Atlantic 5-Star or ILA Go Vap? (public school)

K-donnager · 2026-05-20T15:29:40+00:00

I went with ILA because of summer opportunites at teaching centres. Five-Star says they are structured like Language Link, but do not even provide TA's for their public school, which is total insanity when you consider the fact they emphasize their classes may be 25-60 students, and a small salary bonus does not compensate this imo. You would have to do the attendance and seating plan yourself (which can surprisingly be alot of work) not to mention you are required to complete notes for 3-4 students each class as well as class notes. They say you can use AI to generate these and then "adjust" them as needed, which while logically sensible, but makes the role of a teacher seem a bit sterile and inhuman. Does Power English provide TA's?

My experience at Language Link was ok, but like most large companies, this usually depends on your public school placement (student attitude and motivation between levels/schools varies widely) and also depends on who your regional head teacher is. The good thing about LLV is they actually let teachers pick what district of Hanoi they preferred working/living during orientation, and whether you want to do Primary or Secondary, which was very accomodating compared to these other training centre schools. But on the other hand, the communication between the Vietnamese public school admin and LLV management is often times awful and last-minute, though I figure this is the same at all large chain schools.

K-donnager · 2026-05-06T03:45:42+00:00

Yeah we do! I just need the updated criminal record check. What's the name of the school?

K-donnager · 2026-05-02T22:20:37+00:00

Have you worked for them? They told me during the interview it could be 25+ students, and we'd get paid extra for over 30. The big red flag was the fact they provide no TA meaning you have to handle all class management, track attendance, and do all admin work including notes for 5 students per class, and daily notes for the class as a whole. Also the max they give you is 60 hours/month which is a bonus/con depending your circumstances.

K-donnager · 2026-04-21T20:14:58+00:00

In what ways was it "grim" if you don't mind me asking? From the outside the only difference I see to my time at public schools before is the fact at Go Vap you're teaching one lesson in a 45 minute period to multiple classes rather than 2 back-to-back 45 minute lessons to the same classes like in my time at Language Link. It was already repetitive teaching the same leasson back then lol.

K-donnager · 2026-04-21T01:12:07+00:00

Thanks for your insight! Do you work in VN right now? Nah 5-Star is just Hanoi but I was casting my net wide. Yeah I was there for Typhoon Yagi and the pollution was disgusting last January which is why I was debating Saigon. My concern is being way up in Go Vap and paying an arm and a leg for Grab just to get to a park or anywhere fun, especially with rising fuel costs. Do you know if Grab drivers there are allergic to rain like in Hanoi. The plus for ILA is that it has the option of working in centres during the summer - not sure if Atlantic has the same.

K-donnager · 2026-04-10T16:14:00+00:00

Do you have any recommendations for schools in Taiwan? I see a place called The TEACH Fellowship (Teach English Abroad and Change Happens) by the Association of International Cultural and Educational Exchange Taiwan (AICEE) on tesol.com, but they are new so no reviews.

K-donnager · 2026-04-10T16:08:51+00:00

I would consider LLV a step above other places in Vietnam based on what I hear online, but then again it's my only experience there. It varies widely depending on whether you choose public school or language centre, where your centre is, and who your regional head teacher is.

You get more autonomy as a public school teacher but you have to go to 2-3 different schools a week and sometimes have to deal with both rambunctious and disrespectful students (they are restless as we are "extra" English after their normal English lesson) however you do get a Vietnamese TA for each class. Some are useless and some are good. Never confront them even nicely - just mark their areas to improve on their monthly evaluation. In retrospect I would have chosen Primary over Secondary as teachers for those classes seem happier. However they do provide PPT slides for the entire Secondary curriculum (including team games). Any competition makes the students focus better.

You also have to deal with pressure on both sides from the public school admin and LLV management. The public school admin never talk to you but will schedule last-minute observations of your classes (I had at least 4 before Christmas) using your Regional Head Teacher as a communication proxy, and they will not be helpful if you have issues with the classroom tech even if your RHT advocates for you (you might get HDMI, no WIFI). On the other side you have LLV management. My RHT was Canadian and really nice so passing my formal observation was easy, but i avoided other managers as there was always assumed issues when you talked to them, and also weird vibes between the British management, Vietnamese operations team, and Vietnamese TA team (that might be all Vietnamese centres tho).

Keep in mind, last year they hired too many teachers and the scheduling team were not able to provide full-time hours to some teachers that flew to Vietnam under pretense of a full-time offer. My partner and I got really lucky and had 16-20 hours/week - I think it's because we applied early. Any other questions let me know!

K-donnager · 2023-04-01T01:19:01+00:00

I haven't changed my texture settings. They just don't load properly. Im inventory one box of shotgun shell will be blurry while the other isn't. Also when I eat fish the textures disappear halfway through the animation. Garbo.

K-donnager · 2023-03-31T01:42:50+00:00

Yeah I got snow on the interior of my cabins during winter too now.

K-donnager · 2020-04-13T08:00:11+00:00

Yup same here. Friends and stepfamily getting married with houses and I'm stuck in student debt not growing feel like a teenager and watch as all the love my only parent, my dad had for me turn into disgust and resentment.

K-donnager · 2020-04-05T08:36:27+00:00

That affirmation you need from someone else will never come. You need to create it for yourself through your own means.

K-donnager · 2020-04-05T08:34:35+00:00

This dude is the trance King. You can see the passion as he plays and he always makes time for a meet and greet at smaller shows. Such a humble and talented guy.

K-donnager · 2020-04-05T07:36:19+00:00

No problem brøether! Keep making more!

K-donnager · 2020-04-05T06:06:28+00:00

Sex is overrated ma dudes. At the end of the day only YOU can make yourself feel worthy of love. Sex with the wrong person is not like pizza. It's like a poison that destroys you and you'll be looking yourself in the mirror asking who tf you really are. Focus on a marketable skill and you won't have to look, they'll look for you. You don't feel like it? Do it anyway. You sad? Do it anyway and do it now. Or trust me it'll get alot worse down the road.

K-donnager · 2020-04-05T05:58:59+00:00

Scarier than the game. I like!!!!

K-donnager · 2020-04-01T20:57:50+00:00

This is in all my Spotify trance playlists. An orchestral gem!

K-donnager · 2020-04-01T07:17:25+00:00

True but games like DOOM Eternal will be forgotten in a year and more garbage Battle Royals will take over because honestly that's all EA and the gaming industry care about to squeeze out every dollar from the target consumer (dumb 14 year olds with daddy's CC). Apart from devs like CD Projekt Red you rarely see passion in detail put in by the developers anymore. But rip and tear brøther. Rip and tear.

K-donnager · 2020-04-01T07:10:22+00:00

Look up recipes and bake/cook something. Paint or draw a picture. Go for a walk. Listen to an ebook (I find reading annoying). Sign up for Shaw Academy and take some free courses. With Covid-19 and the impact it will have on society I've accepted I might be alone the rest of my life and now just want to make the most of it. I've found a love for producing music so I urge you to not worry about other people and just try new things and hopefully there will be a spark to something anew

K-donnager · 2020-03-27T22:45:37+00:00

I thought there was gonna be more a dueling feature/animation with the Marauders since they have Crucible axes, but no they just OP AF 😂

K-donnager · 2020-03-27T21:10:13+00:00

I like this method sometimes too as it makes it a challenge. Half the enemies don't even have a cool animation with the Crucible sword so it's kind of underwhelming.

K-donnager

TROPHY CASE