The program takes place at Saigontourist Hospitality College in the city of Ho Chi Minh. The said college was founded in 1989 which was initially created as a Basic Tourism and Hospitality School. This institution is a post- secondary institution that seeks to provide students with hands - on training in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Additionally, you will be playing the role of a mentor inside the Hospitality and Tourism College as Cooking, Restaurant, Hotel Management and Tour guiding being the main majors of this institution.This is often in the form of re-enactments, real-life scenes and communication. Your advanced level English or Native Speaker level will be just what your peers need to move their language skills forward.

You may also teach a few classes a day, each class runs a total of one hour and 15 minutes and will be led by a head participant mentor (everyone will get a chance to lead the lesson) with the support from local teachers. Students are aged around 16-26 years old. During each session, the lead mentor will spend 10 minutes getting to know students and introduce yourself at the beginning of every class, and previewing the lesson of the day. Thereafter, students will be divided into small groups, whereby each participant will mentor one group. Meanwhile, in order for this to be successful, you will be required to have a discussion with a local teacher before your class, and prepare games using the teaching manual provided in collaboration with other participants.

Your Role - General Information

Your main roles will be, but are not limited to:

• Teaching English alongside the local teachers.
• Have a thorough discussion with a local teacher before your class.
• Prepare games using the teaching manual provided in collaboration with other participants.
• Prepares and organizes lessons and meaningful learning activities with the local program coordinator and local teachers.
• Facilitate learning activities such as re-enactments, real-life scenes and communication exercises.
• Join other activities conducted at the college.
• Prepare practical assessment exercises.
• Checked assessment exercises.
• Mark the monthly examinations or assessment.

During the Program Activities:

• Work at the placement for a minimum of five hours a day.
• Be on time and always come to your assigned class prepared.
• Respect the time of your partner participants in preparing the lessons and class sessions.
• There may be a change of time and schedules so please be patient and respect the advice of your local program coordinator and local teachers.
• Be respectful with the local staff, the local people, fellow participants,local teachers and to the community in general at all times.
• Be creative in preparing lessons in fun and engaging ways.
• Actively partake in the day to day operations of the college.
• Join  college activities and other community activities.
• Work closely with your local program coordinator alongside local teachers.
• Smile and have lots of patience as you are working with students with various personalities and learning needs and styles.
• Respect and understand the learning needs and styles of the students.
• Be responsible for your class schedules and lesson preparations.
• Wherever you go into the College premises ladies MUST wear a dress that covers their shoulders and knees, and basically the more that is covered the better. Men must wear trousers, T-shirts and shoes.
• Under the influence of alcohol during your teaching schedule is strictly prohibited.
• Always bring Water bottled or containers.
• Enjoy and make the most of your stay and make memorable learning experiences.

Note: Stated rules and regulations will be discussed further by the local staff or the Country Manager a day after your arrival.        

*Please note that there are no classes during the public holidays and school breaks, however, we join in celebration with the local people or change the program to one of the other programs such as the Food Shop Program. 

*Teaching English Disruptions -  TET New Year (Jan 29th to Feb 24th)

• During this time, participants will make food (lunch )for the at-risk community (mostly the young children who have to fight cancer), we also arrange some activities with the children(singing, dancing, playing, etc…) and teach them English.
• The local team will buy all the food, ingredients and materials for participants to help with food preparation, cook the food and serve to children at that centre.  The center is about a 45 minutes by bus from the accommodation and you can expect to work from 8 AM to 1 PM. Alternatively, you can use the time to travel and join in on the local festivities. If none of these options are suitable for you and if you would like to change your dates to avoid disruptions, please let me know and I will be happy to update your file accordingly.
• The week of 29th Jan 24: working from MON-FRI.
• The week of 5th Feb 24: working from MON-WED (no program on THUR and FRI)
• The week of 12th Feb 24: working from TUE- FRI (no program on MON)
• The week of 19th Feb 24: working from MON-FRI

Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) is home to some 6 million people, most of whom you will see at some point during your stay as they whiz around town on their motorbikes. The city’s Tan Son Nhat Airport lies 7km north west of the city centre and is the most popular arrival point in Vietnam for international travellers. As well as long haul arrivals there are many flights to HCMC from within Asia, especially from Bangkok and Hong Kong.