ImmerQi | Teach & Travel China Program

My boyfriend and I have been on the internship with ImmerQi since February and with only 3 weeks left of our teaching programme I can say with honesty and sincerity that this has been the best experience of my life.

Placed in South China in a little (by Chinese standards!) city called Jinjiang, teaching high school students, I was apprehensive at first, but we quickly got settled! The school, Jiyan High School, is a lovely environment to work in. Though the amenities and resources available are basic, the staff and students are super friendly, and I can't think of anywhere more suitable to begin on a teaching career. We received a lot of help from the Chinese English teachers to get settled in and they gave us advice on teaching when we needed it. We've been given a textbook to loosely follow, devising speaking activities for our classes and being able to deviate slightly from the textbook to incorporate things of interest to the students. This means our lessons are fun and always different! The students are the reason I love it here though - so friendly, enthusiastic and eager to learn, and also to teach us about their local area and culture! We've been involved in school performances (be prepared to look a fool on stage!!), English Corner Club, and we've been taken out for meals and shown around local areas I'd never have thought of going to by myself. Such a great opportunity to see and experience new things!

Of course there are always difficulties, though these are few and far between. The language barrier is an issue everyone will experience at some point or another, but the Chinese English teachers here are very eager to try and help in any way they can, and we get by quite easily on minimal broken Mandarin and mostly hand gestures!

As for ImmerQi itself, I can't credit them enough. Whenever we've had a problem or a question, be it with teaching, post-internship options, or just life in China in general, we have been able to email our Programme Coordinator, Duncan Russell, and he responds quickly, always with good, helpful, friendly advice. Plus he treated us to a Pizza Hut!

I would definitely recommend this programme to anybody looking for a new adventure or to get into teaching - it's been an amazing opportunity and experience for me and my boyfriend and we have immensely enjoyed it!

This has been the most incredible experience of my life so far.
I am 18 years old and had freshly completed High School in England to suddenly jumping into the deep end of the going-to-another-country-experiencing-the-diverse-culture-and-learning-to-become-a-teacher pool.
Prior to arriving in China, my preparation included buying all the standard books for beginner's Mandarin and Lonely Planet Guides - which we had been advised to research about by ImmerQi - but nothing could have prepared me for the unforgettable memories to be made and lessons that I was going to learn until actually arriving in China.

I remember being in Beijing Arrivals, greeted by our ImmerQi staff member Jayne, who was undyingly cheerful despite it being 3am, immediately rendering me at ease. It was a pick-up at the airport of around 10 other people, so once again my experience began positively, by being able to make friends and share all our knowledge and expectations of China on the coach journey to our training school.
The month spent training for our TEFL qualification was spent in the ZhongShan experimental school, in Tian Tong Yuan, a northern district of Beijing. It was brilliant. The location was brilliant, our tutors were brilliant, our group was brilliant.
Of course, there were the few little culture shocks like the squat-toilets; standard of accommodation as compared with those at home; and different kinds of food and what have you, but they were so easily overlooked because of the amazing time we had living there, learning the ropes and forming life-long friendships with people from all over the world.

You get what you put in, so, in order to become the best teacher we could be, we were given quality lessons and assignments that were all individually marked and carefully considered. We knew that we would learn would all be put to the test as we were given the opportunity to have week of teaching real classes of real students! This was incredibly fun, and we were very sufficiently prepared.

We had also gone on a few day trips out with the whole group, which was super fun. And in general, immerQi staff were very helpful in directing us to good places to explore.

Even after we had all graduated, and were separated into our respective placement schools, ImmerQi staff have always kept in touch and taken good care of us.

Thank you all so much for everything,
I will definitely come back one day!

The training weeks in Beijing were the most valuable lessons you'll learn. Not only because you're being taught by competent teachers who'll give you plenty of advice but also to slowly get used to an entire new country.
The training weeks offer a safe bubble for you so that you can grow more and more accustomed to the Chinese culture without experiencing a too big of a culture shock and neither will you have to experience them on your own.
Everyone is in the same boat and is dealing with the same difficulties and that creates a sense of unity. You'll form great friendships during training as you sit through different classes from day to day and will also have time to explore the city.

Once you are at your placement you will more confident and prepared than you were upon arrival a month earlier and soon you'll find yourself in a routine of teaching and travelling during the weekends. Both of which are equally challenging but enriching.
All in all you will need a lot of patience and will experience great language barriers but all this makes it a great experience. One you’ll never ever forget.

TTC is a great company to work with if you want to experience a completely new way of life in China. Working with this company made it actually possible for people who have no experience in teaching to actually teach in an ESTABLISHED Chinese school.
After the orientation week in Beijing, where we were given more advice for teaching and a tour day in Beijing including the Great Wall, we were sent to our schools. I was placed in Inner Mongolia and at first i was a little bit worried to say the least. It was winter and the thought of being somewhere colder than I already was was a bit taunting but then I was soon put at ease after speaking to someone who was placed there the previous semester. Yes, it was cold but I had a great group of other interns to share my experience with.
I always wondered if I would like teaching and it turns out that I do. After doing this internship I feel so much more confident standing in front of a classroom and being able to actually teach English to Chinese students. The lessons I gave were primarily to encourage the students to speak conversational English and let them generate sentences and of course, making the lessons fun and engaging for them.
I do know that a lot of people did have a hard time coming to terms with the language barrier, the different culture, the horrible feeling of home sickness and the teaching itself. TTC did make it clear that about 10% of the interns would leave China before the end of their internship. The truth is you are the customer and TTC are quick to relocate people if you are not happy with the first placement you are at. They keep you updated throughout your internship and offer you teaching advice if you need it.
My word of advice is that you should come to China with an open mind. China is a great country and you always have support with TTC during your internship. I know I'm glad that I have done this internship, so much so that I'm doing a second semester.

I would definitely recommend this program to anyone wanting to try teaching and travelling in China. With the program, you're guaranteed to make friends during the training program at the beginning and although some people found their schools difficult, having TTC to contact meant their problems were sorted out quickly.
After the program, I found another teaching job through a teaching agency which was a nightmare in comparison. They placed me in a school where no one spoke English, with no warning in advance, required a 3000 yuan deposit, constantly gave me wrong information and blatantly breached the contract when it came to payment.
With TTC you can be sure someone will be there to help and that your first experience in China will be positive!

Never have I EVER experienced such a shady business. When it comes to profesionalism, this company scores zero.

The first month in Beijing was absolutely great, and the teaching practise and our time in UIBE was awesome! The teachers and all our classes was so much fun and I had my hopes high for the placement.

Well, ImmerQi really disapoints. Not only did they place me at a horrible place, but they had no school for us. We visited different schools and were told to lie about our experience and how long we were staying in China. I cried for three days straight worrying about how we would manageto stay for six months. We had a half functioning apartment and the most grumpy landlord in all of China. The place was dirty and only fulfilled half of the demands in our contracts. We told TTC about this and after a week of trying to convince us to stay, they helped us back to Beijing.

After that they wanted to place us in another shady place where other people had just left because the school had broken the contract.

TTC did not only lie to us about the placements standards, but they forced other participants to do the same. TTC works like this: "You don´t like it? Well, pleace sign this document that says you will never tell anyone else. We will only help you if you tell other participants about how GREAT your horrible stay was". And they top this of with a big smile!

If you resign from this program, they will make you sign contracts where you promise not to tell anyone about your experiences!!!

TTCs only concern is the MONEY. You pay A LOT to attend the program, but in the end it´s not worth it.
If you want to see China, you should visit on a tourist visa. You may have heard that you get some time off to travel in China, but that is total bullsh*t. You won´t have any time to visit anything but your own city.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TTC TO ANYONE!

Coming to China with TTC has been the best decision I've ever made - no exaggeration. Everything from when I first applied to where I am now (on my second semester) has been made much easier thanks to TTC. I'm settled into daily life in China and feel a part of my community. They have given me a great platform to teach on the other side of the world, which has allowed me to enjoy my time in China without fuss or problems. I couldn't recommend teaching abroad with TTC any more than I already do.

I have found the TTC Program to be a mixed bag so far.

My in-country advisor (Jayne) has been really helpful, and any issues I have had (from serious placement concerns, to minor things such as finding out the best places of the Wall to visit when I had visitors in the country) have been resolved in a timely, professional and thorough manner.

The support the company gives is 24/7, and I feel like I can contact them about any issue. The same can be said for the support before I got here.

However, I do not feel the company is run as well as could be. For example, the issues of holidays has been confusing, with many interns apparently being told that they would have a week holiday sometime in the term, which would be the perfect time for travelling the country a little bit. However, we have two 3 day holidays instead, which makes travelling the country a little bit harder. Granted, I have at least 3 weeks before my visa runs out, after the teaching has finished, but for those who undertook the months physical training in Beijing, they will only have around 10 days to see the country after teaching before their visa's expire. The title 'teach and travel' is to some extent a misnomer. I was also told whilst in the process of booking the placement, and doing my online training, that TTC would offer excursions around parts of China during our time off that we could book our place on, and see more of the country, but it seems this is not the case.

Also, we were told during the 2 day physical training course at UIBE, that the teaching would just be conversational english, not grammar or anything like that, but I have found myself at my school to be teaching those very things too, which means I do not feel I was as prepared as I could have been.

Another issue is the money. We are paid 2000yuan a month, with TTC taking a fee for us working at the schools. It was only when they told us this, on the first day of the actual meeting in Beijing, that I was made aware that this was the case. They will say that the money is lower because we are just interns, which is fair enough, but in my school at least, most of the interns are working exactly as much, if not more than most of the full time foreign teachers, and earning perhaps a quarter of the wage, which is a bit frustrating. With careful careful budgeting you can make the money last you, but I do feel that those in Beijing could do with an extra allowance to counter the higher prices that the city brings.

On top of that, the visa situation is definitely a bit sketchy, as we were told during the orientation, in an official meeting, that our visa's were only student visas, and as such, if we were asked by the police, we are to lie and say we are on an unpaid internship, which is concerning to hear, when you are perhaps on your first big trip abroad and for a relatively long time.

On the other hand, I am really enjoying China. It is a massive culture shock, especially in terms of hygiene, but it is definitely an experience worth having. The people can initially appear to be unfriendly, but are in fact incredibly friendly and helpful on the most part. The food is amazing. There is always something to do and see here, from the small up to the magnificent. I am sure that the experience will hold me in good stead for the rest of my life.

I'm grateful to TTC for the chance to come here, but at the same time, the company could have been more upfront and honest about the issues I have highlighted and more, before we booked our placement. As the company are quick to tell you once you are here, they are for-profit and so want to entice you into coming to China through them, but at the same time more honesty about the cost of living, the payment situation etc would have been greatly appreciated.

Whilst they are easy to contact, and I completely feel that they would have my back in an emergency or serious problem here, I do feel they have been a bit disingenuous about the internship. Given the chance again, I would still come to work in China, but I would perhaps shop around a bit more to see what other options I might have.