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Gapping in India

I am hoping to go and teach English in India starting in late February. I'm going with these people. Has anyone else done this (or a similar) type of thing and was it good? :smile:

Reply 1

!Laxy!

englishstudent

I am hoping to go and teach English in India starting in late February. I'm going with these people. Has anyone else done this (or a similar) type of thing and was it good? :smile:

my mate went. He said it takes a bit to settle in, but its brilliant after that. :smile:

Good Luck!

Reply 2

abcd1234

it may be a cliche, but it will be a life changing experience. ypu can take the man out of india, but not the india out the man. just hope your stomach can handle it......

Reply 3

pedy1986

13

englishstudent

I am hoping to go and teach English in India starting in late February. I'm going with these people. Has anyone else done this (or a similar) type of thing and was it good? :smile:

I trekked the Australian Outback with the same company, and they are very good and the supoort is excellent from them.

I'm going to Vanuatu to teach Maths/Economics/History/English (and whatever else they need me for) in January 2006

Reply 4

trev

15

Some of my friends went on a world challenge trip to india during last summer.

Reply 5

Natalie Lane

9

englishstudent

I am hoping to go and teach English in India starting in late February. I'm going with these people. Has anyone else done this (or a similar) type of thing and was it good? :smile:

My ex-chemistry teacher and his wife constantly move around and live for two years teaching in different places, they said India was their favourite one nut they did admit that it was a situation where you'd either love it or hate it since it was so different... then they went to South Africa...

Reply 6

Mrs Rickman

2

trev

Some of my friends went on a world challenge trip to india during last summer.

I'm going to Peru next summer with World Challenge :biggrin:

Reply 7

Natalie Lane

9

Mrs Rickman

I'm going to Peru next summer with World Challenge :biggrin:

Been there a few months ago, didn't get to see any of it though cause I was in a ridiculous conference which ended up being some sort of geography field trip, so we stayed in the forest doing the whole thing... :mad:

Reply 8

trev

15

I wanted to go to a place with World Challenge, but don't have the money - kind of expensive.

Reply 9

Tyler Durden

OP

17

trev

I wanted to go to a place with World Challenge, but don't have the money - kind of expensive.

Yes it is - I have been working since September to save for it. Will set me back 2 and a half grand at least.

Thanks for all the feedback. India looks amazing, the fact that there are a billion people is kind of "wow-inducing" on its own.

I hope it is life-changing actually. I feel as though my life is bland in some ways at the moment, I want to see the world a bit. I bet I do get ill though from the totally different food, oh well I'll get over it :biggrin:

.

Reply 10

abcd1234

i am biased, but it truly is the most amazing country in the world.

QUOTES ABOUT INDIA:

Albert Einstein said: "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."

Mark Twain said: "India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most constructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only."

"India has 2,000,000 gods, and worships them all. In religion other countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire."

"So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked."

French scholar Romain Rolland said: "If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India."

Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA said: "India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border."

Reply 11

Kondar

1

englishstudent

Yes it is - I have been working since September to save for it. Will set me back 2 and a half grand at least.

Thanks for all the feedback. India looks amazing, the fact that there are a billion people is kind of "wow-inducing" on its own.

I hope it is life-changing actually. I feel as though my life is bland in some ways at the moment, I want to see the world a bit. I bet I do get ill though from the totally different food, oh well I'll get over it :biggrin:

.

I don't know much about World Challenge- but if you have to pay 2.5 grand to go teach in a third world country... Im thinking that you are getting ripped off. I am currently teaching in China and I love it. Here I make 6000RMB a month (about 750 USD). I've done a lot of volunteer work around the world and I think that 2,500 is is a lot of money. You can find just as good oppurtunities (for the CV, life experience, etc...) without the hefty price tag anywhere in the world, including India.

Reply 12

heather2

hey. i havent been on a world challenge thing, im only doing as's atm but i went to india in summer 2004. i toured for a week then worked in a school for disabled kids for three weeks. it really was the best month of my life and i cried when i left, on the way home and when i got home as well. yes the food wasnt great and we all (i went with a group of 40) had slight stomach upsets, some more than others, and it took a while getting used to the heat/beggars/food/difference between the rich (which will be you) and the poor but we all had an amazing time. and yes, as someone has already said its cliche-d but it really did change my life. i loved every minute of it. go out there and put everything into it and you wont regret it, you'll never want to leave! hope your trip is amazing as mine was.
take care and dont forget to take your malaria tablets!
heather xxxxx

Reply 13

ThunderCat8

1

Kondar

I don't know much about World Challenge- but if you have to pay 2.5 grand to go teach in a third world country... Im thinking that you are getting ripped off. I am currently teaching in China and I love it. Here I make 6000RMB a month (about 750 USD). I've done a lot of volunteer work around the world and I think that 2,500 is is a lot of money. You can find just as good oppurtunities (for the CV, life experience, etc...) without the hefty price tag anywhere in the world, including India.

How did you sort out the job? Whereabouts in China are you currently? I would kill to be getting that sort of cash! Where I'm going, I will get 800RMB a month, which is enough to live comfortably for that month. It's not a lot, but it should be enough. How long are you in China for?

Reply 14

Taramasalata

I gapped in India!
Keep thinking back to this time last year...Do you know whereabouts youll be going?
The stuff everyone says is true, you should have a great time! The first couple of days you just kinda wander round going "wooooooo" coz its so different but once you get the hang of things you get to this stage where you dont think anything could phase you anymore!
I dont have any experience with world challenge but if you wanna ask anything feel free. Oh I wanna go back! Enjoy...

Reply 15

inactive__user

I went to Zambia/Botswana with World Challenge, such an awesome time and was great to have the itinery pretty much planned for you but when I look back I think it is a LOT of money they charge for what you get, you could do it yourself for a lot cheaper. But then I guess by paying this extra money you get a lot of advice and a lot of things sorted for you, plus a professional to come and guide you.

Reply 16

Kondar

1

ThunderCat8

How did you sort out the job? Whereabouts in China are you currently? I would kill to be getting that sort of cash! Where I'm going, I will get 800RMB a month, which is enough to live comfortably for that month. It's not a lot, but it should be enough. How long are you in China for?

I am in China for a year- Hangzhou. I applied for about 100 jobs all over China online and took the best offer. 6000 is pretty high- Most of the offers I got were for 3500-4000. I think the lowest offer I got was for 3500 RMB. This makes me seriously question the company you are going with... I would be a bit concerned. You can EASILY.. easily ...easily.. find another job that pays 5 times that.

What will you be doing in China? If you are a teacher then you should be making a lot more money. When I was researching jobs over here I found a few companies that make people pay to come over here (most teaching jobs include free airfare) and then pay a program fee to live. This is basically a huge rip off. They have some deal lined up with the school where the company will get your salary and to top it off, you have to pay them to do this!!! I guess some people do not know about the oppurtunities in China and try to exploit it.

go to www.eslcare.com and check out the job board. Also PM me if you have any questions.

How long will you be there for?

Reply 17

ThunderCat8

1

I am going to be teaching for 5months. The job title I've been given is "Volunteer teaching assistant" so I wasn't expecting any money at all. I am pretty happy to be going with the company I am (www.gap.org.uk) as they sort it all out for me, so all I have to do is go, and teach conversational English. They found me a school, a flat, somebody to live with (an Aussie guy, who sounds great) and I have a large group of friends I've made through GAP who are going to other cities around China. I don't have any TEFL certificates so I wasn't sure if I could do it the way you have.

Maybe after I have finished Uni, if I want to go back to China, I could do what you're doing. At the moment though, I don't feel brave enough to do it all independently. I am so excited now though!! I leave in 5 weeks, and I want to be there now!

Reply 18

London_psycho

1

I love indians, theyre so cool and weird and funny and strange. well my parents(who are from india) are anyway.

Reply 19

Mrs Rickman

2

World Challenge is very expensive, there's no denying it. Peru's cost me about £4000 in total (of which £3150 went to WCE). You pay for the insurance and back up systems in place incase anything goes wrong hence why they're so popular (ie parents are more easy going about sending off their little angels into the world). I'm going in 6 weeks!

Madventure do programmes involving spending between 2 weeks and 3 months in countries doing a range of projects. Was very keen on doing 2 weeks of English teaching in Uganda, but at £1500 i won't be able to afford it :frown:

Gapping in India

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