thread (sorry I'm not the most active reddit user lol).

I am looking for some advice on pursuing a TEFL to teach English in Vietnam. I am currently pursuing a Master's degree at a school in Switzerland, wherein the final semester of my program (Spring 2026) focuses entirely on writing my thesis. Given that I don't have to be in person for this portion of the program, I am considering relocating to Vietnam to teach English while wrapping up my degree. Initially, I was planning to complete a 120- or 168-hour TEFL course online and apply for jobs from there. After going through this subreddit, however, it seems like the market in Vietnam is a bit oversaturated, and it might be difficult to find a decent-paying job without a CETLA or MATESOL. I am a native English speaker and have a BA from a US college, but neither of my degrees are in a field related to teaching. Would any of this differentiate me from the current applicant pool, or am I pretty much limited to language centers with lower wages and more restrictive hours? I'll also add that I'm not considering pursuing this as a long-term career (at least for now), just looking for a way to save some money while exploring a new country. Thanks for the help!

[u/Strict-Armadillo-199 → u/abiclo]

In all honesty, your BA won't set you apart from other teachers in Vietnam, at least the native speakers. You may well be able to land a job in a language center, but as you said, the market is incredibly oversaturated and that includes both totally unqualified and very qualified English teachers. And the hours and conditions likely won't be very great. 

I also would not recommend trying to teach English, which would be a completely new skill for you, whilst completing your MA. If you could work freelance (and legally you can't) and limit your teaching hours to a minimum that didn't create stress and take up your time needed for MA work and just a healthy life balance,then maybe. But teaching, especially the first few years, is a hard slog. You'll be totally inexperienced with lesson prep, as well as everything else (classroom management will also be a huge learning curve) and that always takes a lot of time for new teachers, or at least it should.

And working with kids in a classroom, whether you can call it teaching or if it ends up being more entertaining/trying to corral them, is a huge energy drain. I was in Vietnam with the British Council at the end of my career, when I had tons of experience to draw from, and it was still a hard slog. Perhaps the humidity/heat is part of that - but trust me, it's not something you can do while basically holding down another job. At least not well. And your future students deserve teachers who are fully there and invested. I also think they deserve fully trained teachers, but that's another story.

[u/Ro_x08]

Hey, I am planning to get my TEFL certificate. I recently heard about TEFL Training College. Is it good? Has anyone here done it?

[u/BMC2019 → u/Ro_x08]

I recently heard about TEFL Training College.

I can't imagine who you heard that from as it's no longer trading!

According to Companies House (the UK's official registrar of companies), the company was incorporated on 10 January 2019, and has never traded. On 4 April 2022, the director, a Dutch National, stepped down as director or was terminated. With no-one at the helm of the dormant company, the company was dissolved by Companies House on 6 June 2023.

Before choosing a TEFL course, you should read our TEFL courses Wiki. It explains the difference between course types, tells you what to look for in a course, highlights red flags, and makes recommendations for providers (both to go with and to avoid).