Vietnam vs Philippines?

[AsiaHand]

Vietnam vs. Philippines: Vietnam wins for me hands down. The women are in an entirely different league-the average woman there is far more attractive than the average Pinay. The cuisine is one of the best in Asia, if not the world. In central and southern Vietnam, they are very friendly towards Euro/Americans. 'Cost' of living is a joke.

Like others have said though, outside of a few very small pockets, almost no one knows English. And, no Vietnamese is not an easy language to learn. It may look that way because they use a roman alphabet, but don't even think for a minute that it matters. To that one dude saying how easy it is: have you ever tried to speak it? To a Vietnamese in Vietnam? And not to one who hangs around non-Vietnamese all the time? I have studied both Chinese and Vietnamese, and Vietnamese is far more difficult as far as speaking, pronounciation, and listening comp.

But still, it is an awesome place. Those considering taking the plunge: do it. You will not be diappointed. I would recommend HCMC over Hanoi.

[The_Adventurer]

I might consider it for the cost of living. Is it really much cheaper than Philippines? I have heard of hotels for $15 a night, but that is possible in Philippines.

The real question is what about visa issues? How long can you stay?

[droid]

The women are in an entirely different league-the average woman there is far more attractive than the average Pinay.

It seems so indeeed

Like others have said though, outside of a few very small pockets, almost no one knows English. And, no Vietnamese is not an easy language to learn. It may look that way because they use a roman alphabet, but don't even think for a minute that it matters. To that one dude saying how easy it is: have you ever tried to speak it? To a Vietnamese in Vietnam? And not to one who hangs around non-Vietnamese all the time? I have studied both Chinese and Vietnamese, and Vietnamese is far more difficult as far as speaking, pronounciation, and listening comp.

rat tot cam on! toi thich tieng viet I say easy in the sense that there is no conjugation and no auxiliary verbs, at least on the online lessons I've studied, but perhaps tonality is difficult in the field. I'll find out next month!!!
I like there are locations where they hardly speak English, like Slovakia and Vietnam, it keeps competition out, most chumps lazy out on this.

[AsiaHand]

You're right concerning basic grammar, but particles are really important, and difficult. There are many sick vowel sounds that can seem almost impossible to reproduce at normal conversational speed. And of course, the tones. It's not impossible-many westerners have learned Vietnamese well, but it took them years of living there. If you know Cantonese, I've heard Vietnamese is much easier to learn. Mandarin, not so much. But you can probably learn enough on your own like you're doing to engage in simple pleasantries, and it should indeed help break the ice with women.

[Yohan]

Vietnamese is not an easy language to learn. It may look that way because they use a roman alphabet, but don't even think for a minute that it matters.
....
I have studied both Chinese and Vietnamese, and Vietnamese is far more difficult as far as speaking, pronounciation, and listening comp.

There is no easy way for a Westerner who never had any contact with Asian languages before to study Vietnamese, it will take him several years to become somehow fluent in conversation despite living in that region.

Simply said, ALL languages in that region are difficult to study for a foreigner who is a native English (or French, German etc) speaker.
There is no easy way to learn those Asian languages, regardless if Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, Burmese, Thai...

Also Indian languages are difficult, Bengali or Hindi etc.

Far East languages are not easy either, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Mongolian etc.

Easy to learn are only Malay/Indonesian/Tagalog.

[Traveler]

The real question is what about visa issues? How long can you stay?

You can get a tourist visa that is good for three months. So you'd need to leave the country 4 times a year and apply for a new visa each time. You can take a 6 hour bus ride from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, Cambodia which costs about $15. If you get a work permit you can get a visa that is good for a year. If you get married to a local you can get a visa exemption certificate which must be renewed every five years.

I am in Vietnam now (not the first time). I think it's easy to meet Vietnamese women if you use a website like vietnamcupid.com. You'll probably be overwhelmed with all the responses you get. Wifi is good and is free in a lot of restaurants, bars, cafes, and hotels. It's much better than it was in the Philippines. I see lots of English schools around. Check out the jobs listed on craigslist- http://vietnam.craigslist.org/search/edu. You'd probably have to be in the country already to get most of those jobs. In Manila, I sometimes found it hard to catch a taxi. Taxis are very easy to catch here, but you should only trust two taxi companies- Vinasun and Mailinh. Taxis from other companies might have their meters rigged or take a very circular route to their destination.

[droid]

But you can probably learn enough on your own like you're doing to engage in simple pleasantries, and it should indeed help break the ice with women.

Hey as long as I can get a cab without getting ripped off, order food, get an apartment (bao nhieu?) , and sweet talk the girls (toi thich doi mat cua ban), I'm happy I don't need to give technical seminars lol
I can always say, xin loi, tieng viet cua toi la khong rat tot

[WorldTraveler]

Here's a video with a lot of street scenes of Hanoi. The food looks good. The guy in the video says his teaching job pays $20 per hour and he only needs $15 to cover his daily living expenses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RGQ7wWf71I

What has changed in the last few years in travel videos is what is the center of attention. In the past what the narrator was talking about was the center of attention and the camera would be focused on that. Now with selfie sticks, the narrator thinks everyone wants to look at him versus seeing what he is talking about. Today's culture is all about attention whoring. I can't imagine any young travel writers, because everything would be about them and not the places they travel too.

I'm also curious how many English teaching jobs are there in Vietnam paying $25 for 1 hour and 10 minutes of work?

[Traveler]

Lastly, Vietnam tends to be a country in which they prefer their own (much like India).

I think they are a lot like Koreans in some ways- quite ethnocentric. They tend to view the world as being divided between themselves and foreigners. They don't seem to have a lot of interest in interacting with foreigners unless they see something in it for themselves such as money or sometimes a chance to practice English. It sounds like the guy who runs the singlemansparadise.com blog is getting fed up with Vietnam and is planning to go to the Philippines next. He's had some problems with locals not paying him back after he lends them money.

[gnosis]

Here's a video with a lot of street scenes of Hanoi. The food looks good. The guy in the video says his teaching job pays $20 per hour and he only needs $15 to cover his daily living expenses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RGQ7wWf71I

I had no idea the market for EFL there was still this good. I wonder if some teachers out there have been spreading misinformation in order to protect "paradise" from getting spoiled. My heart is drawing me towards SEA for longer term. Even just a few miles north in China, life and cities aren't so great. I'm needing a change soon. Vietnam looks very appealing.

Vietnam "looks" appealing, but after a couple of years, the day to day realities of living there will grind you down. Long-term, TEFL in Vietnam is like riding a carousel -- you are moving fast but going nowhere. If I were you, I would visit and maybe teach for a year, but leave after that year.

The more you come to understand the culture and language, the more illusions will be dispelled. In Vietnam, few things are what they seem to be.

Ghost, I am leaving Vietnam soon. If you are interested in working there, you can PM me for information on finding jobs, what to expect, etc.

[Ghost]

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[droid]

Lastly, Vietnam tends to be a country in which they prefer their own (much like India).

I think they are a lot like Koreans in some ways- quite ethnocentric. They tend to view the world as being divided between themselves and foreigners. They don't seem to have a lot of interest in interacting with foreigners unless they see something in it for themselves such as money or sometimes a chance to practice English. It sounds like the guy who runs the singlemansparadise.com blog is getting fed up with Vietnam and is planning to go to the Philippines next. He's had some problems with locals not paying him back after he lends them money.

Vietnam "looks" appealing, but after a couple of years, the day to day realities of living there will grind you down. Long-term, TEFL in Vietnam is like riding a carousel -- you are moving fast but going nowhere. If I were you, I would visit and maybe teach for a year, but leave after that year.

The more you come to understand the culture and language, the more illusions will be dispelled. In Vietnam, few things are what they seem to be.

PM sent. I've never been there but I usually hear the same thing about the country: stay short term, relax and enjoy it, but don't devote too much time there because you'll either lose all sense of ambition in life and get lazy or it will eat you alive. That said, I do want to try it for perhaps a few months.

Well I've been here for a week now, let me throw a few still unqualified statements:

They seem pretty darn friendly, I stick out like a sore thumb but all it takes is an assertive smile and a thumbs up to turn the stares into smiles or small chat/help. no money involved. As far as 'practicing english', well i don't know it don't seem that bad. One would have to get a grip of the local language to put this in perspective i guess.
And I think it's needless to say there's no such thing as "lending" but just "giving away", especially in the third world, duh.

So far they seem to me pretty honest in giving you the correct change and all that (without expecting any tip!!). The only one thing has been though, the first bike ride I took the guy overcharged me x5.

The guy from singleman paradise is quite a bit into p4p, which i understand is not that common or good here. So he's not a good source IMO.

I don't know how soon I'll get fed up of the place, I guess it depends on what your looking for and what means you have to make an income.
I came looking for female attention/romance, although not necessarily "notches", and so far it has been pretty darn good, all of a sudden life is normal. Although the girls are not as cute as I was expecting, I will have to try other cities and see if there is an improvement.

So far yeah I'm getting lazy lol, sleep, eat, swim, eat, repeat.

Further on my first actual report.

Edit: @Asianhand, yeah dude pronunciation and tonality are HARD lol, but it's not all that bad in every word. Names are particularly hard.
But everyone is so nice and helpful I'm doing ok. So far getting a hold of the numbers, greetings, and asking for simple stuff.

[Guhji]

There's a Korean TV show called 'Love in Asia'. It's about Korean men who have found love abroad and brought back their wives to live with them in Korea. You can find episodes of the show on youtube. Their stories are quite heartwarming. Many of the wives come from Vietnam and the Philippines.

[Ghost]

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[djfourmoney]

Vietnam is still one of the poorest and stratified of the developing countries recently re-opening it's doors to the world.

P4p is not limited there, I suggest reading many post on ISG.

Nice place to visit I will assume but unless you got a thing for Asian women and petite bodies (putting it nicely as possible) it's not high on the list of things to do.