Teaching internship & TEFL Certification (Thailand, Vietnam, Europe, China, India)

GOTOCO was a great programme to join, I met some lifelong friends on my programme and gained valuable teaching and volunteering experience. They planned us a lovely trip in some ancient towns which was all paid for and depending on your school/college, my small group had the weekends to travel around China. We visited Changsha, Zhangjiajie, Fenghuang, Furong, Beijing and Singapore whilst living in Hunan province for 3 months. It was an amazing opportunity to travel and immerse yourself in the culture. I cannot say this for every programme, but I was fortunate enough to have an amazing college, the teachers were so welcoming and the students were some of the kindest and hardworking people I have never met, I still keep in contact with some of them! There are a few downsides to the programme, I personally don't think there is enough clarity and communication at points with regards to preparation and teaching but i am uncertain whether this may vary for different programmes in other countries. Be prepared to very lenient and have last minute plans and information given to you. Overall, I would recommend this programme if you're looking at teaching, volunteering or simply wanting to go out of your comfort zone, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

The Thailand 6-month program program was a great experience. The program involved a long induction and training process before we were sent for a brief time to practice at a camp, and then to our placements in a school. This program did not feel rushed and allowed me to slowly build my confidence as a TEFL teacher. It also meant that securing a continuing placement after the program ended was very easy. Gotoco was always able to provide support or insight on issues or possibilities with our placements. Prior information given about the Gotoco course was limited and something to keep in mind if that is a concern for you. However, the program was surprisingly smooth and successful despite this.

I spent one month teaching English in Romania, facilitated by Gotoco. Overall, the experience was great!

I submitted my application to Gotoco in December. They contacted me again in early April to say I had been offered an interview for a place in Romania. I heard a week later I got the position.

Once in Romania, we were given a day's training to prepare for the program (having done some preparatory work before). Once we were, it was really hands-on - we spent a few hours teaching each day, followed by several hours of activities. Although we were only teaching groups of children for a few days, it was lots of fun, and there was a real sense of community amongst the trainers, even between the English speakers, and those from Romania.

Overall, it was a great experience, but it's really full-on. It really teaches you to think on your feet, take the initiative, and dive in! But I, and the rest of my team, all had a great time. It gave me a lot of useful experience which I've since used for my future career.

While funding isn't necessarily the best, nor communication, overall it was quite straightforward and Gotoco certainly offered ample support if it was necessary.

Gotoco is a great way to gain some insight into if you want to go into teaching, or (in my case) gain some volunteering experience, a free TEFL qualification and opportunity to travel abroad and meet new people. I met some great friends, everyone at my school was so lovely and welcoming, and I got the chance to see and learn so much about Chinese culture, and see so many stunning places I never would have got the chance to go to, like Zhangjiajie, Changsha, Furong, Fenghuang etc and I lived in Changde which was a small but lovely city with still plenty to do. Everyone at my school as well as the local co-ordinators were really great and helped resolve any issues I had while I was there, and also organised funded trips for us on weekends. I unfortunately got food poisoning on my third day in China and had to go to the hospital, but was supported throughout it all, and the local co-ordinators stayed with us at the hospital, helping us translate etc, which was amazing, and I could trust that in any emergency they would look after us.

The only cons I have were that I didn't feel like the training I received from Gotoco was sufficient. I received only 2 days of training before I was expected to go to my school to teach, so if you have no experience teaching be prepared to be thrown in the deep end. I would also caution anyone thinking of taking part that your school will be your main support which I don't think is super clear on the website. In my case, that was fine as my school was great, but I've heard from others that their school was really unsupportive and they had to leave their program, so unfortunately I think your Gotoco experience relies on the specific program and school you are at. Also if you take part I would say be prepared to be super flexible, as other people have said in their reviews Gotoco tend to give information quite last minute and their communication is not always great, which was quite frustrating at times. Despite this, I had a great time and these are just a few things I wish I knew before I took part/ would make my experience better.

My experience with Gotoco was the most unforgettable experience. It allowed me to not only be able to travel but to also push myself out of my comfort zone and become an even more confident person in all aspects of my life both professionally and personally. With the help of the company, they gave me training to be an English teacher and stand up in front of a class to help make a difference and teach English. I got to immerse myself in a new culture and learn about Thailand's traditions while also having free time to explore the country on my days off.

I had an amazing time teaching in Bali, I got to travel around Bali and the other islands a lot, got to do so many different activities and learned so much about the culture and language. I made lifelong friends which I am so grateful for where we shared many fun a special moments and loved the school I taught English at, the kids were very respectful, they loved their English class as we always tried to make it fun for them and they were such loving people which made this experience even more special. This was a unforgettable experience that I will forever cherish, would love to be able to go back to Bali one day to visit all the people I met there. I am very happy I got to get out of my comfort zone for this, as it was 100% worth it.

I did the Romanian camp, and the experience was amazing! However, some of the administrative and communication between parties was often conducted poorly. The teaching aspects were great fun and taught me a lot. The location in Romania is stunning and you get taken to many great spots across the country. Very friendly staff in Romania. The food was quite the same but overall, it was a good standard. The transport whilst complicated to understand at first is very quick and professional. Overall great experience but Gotoco could have been more on the same page with the Romanian camp.

I got to experience life as a local which is very different to the experiences you get when travelling. I loved learning how to communicate with the children and teachers in ways other than language! The coordinators were all incredibly friendly and I had the best time.

The hosts and school were amazing, we felt very at home and supported throughout our time. We had the freedom to teach what we wanted and have fun with the teaching. I would 100% recommend gotoco to anyone wanting to learn experience a new country!