CIEE Teach Abroad & TEFL

CIEE has given me a great support system and have truly prepared me for working in South Korea through EPIK. When you apply for any job, especially one in a new country, there can be alot of stress and confusion. However, CIEE made sure that that stress would be kept at a minimum through consistant support and advice. When you apply to teach abroad, you always have the option to apply on your own but i truly belive that had i applied on my own, i would not have made it this far and i definelty would not have been as prepared as i am. Throug the application process, CIEE helps you step by step with help on the application, visa application, and even tips with interviews and so much more as they provide assistance though the staff and as well as a special canvas page with preperation pages. Whenever you have any questions, even the silly ones, someone on the staff is ready to reply with an answer (usually immediatly or within a few hours!), so you know someone will always have your back! The overall bets thing as well has been the support in and out of the country, as CIEE provides a support staff before your arrival and even during your time here in Korea through their CIEE Teach Abroad Staff who are here to help you adjust to life or whenever you need a hand. Overall, i reccomened going though CIEE if you plan to teach abroad if you want to be the best prepared candiate you can be.

CIEE Teach Abroad in China does a great job in helping you feel as prepared as possible for your placement through offering a Pre-Departure Course before even leaving your home country and then an orientation before the school year begins. Orientation was organized into 2 parts: First, we went over topics ranging from learning/teaching styles to logistics of working/living in China. Then, we worked in pairs and co-taught in an English summer camp. Many moments were tiring and stressful but overall, it's still a helpful experience because you learn a lot and the summer camp experience gives you an example of what your teaching experience could be like during your contract. Within the first month, I slowly started integrating myself more with the school and initiating conversation with Chinese teachers. Now, I play in the teacher's badminton club, I'm invited to weekend hiking/sightseeing trips with other teachers, I join for-fun competitions between teaching departments, and more. Whenever I have asked the primary school Chinese teachers for help, they have always tried to help with ideas, classroom management suggestions, and even sharing their coursebook to help me generate ideas for my class. Overall, your experience will be what you make of it, but to help ensure a positive experience, I highly recommend you learn at least basic Mandarin (even a little goes a long way) and try to be open-minded and understand there will be cultural differences.

Overall, I was very happy with CIEE's 150-hour TEFL course. The course was entirely online, which made it very manageable to complete while working a full-time job, yet at the same time it had a really individualized feel––my teacher was very attentive and gave super helpful feedback, and there were ample opportunities to engage with her as well as with my classmates. In addition, the job placement assistance that CIEE gives you is second-to-none: they landed me a job offer from a great English academy in Chile before I even began the course, so that I could get the ball rolling with the visa process as soon as possible. I highly recommend this course for anyone looking to teach English abroad.