Teach English in China – Work with Students & Teachers

“I think of my bright, effervescent, eager, bubbly students.
Now they’re not just statistics in a newspaper, but are faces I know
– and I think they’ll remain in my mind and heart forever.”
Judith O’Neill, China volunteer

Teach English in China, a land of archaeological and cultural wonders. Share your native English skills with Chinese children, teens or adults in one of two distinct urban centers. We launched our program in 1996 to teach English in China and build a bridge of friendship and respect. Work with students or teachers – or both! – to leave your personal service legacy. Review the standard volunteer work schedule to teach English in China.

FAQs: How to Teach English in China

Dates & Contribution

Your service program contribution is tax-deductible when you follow our itinerary. Select a date on a specific program and register to volunteer in China with your $350 deposit. Available discounts are explained here. If you prefer, you may print a text registration form and submit it by mail or fax. Children under age 18 must register as a minor and travel with a parent or adult legal guardian. Please call a volunteer coordinator at (800) 487-1074 for help if needed for any of these steps.

Most partner community lodging is double-occupancy, with a single room option for an additional fee. See single room fees here for countries where this option is available.

Upcoming Volunteer Dates in China

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Team Leader

Wang Bao Li is Global Volunteers’ China Country Manager, and works to maximize your contribution as a volunteer. Born and raised in China, Bao Li loves to share her culture – language, food, traditions – she’ll even explain the Chinese zodiak to you! She earned a degree in English, and served the Sino-American Society in Xi’an before joining Global Volunteers’ staff in 2005. She’s experienced in volunteer management, and participates in our intensive annual two-week training in Minnesota. Bao Li consistently demonstrates exceptional leadership capabilities, and is regarded by her team members as “a national treasure.”

“Wang Baoli is extremely efficient, knowledgeable and cheerful. I cannot conceive of anyone doing a better job than Baoli.”
Leonard Eilbacher, IN

She’s energetic, enthusiastic, kind, gentle, supportive, friendly, helpful. You are in good hands with Wang Baoli!
Paul Whelan, WA

“Wang Baoli is a treasure! Very professional and hard working!”
Tim Stockdale, IL

Arrival & Departure

Global Volunteers’ China Service Program begins with the evening meal on the first Saturday. For Xian programs, plan your flight to arrive in Xi’an, China (airport code XIY) anytime before 4:00PM on the first day of your service program. Plan your departure from Xi’an anytime after 8:00AM on the final day of your service program. For Kunming programs, plan your flight to arrive at Kunming airport (airport code KMG) between 8 am and 5 pm on the Saturday your program begins. You may depart from Kunming airport any time after 8 am on the Saturday your program ends.

Provided you confirm your flight itinerary with Global Volunteers at least two weeks before the service program arrival date, our Country Manager will meet you along with your teammates within the prescribed arrival window. If you choose to spend time in country before the service program begins, please plan to meet your team at the designated airport within the specified arrival window on the first day of the program in order to be transported to the host community.

Health & Safety

Staying healthy and safe while volunteering in China

Your health, safety and security is our top priority when you volunteer in China. Your lodging, food and transportation are provided always with a mind to protect you while teaching English, caring for children and after work. Your hotel lodging offers 24-hour security, and utmost safety in guest rooms and common areas. Your team leader is trained in CPR and first aid. Read more about health and safety here.

In China, city traffic is dangerous and the smog can cause respiratory problems. Our country manager will advise you on how to substantially reduce these risks. We strongly recommend you consult your own physician, public health clinic and/or travel clinic for detailed travel health information for volunteering in China. For general recommendations, consult the following sources:

Centers for Disease Control | Health Canada Online | Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Global Volunteers includes emergency medical evacuation insurance in your China service program fee. We also recommend health insurance that covers you while you are volunteering in China, and trip cancellation insurance in the event you must cancel your participation on the service program. Your travel agent can refer you to travel insurance providers. Click here to read risks associated with international travel.

Free Time

After a day of English teaching, your evenings and weekends are free to explore the many cultural, historical and natural points of interest around Xi’an or Kunming. Both partner communities offer numerous museums, galleries and historical military attractions for culture and history buffs, and shopping areas for bargain hunters.

While our non-profit status prohibits us from planning your free-time activities, our local staff will provide a list of the many opportunities to explore the region. For instance, Kunming is known as the “City of Eternal Spring” due to its pleasant sub-tropical climate and abundant flowers. It is a city which combines the old and the new – featuring numerous attractive parks and temples along with significant military artifacts. Just outside the downtown area is the site of the 1999 Kunming International Horticultural Exposition, anchored by the Expo Garden, in the “Golden Temple Scenic Area” known as the largest and most diverse horticultural gardens in all of China. Two hours outside the city, the Shilin Stone Forest National Park is a vast area of limestone pillars, spikes and crags – resembling a petrified forest – probably formed by an ancient lake. It’s considered the premier attraction in Yunnan Province

In Xi’an, you can visit the ancient City Walls and 18 Gates enclosing the oldest, rectangular part of the city. Built to repel the Mongol hordes by Zhu Yuanzhang, the first Emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Wall survived – only to be badly damaged by Japanese bombers during the Nanching War in the 1930s. It was superbly restored after the war, and now is the only complete city wall left in China. Another attraction, The Forest of Steles, is a museum of seven exhibit halls displaying more than a thousand inscribed stones, engraved during a 2,000 year period from the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) to the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911). Of course, the Terra Cotta Warriors archeological site draws visitors from every part of the globe. Depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, the funerary was art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE to protect him in his afterlife and was unearthed in 1974.

FamiliesTeach English in China

Your opportunity to teach English in China as a family can be a most rewarding experience! Children ages 8 to 18 can teach English along with their parents or guardian in classrooms and small groups of children and teens. You can also volunteer together at a special education center for disabled children. Your volunteer coordinator will work with you to find the ideal program schedule and partner community to meet your family volunteering goals.

For instance, pre-teens can often tutor children the same age – and practice English skills through songs, games, skits, art projects and the like. Chinese children are bright and accepting of volunteers of all ages – and like children worldwide – love to talk about friends, movies and family life. Our partners readily welcome child volunteers into their classrooms to teach English! Mature teens can team-teach English lessons from our English Teaching Guide along with a parent – or invent new sessions on topics of mutual interest, such as music, sports and Hollywood personalities.

Chose program dates during school breaks and summer vacations. Parents and guardians are expected to teach English with their children, and collaborate with our team leader and Chinese teachers to maximize the service experience for everyone. Youth are invited to offer their own perspectives in team meetings and fully participate in free-time activities. In this way, your child can form a rare, personal perspective of today’s China beyond what they can find online, in school or in personal study. What’s more, they’ll gain life-long friends in one of the most fascinating – and dominant – countries on Earth.

Groups Teach English in China

The benefits of teaching English in China as a group with Global Volunteers are many. Teaching English conversational skills to students or enhancing Chinese English teachers’ classroom capabilities can be many times more enriching than a traditional “tour” experience. Learn about each other in a non-traditional way as an intact China volunteer team, and know that your unique skills advance the futures of those you teach.

China service-learning for high school and college groups

Groups volunteering together in Xi’an and Kunming discover the “real China,” apart from network news stories and government reports. Doing business in China takes on a new meaning when you meet one-on-one with those who live and make the “news” we see from afar. Language comes alive when you hear and use it in English classrooms and on the street. Nothing can replace the experience of teaching in China together and experiencing the culture as you live it daily.

Details on group volunteering in China

China English Teaching Projects

Teach English in Xi’an, China
In Xi’an, you teach English lessons to secondary or university students with all levels of language abilities. Use texts, games, stories and your own creativity to make the English lessons your own! You’ll often teach alongside a Chinese English teacher, but you may also be asked to tutor small groups of Chinese students and explain English lessons. Lessons might be English idioms for advanced students – or common phrases for new learners. Use our English teaching guide and teach individually or with a partner. After school, you can join your students in shopping, sight-seeing trips, musical events or any number of cultural activities to extend the day’s English lessons. Whether you’re a current or retired teacher – or not – your knowledge of English is a valuable resource in China. Engage students in classroom practice and “real life” learning situations to maximize your contribution as a China volunteer.

Teach English in Kunming, China
Imagine each day, teaching English in a Chinese classroom where eager students stand to greet you, or grateful teachers await your English lessons and practice sessions. Our community partners assign you to English teaching projects that draw on your creativity and unique skills, and guide you in preparing truly useful lessons. In the summer, you lead a group of Chinese teachers of English in conversations to help them improve their English pronunciation, and broaden their repertoire of English language games and activities to apply in their own classrooms. This is a 2- to 3-week “staff development” English program run by Kunming University – for an intact group of Chinese English teachers from elementary, middle and high schools in the area. During the winter months, teach conversational English to primary and secondary school students in lively classrooms. For many Chinese students, your English conversations are their first extended experience with native speakers of English.

Teach English in China: Program Snapshot

1, 2, 3 weeks year-round

Contribution:
$2,262* – $3,095

* with qualifying discounts.

Projects Include:
Teaching English

Local time:

Request Information

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Download Full Program Schedule

Read Program Blog

Volunteer Says Teaching English To Chinese Students Affords ‘Superb’ Understanding

March 13, 2018/by Maggie Bjorklund

Your Guide to Volunteering and Travel in China, Bao Li Wang

August 29, 2017/by Dana Faust

Chinese Teachers Talk About Volunteer Impact

June 6, 2017/by Dana Faust

Building Bridges on Borders

January 27, 2017/by globalvol

Half of the World Is Celebrating and You May Not Even Know about It

Food and Lodging

Your health and safety are our highest priorities when you teach English in China. Your “home” in both Kunming and Xi’an is a comfortable tourist-class hotel in the downtown area. The double-occupancy rooms are air-conditioned and generally feature two twin beds, a desk and chair, closet, small dresser, safety deposit box, mini refrigerator, television, telephone and laundry service.

Air conditioning
Television and telephone
Mini refrigerator
Laundry service
Fitness center
Single room available for an extra fee

The variety and quantity of the food in China are legendary. You’ll most often be served stir-fried dishes of vegetables and meat, sweet & sour pork, Chinese dumplings, and fried rice. Bottled water is provided in Xi’an. In Kunming, a water dispenser is available in each hotel room. Vegetarian diets can generally be accommodated.

“A bridge of friendship has been built between us. Even if you are leaving, the friendship will live forever. We will miss you as our teachers amongst us, and also as cheerful friends who brighten our days. We won’t forget the lessons you gave us, and the honesty and generocity you demonstrated. Most of all, however, we will benefit from the gift of confidence you brought to us every day.”

Yuan Pin-jieXian high school student

“Chinese teachers want to make their English lessons engaging and relevant. This is where we come in. We give them our best ideas, resources, and so on, with the idea of sharing these with the entire team. More than simply teaching English, we’re engaging them in conversations and activities that interest them – and model the use of the language. We extend friendship – using English as a vehicle.”

Jim May5-time Kunming volunteer

“Two weeks are not long for us young students. But this brief but invaluable experience has changed my life. I’ve learned so much which I can never gather from books or describe in words. It seems that they cannot be seen and touched. But they are indeed in my heart and beginning to affect me silently like a spiritual shower which helps me in considering what kind of meaningful life I will have.”

Lauren XueXi’an college student

“Through lively conversations about life in America, and songs, dances and games, we help them return to their classrooms with slightly improved English and new ideas to use in their classes. But most importantly, we help renew their enthusiasm for their job as teachers. I think I can guarantee that volunteering in Kunming will be an experience not to be forgotten.”

Esther Schak4-time China volunteer

“My experience teaching under your auspices in Xi’an was a learning experience for me, perhaps more than it was for the students I taught. I have an appreciation of the Chinese culture, the goodness and quality of their people, that I wouldn’t have known without this experience. Your programs are truly two-way streets!”

Alex DoyleChina Volunteer

Be The Change.

When you teach English in China, and take time for personal adventures, you’ll learn about the Chinese people and remain forever invested. Our time-tested and proven philosophy of service ensures that you help advance our partners’ vision and goals and are accepted as family. Our commitment to work in partnership on long-term community projects enables you, in just a short time, to serve as a critical link in a chain of volunteer support spanning three decades.

Volunteer Voices:

Read more about other volunteers who teach English in China below or on our program blog.

Request a China Program Fact Sheet

Request a program catalog here or by calling 800-487-1074.

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