absolutely, you’ll be good.

I could barely count to ten and knew how to say pho, and still enjoyed my entire trip and made friends, so you’ll be fine.

haha me too, i thought it was pretty funny there.

Very well.

I spoke nearly no Vietnamese and bikepacked across rural northern Vietnam for 3 months after buying my bicycle in Hanoi.

People in the city can speak some English, but even if they can’t they’re so earnestly helpful that I was able to easily buy clothes, bicycle repair items, get my bicycle repaired, buy food everyday(pho lyfe) be invited to tea and then a family feast, take shelter from a rainstorm, the stories of their generosity go on.

It’s definitely a good country to visit.

The mountains are pretty magical, and every single person was extremely helpful and gracious, either in the city or way out in the tiny mountain villages

the coolest.

i was on a bike, so i guess he felt like he had to hustle.

Vietnam, Thailand, India, Guatemala, Taiwan is a good call.

in Vietnam, someone literally ran out of their house while I was stopping to adjust my headphones in order to invite me to breakfast at his home.

he had a tiny orchard in his front yard and we shared mango, dragonfruit and pancakes.

These are the plunderers: how private equity runs and wrecks America by Gretchen Morgenstern.

ooh, sharp.

good one.

plus how to reheat pizza evenly…good point

I could have been reading Animorphs and Bigfart!

what a world.

that sounds like a plague to me.

this is where I’m at.

lemmy communities are plagues.

haha, I really liked that part of the description!

I think technically that’s the same thing.

that’s got to happen sooner or later. plague instances spreading like the plague.

that’s the phrase, certainly. you’ve nailed it.

I think this is the genesis.

who doesn’t like a good plague these days?

9 penises is his personal best?

“This is not entirely true.”

I’ll check.

“Malaysia…English teaching industry…Most countries…standards…VIetnam requires…employ illegally…risk…very high”

yea, solid disclaimer, most of that looks less than entirely true. Honestly, a lot of that is barely half true.

real quick: ESL is still booming in April 2025 with thousands of currently available ESL positions, pay rates are higher than ever, outpacing inflation significantly, the requirements are about the same as they were 15 years ago; native english fluency, college degree or TEFL certificate sometimes required based on the position and location for 25 hours of teaching a week, not including the breaktimes each class.

Most countries certainly do not have enough of an english speaking population to have affected the ESL market, hence the thousands of currently available ESL postings and dozens of platforms for teaching online.

Vietnam does not require “TESL diplomas” to teach English.

yes, because it is fun, and we don’t have to make it different just to be different.