IES Global: Teach & Travel China Program
Work and live in China for 6 months with IES Global's Teach & China program. Find out why 500+ people have taught in China every year since 2005 with IES Global.
The program consists of Training & Orientation for the 1st month and a Teaching Internship for the last 5 months. During training, you will meet fellow participants and be given the opportunity to participate in Mandarin classes, culture classes (Chinese calligraphy and Tai Chi) and excursions, including the Great Wall, Olympic Stadium and the Summer Palace. When the training is complete, you will be TEFL certified and travel to your teaching placement. Expect friendly 24/7 support from IES Global staff every day. From airport pickup to the welcome dinner to optional travel tours, you will feel at home every day and make many friends. When this amazing 6 months is up, you will be an internationally certified TEFL teacher with teaching experience, making is easy for you to obtain a teaching job in Thailand, Japan & more.
Reviews
90%Overall
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100%Overall
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TTC was a great introduction for me to China. The staff were helpful and co-operative all the way, and always at the end of the phone if you needed anything. My placement was great too, I had fantastic accommodation and my school were really helpful and supportive.
I am still in Beijing now, 5 years later, having originally come for 6 months. TTC gave me a great stepping stone for my future here, and I got all the help and support needed while I figured out the way things work here, and after 2 semesters with TTC, went it alone and found my own job.
Best decision of my life, I think the length of time I have stayed is indicative to that!! I still have friends I made 5 years ago, and of course lots of new ones too.
Anyone deciding whether to give it a go or not definitely should. I can promise you you'll have a blast :-)
Critical Feedback:
I don't really feel qualified to comment here... As mentioned, I was part of the program 5 years ago and I know a lot has changed since then!!
100%Overall
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My day to day experiences are from Monday to Friday I teach at my school. Week nights I catch up with mates and we chat about school and stuff and go out to bars or to parks.
Weekends I play rugby on Saturday and go out Friday and Saturday night. Sunday is spent travelling around my city.
That is my typical week
Critical Feedback:
I would make it easier to extend for a second semester. There were a lot of issues with getting a new visa and it was a bit frustrating. But it did encourage me to go to Hong Kong.
100%Overall
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I wanted an amazing TEFL experience abroad, and Teach & Travel China/ IES Global delivered just that and more. Assistance from the beginning until the end allowed me to enjoy my day to day life in China without any extra hassles. After 3 semesters with TTC at my school in Ningbo, Zhejiang, I gained experience in teaching all age levels, from primary to university students. I was able to create my own lesson plans and grow as a TEFL teacher at my own pace. I'm currently still abroad in China, and with the confidence and experience I gained through my time here I plan on continuing to work and live abroad for years to come. I couldn't have asked for a better stepping stone in to life abroad and TEFL.
Critical Feedback:
Not easy to do, but inform new participants of the cultural differences they are bound to encounter.
100%Overall
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I can't imagine where I'd be if I hadn't have taken the opportunity to travel to China with TTC and IES Global.
It's completely changed my life - for the better! I've made a new life for myself in Beijing, I have great friends and a great job, all thanks to the Teach and Travel China Program.
I completed my semester in a Kindergarten not far from Beijing. It was quite an isolated town, between two major cities, and I was one of two foreigners in the area. Because of this, I was a local celebrity! My Mandarin language skills improved rapidly and I had so much fun being engulfed by the Chinese culture. I had very few issues with my placement and whenever I contacted my advisor with a problem, they were very supportive and offered great advice.
A year after leaving my teaching placement, I'm living in Beijing with my partner. I still regularly visit my placement town to meet up with old friends and visit my students. I plan to stay in China for at least a few more years, it's got so much to offer and I've made friends for life from all over the world through Teach and Travel China.
I owe everything I have right now to IES Global. They offered me a way out of a potentially dead-end situation in the UK. The program has given the confidence and personal skills to be able to tackle anything life throws at me.
Critical Feedback:
More organised social activities during the internship.
100%Overall
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I am glad I decided to join the TTC program here in China. The support has been fantastic, I know TTC will assist me if my school is unable to sort out issues and they have done very quickly. I loved my 1st internship in Chengdu working at a kindergarten so much that I decided to sign up for a 2nd semester with TTC in a different place and TTC again placed me in a great school and location.
Highlights have been travelling during my time off around China (TTC even give you travel hints and tips during your semester as well as teaching assistance if required!) You make so many new friends whether it is interns in your area, or the local Chinese and teachers from your school. I will never forget what TTC has done for me in my life and the experience they gave me. A truly unforgettable and amazing experience. Thank you
Critical Feedback:
Nothing
100%Overall
Rating
Coming to China was the single greatest decision I ever made, second was choosing IES Global and the Teach and Travel program.
From the moment I applied, to the TEFL training to my placement (just on the outskirts of Beijing) I had an absolute blast. All the logistics had been carefully planned by the on-shore support and once at my school they were only a phone call away even surprising me one afternoon to take me for dinner.
The school itself were fantastic and I was given a contact to liaise with for my day to day questions, poor thing I had loads!
Life itself was just great, sure there were stresses, language being the most frustrating but it all culminated in a truly magical period that quite literally changed me, my life and my future.
I never left :-)
Critical Feedback:
Not really a criticism of the program per se but the orientation period was so good it was difficult to go from being with other participants and staff to being at your placement.
80%Overall
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The whole programme has been fantastic. The school are great, the facilities are the same, if not better than what one would expect in the UK. I have absolutely no problems with anything provided to me, by either the school, or the company.
100%Overall
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This program offers you the chance to gently settle into Chinese life whilst giving you the opportunity to build a large circle of friends and contacts. I have too many highlights to mention but I'll offer you 3. 1) Myself and two college from the program made a Halloween video for our school. We decided to make a Gangnam Style video around Chengdu (http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/-rEfYDM-HEE/). It became a local sensation and we have had the pleasure of being on the front of newspapers and on TV several times. 2) Chinese people. I don't think I would have had the courage to come to China on my own, but now that I actually have I wonder if I'll ever leave. You'll quickly make friends and never get tired of Chinese hospitality 2) Due to the friends I have made on the program, I have been able set up a football team. Luckily we are half decent and and have even won a few trophies.
Critical Feedback:
The pay is not the best but this is more than offset by benefits.
100%Overall
Rating
Through IES Global, I found a full-time teaching job with Little London English school in the capital of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot. It's a great job, working 3 to 4 days a week and the rest of the time is all my own. I've been here now for almost two years and I've had a great opportunity to learn Mandarin and practice it everyday. Doing this was the best choice I've ever made in my life.
Critical Feedback:
Run a psych eval on all applicants before sending them into China to tarnish the reputation of the Laowai.
90%Overall
Rating
I liked this program I stayed for a second semester! I lived in Inner Mongolia which friendly and helpful and my school was so nice and the teachers so fun. They took us to the desert, the grasslands and to KTV. We had materials and help from out school at every step and IES Global to call 24hours a day.
Now I am in Chengdu and the city is huge and so clean. IES global took the train down with us since it was so far from Beijing to help us get settled. This school doesn't have as many resources but they are so friendly and helpful. I have called on IES global for ideas on lessons and question about teaching in a new environment and they are always helpful. Both cities have had night life with places with live music and places for day time sight seeing. I have felt safe in both places I have lived and worked and know I am never alone with IES Global a phone call away.
Critical Feedback:
They are easy to reach, but sometimes forget to call you back. They have group Skype meetings for the teachers, often at a time when people are in the process of going home from the school. They are located in Beijing and that is pretty far away if the situation is dire, although they travel to you if it is. The in country training is not as extensive as I had hoped.
100%Overall
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At this time, I have been associated with the IES Global - Teach and Travel China Program for three semesters teaching college students in Zhongshan, located in southern China. This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life! I plan on staying and teaching at the college for as long as I can!
At the school, the teaching faculty, staff, and students are very good to me! Whatever I need and whatever I ask for, they do everything they can to make sure I have it. Since I have been here, I have been accepted and become an important part of the school along with the local Zhongshan community.
The Teach and Travel China Program staff have done everything necessary to ensure my time at the school is successful and enjoyable. Before I came to China, the staff provided the necessary assistance to ensure all requirements were completed. Since I have been in China, the staff has always provided me with the assistance and guidance needed to make my time in China and at the school go as smooth as possible. Over the past year, I have come to know the Teach and Travel China staff very well. I am most grateful for all their support and help!
I highly recommend the IES Global - Teach and Travel China Program to anyone interested in teaching and travelling in China. Especially the 4-week program in Beijing. It is a wonderful experience that will change your life and one you will always remember!
Critical Feedback:
I would like to see the initial Letter of Invitation from the Chinese government provided to all applicants sooner. This would give them more time to make their visa and travel arrangements.
Further Info
About IES Global
For the past 16 years, IES Global has been providing prospective teachers with teaching internships in China in addition to regular internship, culture & volunteer programs. IES Global Participants become culturally enriched and help strengthen the cultural ties between the US and China. IES Global participants can choose from a wide variety of teaching internships due to IES Global's numerous partnerships with a wide variety of educational organizations worldwide. Participants can also improve their resumes and career prospects.
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I came our to China with IES Global to teach about 2 and a half years ago and I haven't been home since!
I was teaching in Beijing in a wonderful school with amazing kids who were so fantastic to teach. IES Global were in contact a good amount during the internship and were available 24/7 if I needed anything.
They helped arrange social activities after the orientation period had finished and suggested loads of ways to get the most out of your placement.
All of the staff were very friendly and always keen to answer my questions.
I enjoyed the experience so much I decided to stay!
Critical Feedback:
When I was an intern there was no way to network with large groups of people on the internship (Facebook is banned!) but I have been informed they have that now...