Ana S.

I have been working with Waijiaoyi (WJY) at the Beijing office for 6 months now, and on the plane back from a trip home for holiday I was genuinely excited to be coming back to work. The teacher role at WJY is not quite like any regular teaching job, its more like you are hosting a TV show. You have potentially hundreds of students watching you at any time which makes the work extremely important. And if you are so inclined, makes you feel a bit like a star.

Overall, everyday is focused on getting ready for the classes you are going to be teaching. We aren't teaching/broadcasting for the majority of the working day and the classes are only 25 minutes long.

The focus of our lessons is to make an entertaining and engaging experience where students learn by staying fixed through games, chants, songs, and captivating storylines. In many respects we are similar to Sesame Street or Blue's Clues.

When not in the VR room and on camera the atmosphere in the office is light, friendly, warm, and personal. There is a massive team upstairs working on everything leading up to and surrounding the lessons that the key handful of teachers deliver. So sometimes when you make a mistake you are letting quite a few people down.

In other respects, when you need assistance with anything; your visa, ordering things off of the internet, buying a phone etc. The Chinese colleagues in the office are right there to help you with anything.