Free Short-stay TEFL Placement (Colombia, Bali, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Europe)

I could not have wished for a perfect first time in Asia. I was unsure what to expect and as a fan of solo travelling Asia seemed difficult to approach. Teaching with Gotoco in Vietnam gave me the freedom to explore and discover as i wanted but also the support to ease me into life in Vietnam.

I had already been with Gotoco in Colombia and thought it would be pretty similar but this experience proved unique.

I shared a large room with one other person on the project and we became incredibly close. We were given bikes which we made full use of during weekends and free time to explore. We very cautiously began sampling local foods and our host was incredibly helpful from inviting us to meals at her house and speaking with her family to helping us book busses for weekend trips. She was incredibly kind we even had a bit of kareoke at her house!

It was a great small town vibe and a big change of pace from city life. I taught older students 17+ and they are eager to learn about the UK and I was excited to learn more about Vietnam.

After teaching ended I was so happy to see Ha Long Bay at sunset which was on my bucket list. After that a couple of the gotocoers i taught with and I had a great time exploring Thailand we're pretty inseparable.

I initially only went on my first project with gotoco because my university suggested them so i thought they would be safe. They don't hold your hand too much either which is fantastic for a feeling of accomplishment but you have to do a lot for yourself. I personally love it because it involves overcoming anything and everything.

My advice if you're unsure about the project speak to the co-ordinator of international opportunities at your university and they should be able to provide confirmations.
Second tip is that you do not know what life in another country is like so keep amd open mind, talk to everyone and see the most beautiful places in the world!

I participated in Gotoco Vietnam from the beginning of July 2023 until the end of August 2023. I was placed in Thái Bình, a rather rural and poor place in Vietnam at an English Center called ‘New World English Center’. By participating in this internship run by Gotoco, I have managed to not only gain confidence in my teaching by getting hands on experience in teaching students of all ages who either do not speak English at all or do not speak it well, but I have also made lifelong friendships with other teachers that were placed with me. I lived in a rather fancy house with 7 other people (3 other girls and 4 boys) and we all clicked very well - we even travelled to different parts of Vietnam at the weekends together! Accommodation and meals were provided, and we were given breakfast (210,000 VMD) every week from the center. This programme is definitely worth it, especially if you are an avid traveller like me!

At first, I thought this program was a scam. Travel fees, accommodation and meals were mostly provided. I didn’t believe such a program could exist, but it did! I would recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a cost-friendly travel abroad and do social work.

My time in Poland was very fulfilling since I got to meet many awesome friends and the kids there also enjoyed their time with us. It was great to get out of my comfort zone and talk to so many people. While it was a program to develop the kids’ English speaking skills, the kids also taught me loads about Polish culture. My most enjoyable moments were hence definitely when we had a good conversation, laugh at inside jokes and so on. This program allowed me to improve my communication and organisation skills. The cultural tour at the end of the teaching program was also very fun as it allowed me to meet more people and try a new type of cuisine.

It was overall an amazing experience. Thank you!

The initial thought I had in mind when I applied for this program was that I would be deployed at a school and a location that would be really rural. Like living on the countryside with barely any running water and electricity and the accommodation would be basic. But it seems like I drew the lucky number, cause the school, accommodation and location overall exceeded my expectations. I was deployed at Wangkhaem Wittayakhom. The school was quite modernised, because in some classrooms you could even give lessons with PowerPoint slides using a projector. Though I didn't opt for this because I wanted to provide a more authentic lesson experience only using the whiteboard and paper. By keeping the lessons authentic, I feel like I was able to engage in lessons with the students better. Like I would draw and write examples on the whiteboard and they would do the same to their best ability on their own sheets of paper. We would especially focus on the spelling and pronunciation of words. This made the lessons really fun for me and hopefully really fun for the students as well. The accommodation was at a former student's house. She studied at this school several years ago, she even attended the same class as two of the teachers. She herself lives in the neighbouring house with her family whilst we got a house for ourselves, the three of us. The house has a living room, two bedrooms one with air condition and one without, a bathroom and a kitchen. She expressed concerns for lending out this house to future volunteers, because she was worried that people wouldn't take care of its amenities. Like leaving the lights on and forgetting to turn off the ac while it's not in use. It's especially regarding the ac cause there's a norm to not have the ac turned on for a long period during a day. It's expected to use it sparingly cause the electricity is expensive. Another concern would be to keep the house clean in general. These expectations should be considered normal since you wouldn't want a borrowed item to be given back in a worse condition. The locals were kind to us, the great meals we ate at a local eatery across the road from the school entrance (Ba Noom), the different traveling destinations they brought us to, the house we were able to visit whilst getting to know the daughter of a teacher and eating thai barbeque together. I think it comes down to the connections you make with the people, this will greatly affect the quality of your time during deployment. I had an amazing experience, you could even say that it was too good to be true. I still cannot fathom that I went on such an adventure.

Fantastic opportunity for cultural immersion unlike any other travel experience. Supportive introduction to travel and life working abroad. Extremely luxurious accomodation and high quality of food. Additional activities were also extremely fun. Highly recommend this to anyone who wants to see the world and work closely with local people. Great way to improve confidence in teaching and presenting, and see learn what makes a good teacher. Highly rewarding experience and one I'll look back on with fond memories.

My experience with Gotoco was amazing from start to finish! I was really impressed with everything that was done for us. On one of our days off we had a bus booked to take us to Cordoba for the day. Plus, during our cultural tour we had a lot of things organised for us which made life a lot easier and cheaper! Our coordinator, Aislinn, was amazing - she did so well to make sure we were all doing okay and remained happy.
It has helped me to increase my confidence and, language and leadership skills. I feel that the experience has helped me to improve my social skills. I also feel that my general soft skills have been enhanced and I have already used this experience as an example during job interviews.
My highlight was being given the opportunity to interact and meet so many different people. I feel that my own confidence and conversational skills have massively improved and I have made connections with people that I believe will last for life. I also feel like I have developed my leadership skills which was a big step for me.

I was fortunate to participate in two programs one in Thailand and one in Bali. Both programs were quite different but offered amazing opportunities.

Almost everything was organised by gotoco such as transportations, food, cultural excursions and more!

I’ve made so many meaningful relationships with my hosts, students and other gotocoers!

This whole experience helped me become more confident as a an esl teacher and as a solo traveller! Since then I have taught in a summer camp in Malaysia and travelled to Singapore and South Korea! I hope to carry on teaching around the world :)

Gotoco is the best thing that happened to me, it has opened a whole world of new possibilities that I didn't know it even existed. I have thought so many times about teaching before but never took the leap. Gotoco was the ideal setting to do so. I very much enjoyed my program; teaching was so rewarding and we also learned so much from the kids. The experience itself has taught me so many different life skills. I also enjoyed all the cultural activities we did such as wood carving, offering making, water purification, painting and of course Balinese cooking class. I definitely did things I would have never gone for in my usual life and I am so grateful that I was exposed to so many different workshops which opened a brand-new world of possibilities.