Guangxi placement

Genuinely, doing Gotoco was one of the best experiences of my life. I was more than sceptical about going and extremely nervous about travelling to China on my own to the rural-ish area of Southern China, Rongxian in Guangxi, and as many other people would agree, had never done something like this before! From the moment I arrived I felt at ease and the teachers gave us a really warm welcome and made us feel safe.

I was very glad to have been put in this programme that had such kind and welcoming teachers and parents. The students were keen to learn and it was fun teaching the different ages.

The thought of going to China on my own was so scary and now i have done it i feel so much more confident and now feel able to do other trips and teach in other places. I saw things I've never seen before and experienced a completely new culture. Teaching was such a good experience and something completely new.

If you decide to do the placement, you should definitely go to Yangshuo as offered by Gotoco. It is a beautiful place and cycling through the mountains and rafting down the Yu Long river was one of the best experiences of my life. I was really lucky to have got on well with the other volunteer on my placement and felt that it was such a good way to meet likeminded people and hear from other volunteers who did other placements around China.

Overall, I'd recommend people to use Gotoco if they want to experience something completely new, in a place that is unique whilst gaining a TEFL certificate. I never thought I'd actually go as I was sceptical at first at how legit it was. Yet, Gotoco communicate with you throughout and you get put into a groupchat with representatives from Gotoco who can help if need be. We also were put into a groupchat with the other volunteer and the lead teacher of the placement to get to know them before arriving.

Obviously each placement is different so one experience will vary from another, but most people I met at Yangshuo had had a good experience on their placement. I was really happy to have gone with Gotoco for the placement and hope that other people will feel confident to go to China too.