A Guide to a Teacher’s Salary in Vietnam

Vietnam is a popular spot for expats in Southeast Asia and many tend to go there to teach. We’ve put together a detailed breakdown of how much you’ll be earning there by teaching English.

Income will depend on how many hours you’ll be working, so here are some sample schedules.

Language Centres

In a Language Centre, a typical part time schedule of 18 hours a week would earn you an average pay rate of $19/h. After taxes, your monthly salary would be $1,230.

Some of the big centres include AMA, Apollo, ILA and VUS. These part time jobs are the most available ones in the country and it’s almost impossible to get more than 22 hours a week.

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During the week, you’d be looking at two hours a day for three days, usually from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The remaining hours would be done on the weekend, for about 6 hours each day if you teach 3 classes.

Multiple Schools

For an advanced schedule at multiple schools, your pay rate could vary between $20/h to $30/h. Over a 22h/week schedule, you’ll likely earn around $525/week. Working multiple jobs will result in a lower tax, so your total income after tax would be around $2,050.

SEE ALSO: Cost of living in Vietnam

With that type of schedule, you’d be working 3-4 hours for 4 days and then 4 hours on Saturdays and Sundays. This is an intense schedule that would likely be overwhelming for new teachers there. It’s only advised to do this after you’ve become acclimated to the life there.

International Schools

For a 40-hour full time position at an international school, you’d be making between $2,200 and $2,500 a month, which goes down to $1,800 to $2,200 after tax. These are probably the highest paying teaching jobs you can get. However, you have less flexibility and you’ll need to be in your office during the school day even if you don’t have class.

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Your contract would likely be for two years with amazing benefits, such as paid summers off. It’s not easy to get a job like this and usually they’re offered to individuals with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or similar teaching certification with a few years of experience.  

A salary of $2,000 or more in Vietnam is incredibly good. You would be well off and be able to save.