Move To Vietnam

[totlanh]

As some of you may know my wife is from Vietnam and we have a 4 year old daughter both of whom live here with me in Northern Ireland.We have just returned home from a 5 week trip to Vietnam and i must confess to being totally depressed about being back.I am seriously considering uprooting and bringing my family to live full time in Vietnam.I can see many advantages of doing this but of course i can also see many hazzards as well and most of the most serious concerns relate to my daughter.These primarily revolve around her education and the fact that im not particuarly happy about the satandard of the educational system in Vietnam(mind you with my spelling i would,nt exactly be a glowing example for schools here either )also and this is my BIG worry is the fact that my daughter does not speak any Vietnamee and showed little( if any)inclination to learn any whilst being away this year.My first question therefore is thus:Does anyone have any experience of bringing a child to Thailand or any other foreign country to live where that child did not speak nor understand the local language??If so did that said child eventually learn the lingo??Did the fact that she did,nt initially speak the local language cause any emotional upheval at all?/Basically without churning out to many questions could anyone with experience of this tell me how their child adapted.

I know a lot of you reading this will think that this is a knee jerk reaction on my part.By this i mean it may look like that ive got a case of the blues following a holiday and where there may be a slight element of that i am happy to concede however it is something always not to far from my thoughts.I honestly believe Vietnam would allow us a better quality of life.My wife has never been particuarly happy here in the UK and nor am i truth been told and perhaps now is the time to make the break.My plan is to sell our house where i expect to clear 100k+profit and teach English whilst my wife could easily find a job in the hospitality area.In Vietnam you can get up to 9.2%interest if you deposit money in the bank for over 3 years so that would also prove to be a healthy return and thus i forsee no problems regarding financing our life.My concern is therefore again my daughter and really she is the only one who counts in this and i want to ensure i do the right thing by her.I do believe Vietnam would be a better place for her to grow up in but i worry about the fact she does not speak Vietnamee and whether or not i can provide a good education for her.I am aware that there is an International school in nearby Danang but how good that is i dont know.Anyway,ive outlined the gist of my concerns and any views or advise on any of the above would be greatly appreciated.

Edited August 13, 2007 by totlanh

[B-BOY]

It really all depend on which part of Vietnam you are planning to relocate.

I am an Expat based in HCMC and can say that this is only part of Vietnam with some sort of international facilities etc...,however increasing pollution, especially noise, is making life very hard. If Bangkok wouldnt be a 1hours flight, i guess i would have never accepted this posting.

Again, it really depends on location, center might be a more relaxed lifestyle. Bear in mind that salaries in hospitality industry are still very low in vietnam, depending on experience of course....

[totlanh]

It really all depend on which part of Vietnam you are planning to relocate.

I am an Expat based in HCMC and can say that this is only part of Vietnam with some sort of international facilities etc...,however increasing pollution, especially noise, is making life very hard. If Bangkok wouldnt be a 1hours flight, i guess i would have never accepted this posting.

Again, it really depends on location, center might be a more relaxed lifestyle. Bear in mind that salaries in hospitality industry are still very low in vietnam, depending on experience of course....

My wife comes from Hoi An,which is about 35km from Danang.What do you do in Saigon?

[true blue]

private tutoring could be the answer i guess kids are very adapt at learning at a young aga wish you all the best in what ever you decied

[lazeeboy]

It really all depend on which part of Vietnam you are planning to relocate.

I am an Expat based in HCMC and can say that this is only part of Vietnam with some sort of international facilities etc...,however increasing pollution, especially noise, is making life very hard. If Bangkok wouldnt be a 1hours flight, i guess i would have never accepted this posting.

Again, it really depends on location, center might be a more relaxed lifestyle. Bear in mind that salaries in hospitality industry are still very low in vietnam, depending on experience of course....

My wife comes from Hoi An,which is about 35km from Danang.What do you do in Saigon?

my daughter (adopted) spoke only thai when i sent her to an english school ,knew little english ,hello ,goodbye about the most english she knew ,3 months in an only english speaking school and was almost fluant ,at the time she was 4 years old ,kids pick up another langage very easily ,now ten she speaks english or thai with confidence

[OneeyedJohn]

Took my boy to Holland when he was 4 and put him in a regular Dutch school. He was fully integrated with his schoolmates and speaking their language within 6 months.

And there were no hereditary language skills there either

[SiamSquare123]

i wouldnt put your money in a vietnamese bank. the interest rate might be higher, but the currency is more likely to flucuate, its more safe to keep it somewhere else.

[B-BOY]

Vietnam has HSBC, ANZ, Citibank etc in meantime lots of international banking, so no problem putting money somewhere safe and reasonable.

I know Hoi An and Danang quiet well and potential in hospitality sector is huge, especially in hotel and restaurant business.

Learning language for your kid will be easy and she will pick up words very easy.

Only problem in Center are yearly Typhoons during Sept to November and a lack of good quality hospitals etc. Still just a few expats living there, mostly working in tourism in Hoi An.....

Edited August 14, 2007 by B-BOY

[totlanh]

Hi All,

Thanks for your replys which have been helpful(keep them coming).B Boy,i know all about Hoi An as ive been going there for 7 years now.I know quite a few of the expats there and as rightly state the majority work in hospitality.I know a few who own/run restarant/bar but i think Hoian is submerged now in that area and hence i would,nt contempalate putting money into that.Anyone any ideas of work/running a business in the general central Vietnam region?I would teach but truth be told i have no experience.Cheers!

[Kirsty]

I brought 2 kids here from the UK (now 5 and 11), no Thai at all, they've been in a bi-lingual school, inside 18 months the younger one is completely fluent and the older speaks very well and can also read and write, they now use Thai as their preferred language a lot of the time

[B-BOY]

totlanh,

Danang is way to go. Huge potential. I would recommend a restaurant business, serving vietnamese and western dishes, nice bar and chill out area. Aiming at Western and Asian tourists/Expats plus locals. Do some market search, there is Nothing at this moment in Danang City, which has kind of international attraction. Lots of nice Viet coffeeshops yes, but nothing which could be recommend by inter tour operators etc. Lots of research needs to be done put potential is huge.

[Florin]

I lived in New York between the ages of 6 and 8 and had no previous knowledge of English...while in kindergarten, I became pretty much fluent in ~6-9 months. I think she is at the perfect age for such a move, because you could start at the very first steps of the educational system. The fact that no foreign alphabet need be learned is also a big plus, I don't think she will have any problems at all with learning the language and making lots of friends.

Also, as far as I noticed (only in Saigon, though...haven't been to other cities), their educational system is not bad at all...if I were you, I wouldn't even enroll her in an international school, because the standard will surely be very low, with the emphasis put on the students learning English. Enroll her in a Vietnamese public school, where the benefits of a Socialist system can clearly be seen in the sense that students are actually encouraged to read, calculate manually, etc. Things like History and the sciences are also much better taught. From my experience, though it might seem outdated, this is a huge plus in mental development as compared to the highly superficial curriculum that most international schools use.