Become TEFL certified and immersed in Thai culture on this internship program

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Program Overview
Life on the Program
Program Details
Volunteer Testimonials

Program Overview

Travel to the small rural town of Ao Luk in southern Thailand, a region famous for its white sand beaches, lush jungle, stunning waterfalls and ancient sites such as the Tiger Temple.

This internship program is an excellent opportunity for you to begin or continue a career in teaching while making a huge difference to both the children you will teach and to the wider community.

You will begin by receiving TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) training while working towards your full certification. Following this and further training, your placement phase will see you using your new found skills on a teaching assignment in a Thai community, becoming fully immersed in this friendly and fascinating culture.

Life on the Program

Before becoming TEFL-certified you will begin with training with a qualified instructor, focusing on teaching and lesson planning techniques, practicing new found skills as you teach English to adult students in the evenings in a small and personal classroom setting.

Once you become a qualified TEFL teacher yourself, you will then go on to teach an additional term before beginning your work placement in a local school where you will take and lead your own English classes. Although rewarding, your days can be long as you learn and develop alongside your own students.

Your accommodation will be at our base in Ao Luk in basic but comfortable surroundings with running water and electricity. Rooms are dormitory style with shared amenities and duties around base.

Program Details

As tourism has developed in the area, many local communities have lost natural resources, altering their way of life and causing many traditions to be lost.

GVI works directly with communities in Thailand in order to; provide free English lessons to the community; train local teachers; assist in the development of sustainable local business; and, develop lesson plans to highlight important issues in the wider community.

Our overall goal is to support local communities to develop with tourism that blends into their lifestyle.

Volunteer Testimonials

Morag Burnie, Australia

The TEFL course itself is fairly intense, especially in the first week or two, but as I progressed through it everything began to click and I could see how the theory applied in the classroom. It was a bit nerve-wracking being thrown in the deep end and teaching on day three, but it was a lot of fun! The students were so enthusiastic and keen to learn and I’ve loved teaching them. It’s been challenging and I’ve definitely been taken out of my comfort zone but I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself.

Thomas Martin, United Kingdom

The fact that we are teachers in a town, which for the moment at least, has very few tourists, means that we are able to see the real Thailand. We go to villages not tourist visits, we explore caves that have yet to be frequented by foreigners, we swim in places that are totally deserted but for the GVI team, and we play basketball and drink beer with the locals. This place is amazing if you want to see unseen Thailand as well as actually making a difference I would definitely suggest GVI in Ao Luk.