Lizzie Alpass
I worked as an English teacher in China on an intensive English language course. Once the course was complete, I stayed on for a further three weeks in China and traveled to and around Beijing. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in China and was extremely well looked after by the Chinese School, which organized my accommodation, paid me a very good local salary and gave me money towards my flight.

I would undoubtedly recommend the placement to anyone interested. The trip gave me an opportunity not only to see some of what I found to be a fascinating country, but also to experience the people at first hand. For me, the teaching was very much the best part of the trip - even better than traveling around the country independently. I enjoyed getting to know every one of my students, each of whom was engaging, polite, hard working and keen to learn anything and everything about my country and me. Most mornings were spent in the classroom following a fairly well laid out teaching programme, assisted by an English language text book. The lessons were by no means rigid though and when I wanted, I was given a free reign to teach in whatever way I found to be profitable. Most of the afternoons involved a more active learning session, whether it be a sports afternoon, a drama session, or even film watching. They particularly enjoyed watching Harry Potter!

I still keep in touch with some of my students and I would say that the teaching experience made the trip one of my most rewarding overseas experiences to date. Travel around China after the teaching was over was both bizarre (particularly the food) and brilliant. As a female traveler I always felt safe and I found that the money I earnt from the teaching got me a long way, which meant that the trip worked out to be very economical. I feel privileged to have been able to be a part of this teaching programme and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested.