Program Reviews

On the six-month fellowship, we had a four-week orientation before we started school. We did a lot of traveling in the first few weeks then TESOL training in a lovely hotel and taught for the first time in English camps. The hotel where we completed our TESOL training had the most comfortable beds, a hotel buffet, a pool and a gym! Gotoco couldn't have picked a better place for us to stay.

The cultural activities before teacher training were very fun and varied. We were able to visit lots of different places in Thailand which we may have not experienced if it weren't for the program. My most enjoyable experiences were our trip to Sukhothai, a historical sight in northern Thailand. We rode bikes around the temple grounds, ate at a nice restaurant and stayed in a beautiful hotel where everyone very much enjoyed the pool. We also went to rescue paws which is an animal shelter for disabled dogs. We got to go with the volunteers to feed local packs of strays and walked some of the dogs from the shelter along the beach. It was a great day. Songkran was definitely a highlight, we all had lots of fun over those few days! We also had a karaoke party bus for a few of our journeys which was also highlight. The English camps with Sunee (a friend of Gotoco's who lives in Thailand) was a highlight- teaching for the first time was nerve wrecking but she made the whole experience fun and lighthearted. Lastly, the elephant hotel we stayed at was amazing! We got to feed some wild elephants who live in the grounds surrounding the hotel.

For me, the staff (specifically Hayley, Matty, and El) made the experience. They always made sure we were having a good time but were also available if we needed any help with anything or needed a chat. Whilst teaching, my students were the highlight.

You experience so much during the six-month program. You visit many different places and do lots of different activities. You spent a lot of time with the people on your cohort and get to make lots of friends. Most importantly, you gain lots of valuable experience and get a qualification and it is all funded for you! The company is very inclusive and wants to make sure everyone has the same opportunities no matter their background and that everyone has a positive experience. When I was applying, I wondered if Gotoco was a scam or what was the catch as I couldn't believe all of this is funded for you and you get to experience so much for free! Rest assured after emailing, I was reassured it is not a scam and there is no catch! Just commitment and some hard work is required to complete the TESOL certification and get all the admin requirements completed before starting the course.

My experience on this program has been positive and impactful. This program has helped me grow as an individual and I have had many amazing experiences and will leave with lasting memories and friendships. I feel I have gained lots of valuable experience during my time on the program and have developed as a person both personally and professionally. It is an amazing opportunity to gain some valuable life experience. I would recommend it to everyone.

This whole experience was 10/10
I learnt so much and met so many new people. exploring Thailand on weekends and holidays was an amazing experience. The programme was run extremely well especially with so many people.
It has really made me a much more confident person and I believe in myself so much more now. I communicate much more efficiently and now have a further understanding about the future career I'd like to pursue.
Making new friends and travelling around Thailand with them on weekends and holidays. Also experiencing true Thai culture in a small town with amazing food and the most wholesome people.
The small trips gotoco took us on in Hua Hin really showed us more about Thai culture. Also the trips I went on with friends allowed me to explore lots

I would recommend gotoco as it has helped me to experience a whole new culture and world I never would've had a chance to experience otherwise. I never would have even considered running off to a foreign country for 6 months, but Gotoco has made that possible and it's been so fun!

The highlight of my experience was the summer camp. This was a fun way to interact and meet new people and other gotocoers. We were also able to enjoy cultural excursions which were so fun! I also really enjoyed a solo travel trip to Hua Hin which I really really enjoyed.

I think this opportunity to be immersed into a new culture and be able to teach local students English, who may never have been taught any English before and be able to share your knowledge and skills with them is a truly invaluable experience. Being able to explore a new country alongside this is a once in a lifetime experience and has enriched my cultural understanding.

I think the programme gave me the confidence to navigate a new environment in a new country. I now feel so much more comfortable travelling by myself and have realised this is something that I want to do more of on the future. I would not have gained this insight into myself without the programme.

An amazing experience to gain an insight to living independently abroad and navigating yourself through a foreign country, whether that may be within a rural town or in a never sleeping city. The highlights were helping the students excel in their education, meeting locals and embracing the new culture. The memories created and the places visited will be of those I will never forget. The greatest professional benefit may have been the fact I was working in a rural town, within a country I had never visited before and confucted myself in an amazing way to be able to teach a subject I have never taught.

Over the summer, I spent 4 weeks in Austria teaching English at an English summer camp. We worked 5 days a week from 9-5. It was an incredibly enriching experience from teaching the children English, playing games with them, immersing ourselves in local culture, and getting to explore Austria. It was demanding work-wise but the friends you make help make the experience more enjoyable. You do get thrown into the deep end with some limited training before running the camp with your team of volunteer tutors and volunteer director.

If you are looking to gain experience in schools or teaching English, it is a great experience and you have the added advantage of getting to have a TESOL qualification too. It also allows you to visit a new country and experience local culture through living with host families.

This summer I spent 6 weeks in Bali, Indonesia with Gotoco as an English Teacher. My overall experience on the programme was great because I got to meet so many amazing people from all over the world and got to experience the Balinese culture first hand. Amongst meeting great friends, exploring Bali and the nearby islands, I would say that some of my most memorable moments of the trip were meeting my students and building a beautiful bond with them. I would recommend this programme to others because of how smooth the application process was and also how many opportunities it gives to you.

I was in Shanghai teaching English for about six weeks. The school and accommodation were very central to the city. I worked four full days during the week, two half days and had one day off. There was also one long weekend off to allow participants some time to do some travelling on their own. So, it was quite demanding work-wise and we were in at the deep end, teaching in front of a classroom from the very start. The daily experience at the school was amazing. The school was nice, the teachers were extremely friendly and helpful, the students enthusiastic and fun. After my time teaching, I had about a week and a half before my flight so I got the chance to visit Beijing and Hong Kong for a few days each, which was amazing - independent travel after your programme ends is an absolute must, especially if you're as far away as China, Thailand, Colombia, etc.

The programme also comes with an online TEFL teacher training course, which has been very helpful and informative so far - might've been more helpful to start this earlier so I could try out some of the techniques etc in the classroom.

Gotoco's staff are also very friendly and helpful - when some of the participants were struggling towards the start, a staff member joined us in Shanghai and helped us settle in. Generally, the sense I get is that the staff are extremely competent and friendly but that the organisation is under-staffed. I understand this is a probably a consequence of their non-profit model, which is great because the trip is free for us, but what this means for participants is that independence and resilience are necessary even before you start travelling. Something to consider.

The only serious drawback of the experience was the seemingly misguided decision to work with the agency they chose in Shanghai. They were slow, gave no notice for decisions they made or meetings we had, didn't tell us about their reasoning, made a silly mistake on our visas - they seemed disorganised to say the least. I don't think this is just how people in their line of work are because of the circumstances. Gotoco's staff manage it well.

The lifestyle provided by having regular lessons at the nearby school, which had its own community, while having the freetime to explore other areas of Yangshuo freely, suited me perfectly. The small town in rural south-east China was beautiful, with mountain formations and wildlife I would never be able to see in the West. Mutual language exchange, both with children and adults was also incredibly satisfying. I have never spent such an extended time in a foreign country, which I think can be much more beneficial than merely travelling for a few days or weeks for tourism. I think visiting a country so removed from the west as China is also such a rare opportunity when the organisation involved can be intense, so I appreciate Gotoco's role in taking care of so much of that. The trip also inspired me to continue with Mandarin language studies which I had largely stopped a few years ago. And although I will still not be pursuing education as a degree, it has opened up my attitude to it as an occasional side-job. The introduction to China has also been incredibly interesting, particularly the social environment and their attitude to the government, which is less reported on globally, when only their economical stance or attitude towards citizens is focused on by the west.

Over summer I spent 5 weeks teaching in Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam and had an amazing time. The gotoco team were very helpful and made the whole experience enjoyable. The fact that everything is funded made it even better and much more accessible. I loved getting the chance to try out teaching and work to get a tesol qualification too. Plus the trip to Da Nang that they took us on at the end was brilliant - the perfect way to celebrate the end of the program and enjoy the last week with the friends we’d made over the course of the program.