When you've worked in other language schools you appreciate ILA

Having worked in a few countries in Asia teaching English I was sure that Vietnam was going to be the same; overcrowded classrooms, no support, no resources and no pressure to deliver a good lesson.

In Cambodia I was teaching upwards of 40 students with no help and no air-con. In Korea they only cared about having a white person standing in front of the class.

When I got interviewed for ILA I was told that some centers did have classes at government schools and that these would be busier than those in ILA centres. I was given a choice of whether I wanted to teach these classes or not. I decided after teaching so many students in the past I would like to experience a different style of teaching.

I had 14 students, a fantastic teaching assistant and enough resources to take on cover classes with little preparation. The cover was optional and a good way to earn overtime.

If you've experienced teaching in Asia before then this is a nice surprise as the cost of living in Vietnam is very low and the quality of life is high for a teacher. There is pressure to perform good quality lessons and there are a lot of observations and workshops which you must complete but for the career teacher this is a goldmine. For those just looking for short term jobs to fund travelling this is probably not the place for you. There are plenty of schools in Vietnam that don't care about their standards and pay cash in hand. If quick money is what you are looking for then these schools are probably a good bet.

As with all big companies there are some issues but the ones I had were always dealt with, although not always in a timely fashion. Once again, if you've worked in EFL before this is nothing new and at least you get paid on time.

Working in VN can be hard as the work permit process is a nightmare and can take a long time.