Greenheart Reviews

Teaching English in an Italian household was an amazing experience! I learned so much, not only about another language, culture, and country, but about my own. I accomplished so much, learned so much, and above all, taught. I found a lot more of myself on this journey and I hope to find more on many other journeys. Everyone from Greenheart Travel were so supportive and right there when I needed them! Allison Yates helped me tremedously before I left. Without her, I'd be a lot more lost than I initially was when I first arrived. It was such a relief to be able to speak with her and get help along the way! My in-country director, Mariangela DeLuca, was also such a big help and always there when I needed her. I am so thankful for them and this opportunity! I will be back and I highly recommend to anyone else wanting to travel and learn!

I can't say enough positive things about my experience in the Greenheart Travel Teach in a Homestay program. I had been to Italy (to Siena) twice before as the assistant director of a study abroad program. I loved Italy, but really wanted to learn Italian, which I hadn't done staying by myself in an apartment. Looking for an inexpensive way to travel to Italy and be immersed in Italian, I stumbled upon this program, applied and was placed with a family in Cesena, Italy for one month.

My family welcomed me with open arms and quickly made me a part of their family, including me in outings with their friends and taking me to school functions of their three children. An unexpected but wonderful experience was the opportunity to be a guest teacher in the Italian elementary school where my host mom was a teacher. She got permission for me to collaborate with the English teachers at the school to get into every single English classroom in the school. The children were very excited to get to ask questions of an American, and I learned many things about the Italian school system that I didn't know before.
My teaching experiences involved helping the family's two pre-teen boys with their English homework and conversation, and preparing the oldest boy for his upcoming year abroad in an American school. I also taught the parents some English while simultaneously learning a lot of Italian! I also helped the next door neighbor with both her English and her Spanish (I am a Spanish professor).
I learned so much Italian that I was able to return to the US, test and be certified at an advanced low level of oral proficiency. There is NO WAY I could have done this studying Italian in the US, or even studying in Italy but not living with a family. The complete immersion was the key to my success. It wasn't easy by any means, and we had some good laughs at my blunders, but I can now speak Italian, and have made some good friends in the process. I miss my Italian family a great deal!

Allison Yates, the coordinator at Greenheart Travel, made everything very easy and stress-free. The communication was frequent and I knew if I had any problems while abroad I could get them quickly resolved. I am seriously considering applying to teach in a homestay again next summer, and have told many of my students and fellow teachers about this wonderful program!

If you are ready to make life-long friends with some of happiest people in the world, you will adore a HomeStay in Argentina? Even though I have traveled extensively, I was a little apprehensive about living in South America. But my host family integrated me into their lives very quickly. We shared meals with their friends and family most nights, drank matte (traditional herbal drink) with everyone, and traveled together to many places in Argentina. I fell in love with this country and its people very quickly.

Life is simpler and slower, so I was able to enjoy every day with my family with low stress. I enjoyed riding a bicycle to the cafe for a pastry, to the market for vegetables, or to fetch water for the household. The neighbors and school children waved at me almost immediately making me feel very welcome.

It is important to realize that you are an ambassador for the Greenheart program and your country while there. EVERYONE wants to know if an American is just like what they have seen on TV. So are being observed by many. One day, I was invited to speak to high schoolers about my background and experiences in Argentina. Besides all of us laughing about how teenagers loved their cell phones, they were sincerely excited to see that I was "normal" and "just like them" in many ways. A few said they would love to visit the US now that they know a little bit more. How wonderful, and I hope I can host them if they decide to come!

I took a month at the end of my family HomeStay to travel throughout the country. Everywhere I went, I felt safe (this was coupled with making good decisions), welcomed, and amazed at the breadth of beautiful landscapes. A couple of 'tips' to make the travel easier is to bring extra toilet paper with you, toilet paper is never flushed in the toilet, and always drink bottled water!

So, just GO! The HomeStay was a great way introduction to this fantastic country.

My three months in Italy was one I will always remember. The thing that made the most impact on me in my time in Italy was the hospitality of the Italians. The families that I stayed with, the teachers in the school I taught in and especially my students all welcomed me as part of their own. This made transitioning into my daily Italian life easy and I was reassured that I was in good hands.

The teaching experience is something that I also enjoyed. Whether you come with years of experience or none at all, the support and content you are given is there to make your lessons fun and enjoyable.

I highly recommend this program to anyone that is even having the slightest urge or curiosity about taking part. Because after the three months, you will definitely come out feeling accomplished, content and feeling like you want to go back.

I can honestly say that my spring semester in high school abroad in Finland was the best experience of my life! During my time (2018), Greenheart Travel teams up with a local exchange organization called SUN Experiences. Having the smaller local coordinator making sure everything goes well with the family, school, and just life helps make the trip both safe and a blast. Many of my best memories and best friends have come from this exchange, so I would fully recommend doing it to anyone interested in Finland or Nordic culture!

My time teaching in Thailand has been nothing short of amazing, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Greenheart Travel. I signed up for the one-month Chiang Mai TESOL course in the end of 2016, and I am still teaching in Thailand till this day!

I can’t get enough - every day holds a new adventure and a new experience.
The friendships I have made through Greenheart Travel and with fellow English teachers in town are truly unbreakable bonds.

I would have never been as successful in my teaching career in Thailand if it were not for Greenheart Travel.
They supplied me with packets and packets of information - from what clothes to pack, Thai culture and customs, and what to expect in the classroom. Sara T was extremely helpful, and would respond to questions so quickly. The entire process was so smooth.

It can be pretty daunting to pack up your life in a suitcase and buy a one-way ticket to a country on the other side of the world. But with Greenheart Travel, they ease every worry you may have. I highly recommend signing up for this life changing experience - don’t hesitate! Travel for a change! 💚

I loved my 3 months in France. My host family were great, so friendly and generous, and they fully included me in their lives for the time I was with them. I was surprised how well matched we were. My French improved a lot.
The support from Greenheart Travel was really good. Everything went smoothly during the application procedure, and the pre-departure info was thorough. All my emails were answered quickly and fully.

When I started thinking about teaching in Thailand, I was very overwhelmed by all the options I found online. You could go a totally DIY route (doing your TESOL online and finding your own placement) or go with a program that would hold your hand throughout the whole process. I was very uncertain about spending so much money to have someone help me with a process that I could have done myself, but ultimately the fact that I'd never traveled alone before (much less to somewhere as different as Asia) and the real teaching experience during the course IN the country I'd be teaching in were the two things that really swayed me.
The orientation week was so exciting and so memorable - although it did feel like a summer camp at times. But being able to meet and bond with other people going through the exact same situation as me during that first month absolutely made my time after the course a lot easier. In addition, once you graduate the course, you're connected on facebook with an entire network of other people in Thailand who are teaching and went through the program as well. So we got a bunch of teaching resources and ideas in the course, but then that network of people is a gift that keeps on giving! The program also gives you essentially lifetime in-country support, so if you ever have any issues post-program, the staff are still there for you and will help you as much as they can.
One thing I wasn't quite expecting, but really appreciated, was how much work we had to do for the TESOL course. We had homework to do almost every night during the course! I've heard of some programs that are basically just a party and you don't really learn much in your course, but this one wasn't like that at all. We learned a TON and it really prepared me to be in the classroom. Even though it was a lot of work we still a lots of fun in and out of the classrooms!

After I graduated from college I knew I wanted to travel. However I took a full time position after graduating with my masters. I became extremely fatigued with my job and decided it was time to take the risk and move abroad! I found greenheart online and contacted them right away! I couldn’t be happier that I did. I went to Thailand on my own. I didn’t know a single person. I now have many life time friends that I met throughout my time teaching in Thailand. I lived in northern Thailand in a tiny town called Mae Chan, chiang rai. Not only did I ride a bike as transportation but I was able to take local transport like buses frequently. Living in such a small town was extremely over whelming at first but ended up being the biggest blessing. I was able to really get to know the local people who lived there and really learn all about Thai culture and my favorite part Thai food!! I taught kindergarten which was yet another over whelming challenge. Although it was definitely challenging I grew to love those little kids and would not have chosen anything else. This trip gave me the courage to do so many things I never would have before. Just a few are trying new foods, traveling alone ( and we all know how scary that is as a woman), meeting new people, and navigating a foreign country and language. If I could give a single tip to anyone considering doing something like I did I would say go for it!! There is not a single second that I regret making the decision to go with greenheart and travel over seas to teach in Thailand. It was a life changing experience and will really show you how resilient you are as a person. My favorite memory while in Thailand is living in Hua Hin with my 8 roommates. We became so close and still talk to this day. We are actually planning trips to travel and visit each other as we speak! We were able to travel all over Thailand to visit each other’s prescriptive cities and even meet up on one of the islands in Thailand! I can’t say enough good things about this experience for me! So thanks greenheart for not just connecting me with a program abroad but giving me life long friendships, memories, and experiences that I will absolutely never forget!

Love,
Katie

Going through programs can be quite the journey if you pick the right one. Greenheart was worth the money. They fill you in on Visas, budgets, schedules, expectations, etc. Greenhart offered so much more than the other partnering companies after talking to other friends. From the culture book, tshirts and assistance in the application process, I was beyond happy to have selected this program. If you have any question the reply is within hours and Sarah is one of the most helpful and friendly people on Staff.

Thanks Greenheart!

Moniquee Brown