Teach English - China

Product Details

Where are the placements?
These Changing Worlds teaching placements are in and around the coastal city of Yantai in the Shandong district of North East China. We have a pool of 15 primary and secondary schools in the region to choose from.

What will I do?
You will act as an assistant teacher, teaching conversational English to children (from kindergarten age) and young adults (18+ years old). You can choose the age group you wish to work with and we will attempt to find you the right kind of school. No previous teaching experience required although you do need to like children!

For those who can offer drama, music (piano is very popular in China!), sport and art then this will be well received by the schools.

Chinese students love to learn English and would make you very welcome in their school. The headteacher would be there to advise you on a daily basis.

Where will I live?
You will live on or very close to the school grounds. You will share a room with another Changing Worlds volunteer. You will have access to toilet and shower facilities. You can expect to enjoy the use of a TV, water cooler and a telephone in your room.

Chinese people are very respectful of Westerners and there is little crime in the city.

You will eat with your students in the school canteen during the week. The food is excellent particularly if you like seafood.

What support do I get?
Changing Worlds employs the part-time services of Jack Lui who acts on our behalf in China. Jack has excellent spoken English.

Jack will welcome you to Yantai airport on arrival to China and will escort you to your school. You will enjoy a typically warm Chinese welcome from your new school friends. You will have a couple of days relaxing before starting in the classroom.

Jack will be in weekly contact particularly at the beginning of your stay. Once you are more settled Jack will take a more of a background role although he will always be there to support you.

What do I need?
You will require a six-month tourist visa for China (cost £60). Changing Worlds will brief you on how to obtain the visa. You will need to gain adequate travel insurance for your entire time overseas.

Am I eligible?
Yes as long as you are healthy, don't mind kids and are willing to work hard. China is very different from the West and you will need to be sensitive to the cultural differences.

What do I do in my free time?
Yantai city has plenty to offer volunteers with many bars and cheap restaurants found within walking distance of your school. You will never be bored with the Shandong cuisine - it’s simply amazing! If you like seafood then you are in for a real treat! Food in Chinese culture is central to their lives.

At the weekends when you are free you can easily travel outside the city limits. Nanshan is well worth a visit for its temples and pagodas and a ‘mock’ Great Wall of China.

Yantai has excellent bus networks to other parts of Shandong province. Getting an insight into Chinese rural ways of life is extremely interesting as here the recent rates of change are so much less than in the cities - traditional ways of life continue unchanged for hundreds of years.

You can fly to Beijing from Yantai for £100 return on a one-hour flight.

What is the cost?
The cost of a four month teaching placement is £2,580.

The costs include flights from London Heathrow to Yantai via Beijing, a two-day pre departure briefing course (includes introduction to basic Chinese Mandarin and a session on ‘How to Teach’), welcome to Yantai, a two-day orientation on arrival