Gotoco Summer 2019

Gotoco is a great point of contact between schools in China and people who want to teach. It can be difficult to find places in China where foreigners, especially students with no qualifications yet, can work. By also offering the TEFL qualification it makes Gotoco even better.

I was based in a small village called Chaoyang, in the Yangshuo area, at Zhuoyue English School. I adored the kids in my classes as well as my TAs. Living in Chaoyang for 7 weeks was incredible, the scenery never lost its wonder and the locals were all very friendly. Our course coordinator (our boss?) at the school was a sweetheart and brought us mangos and took us to fancy restaurants on the weekend, couldn't ask for more.

My favourite memories of the trip are scootering to and from Yangshuo, only 20mins away and roughly £5 for the scooter rental for the full day (7am-12am)! An absolute steal!! Tea picking and tai-chi were also a lot of fun.
We were fortunate enough to be given free Chinese lessons twice a week as well which helped us pick up basic phrases such as ‘how much is this?’ (多少钱) and ‘have you eaten yet?’ (how you say hi to close friends, 你吃饭了吗)

I have discovered I really love teaching and am now confident enough in my own abilities to know I could become a real teacher in the future. I have also gained the confidence to navigate a foreign country by myself and can't wait to travel more of Asia and the world!

The time I have spent in China is unforgettable and the friends I have made are irreplaceable :)) If I have enough time and money next summer I would love to teach in China again.