Teach English in Eastern Europe & Russia

An unforgettable and highly enriching teaching journey in China! During my time there, I had the incredible opportunity to teach English to young learners, which allowed me to develop effective classroom management and engaging teaching methods. Holding a Bachelor's degree along with certifications/diplomas in English, Chinese, and Russian gave me a unique multilingual edge. Being able to communicate with local students and adapt to different cultural backgrounds made my teaching experience remarkably smooth and impactful. This experience helped me grow both professionally and personally. I highly recommend teaching abroad to anyone looking to expand their horizon, master new languages, and gain valuable international education experience.

International TEFL Academy responded to this reviewSeptember 24, 2026

Thanks for the review!

If you have ever wanted to spend a week speaking your native language until your own vocal cords file a union grievance, an Angloville immersion week at Hotel Bachledówka is the ultimate luxury endurance test. It turns out the core strategy for teaching English to eager Polish professionals isn't grammar drills or textbooks; it's a relentless, joyful stream of conscious chatter powered by endless cups of tea and breathtaking Tatras mountain views. The Hotel & The Feast Hotel Bachledówka itself feels less like a venue and more like an indulgent mountain sanctuary. Nestled high up in Czerwienne, the views are stunning enough to distract anyone from a tangled debate over present perfect versus past simple. But the real star of the show—the absolute crown jewel of the operation—was the food. Immersion turns out to be incredibly hungry work. Thankfully, the hotel kitchen took this as a personal challenge: * The Buffet Spread: Breakfast and lunch were athletic events. We are talking mountains of local cheeses, warm breads, hearty soups, and traditional Polish dishes that effectively rendered standard afternoon tiredness into a state of warm, well-fed euphoria. * Energy Reserves: If anyone lost their voice by Thursday, it certainly wasn’t due to lack of caloric intake. The food didn't just fuel the conversations; it practically was the conversation for the first twenty minutes of every meal. The Atmosphere & The People The schedule is famously packed—a marathon of 1-on-1 conversations, group activities, and social hours—yet any fear of awkward small talk vanished within the first hour. The sheer warmth of both the Polish participants and the international mentors turned what could have been an exhausting exercise into something remarkably uplifting. * The Polish Participants: Endlessly patient, incredibly driven, and ridiculously generous. They arrived eager to polish their language skills and ended up sharing hilarious local stories, cultural quirks, and recommendations with absolute charm. * The International Crew: A wonderfully eclectic mix of native speakers from all corners of the globe, united by a love of travel, deep discussions, and an impressive capacity to talk continuously for eight hours a day. By day three, the rhythm takes over: you talk, you eat like royalty, you admire the highland scenery, and you talk some more. You arrive as a group of complete strangers assigned to a remote Polish peak, and you leave a week later slightly horse, incredibly well-fed, and possessing a whole new network of genuine friends. If you are going to talk yourself hoarse for a week, there is truly no better place to do it than Bachledówka.

It was very easy to go through the application process, complete all the steps, and be ready to volunteer in Costa Rica. All the support we received throughout the process made sure that we felt safe, prepared, and were making an impact on the local community. I would highly recommend IVHQ, and hope to do future volunteer missions with them.

I had an amazing experience with International Volunteer HQ in Ecuador. Everything was well organized from the beginning, and I felt supported throughout the entire program. The local team was welcoming, helpful, and always available when needed. I especially appreciated the opportunity to immerse myself in the local culture, meet wonderful people, and contribute through volunteering. It was an unforgettable experience, and I would definitely recommend IVHQ to anyone looking for a meaningful experience abroad.

My experience in Hua Hin teaching children was truly amazing. From the moment I arrived, I felt welcomed and supported by a wonderful team. Special thanks to Hannah Yule, Tukkie Khudseesai, and Noah, the coordinator of my teaching team, who made the experience even more enjoyable and well organized. Teaching the children was incredibly rewarding, and the environment was positive, friendly, and motivating every day. The accommodation provided was very comfortable, and the food was also excellent throughout my stay. Overall, this was a memorable and enriching experience that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in volunteering and teaching in Hua Hin.

Wonderful experience with Angloville. Beautiful location and hotel and a chance to spend time with intelligent interesting people from other countries. It is tiring but well worth doing. Great food and swam every morning.

I spent three weeks volunteering at Salariin Kampuchea Learning Center in Siem Reap, where I helped teach English to younger students and supported the development of their social media presence. It was one of the most enriching experiences I’ve ever had. Some days were more challenging than others—adapting to a new environment and finding ways to communicate across cultures. But what I’ll carry with me, more than anything, is the deep sense of connection I felt with the people. I can confidently say I’ve grown and learned so much, and that’s something I’ll always be grateful for. Living and working within the local community gave me a complete perspective shift. I was struck by their warmth and generosity, and the quiet strength with which they face life. From the very beginning, I felt welcomed. The children, the staff, and my host family made me feel included from the start, making it easy to feel at home throughout my time there

The programme insured that whilst getting my teaching experience, I learnt loads about the history of the children in this area. It has been the most eye opening experience and I am so grateful to have been part of it, I will be back!! The team were super supportive and ensured we were safe at all times. This was my first time solo travelling and I felt confident to flourish and be adventurous in the beautiful South Africa!

Since I have just started the course, I cannot really give a complete review yet. So far it's been quite challenging, but in a good way. Lessons are clear and have options for all types of learners. Instructions are thorough and easy to understand. During assessments there are question amplifiers which are a great help in answering the questions. It is easy to focus since you can do it at any time that is convenient for you. I just wish that there were more options for people living in different countries in terms of the time schedules of the Zoom meetings. I live in Asia, and the time schedule of the Zoom meeting are at around 2am in my time, so it will be impossible for me to attend since I also have a full time day job. Other than that, great course! I am excited to continue and get to my goal!

I did the 180 hour TEFL course and a few other little important courses with the TEFL Institute before going on my very interesting internship in Spain. The experience of these courses and the Volunteering contract in a Spanish school was an amazing opportunity and a great experience for me. Since doing these courses, I would like to thank the TEFL team for their serious attitude and professionalism during the course and program. I can only be positif and advise people to use this TEFL Institute to do their work placements or interships or even doing any type of course that they may need for their future. It was amazing, thank you again. I would recommend you anytime to anybody.

Taking the decision to enroll in the TEFL level 5 course with the TEFL Institute was one of the best decisions to take because it not only provided me with the knowledge that I needed but also enabled me to get that knowledge at my own pace while being supported and assisted by the team throughout the course and after it. What I appreciate the most about the TEFL Institute how responsive and supportive the team is; even though my course ended, I still have all my questions answered in no time. Thank you for existing!

I did my TEFL course with the intention of traveling while earning money by teaching English for a year. Although I don't have a degree, I was lucky to find a job teaching in English in Chengdu, China. It was such an amazing experience learning about a new culture, surviving the first months without google based apps and my new environment. Chengdu is a great city and everything was very convenient, especially when you have opened a bank account and get apps like didi (taxi service), taebao (shopping online), alipay (where you can unlock bicycles and pay everything) as well as wechat pay. The transportation systems (metro train and busses) are also very easy to figure out and cheap. What I liked most about this city was how safe it was. The English institute where I taught English was also such a great experience. I had amazing co-workers, Chinese staff and managers I worked with. Everyone is always ready to help out and the Chinese people are very hospitable. Ofcourse there were ups and downs just like in any work environment but the people and living style pays off for any bad that pops up. I made a lot of life long friends and keep in touch with my students till today. I ended up staying for 2 and a half years and it will be an experience I will remember forever.

I volunteered along with my girlfriend to teach English at Emerging Voices in Cartagena, Colombia from Nov-Dec of 2019. The experience overall was amazing. We got to work with lots of different groups of people, from young children living in a poor neighborhood to teenagers learning skills related to the hospitality industry, to adults whose English was very good, but they just lacked the confidence to use it. I also enjoyed the ability to visit other projects at Emerging Voices such as the project to feed and spend time with the homeless and the sports development project that worked with kids living in a Drug Rehabilitation Centre. One of the highlights was definitely meeting all of the other volunteers. Programs like these bring out great people and we had a ton of fun hanging out with people coming from all over North America. My other highlight was definitely the food! Sophie was our local Colombian chef and she made the most amazing meals every day. I was always excited for mealtime! She also kept the house impeccably clean and even made our beds every day; what an amazing lady! I also enjoyed working with Monica who is the program owner. She is a very inspiring woman and a kind soul. We happened to be there during a transitional time for Emerging Voice so that meant we had lots of different volunteers, but also lots of different coordinators. We had three different teaching coordinators during our 4-week stay. One consistent throughout though was Lao. He worked with the childcare program, but he was the only constant in the volunteer house for the entire time that we were there and he made our experience that much better with his kindness and light-hearted nature. The last thing that I really enjoyed was the location of the volunteer house. It was located in the safe neighborhood of Crespo; it was only a 5-minute walk to the beach and only a 10-minute cab to downtown so it was truly perfect! All in it was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to give back and also push themselves a little out of their comfort zone!

I've always wanted to live in Asia, but that meant needing a job. I'm not a teacher by trade, but with a degree and some childcare experience I was able to teach. I took the online TEFL course and through their jobs contact, found a few options and countries to teach in. It is not glamorous or easy work, but it is an experience if you're open minded. It's still tough to find things to do in the local community if you're not fluent or if you don't gel with other foriegn teachers. For me the job was secondary to living in Asia. Jobs are available with openings for variety levels of experience and good contacts to help you through the process. It isn't like living at home, but locals are happy to see a foreigner.

I was a bit scared about packing up my whole life to come to the other side of the world but it really has been the best decision I've made so far. The program I chose has people that are committed to helping me succeed as teacher during my year here and the work/life balance is great

After completing the master TEFL course with TEFL Graduate I immediately got an interview for a position in China. I have been teaching English for 5 months and I'm looking forward to making them 5 years.

TEFL Graduate placed me at one of the leading teaching centres in China. My centre was located in one of the 4 major cities in China in a very attractive location that provided me not only a great workplace, but a great living place as well. Carlos kept checking up on me and provided me with constant support along the way.

I was placed in Yuanping, Shanxi province. Small town with a Big Heart. My colleagues and neighbours became friends for life. The town is a jewel between beautiful mountain and warm spring spas in the area. People embraced me, invited me to their homes and took me to interesting places. I can really recommend the experience!

I volunteered in the Teaching Program with IVHQ in Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa for 2 weeks with my girlfriend. For the accommodation, I was placed with 4 other boys in the room where I had my own bed and closet space. A girls room was next to us and each of the boys and girls had separate bathrooms. Also a kitchen and common living room were available. On the weekdays, we were given 3 meals per day from breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food was carbohydrate heavy and sufficient for the stay as enough food was available for everyone with specific diet requirements cooked accordingly upon request. The housekeeper was very polite as well. For a volunteering program, it was really more than you need and a great place to stay. For the volunteering program, we were placed in Steenberg Primary School assisting a teacher with 30 Grade R kids. The kids were very cute and super fun as they are hyper all the time. We would help them with the class assignment, play with them in the playground, and assess them basic color matching and mathematics numbering exercises. The classroom had the basic amenities needed for the school year. We even left our mark with a painting on the classroom wall! It was an amazing experience and one that we will definitely go through again. A driver from the program picked us up and dropped us off back to the accommodation every school day. He was usually always on time. For the city, there are abundant activities to choose from. We were lucky to have done shark cage diving, a safari, and skydiving as main attractions. Other activities were hiking Table Mountain through the Skeleton Gorge trail, visiting the beautiful city of Cape Town and exploring it, surfing, visiting Boulders Beach where penguins are found and the most South Western point of the African continent in Cape of Good Hope as well as many other activities. This experience is truly one that will be missed and I hope to have a similar one next time!

International Volunteer HQ [IVHQ] responded to this reviewMay 09, 2019

Hi Ralph, it is great to hear from you and that you really enjoyed your time in South Africa. It is always pleasing to hear that you got along with the children so well and took part on some awesome tourist activities! Thanks for volunteering with IVHQ! Acacia - IVHQ Program Manager.

Im am currently still living in China and love it. The work schedule gives you a lot of time off to travel and explore the rest of the country! And if you’re not interested in travelling, saving money is the easiest task - the cost of living is very cheap! With lots of friends near and local attractions it’s easy to save and still have a good time! Don’t hesitate to try this experience, it will be worth it!