Your knowledge of English could make your trip to Vietnam way cheaper

Vietnam is currently one of the world’s most up-and-coming travel destinations and not without reason. The place is incredibly beautiful, the people nice and has the most delicious coffee. 

More direct flights from new places are increasingly connecting the capital, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and Hanoi, the more popular northern city from where thousands of tourists go on their Halong Bay tours. But large parts of the country are still waiting to be discovered and right now is a great time to go before everyone discovers the hidden gems.

I will focus this piece on Saigon, which is where I spent a very pleasant three weeks and tried living as close to the life of a local person as possible. What I learnt is, if you have the time and if know some English, this city is a great place to experience local culture and sights while spending very little money.

Teaching English is big business in Saigon

During my stay in the country, I found that teaching English was big business is Saigon and many other parts of the country. The average Vietnamese person does not speak English well and the country has recently discovered that the knowledge of this language opens hundreds of new doors for them professionally.

Many global companies are now opening offices and factories in the country and the knowledge of English gives you a huge edge in this country. This is why nearly everyone with average English skills is in some way trying to facilitate the learning of the language for other people and trying to make some money in the process.

At least in Saigon, there are tens of English-teaching schools and cultural exchange clubs that aim to get English-speaking foreigners interact with local youngsters looking to both get acquainted with the language and socialize.

What’s in it for travellers

The interest in learning English opens up great opportunities for travellers looking to connect with the local people.

There are many local people in Saigon who offer free stay for English-speaking visitors who agree to teach English every day for a few hours. If you are wondering how to find such hosts, all you need to do is check out Couchsurfing and Facebook groups. There are plenty of them. Search with key phrases such as “Expats in Saigon”, “Travellers in Saigon”, “English learning Saigon”… you get the drift.

Additionally, numerous cultural exchange meetings take place nearly every day at various cafes and social joints across Saigon where locals and visitors catch up and converse in English. The organizers usually sell coffee and other drinks/snacks, which you may or may not buy. During my stay, I also went to a cafe that hosted regular board games evenings and the evening I went, some 20 people turned up. It was a lot of fun.

Beyond English-teaching: Why you should go to Vietnam anyway

• Vietnamese coffee is among the best-tasting coffee I’ve ever had. I could go back just to have another ice-filled glass of the beverage.
• The people are polite, and even though they might not understand you, most of them will try helping you out.
• Food and stay is cheap by most standards. It is possible to have a full lunch of rice, meat (chicken/pork), salad and soup for around USD 1. I used to have delicious and filling noodle soup for dinner for around 85 cents.