“I Had Nothing to Lose”: Teaching in Vietnam with Calvin Lewis
| by Alex Skov
Calvin Lewis didn’t dream of teaching English, or teaching in Vietnam, or teaching at all, actually. Lewis originally thought he might work as a journalist before he discovered his passion for education, although his collegiate surroundings may have hinted that his future would take him overseas.
“At my university in the United States, I did political science [and] a lot of economics, and within that time I was also involved in things like Model UN, some international clubs,” Lewis said. “I lived in an older dormitory, which had a lot of international students, so in a way that kind of gently guided me in that direction.”
Like many university students, Lewis entered his senior year without a solid idea of what career path he wanted to pursue. Then, an unexpected opportunity presented itself.
“I went to a job fair and I looked at a couple of things. I was like, ‘OK, maybe I’ll look at doing Department of State or something in government or maybe a non-profit.’ I wasn’t really sure,” Lewis remembered, “and I came across teaching in teaching English overseas and I looked at a few of [the programs] and it seemed pretty low-stakes at the time.”
Lewis came across a program called Teach and Learn in Korea, or TaLK for short. Now defunct, TaLK was run by the South Korean government and provided part-time work opportunities in after-school programs in more rural areas of the country so that students could interact and engage with native English speakers.
“At the time, you didn’t have to have any major qualifications. You just needed to have a college degree, and they offered six-month contracts,” Lewis said. “So, I decided after thinking about it and talking to my family, I had nothing to lose.”
A New Teaching Career in a New Country
After signing up with TaLK, Lewis was placed on Jeju, an island off the Korean peninsula. He liked the initial experience well enough to sign a six-month extension, and then another, and then another.
“Before I knew it, I had done two years and then…and that was my first time really being overseas as an adult,” Lewis recalled. “About three months after I graduated university, I got rid of everything. I did everything I needed to do, and I moved over there.”
By then, Lewis was comfortable living and working in South Korea and was ready to take the next step in his fledgling teaching career, moving to a program he described as being “like a bigger version of TaLK” that provided him with the opportunity to work in public schools and receive paid time off.
“I was really enjoying Korea and the place I lived, Jeju specifically,” Lewis said. “I really enjoyed the people. The place was pretty good, but because you’re on an island, you only really have one way of getting off, which is by flying, so you’re kind of sealed off from the rest of the [country].”
Lewis noted that the geographic setup is manageable, but could be challenging to those who wanted to travel, as those who work Monday through Friday would really only be able to leave the island on weekends due to logistics, whereas people living and working in larger cities like Seoul are able to use the train system to more conveniently get around not only the city, but the country at large.
Ready to branch out from Jeju after two more years gaining work experience in schools, Lewis decided to take a working holiday in Australia and New Zealand, seeing the sights and working solely to cover his expenses.
“At the end of my time in New Zealand…I lived out of a car for about 2 1/2 months and I slept in a car. I slept in campsites. I was basically a 30-year-old homeless man living down by the river. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I met someone I had known in New Zealand [who] was in Hanoi and they were teaching, and they mentioned, ‘Hey, you’ve done this before — why don’t you come here if you’re not sure what you’re going to do? If you don’t like it, [you can] obviously go home,’” Lewis remembered, “so I decided that’s what I was going to do. Toward the end of the line time in New Zealand, I sold the car, I sold everything I needed to, [and] I used that money to fund my start in Vietnam.”
Making Vietnam Home
Some people visit Vietnam because it is close to other countries in Southeast Asia — like Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, and Cambodia — making it easy to explore all the countries during a relatively short period of time in a single trip.
“I didn’t do that. I came here because I needed to work,” Lewis said. “I had maybe $3,000 to my name, which is not a lot [so] my goal for the first little bit was to find a reliable source of income. Luckily, I had the previous 4 years of teaching under my belt, which mostly in ESL (English as a Second Language).”
With experience teaching age groups that ranged from elementary to high school, Lewis found work at VUS, one of Vietnam’s largest language centers. The work had a difference cadence that what Lewis had been used to in South Korea, as Lewis worked part-time and picked up additional part-time tasks at a local university until getting the opportunity to go full-time at VUS.
Over 5 1/2 years leading in ESL instruction in Vietnam, Lewis built a solid foundation as the language center environment provided valuable experience teaching various age groups and proficiency levels, from elementary students to adults. However, after nearly a decade of teaching, Lewis began feeling his career trajectory level out.
“I was getting to a point where you kind of hit a wall,” he reflected.
Despite working his way up the ladder at his VUS campus, Lewis recognized that without formal teaching credentials, his professional growth would remain limited. This realization sparked his interest in earning full teacher certification.
Investing in Professional Growth and a U.S. Teaching License
Lewis’ transition to Vietnam Australia International School in created the perfect opportunity to pursue a new credential because, at the time, the school offered a pathway for experienced but uncertified teachers to join their staff while completing their certifications.
After researching several certification options, Lewis enrolled in Moreland University’s TEACH-NOW Teacher Preparation Certificate Program, beginning his studies in November 2024. The decision required careful consideration of his financial situation and existing time commitments, as he maintained both his new full-time position and part-time evening, putting him on the clock from 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and again from 6-9 p.m. most days.
“That was a whole new thing, going back to being a student, being responsible for being on time with my assignments, and then still working…and trying to have a little bit of a life,” Lewis said. “It was a lot to do.”
But Lewis managed his time effectively and made it work, thanks in part to the program’s flexible, 100% online design that allowed him to complete coursework at his own pace while attending one live Zoom class per week while receiving comprehensive training in pedagogy, classroom management, differentiated instruction, and educational theory.
Lewis noted that the support he got from his school community — particularly his manager who had completed the same program — helped drive him, as did the peers from around the world in his learning cohort, who shared similar experiences they were encountering and offered encouragement during difficult moments.
The Impact of Teacher Certification
Calvin completed TEACH-NOW and earned his U.S. teaching license in August 2024, about one year after beginning his position at Vietnam Australia International School.
“I would say the experience taught me some new things. It helped open up some doors,” Lewis said. “I can’t speak for people in the U.S. because I’ve never taught in the U.S., but people who maybe fell into teaching overseas, something like [TEACH-NOW] would be ideal because there’s PGCE [postgraduate certificate in education] that’s more of a UK thing…but for U.S. people, the neat thing is you can take that [certification] and move on to the next level if you want to move up to administration [internationally].”
Today, Lewis serves as a secondary English teacher, but his own learning is far from finished. Between working with students, he is considering pursuing a master’s degree, and has completed two professional development courses through Moreland as he looks to further expand his career options, with his U.S. teaching license being the foundation of it all.
“[PDs are] nice, especially when you get into more of these like international bilingual schools, because they want to see you improve; they want to encourage you to improve and try new things and become a better teacher,” Lewis said. “We have the qualifications, but a lot of them want to see you continue to evolve. So, it was nice [to do] the Moreland PDs.”
Resilience and dedication are two invaluable traits in a teacher, especially one tasked with continuous growth. Lewis has both.
Whether you’re new to teaching or an experienced educator, Moreland is ready to support your professional goals. Complete your free application to our 100% online 9-month TEACH-NOW Teacher Certificate Preparation Program or one of our 12-month master’s degree programs today. It takes less than 15 minutes to take this important step in your teaching journey.
