Teaching with Young Learners in southern China

Shenzhen is a huge city! I have just arrived. I haven’t been able to see much yet. Our working hours allow us to sight see on the mornings before work (work 2-8:30) And our work load isn’t stressful. Although we work weekends, there are still events during the week, so it doesn’t feel like we miss out. Overall, Shenzhen has a western vibe, however you still get to experience the day to day Chinese culture. You are able to travel easily in China, as Hong Kong is very close, and Shenzhen has amazing transport links.

Working at York English in Fuzhou, China was a life changing experience for me both personally and professionally. During my time there I learned more than I ever anticipated and made life long friends. The school itself set you up with outstanding help and support to make sure you are successful, and your fellow teachers are some of the diverse, fun-loving, and dedicated people you will meet. I would recommend York to anyone looking to teach abroad and experience the amazing country of China. Not only will you have an amazing teaching experience (the kids are wonderful and the resources for your classes are world class), but you will get to experience a city and country like no other with your new best friends.

My year teaching at York was incredible. Any nerves I had about moving to China instantly vanished upon arrival. The school and its staff are professional, dedicated to their teachers, and go the extra mile to make sure you love your new work environment.

York does a great job of looking after you while you find your feet. There is help every step of the way. From making sure you are happy with your apartment, setting up helpful apps on your phone, showing you around your new town, the list goes on.

I made friends for life and had some truly memorable moments. York is a total no-brainer when looking for employment overseas!

Without knowing much about China or York, I took a leap of faith and moved to Fuzhou, China. When I arrived at the airport, I was greeted by York staff. The support received was incredible, everything is set up to ensure you are able to live comfortably and succeed during your time in China.

York offered great training and development along the teaching journey. They had resources and workshops that guaranteed creative and fun classes, for you and the students! Regular reviews ensured that I was always on track to be the best teacher I could be.

Apart from professional development, the experience of living in Fuzhou, China was incredible. The life-long friends you make, the food, the cultural differences, and all the travel you can do based from China was really a once in a lifetime experience.

Working as an ESL teacher was an incredible spring-board that landed me in the corporate world of Learning & Development. I believe the training and understanding of teaching that I received at York was paramount to my current success.

More importantly, my forever take-away from York will always be all the incredible people I'm fortunate enough call friends. The travel we did and the adventures we had will always hold a special place in my heart.

I know from experience how challenging and nerve-wracking it is to try and identify the best opportunities to teach abroad, especially in China. There's a lot of noise in the market and always going to be an element of risk, but I can thoroughly recommend York English for both new and experienced teachers who are looking to come to China.

What sets York English apart is the level and quality of training and support they provide from Day 1. They give you the tools you need to grow as a teacher, develop new skills and gain valuable experience. Not only that, but they provide the ideal environment and foundation for your wider experiences in the country - your travel, socialising and cultural experiences. It's difficult to get the most from time overseas without the fundamentals in place, and this is where York English really excell!

Thoroughly recommended!

For me, working for York English gave me a great combination of enjoying living in a different country with an excellent level of support and help, meeting people from all over the world who have become friends for life, and professional development. I look back on my time with York really fondly and have been able to use all of the skills I learned in my future career.

I moved out there with my girlfriend and friend, and we found the experience worked really well as a small group. Within a few weeks of being in China we had made really close friends who we loved working with.

Working with York English was one of the best experiences I could have wished for. When I first applied for the job with my partner we thought this will just be another teaching experience in China, we'll be there for a year, we'll move on. It turned out to be so much more than that.

In our first days and weeks we were so well looked after by the school. We got a lot of pre-arrival advice (all really professional and useful), we got picked up at the airport and there was a huge apartment close to our school waiting for us, furnished with everything we needed. In the school we were taken through a very in-depth training and orientation programme for our first 2 weeks. We learned about the teaching philosophy of the school, the curriculum, the policies and we met the teaching and TA team. Everyone was lovely, including the students who I fell in love with right away.

Over the next few months my teaching developed so much. I had tons of feedback from my Academic Coordinator and Tom, the education director. There's a feel feeling at York that there's no such thing as the perfect teacher and we should all try to develop as educators. I still feel that way about teaching now. We were also making lots of friends with our people in Fuzhou while this was going on. Going out to explore and have fun on weekends, taking day trips and exploring, making holiday plans.

One of the best things about York is the opportunity to develop your skills. So after a few months I made a step up to being a Senior Teacher. In this role I was able to help train and mentor the new teachers who joined York and get more involved in shaping the schools teaching philosophy. Being able to contribute to more than just the students lives is an amazing feeling and is something I'll always cherish about York.

The students though are my proudest achievement at York. They are so loving and keen-to-learn. They really enjoy the small class sizes and getting to know their teachers. I will never forget some of the amazing children I taught at York!

This school is the reason I have so many amazing memories to look back on each day. If I could, I would return in the drop of a hat.

The friends, the staff, the children, the cities, the food, the cost of living, the benefits you receive for working with them are absolutely amazing and all of these things just seem to get better and better each year.

From the moment you get in touch with York to the moment you leave (hopefully you won't ever leave!) you are treated professionally and receive so much support.

Language barrier isn't an issue as there are so many opportunities for language exchanges or Chinese lessons.

I 100%would recommend this school if you are thinking of teaching in China!