After Tet and my vacation to Thailand, my work hours never returned to where they should be. I was getting very nervous. My job repeatedly assured me that hours would pick up, but I can't pay my rent with promises. Luckily, Vietnam might be the easiest place in the world to pick up an additional teaching job, providing that you have a CELTA and a bachelor's.
I started working during the day for an education company that staffs public schools and business English classes. I teach at a public primary school Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and I travel to a company to teach business English for two hours on Friday. I also work as a substitute teacher for public schools all over the city. (I'll talk about the business class later!)
Teaching at a Vietnamese public school is very different from teaching at a language center. Here's a few examples:
1. Class size. At a language center, I do not have more than 25 teenagers in a class and no more than 18 primary school aged children. At a public school, there may be 30 to 50 students in a classroom and the classroom is guaranteed to be much, much smaller.
2. Resources. Language centers generally have a computer in each classroom with a projector and a white board. The book as an "iPack" (digital component) on the computer that provides teachers with lots of additional activities. Public schools are very bare bones: there's a blackboard, some chalk, maybe some flashcards, and the course book. There is not even a CD player, which makes things difficult for lessons where the only activity assigned for the entire class is to sing a song from the book.
3. Comfort. Students at the language center each have their own desk. They have plenty of space to put their backpack down. The rooms are air conditioned. The public schools stuff kids into desk rows and it is SUPER hot with no air conditioning and 40 people in a small space.
4. Time. My language center classes range from 2 to 3 hours, whereas public schools have 40 minute class times. And honestly, thank god. I would go insane teaching one public school class for 3 hours.
5. Curriculum Structure. The language center classes are designed so that any teacher can look at the syllabus and teach the right lesson for that class on that day. There are page numbers and specific assignments. For the public school, teachers choose when they teach different parts of the book. There is a syllabus with page numbers, but it seems to be more like a suggested guideline than an actual hard schedule.
All of these differences amount to a hell of a learning curve for me, brand new to teaching public schools. My first day was a substitution at a primary school in District 1. I found my way to the school, and none of the staff spoke English. The kids mobbed me the second I walked into the school yard asking "what's your name!" and mugging me for high-fives. They have a few breaks throughout the day and they run around screeching. (You can hear a school from half a mile away) They were very eager to speak to me in English and a nice 8 year old took me to my class and told me where the teachers' lounge was.
My company was unable to provide me with a book for any of the classes I was supposed to teach, but they were able to provide me with color copies of the pages that "the class was probably learning that week." Well, those pages were wrong. The classroom is so small that I cannot fall back on any of the games (time wasters) I use at the language center. My poor, patient TAs carried me through the class.
I taught my permanent classes a few days later. This time, I did have a book and flashcards, but still I was struggling. The public school kids were confused by games that my language center students understand instantly. I tried so hard and put out so much energy but in return I got confused stares. This hasn't happened since my second month of teaching. It felt like I was starting completely from scratch.
I'm not discouraged, though. If I can become a good teacher in these conditions, I can be a good teacher anywhere.
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