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If there was a way to travel the world for free, I’d be all over that. However, the next best thing is joining a volunteer abroad program in exchange for free or cheap accommodation. I knew that I wanted to live in another country for a least a year and one popular way of doing this is through teaching English.

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Having spent quite a bit of time researching online TEFL programs I came across a company called Angloville in partnership with Premier Tefl. They offered free accommodation plus meals for Native English speakers in exchange for their time in helping students converse in English.

Yes, that’s right, a completely free stay in a hotel in Europe. It almost sounded too good to be true. However, that didn’t stop me! I applied to the program in July 2017. About two months later, I had a new TEFL certificate.

While I did become an ESL teacher, this program is open to anyone that wants to volunteer during their time abroad. In exchange for being a volunteer abroad, you will receive free hotel accommodation and meals.

This is my personal Angloville review experience. I was not paid to create this content.

What is Angloville?

Angloville is a cultural exchange program between native English speakers and English language learners in Europe. Programs are available year-round in 8 European countries.

These include Ireland, England, Poland, Slovakia, Malta, Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

Programs are divided by age group.

The Kids program enrolls kids ranging from 7 to 11 years old.

The Junior program includes kids ranging from 12 to 18 years old.

The Adults program ranges from 30 to 60 years old.

All programs are set up to help students converse in English by total immersion for about one week. Which can be a struggle, but by the end of the week, many students make tremendous progress.

Angloville is a safe and legit program. Each year there are 8,000 participants. The company has also been featured in Loney Planet, Forbes, AARP, and The Glasgow Guardian.

What Kinds of Students Attend?

Since the age range for programs is so wide, so is the level of English.

Students are interviewed on why they want to attend and to test their level of English. They need to be at least at an A1 level.

This means that volunteers should not talk fast. Remember to use appropriate language that students can understand. It might be difficult for them to express thoughts and ideas in English. They will also be nervous and shy for the first 2 days.

It’s important that you make them feel comfortable and encourage them.

There are the occasional students, especially in the Junior program, that are forced to attend because their parents make them. They want them to have an enriching summer experience.

Others are working hard to get into programs abroad where English is required. These students will really test your English! They want to know everything.

University-aged students might be studying for the IELTS or TOEFL test. These tests include oral and written comprehension.

The adult students are happy to chat about anything. Sometimes they want a more business English approach or sometimes they just like to talk about their favorite beer.

Becoming a Mentor with Angloville

Once you decide which program you would like to participate in, you will submit an application on their website along with a few documents.

There is also a quick online interview.

Don’t worry if you’ve never taught English before, it’s not a requirement. Honestly, it’s a pretty painless process and the Angloville staff is great at getting back to you on time.

I chose to volunteer for 3 programs in the Czech Republic; 2 junior programs, and 1 adult program.

When planning your programs keep in mind that you don’t need to complete all your programs in the same country. And it isn’t necessary to complete the programs back-to-back.

If you want to take a week off to travel on your own that’s okay too.

These programs can cut down on your accommodation and food expenses. If you want to plan a 2 month holiday in Europe, this can be a great way to save some money.

You’ll also soon realize after your first program, that many other volunteers do the same thing.

Programs start Monday and go until Friday. All volunteers will meet in a designated place for pick up and sign-in. The program coordinator will usually arrange a free tour of the city before a program, usually on Saturday, for the volunteers, which includes a free lunch.

For example, my programs were in the Czech Republic, so we all met in Prague. I flew into Prague airport and arranged my hostels for weekends before and after the programs.

Volunteers and students meet at the Prague train station early Monday morning for transport to the program. The transport was a coach bus or we took a train.

What is Not Included

Your transportation to the country you’re volunteering in is not included.

So for me, the flight from America to the Czech Republic was at my own expense.

The free accommodation and food are only when you are attending a program. So before and after the week-long program, you will have to find your own hotel in the city.

If you want to buy snacks from the hotel or souvenirs from the locations that you visit during the program, these are also at your own expense.

Some hotels have a laundry service which can be a good idea to take advantage of since you will stay at the hotel for a week. This is also something you will have to pay for.

The Anglo-TEFL Scholarship

If you decide to volunteer for at least 3 programs you’ll have the opportunity to qualify for a TEFL scholarship to earn a TEFL certificate for less than 30 EUR.

The initial price of this program is 89 EUR with 50 EUR refunded upon completion.

If you have also been researching TEFL programs, this price of 89 EUR is by far the cheapest for a hybrid model. This means that part of the TEFL is online and the other part is in person.

The online portion is provided by Premier TEFL and accredited by TQUK (Training Qualifications UK) and ACDL (Accredited Council for Distance Learning).

When you complete the TEFL, you will receive a 120-hour certificate along with 240 hours of in-person teaching experience. You will be able to download this from your account on the Premier TEFL website.

As someone who completed this TEFL course, do I think it’s worth it?

Well, it is a good beginner course in teaching abroad and provides you with basic grammar explanations and examples that you may have forgotten. It briefly explains some teaching methodologies.

I think what the course lacks is information about how to teach in a classroom for someone that has no experience.

If you’re someone who just needs a certificate for teaching online this can be a good option.

However, if you’re someone who really wants to know how to teach abroad and it’s something that you want to do for a few years, then I definitely recommend an in-person TEFL.

Premier TEFL also has teaching internships in select countries. These programs will give you the confidence and knowledge that you need for your first teaching job.

I completed my internship in Thailand. You can read about my experience here.

What is a Typical Day Like Volunteering with Angloville?

During the program, your day-to-day activities during the week are organized by the coordinators. Activities will consist of one-on-one hour chats with students, group activities, and a field trip.

In addition, volunteers are also given a student to mentor throughout the week. The students are required to create a 5-minute speaking presentation about any topic they chose.

The woman pictured above with her dog is from Pilsen which is where Pilsner Urquell beer is made. So her presentation was, you guessed it, all about Czech beer! All presentations are presented to the group on Friday.

This is what the daily schedule at Angloville looks like for Junior and Adult programs.

9:00-10:00 Breakfast

10:00-11:00 Mentor Meeting

11:00-12:00 One-on-one session

12:00-13:00 One-on-one session

14:00-15:00 Lunch

15:00-16:30 Free time

16:30-17:30 One-on-one session

17:30-18:30 One-on-one session

18:30-19:30 One-on-one session

19:30-20:30 Dinner

20:30-21:30 Entertainment/Group Activities

21:30 Social Time

As you can see, you will be very busy! During your one-on-one sessions, you are allowed to go where ever you like on the hotel grounds with your student. If you want to take a walk around the forest, it is also an option. You don’t need to sit at a table and stay in one place for an hour.

These sessions are free conversations to help students improve their confidence, speaking ability, vocabulary, and pronunciation. You will not have to formally teach grammar or explain linguistics to the students.

There will be lots of activities during the week to participate in with the other volunteers and students.

I cannot stress enough that it is important to remember that these students are going from speaking their native language one week to completely speaking in English the next week. It is going to be hard and stressful for some students.

Others will fully embrace the English immersion experience and greatly excel during the week.

Where I Stayed

Castle Hotel Hruba Skala in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. This hotel sits up on a cliff and is a renovated castle. There are beautiful forest grounds to explore during your free time or one on one chats.

Hotel Astra near the Kladno forest in the Central Bohemia Region. This area contains open fields and a forest to roam around. The hotel facilities included a tennis court, swimming pool, bonfire pit, and outdoor pavilion all available to use during your stay.

Hotel Buchlov in the Buchlov Hills with incredible views of the Buchlov castle. This hotel is a short walk away from yet another castle. Europe is just filled with castles!

Angloville Review Final Thoughts

All in all, it’s definitely and fun and interesting experience. I’ve met some amazing people that I am still in contact with today. Many of the Native English volunteers are travelers too, so you’ll have no problem fitting in.

One piece of advice to keep in mind is that it is a lot of talking, even for us Native Speakers. After the program, you sometimes feel like not talking to anyone for a whole day.

If you’ve experienced the Angloville program or another European volunteer program, tell me how your experience was! Which countries did you decide to go to?