Over a decade ago, in the heart of Beijing, the paths of three language students converged to form the first foundations of the social enterprise, Gotoco. It was here that they began a new adventure, shaped by the desire to diverge from conventional professional pathways and to provide a wide access to the unparalleled benefits of teaching abroad, that they themselves had experienced.
Shortly following their encounter, the three students became close friends and not before long, they and a small group of Gotoco’ers found themselves taking the first steps of Gotoco’s journey into Yangshuo, Southern China, where they held their first programme. From that humble inception, over 1,000 Gotoco’ers have completed programmes in the 2022-23 academic year alone, spanning 3 continents and in over 12 different countries; a living embodiment of the belief that every individual is an author, with the power to create their own narrative.
Now we are global how fun!
We are affordable. We were founded to be accessible for a wide range of financial backgrounds, our founders didn’t want to have to stay at home for months saving up money for programme fees! We think everyone should have the chance to travel and take part in projects like ours. We create an inclusive environment for diverse groups through our free, funded and low-cost programmes.
We enable Gotoco’ers to undertake real roles in real education hosts as teacher trainees, underpinned by Ofqual-accredited TEFL training and certification. We avoid ‘voluntourism’ (where the main purpose of a participant’s attendance is to fundraise for local hosts) and aim only to provide opportunities where our Gotoco’ers are fulfilling a useful and needed work-experience role with one of our partners. This, together with our TEFL qualification, sets up our Gotoco’ers for fun and fulfilling careers in teaching and beyond all over the world.
Our Gotoco’ers join schools and education providers in small groups in local communities, so they can be immersed in the culture of the country they are joining and gain real-life experience in these communities, rather than living separately to the community in large groups of expats. This means our Gotoco’ers have unique experiences with their hosts and see their placement country from a different angle to tourists.
We create meaningful impact by equipping our Gotoco’ers with teaching experience, cultural insight, and personal growth, preparing them for global careers. At the same time, our local partners benefit from native English speakers, fostering language learning and cross-cultural exchange within their communities.
The world is huge, go see it. Discover some of the world’s most ancient civilisations, most captivating cultures and most beautiful geographies!
At Gotoco we offer you an unrivalled opportunity to explore the world. We offer lots of different programmes in SE Asia, S America and various destinations in Europe.
