Rewarding experience, great community

I taught at an EF franchise school in Zhangjiagang for several years and had a great time. From the first day airport pickup I was made to feel very welcome and the teachers all took me out for dinner on my first night. The local staff arranged all my visa documents and provided me with a Chinese phone and a fully furnished apartment with wi-fi already set up.

I'd not had much experience before coming to EF, but I had plenty of opportunities to observe classes and my workload increased steadily but always with a lot of support from other teachers. They had interactive whiteboards, which made using video and other cool stuff really easy. We had weekly teacher training sessions, were observed regularly, and I had the opportunity to do a TKT certificate while there. The management were supportive and fair. We had a western manager whose door was always open, and the Chinese management generally left him to it.

The city I was in was quite small, but people were friendly - it was a great place to learn Chinese. I had a thoroughly rewarding time there and would recommend it to anyone wanting to experience China.