News from our grads

Sonja and Ashley in China

Ashley and I did our TESOL course with Teach International in Melbourne. After the course I was so enthusiastic and eager that I sent off ten applications in one day. I was shocked that by the end of a week all ten schools had offered us a job! Our destination? China!

We accepted a position with a private language school in Foshan, Guangdong province. Armed with our TI teaching books, travel guide and Chinese phrase book we boarded a plane and headed into the unknown. Foshan is a city of three million people and I assumed that there would be Western influences and some knowledge of English. There was a McDonald's! The rest of Foshan was completely Chinese and we were objects of fascination. It was strange to walk around such a large city and have people openly stare or point. The only other foreigners around were the teachers at our school.

Upon our arrival the school and the teachers welcomed us with a gourmet dinner at a local restaurant where the beer flowed freely. The teachers were very supportive and offered us lots of advice and helped us to settle in. The director of our school sat in on our very first teaching classes! She wanted to observe our teaching style. "What teaching style?" I thought. All went well and she said that we were great teachers: must have been all that coaching from Veronica and Mal back in Melbourne. We have small class sizes, a maximum of 20 students per class. The kids can be a handful but they are also adorable. It's always rewarding to see the excitement in their eyes when they learn something new.

We have been in China for six months now and it has been one of the most incredible experiences of our lives. China is a country of contrasts. It has been fascinating, lively, confronting and always interesting. All these things make for a fun and memorable travel experience.

Sonja Seifert - Teach International Graduate

TOP