My Fairy Tale with a Few Missing Pages: Why Silk Way's Promises Fell Short

Silk Way promised me a fairy tale, but they left out some important details.

I want to share my experience working with this agency and warn other teachers about the same mistake. You won't find many bad reviews about this company online, and that's because Silk Way quickly deletes them and blocks the person who wrote them. You can only hear about the bad experiences from teachers who've worked with them.

I really wanted to teach English in another country. I chose Vietnam because they promised higher pay than Thailand, and living costs are lower compared to Thailand. I was sold on the idea of earning 1,500$ a month, but it turned out that was just a marketing trick.

I contacted Silk Way. The price was the main draw – it was 21,000 rubles, whereas other agencies were asking for 40,000 to 100,000 rubles. I signed up with them, and they kept sending me messages about how great it is to work in Vietnam, showing me the offers other teachers had received. Yeah, their marketing team is on point. When they sent me a message saying, 'Our teacher got an offer in this coastal city with a 1,500$ salary,' I thought, 'Yeah, I want that too.'

It took a few more months to get my Tefl certificate, save up some money, and improve my English. I was excited to start teaching and making a living abroad.

I signed a contract with them and paid half of the fee upfront. The other half is paid after you secure a job with a client. I thought I was signing a contract with a school that was hiring me, but what I got was a whole lot of uncertainty.

They quickly offered me a job in Hanoi with a 1,300$ salary. I asked if I could work in a coastal city, and they said they only needed native speakers. Where do they get these promotional offers from? (As it turned out later, these jobs do exist, but they didn't want to look for them). I asked why the salary was lower than the promised 1,500$. They said it was a great offer. At that point, I should've canceled the contract, but I still wanted to go to Vietnam. I thought, 'Okay, I'll just have to find a way to the beach on the weekends.'

I went through an online interview. And soon after, I got a response saying my application was approved, and I could start making documents. The visa fee was 125$ (as it turned out later, you can get it done yourself for 25$), and document legalization cost 425$. If you need a work experience certificate, they'll charge you 5,000 rubles, and a C1 certificate costs 8,000 rubles. From that point on, they'll squeeze as much money out of you as possible. If you use their services, you'll end up overpaying by several times.

The documents were ready, and I bought a ticket. I booked a place to stay on Booking. I arrived in Vietnam, expecting them to meet me at the airport, like they showed me in the video. But nobody was there. They had ordered a taxi, and I had to call the driver to pick me up and pay for the ride myself. It took me a while to find the driver and the car. Finally, I arrived at the apartment, paid for it, and checked in.

After I arrived in Vietnam, Silk Way sent me a survival guide. It said that Vietnamese people 'might be a bit uncooperative,' and you should 'push them to follow specific steps by specific deadlines.' I felt that right away because my 'employer' was slow to respond to my messages and schedule a meeting. I had to constantly remind her about myself and call her frequently because she wouldn't respond to messages on Zalo.

But finally, she responded and scheduled a meeting.

We met, and she said I'd need to do a couple of demo lessons. Silk Way also mentioned that I'd have 1-2 demo lessons, and that for the first two months, the schedule would be formed, so I wouldn't have 100 hours, but around 70-80.

But the important thing they didn't mention is that they'd be searching for these hours in all possible schools in the city. So, I'd be driving all over Hanoi on my own dime, trying to find these demo lessons.

The picture in my head was that I'd have an employer with a few centers and kindergartens. I'd be teaching at her kindergarten in the morning, and at her center with older kids in the evening.

But that's not how it turned out:

It turns out that this Madame (I'm not allowed to mention her name) has her own kindergarten, but she doesn't need a teacher there, so she acts as an agent, sending me to other schools that pay her for my lessons. She'd send me to demo lessons at schools that need a teacher. So, when I arrived in Vietnam, they'd start looking for a job for me. Nice, right? Silk Way just passed their work on to this Madame. You thought you were signing a contract with the school and the principal, but when you get here, the principal is actually an agent who'll be sending you to all sorts of schools for demo lessons, and where you impress the employer, you'll be teaching a few lessons a week. And often, the employers will pay for the demo lessons, but Madame will never tell you that. She'll make a profit off of you.

They might find you 10 schools in different parts of the city to get those 100 hours. How you'll get to them - that's your problem. Learn to ride a bike or take taxis all over the city.

The fairy tale was shattered. For a week, Madame sent me to demo lessons at different kindergartens (in one kindergarten, I had 5 demo lessons in one day: 1 long one and 4 short ones) and to cover classes.

Another illusion was that they'd help you find a place to live. I planned to rent an apartment for a week and then find a place closer to the school. As you can guess, finding a place 'closer to the school' won't be possible, because you'll be driving all over the city. When I asked Madame for help finding a place to live, she sent me to a realtor who first asked where I'd like to look for a place. A question that stumped me, because I had no idea where I'd be working.

When I complained to Silk Way about being connected with an agent instead of the employer, and that they didn't do their job, Silk Way replied that they did their job, and that I needed to 'work on the quality of my lessons' so they could find me a job faster. How, exactly, I'm supposed to do that - they didn't say, because after the demo lessons, you won't get any feedback.

You're the one who's to blame for not being able to find a job.

A week later, I wrote to Madame that I didn't need her to find me a job anymore. I'm going back home to Russia. Sitting here without a job, waiting for her to find one, wasting money on housing, food, and transportation to these schools - that's what they're offering.

That's my experience. I hope others who want to teach in Asia won't repeat my mistakes.

My mistakes were the following:

I didn't even bother to check which school I'd be teaching at. I didn't ask about the address or whether it was even real.I pretty much ignored the negative reviews. I saw a few that were pretty concerning, like 'they've been unable to find me a job for months' or 'if there are any issues with the employer, Silk Way does nothing.' The overall rating was 2.5, which should have been a red flag, but I was looking at it through rose-tinted glasses. I was also worried that it might be some kind of scam, and I'd be sent to the authorities or something, so I was on the lookout for those kinds of reviews. Luckily, I didn't find any, and I felt better. But I should have been more careful.I trusted Silk Way to find me a job, so I only brought a little bit of money with me.

I'd advise the staff at Silk Way to be more honest with people. When you sign a contract, you think you're signing with a school that's hiring you. You're expecting to start working and getting paid. And you're counting on having enough money to last you for a month, at least. But what actually happens is that they start looking for work for you after you've already arrived. And who knows how long that's going to take? When they say 'you'll have fewer lessons for the first two months while they're setting up your schedule,' you think they're just adjusting the schedule to fit you in. But what they're really doing is that they don't have a schedule, and they're just trying to cram as many hours as possible into your contract. Five lessons on one side of town, five lessons on the other side... it's a nightmare. Just be honest, please, so people don't end up as disappointed as I was.