With job vacancies available all year round offering high salaries, Viet Nam has been ranked the second best place in the world to teach English by TEFL Exchange, a community for teachers of English as a foreign language.

A foreign teacher at an English class in Viet Nam. Photo by VnExpress

The site estimates that a foreign English teacher can earn between $1,200-2,200 a month in Viet Nam, where the average annual income in 2016 was just $2,200.

They can find a job any time of year and the best places to do so are the country’s three largest cities: Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

Candidates only need to hold a bachelor’s degree and a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate.

English is an obligatory subject from sixth grade across Viet Nam, but in large cities, many primary schools demand high competency. Foreign language centers have been thriving here, with students as young as three years old.

TEFL Exchange came up with the best places to teach English in 2017 after saying that 2016 was a bad year and many people wanted to escape the chaos of Brexit and Trump.

Myanmar topped the list with a salary range similar to Viet Nam. Nicaragua came third, followed by Nepal, Brazil, Madagascar, Chile, UAE, the Czech Republic and the Philippines.

All of the countries selected also offer beautiful culture, nature and amazing food, the report said.

The highlights for Viet Nam are good coffee, cheap beer and delicious bun cha – a combination of grilled pork patties, cold dipping sauce, fresh vegetables and rice vermicelli which tastes best in Ha Noi, as proven by former US President Barack Obama himself.

(Source: VnExpress International)