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

I completed Gotoco's short-stay (two month) program in Vietnam. It was an amazing opportunity to have a funded placement in a teaching environment in South East Asia. Although you are technically a volunteer during your teaching placement, your flights, accommodation during the program, TESOL course and orientation activities are funded. You may also get a stipend to help cover some costs during your teaching placement. Participating in this program with other people in the same situation as you, made the experience a lot smoother and easier to build life-long friendships. I felt grateful to have made an impact to local Vietnamese students learning English. The program is an an eye-opener into travelling and working abroad, and it genuinely improves your confidence in navigating the daily challenges of living abroad. Having never had teaching experience prior to this program, doing a teaching role for the first time opened up my interests to explore teaching as a potential careerpath. It is worth remembering that living in Vietnam is very different to the UK, and so doing this program teaches you to be adaptable and being open to new aspects of living abroad i.e. food, accommodation, travelling, transportation, language, interacting with locals, cultural behaviour and traditions.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this experience to a friend as it provides a unique blend of travel and teaching, fostering independence, and the chance to build lasting connections. This opportunity has benefited me immensely by instilling the confidence to travel, fully embracing the Balinese lifestyle, and enjoying the rewarding experience of teaching. Reflecting on my program, I feel fortunate to have been based in a beautiful village with the freedom to explore the rest of Bali. The two months were filled with gratitude for the experiences, and saying goodbye to my students was a bittersweet moment

I had an amazing time doing a short programme working in rural Thailand with gotoco! I think this opportunity was an amazing stepping stone to gaining more independence, seeing a different side of a country and being immersed in cultural experiences you may not normally be able to witness. I think it’s great value for money as you get all your food and accommodation paid for, for 6 weeks of training, and a week before and after the programme. They provide you with language lessons, what to expect & lots of other information beforehand. Staff welfare is good as there is always a GOTOCO staff member you can reach out to if you need extra support before or during the programme. Gotoco gives you step by step instructions on the visa process and what to do/bring beforehand to help you feel prepared. I will remember this experience forever!

As my time in Thailand comes to an end and I reflect on my placement with Gotoco, I find myself eager to share this experience with others.
The one universal reflection that I have found with Gotocoers is the appreciation for an experience we otherwise never would have gotten. Teaching with Gotoco offers travel, cultural exchange, school experience, and local excursions that plane old backpacking doesn’t afford you.
As a participant on the October Thailand Rural
School programme I had unique, and yes, sometimes difficult experiences.
I was welcomed by my school from the very first day. The students and Thai teachers were eager to meet me and made teaching such an enjoyable experience during my entire placement - even the cheeky students are respectful, funny, and a pleasure to teach.
Although teaching in a rural school can sometimes be boring in your free time, it’s easy to step just a little outside your comfort zone and get involved in the local school clubs and community. I had the pleasure of joining my schools badminton club - everyday after school I would attempt to play with the incredibly talented students and teachers - and even the schools director! It was an opportunity to interact with people on a more even field (not literally - I was very bad when I first started playing) and to let them see you as a person rather than a foreign teacher.
And you won’t be spending every day in your school! The Thai teachers go above and beyond to show you the best of what their town and province have to offer. I was taken to some beautiful temples and famous historical sites, as well as being treated to VIP status and traditional Thai dress at the local Loy Kratong festival.
But it’s also worth talking about the things that didn’t quite live up to expectations. Although Gotoco provide a funded opportunity that I wouldn’t change for anything, there were logistical and communication issues with coordinators that made things difficult at times. I often found that my Thai teachers would look to me for an answer to a question that we should have known (dates, travelling arrangements, programme expectations, etc.) but that we simply didn’t know - this was not communicated to us or to the Thai teachers acting as liaison.
That being said, my placement with Gotoco is one I believe every single person should get to experience. It helps you to grow as a person, build cultural tolerance and awareness, and make new friends from a part of the world otherwise inaccessible.

I had an amazing time over the summer with gotoco in Thailand. It was an unforgettable experience that provided me with a chance to experience a new culture and create lasting friendships with the people I met, I can't recommend it enough!
It was very interesting to teach in a rural area in Thailand, I felt as if i was able to expereince a much more 'real' side of the country than i would've if i'd done the usual backpacking route or stayed in bangkok. The chance to then continue your travels after the programme had finished was a big plus!

I had a great time teaching in Colombia with Gotoco. I met amazing people, both the locals and others from the cohort, learnt so much about teaching, Colombian culture and Spanish and it was a great opportunity to travel all over the country as well as other parts of South America. It’s an experience that i’ll remember forever and am very great to have had the chance to travel and gain a qualification in such a budget friendly way! I would highly recommend to anybody looking to do something new!

I really enjoyed the induction week, it was great to get to know so many new people. The team ( Lucy, Jamie, Aislinn and Matty) were all so friendly and happy to answer any questions. It was a great balance between them being your friends and professionalism. I appreciate all the hard work they put in behind the scenes to answer our (many!) questions and queries.
The people at my host school were so lovely and would go out of their way to help us.
The students and teaching was great - it was amazing the amount of love they gave and a great taster of teaching in different countries.

From January to July 2023, I participated in a 6 months immersion programme in Bogota, Colombia, as a 'cultural agent' for a local NGO, YMCA Colombia. Part of my placement involved preparing and leading English-based activities in public and private schools around Bogota, as well as occasionally in universities and online. As a Gotoco 'repeater', I felt more familiar with some aspects of the adventure. Nonetheless, the jump outside of my comfort zone and into my 'learning zone' was real! While my previous programme (6 weeks immersion programme in Thailand in 2022) had felt very 'idyllic', and the 4 weeks of teaching passed in a breeze, this time around, the experience felt much more real-life, with its share of challenges and satisfactions (from overcoming the challenges). Once the integration phase was over (this is always really helpful, Gotoco is especially good at those imo), these 6 months really felt like I was living and working in Bogota. This involves everything that has to do with moving to a new country for a while: becoming familar with commuting, making friends with colleagues, office life with its learnings, building a social life, finding your favourite spots, creating new habits, wondering whether you'd see yourself staying longer... Without forgetting the opportunities for week-end and holiday trips! Something to mention is the support I received from the Gotoco staff, present in Colombia with us. When things were a bit challenging, it was nice to know there were people I could turn to, even if just to vent. In this sense, going to Colombia with Gotoco was a privilege given the network and structure it offers. It would have been much more challenging to do that on my own.

I would recommend this programme, or any 6-month+ immersion, to anyone looking to go on a slightly more challenging adventure. This is not to discourage you if it is your first time travelling alone abroad. If you are keen to get out of your comfort zone, are curious about other cultures and realities and are ready to deal with uncertainty and be flexible, you should go for it. As cliche as it sounds, going to Colombia was life-changing: it gave me the required work experience to apply to my current master's, gave me incredibly humbling insights into other realities (and into myself) and brought me the strongest relationships I have in my life.