When I first arrived in China and asked the school what they wanted me to teach in my lessons the reply I got was simply; “Have fun, play games.” No topics, no vocab, nothing! From talking to other teachers this is a pretty common instruction and it can leave you feeling a bit lost...
TEFL Tip Tuesday: In-class vs Online TEFL courses, which is better?
I have completed two courses since I began my TEFL journey way back in October 2017. The first was an online 120 hour TEFL course which I completed in my own time back in Scotland and the second was an in-class 120 hour TESOL course which I completed in Thailand with 14 other participants and …
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Easy as ABC: How to Become an English Teacher in China
I have recently been receiving a lot of messages about how I became TEFL qualified, how I got my placement and what company I used to get here. I do always try to reply to these as soon as possible but with the time difference between China and the UK, the not so reliable internet …
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Staying Put: 10 reasons I can’t leave China quite yet.
I am about a month away from completing my internship here in Sanxiang and the original plan was to move on from here to Vietnam at the beginning of August… but I just can’t quite do that, turns out China isn’t finished with me yet. I have been offered a job at the middle school …
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Moving Abroad: How to do it and why you should!
Moving to a completely new country can be a terrifying idea. Leaving everything and everyone you know behind, packing up and moving your whole life to another part of the world might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for some it might be exactly the right move (pun not intended).
“Can I eat that”: A Coeliac in China
Most people who know me will know how difficult I am to feed. I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease at the age of eight; this means I cannot eat gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and (indirectly through cross contamination in mills) oats. When I told people I was moving to China for five …
Too Hot (Pot) to Handle: Exploring Sanxaing and Zhongshan
This time last month was my first day in Sanxaing, I know I keep saying it, but I cannot believe how quickly time is going here. The last month has been an absolute blur of experiences but I am going to try my best to put them into words. Our first week started …
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Organised Chaos: the First Few Weeks of Teaching
Teaching English: just when you think you've got it, you lose it and just when you think you've lost it, you crack it again. My first day of teaching I realized I had lost my USB stick somewhere between getting on the plane in London and arriving at my placement school. As a …
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Beijing: Rice for Breakfast, Halloumi Chat and the Great Wall of China
I have been in China for three weeks, I did mean to start these blog posts earlier but time has been flying by! Now that I have settled into my placement and got my timetable of classes, I finally have the opportunity to sit down and write about it. My journey began with a couple …
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Back to Blogging – P.s. I’m in China!
I've not written a blog post in over a year! Well not for this site anyway, but I'm in China and I want to document it. So as of Monday I hope to be posting a weekly blog about my experience. I arrived in China on the 20th of February and it has been a …