Andrew with his Teachers' Day Gifts

Celebrating Teachers’ Day in Vietnam

Did you know that November 20th is Teachers’ Day in Vietnam? Yes, that’s right, in Vietnam there’s a whole day set aside each year for students to give thanks to their hard-working teachers and shower them with adoration. Although there’s an International Teachers’ Day on October 5th, it isn’t really celebrated in the UK, so I think I definitely picked the right country to start teaching in! Here’s a look at our first Teachers’ Day in Vietnam.

Andrew with his Teachers' Day Gifts

2018 and 2019 teaching opportunities in Hanoi – the language centre we used to work for in Hanoi is now recruiting teachers for 2018 and 2019. If you’re a native English speaker with a degree and TEFL qualification, contact us now and we can put you in touch with the director for an interview.

If you’re heading to Vietnam then you’ll probably need an invitation letter for your Visa On Arrival, we recommend Vietnam Visa as they provide a professional, efficient and transparent service.

Happy Teachers’ Day!

As we found out, Vietnamese Teachers’ Day is a big deal. Shops stock cards for the occasion and students spend hours making elaborate posters, composing poems and writing articles to express appreciation for their teachers and there’s a competition to decide which class has created the most beautiful display.  The language centre provided each of our classes with a tree poster and individual paper petals which the students could write messages on before sticking them to the tree. “Happy Teachers’ Day,” “Thank you Teacher,” and “I love English,” were some of the messages our kids left for us.

School boy Holding an "I Love English" picture

On the week of the big day itself we were informed that we’d get the day-off school, a welcome surprise, even though it would mean we’d miss out on a day’s pay. To our astonishment, throughout the week we were presented with cards and envelopes of cash from the teachers in one of our schools; several classes even gave us gifts of a notebook and pen, tie, scarf and cufflinks for Andrew and a huge bouquet of flowers. I was serenaded with a special Vietnamese song by one of my classes and best of all, we received a few hand-made cards from some of our students, one of whom wrote me a lovely poem.

Poem for Teachers' Day in Vietnam

Teachers' Day Gifts

Like Mothers’ and Fathers’ day in the UK, shops get in on the action. Special Teachers’ Day cakes are sold and our favourite bakery was giving away free drinks for teachers on the 20th November. On the day itself there are no formal lessons but students put on a display to honour their teachers with special dances and songs. As I’ve now found out, over 100 countries in the world have a dedicated Teachers’ Day and it’s a great way to honour the vital contribution teachers make to a society. I know plenty of teachers in the UK who’d welcome a bit more appreciation for the work they do!

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Teacher’s Friend offers packages for teaching in Hanoi, HCMC and smaller cities and the countryside. If you’re interested and are a native English speaker with a Bachelor’s degree, clean police check and a practical TEFL certification of at least 120 hours (or are willing to obtain one), contact Teacher’s Friend to get started. Georgie is kindly offering our readers a 10% discount on packages, just use the code TFV01 when you contact them.

Find out more about teaching English abroad in these posts:

Displays for Teachers' Day in Vietnam

Is there a Teachers’ Day in your country?

21 Comments
  • Miriam of Adventurous Miriam
    Posted at 14:50h, 29 November Reply

    What a lovely celebration! I really like the idea of giving thanks to school teachers – it’s not something we do in Denmark, but it would be great if we did. I can only imagine how appreciated you must have felt all week. It must be so rewarding to know that you’re making a difference in these kids’ lives.

    • Amy
      Posted at 05:59h, 30 November Reply

      It was pretty surprising Miriam – Andrew definitely didn’t get this level of appreciation when he was teaching in London 🙂

  • Stefan Arestis
    Posted at 09:54h, 30 November Reply

    So cute – but “Bich Bao”? What’s that?

    • Amy
      Posted at 11:09h, 02 December Reply

      I’m not actually sure Stefan! I’ll ask one of the Vietnamese teachers and let you know 🙂

  • Emily
    Posted at 21:02h, 30 November Reply

    How sweet! I love the poem you got – too cute!

    • Amy
      Posted at 07:10h, 01 December Reply

      I know Emily, so cute!

  • Gilda Baxter
    Posted at 22:12h, 02 December Reply

    We do have teacher’s day in Brazil and my sister loves it, since she is an English teacher there. How cute are these kids and the poem is so lovely. I am sure you both felt very special and appreciated.

    • Amy
      Posted at 12:23h, 05 December Reply

      Interesting to hear about Teachers’ Day in Brazil Gilda; I really think the UK needs to get in one the action too!

  • Maddie
    Posted at 21:41h, 22 December Reply

    This made my heart melt a little bit, what a lovely idea! I love the handmade card 🙂

    • Amy
      Posted at 12:16h, 23 December Reply

      I love that card too Maddie, we still have it pinned to our fridge 🙂

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