Teaching at Yamaha Motorbike Company

When I first arrived in Hanoi it was peak season for English teaching jobs - summer school! I was offered four jobs in the first four days (and all I was doing was frequenting local bars). But it's true, anytime of year is good for finding work in Hanoi. Every day new positions are advertised and new arrivals can find a good job within days... if they want to.

Many of the jobs I was offered were teaching English to kids, great for a new teacher. But I didn't want to teach kids. Really, I didn't. So I waited, travelled, ate and hung out with the cat until I was offered some hours in a business college. It sounded interesting and a bit of a challenge. So here I am. English teacher... in a motorbike shop...

My office space is truly glitzy, located in the downtown Yamaha showroom. The building pops out of the gloomy streets at night in a truly impressive show of how to reeeaaaally, properly use electricity! Each evening, waiting out front for my driver, I see Vietnamese ride past, really slowly, their eyes glued to the shiny new bike models glittering under the spotlights... so warning, be extra careful crossing Pho Thai Phien for this exact reason! Vietnamese drivers, totally blinded by bright lights, shiny motorbikes and deep in dreams of the day they can afford one... don't care too much for the average pedestrian Western or otherwise.

I am the only teacher for the company and have two main classes with a mixture of employees. I have division managers in my beginner classes and advanced receptionists in my intermediate classes.. and occasionally a very beginner manager in my higher level class (simply because he is a manager). Also because of the nature of the business environment I get a scattering of attendance, it ranges from a maximum of 25 students to occasionally just two.

In the first few weeks I spent hours and hours developing lesson plans, creating fun worksheets and generally getting swamped in the details. But now, things are a little more chilled. I am generally planning lessons (with no teacher's book to speak of) in under 2 hours, which for me, is a real achievement.

Actually, teaching business English is tougher than I thought. Firstly, in this type of environment you're totally on your own without anyone else to bounce off. There's no training or additional support offered, just the belief that as a native speaker you'll be fine (which is partly true).

A school environment offers more by way of training, resources, teachers staffrooms (a great way to find out new activities and get tips) and other support. It means that you are probably able to learn more and learn it faster.

But I like the autonomy that comes with working independently, I like the shiny lights and for $25 an hour, I can't really go wrong!