CIEE Teach Abroad & TEFL Reviews

CIEE has gone above and beyond my expectations since the beginning. The application process was easy and simple. They were always eager to answer my questions and provide me with information. I am so glad that I went through them instead of trying to do it on my own. The visa application process was intimidating at first but they helped me through the process in the States as well as when I arrived in Chile. Also, the online preparation course that I took while I was still in the States gave me a piece of mind because it explained what expectations I should have living and teaching in Chile. Once I arrived, our group of new teachers had a week of training in Santiago where we were educated about a variety of topics that we might encounter in Chile: housing, transportation, Chilenismos and the language barrier, food, traveling, and more. Overall, I am so grateful that CIEE has supported me in this journey!

After, deciding to teach abroad, I did some research on companies to go through. I came across CIEE and had really great feelings about their programs offered and their overall dedication to their participants. The step by step process made it so easy to work with CIEE and complete the process of teaching abroad. I have had help from the minute I started an application and I am continuing to hear from CIEE three months into my teaching experience in Thailand. If you are looking to teach abroad, CIEE has been a phenomenal group to go through and I highly recommend them!

Since I studied abroad in Chile with CIEE, I trusted the CIEE Teach Abroad program. Right off the bat, their US staff was helpful. Once accepted, I participated in the pre-departure course and found the information useful. Regarding the placement, I had some reservations about Santiago in terms of safety, but I was ultimately placed there, although it was my third choice. To be fair, CIEE is very transparent in saying that they cannot guarantee anyone's placement.
While I still would have much preferred Vina or Valpo, I am grateful for my experience here in Santiago. My colleagues have taken an interest in me and always help me when I have questions.
In relation to the on-site support, I have nothing but praise for them. Upon my arrival, the coordinator was very accommodating with my food allergies and insisted on taking me to the hospital when I presented with a second degree burn. I couldn´t say thank you enough to her.
Since she has been promoted, we've had another coordinator, who is equally knowledgeable and personable.
Overall, I would recommend this program to a friend.

I chose CIEE for my work abroad experience mostly practical reasons as they were one of the only programs I could find for teaching programs in Chile and Argentina. Despite this I have been very happy with my experience with CIEE. They made everything very simple and provided an overabundance, in my opinion, of support and additional material. There was a pre-departure course I had to take before arriving to the country with useful information about phones, housing, the transporation system etc. along with more emotional support about culture shock and such. I personally found the culture shock information repetitive as I had already traveled outside the country, but I know others apprieciated it. Once arriving to the country the staff were all very nice and supportive and gave great advice about the city. They also gave my group a free month's stay in a hostel until we could find our own housing which was fantasic. What I most liked about this program is that I have a support system that will help me if I have a medical issue (they provided insurance) and I have a group of other English speakers who I can hang out with when I need a break from Spanish. That was really important to me.

I made the decision to teach abroad just a few months before getting on the plane, so overall it was a pretty fast process. I found CIEE online and completed an application in a couple weeks. They were very helpful during the pre-departure time. One of my recommenders wasn’t able to submit their letter of recommendation on time, so I had to replace them at the last second. CIEE was understanding, and let a new recommender submit instead. They also had a guide on how to prepare all the necessary documents for obtaining a visa, and getting the visa documents together did require a lot of legwork. The biggest headache for me was getting my state background check, so if I had to do it again I would just get a background check through the FBI. Also, I had trouble figuring out what vaccines were covered by my insurance, but that was a problem with the insurance company.

So after getting my visa and school placement, I was on the plane to a week-long CIEE program orientation in Bangkok. This was a very, very useful and fun time. The orientation was about meeting other teachers from the program, learning about Thailand, and, importantly, learning how to be a teacher. Especially since I did not have any background in teaching or prior experience as a classroom teacher. I think an orientation like this is really critical for people who have never worked or lived abroad before. There is so much anxiety about living in a different part of the world, with people you don’t know anything about, and also having to perform as a professional teacher. It would have been very difficult for me to adjust to a new life and also be a good teacher, at least at the start, without this orientation.

So now I have been successfully living and working in Thailand as an English teacher for a few months. CIEE has emailed me a few times to check in and see how I’m doing, and I’ve been in contact with them with questions about my current program as well as questions about future teach abroad opportunities.

Overall, I’m very happy with CIEE and their staff. Everyone has been very helpful, understanding, and professional. I would like to teach in another country after Thailand through CIEE, and I feel very confident about it. It’s great to have CIEE’s support, from the help with the paperwork that’s required, to in-country orientation, and continuing support for the length of the program.

Sometimes when you are about to do something that you have never done before, it is best not to ask questions during the days leading up to it. This creates doubt and can very well ruin your experience before it even starts, especially when traveling to another country for the first time in your life and by yourself. The best thing that you can ever do for yourself in a situation like this is not to think about any doubts that you may have. All of the doubts that you have either do not exist, or will work themselves out. With that type of mindset, I was able to have an experience of a lifetime, and one that I would like to make into a career one day very soon. If you are a teacher, or an aspiring teacher from the United States, you will wish that your students have half the enthusiasm of the Peruvian students by the time the program is over. It was incredible how excited and most of all appreciative they all were to have an international volunteer in their class. It was indeed a month that went by way too fast, and one that you and the students wished was much longer. I will reiterate that you need to do your best to eliminate any doubts or concerns that you may have. Once you arrive, they will all disappear and with your newly found open mind, you will have the experience of a lifetime.

CIEE's application, pre-country orientation, and in-country orientation were very helpful when making the difficult adjustment to life in Santiago, Chile. They provided all the necessary information, like how to secure a temporary residence visa, what to look for in potential apartments, how to set up a bank account, Chilenismos, health and safety tips, and provided support and encouragement every step of the way. It is great having an in-country coordinator to talk to who is knowledgeable about Chile, and is available to meet and talk with whenever difficulties are encountered, like unforeseen health issues.

I graduated college a term early and much like many of my peers, I had no idea what the next best step was for me. I had read a lot about traveling through Southeast Asia and all of my closest friends gave rave reviews of their experiences, especially in Thailand. I knew I had a travel bug, but also knew that if I was going to delay the start of my career, I wanted to make it meaningful. My opportunity to teach in Thailand went above and beyond my expectations.

When I finally submitted my application (after lots of encouragement from my friends), I did not have any sort of relief. In fact, when I found out I was accepted through the program, and later on given my placement, I still wasn't sure if this was the right move for me. I was placed in a non-tourist destination in northeastern Thailand, and was the only one from the program placed in my city. I was scared and nervous, and still unsure if i should accept one of my pending job offers or commit to this unexpected path. I communicated with CIEE about my anxieties and insecurities about teaching somewhere and emailed every previous teacher through the CIEE community. CIEE gave me borrowed time to ensure I was happy with my decision, and after a lot of deliberation and trust in fate, I committed! And thank G I did!

Teaching in Thailand was the best experience I have ever given myself. From the lifelong friendships I've made with fellow CIEE-ers to the Thai family that was able to develop into members of my forever family and all of the people I met along the way, I am so lucky for all of my amazing memories. While structure is not necessarily a well-known concept in Thailand, CIEE and their partner, OEG, make every effort to help in the transition from a western world into the simplicity, chaos, and beauty of Thailand.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with CIEE's 150-hour TEFL training course. I decided to take this course the summer before going to teach abroad in Spain, and now that I've just finished I can confidently say that I feel prepared for my job abroad.

The course's interface, Canvas, is extremely user-friendly and makes it easy to view course content, submit graded work and interact with other peers.

Despite the fact that this course is 100% online, it is very holistic in its teaching approaches. Aside from traditional lectures in the form of slide presentations, this course also had audio lectures, discussion boards where you can have great discussions with other people also taking the course, real-life scenario situations and short quizzes along the way to check for understanding. I interacted with the course material, I was not a passive observer. I was asked to give my opinion, to analyze, to create, to rate, to evaluate and more. Best of all, the course has given me a huge list of resources that I have archived in my computer for the future when I need lesson plan ideas, need to refresh my memory on a topic before teaching, and much more.

The course is very demanding, you will spend 10-15 hours a week between doing assignments, intreating on discussion boards and attending class online. It is all worth it!

I did plenty of research before I decided to teach in Thailand through CIEE. I'm so glad I did! I wanted a credible and legitimate program to make for a seamless transition into a foreign country. Pre-departure emails were helpful making sure I had everything accounted for, visas situated (via CIEE) and insurance is even taken care of with them.

Once there, the week long orientation prior to going to your schools was a great learning experience. There were several Thai-language seminars and workshops to get you with some working proficiency, plus lots of extra teaching prep. They definitely get you as prepared as possible. Plus, during orientation, you meet all of the other program participants from all over, and you befriend who will be your closest friends and travel buddies for the next 5 or 10 months (or for life).

All in all, I can't imagine not teaching in Thailand, and not going through CIEE. It's truly a great program with great people helping you through it. I urge you, don't hesitate! Take the plunge. It'll all be worth it.