Gotoco Reviews

Over the holiday, I’ve had the amazing opportunity to volunteer teaching English to children in the rural village of Bach Long in Vietnam through the Gotoco - TEFL teacher training & global work-travel placements & teaching fellowships charity. Being surrounded by the tight-knit community alongside emersing myself in the culture has been a surreal experience with memories I will keep for the rest of my life! As part of my roles, I taught classes of primary/secondary school children aging from 4-14 years old which has taught me a wide breadth of techniques of teaching and the ways of enforcing engagement throughout the age ranges. In particular, I believe I’ve sharpened my cross-cultural exchange, abstraction, and communication skills the most. Our more intense tasks involved meticulously planning and executing school trips planned for the children to a War Museum and teaching the children how to make Gimbap and bubble tea. My favourite memory of the trip is the work I did in building a friendly yet productive classroom environment. By the end of the trip my younger groups has begun referring to me as ‘Father Pas’ rather than ‘Teacher Pas’ which was especially heart-warming. I was lucky to share this experience with three other volunteers which has stretched my organisation and team-working skills both inside and outside of the classroom. If you’re looking for a way to volunteer internationally in countries like Vietnam, Thailand, or Europe, then I highly recommend having a look at GoToCo and signing up to their various opportunities!

It was smooth and organised. The contact from Gotoco was friendly, reassuring, and constant, so I felt safe and happy about going to China. The specific information about my camp was a little misleading. I would recommend going to teach English at a summer camp or school because it is a totally new and exciting experience that feels very rewarding. I would also recommend the Yangshuo trip after the programme because it was a lot of fun. The highlight of being in China was the opportunity to be totally outside my comfort zone. Being far from home, immersed in a totally different culture and responsible for teaching and entertaining classes of children, meant I had to rapidly adapt and develop initiative and confidence.