I recently (ok it was last June) had an interesting conversation with Nicola, a bright and affable recent graduate with a background in sociology and psychology. He’s considering something that, despite all the changes in the field and uncertainty in the world, comes up frequently: teaching English abroad. He is thinking specifically about teaching in Asia, particularly in South Korea or Vietnam.

I’ve been in ELT for about 25 years now, with time spent living and working in Korea, Japan, and, for the last six years, Vietnam. I cannot claim to have much expertise on the job market but I was happy to share what I could with Nicola (who happens to be the son of my former MATESOL student!).

What follows isn’t advice so much as a set of observations, drawn from that conversation and from watching people enter, stay in, and (often) eventually leave this field. 

I should also mention that much of the conversation was focused on the prospects for a so-called “native speaker” from the US considering Vietnam and Korea as destinations to live and work.  

The Job Market: Still There, Just Less Forgiving

Let’s just say that when I first moved to Korea, we called it the “Wild East” for a reason. There were lots of “cowboy” operations. The era of showing up with a passport and a vague sense of adventure and immediately landing a cushy job is largely over. That doesn’t mean there are no jobs. It means the margin for error is thinner.

My conversation with Nicola (like my career) started with Korea. Programs like EPIK can be a relatively stable entry point. Housing is often included. The system is clear and expectations are generally (but not always!!) well-defined. That kind of predictability can be a relief if you’re new to teaching or new to living abroad.

The trade-off is that you are very much entering an existing hierarchy. Public school teaching in Korea comes with strong ideas about roles, authority, and professionalism. You’re not there to reinvent pedagogy. You’re there to function well inside a system that already knows what it wants from you. Some people thrive in that environment. Others find it exhausting and limiting. 

Vietnam is the opposite in some ways. It’s less regulated, which creates space but also risk. There are excellent language schools doing serious work, and there are language schools that should probably not exist at all. The responsibility to research employers, ask uncomfortable questions, and walk away from bad offers falls almost entirely on the individual teacher.

I told Nicola what I tell most people considering Vietnam: talk to other teachers and read widely. Facebook groups like English Teachers Bad Experiences (if you can stomach and filter out the negativity and rudeness) are chaotic and imperfect, but they can offer some warnings. A simple search of a school you are considering could save a lot of headaches down the line. At the same time, please don’t trust everyone who complains online because many people have an axe to grind!

Certificates: The Paper Matters Less Than the Training

Nicola asked whether a TESOL certificate is really necessary. The short answer is that in 2026, it usually is.

A bachelor’s degree is still the baseline for visas in many places but employers increasingly want evidence that you’ve been trained to teach, not just that you speak English.

CELTA is still the most widely recognized certificate. It’s sort of the brand name. It’s rigorous. It’s expensive. For some people, it’s a good fit. For others, it simply isn’t practical.

There are alternatives. By way of disclosure, I am a licensed SIT TESOL Trainer. It’s a program that doesn’t carry CELTA’s global brand recognition but does provide real training with an emphasis on reflection.

Not all certificates are equal, and not all of them are worth the money.

The mistake some people make is treating certification as simply a box to tick. The value isn’t the acronym. It’s whether the program actually teaches you how to plan lessons, manage a classroom, respond to learners, and reflect on your own practice. My main advice was to think about programs that are accredited and have classroom practice and feedback as an integral part of the course.

Cost of Living Is the Easy Part of the Calculation

Vietnam is cheaper than Korea. That’s just a fact. For many people, daily life is more affordable, especially if you’re not trying to save aggressively or support people back home. Delicious and cheap food is one huge draw of Vietnam.

When I visited Korea last year I could not believe the price of bibimbap compared to my memory of 5 years before. 

On the other hand, Korea often includes housing and offers higher base salaries. Some of the higher costs are offset, but the lifestyle might feel different.

People could frame this as a simple financial comparison, but that’s probably not really the point. The harder question is what kind of life you want while you’re teaching.

What Comes After?

This was where the conversation with Nicola became even more interesting.

He asked, directly, about transferable skills and long-term prospects. I feel like perhaps that question doesn’t come up often enough, especially early on. I honestly wish I was asking that question 25 years ago and 20 years ago and so on. 

Teaching English abroad can be meaningful work. It can also be a holding pattern.

If you approach ELT as something you’ll “do for a bit,” it’s very easy to drift. Contracts roll into one another. Your life fills up. And suddenly a few years have passed without much intentional development.

People who treat teaching as something other than a pause tend to do better. That means deliberately building skills that travel: curriculum design, assessment, teacher training, project management, digital tools, writing. None of that happens automatically. You have to choose it.

I didn’t always plan my own trajectory particularly well. I was lucky in many respects. That luck isn’t something I’d recommend relying on! Here in this part of my conversation with Nicola I verged into advice mode a bit more than earlier on. They say advice is a form of nostalgia.

Online Work, Side Work, and Reality

We also talked about supplementing income with online work. That’s no longer unusual, and it’s often necessary. Examples include tutoring, writing, editing, curriculum work, platform-based teaching. Some of it pays well and some of it doesn’t.

I suggested that having multiple income streams changes your level vulnerability. It gives you options. I think this is even more important in an increasingly unstable global job market. 

Where This Leaves Nicola (and Perhaps Some Readers)

Nicola left the conversation with a to-do list rather than a conclusion. Research EPIK. Compare certificates carefully. Read the bad stories as well as the good ones. Think about income beyond a single contract. Try to imagine not just the first year, but the third.

We sort of concluded there isn’t a correct choice between Korea and Vietnam. It’s more like a set of trade-offs, and a responsibility to understand them before committing.

I thank Nicola for the interesting conversation, insights, nostalgic feelings, and sweet, sweet blog content.

Teaching English abroad can still be worthwhile. I suggested it works best when it’s approached as a professional decision rather than an escape, and as part of a longer arc rather than a pause from thinking about the future.

I suspect most people don’t regret going. What they regret, later on, is not having thought a bit more carefully while they were there.