I realllllllllly want to move from the USA to Vietnam, namely Hue/Da nang but I'd settle for a big city or even a smaller one. My questions are these..

1. What do I do for employment/income. I know teaching english is the popular answer but without the TEFL cert. it will be hard to find a job, let alone one that pays well enough to enjoy life.

2. Living? Apartments, houses.. whats the situation and most likely type of housing I would be able to find.

3. Language barrier. I don't speak a bit of Vietnamese.. obviously after so much time there I would pick up the language, but what to do until then?

4. Finally... I am a white boy american. How will I be treated by locals and by others there? I have visited once before and was treated very kindly but that was because I was a tourist and they wanted my money!

Thanks
I see you are a prick regardless of where you live. Thanks for the serious answer! I just loved the culture and have spent much time in other parts of asia but found Vietnam to be my favorite location in Asia. I have more skills in my pinky then you probably do in your body, I just don't speak the language is all. That doesn't seem to stop the 10952308 mexicans which move into my country illegaly everyday. Go jump off a cliff thanks.

I'm 23, she's 24 or 25 or 26 I think (they calculate their age differently for some reason)
I've been in Vietnam for two weeks and will be here for another 11 months to be an English teacher.
I know the basics of the culture already, body language, etiquette, etc.
Wasn't looking for a girl to date, I'm not one of those Americans who goes to other countries to get girls, but she was very persistent at asking me out after she was my student in my teacher training course.
She drives a motorbike, I don't, so she's going to pick me up, which is already a little weird, and we planned for dinner.
Could be a bit of a language barrier, she's decent at English but just doesn't know a lot of words, and I only know the basics of speaking Vietnamese.
I'd prefer a relationship to an American-style hook-up, but I have no idea what she's looking for, and so far I know very little about her, so just wanted to hear from some other people who maybe have been in a similar situation, what is a typical first date like? Do I kiss her at the end? If she's forward enough to ask me out, might she be expecting more? Or, do I meet her parents?

The whole thing is kinda confusing, but she is pretty cute so I'm willing to give it a shot. =)

Thanks for the advice!

Okay, my husband and I are wanting to adopt from Vietnam because he is native to there, and it would help with the language barrier between us and any prospective child, and because he wants to do his part in "saving the futuer generations."

Is there anyway we could adopt from there, since my husband is from there. He is not yet a US citizen (one more year to go)...
Yes, we have researched. We want an older child (and have experience in emotional/behavioral issues) around 3-6 years old.

I'm thinking about Saigon, and then make my way to the coast or an island. I might only have 10-12 days, is it worth it? I know French, will it be useful at all? I guess I am a little worried about the language barrier.
Any advice for a solo female traveler will be appreciated. I've heard that Vietnam can be failry safe for solo females.

Buddhism was all over the nation. Did any of the American troops discover Buddhism or was the language barrier to great?

I live in the dormitory at my university and I have a foreign exchange student that lives with me from Vietnam. I do not know if she is a foreign exchange student for sure, but she is from Vietnam. There really haven't been any problems beside the language barrier because she doesn't speak much English. Even though Islam isn't a dominant religion in her country, I didn't see any problems with me being a Muslim. What are some traditions and cultural norms of Vietnam? What are the norms for the women?

I work with a lot of Vietnamese people who don't have a lot of English-speaking ability. I'd like to break the language barrier by learning how to speak a little bit of their language. Anyone know a good site or a decent program that can be recommended based on personal experience?

My native language is English.

I know English is fairly extensively spoken among young Vietnamese in Saigon/HCMC but how about Hanoi??

Specifically, will it be easy to pick up a girl in Hanoi with only limited knowledge of Vietnamese (I am Vietnamese American but my Vietnamese is almost nonexistent). Do a lot of young women in Hanoi speak English (at least some)?

I'm interested in Hanoi specifically because I find the city more interesting than Saigon. Hanoi is more intellectual and historic (which is exactly my style).
@suzielu: quit being so damn sensitive. sorry you are intolerant of other people's opinions.

It is my opinion that Hanoi IS more intellectual than Saigon. If you don't like that opinion than too damn bad, get over it.

And yes, people generalize all the time about cities.....

For example, people say San Francisco is a very liberal city which is quite true. People say Washington DC is a political city..... etc.

And in my opinion, Hanoi is a much more intellectual and historic city than Saigon. Saigon is better for business and finance.

By the way, suzielu, work on your English, its terrible.
btw, i want to marry a girl from Hanoi...... not having sex with a bunch of sexy Vietnamese hot chicks.

also, i know Vietnamese girls pretty well. i have a lot of experience with Vietnamese-American girls so generally speaking i know what they are about.

i was just concerned about the language barrier with Vietnamese girls.

since i'm Vietnamese-American there is not much if any cultural barrier but there is a bit of a language barrier (i understand quite a bit of Vietnamese but i don't speak much myself).