Teaching English to Students of all Ages

The program

This amazing project was created with the goal of helping to improve the English speaking abilities of the residents of El Porvenir. The program first opened its doors to the community in 2010 to provide completely free English classes for kinder , elementary, teenage and adult students. The elementary age children , grades 1-6, attend these free classes at three locations in the community. The adult program is held in a designated classroom across the street from the public elementary school in el Centro (the centre of town), and preschool classes are provided at the public kinder. Volunteers can work with all age groups and should plan to work 4.5 days each week. As is common in many of the worlds poorer communities, an ability to speak English unlocks a new world of possibilities for children and opens up many professional opportunities for the working-age, often within the service and tourism industries. Access to English tuition is extremely limited for many residents, so this project offers free short-term intensive English classes to enable them to prepare for the job market, school exams, and to simply improve their future prospects.  

Goals of this Project:

• Provide free English language classes to the residents of El Porvenir
• Improve the future prospects of some of El Porvenir’s most impoverished people, and help them to break the poverty cycle
• Expose non-English speakers to native English speakers in order to improve pronunciation and conversational skills
• Enable inter-cultural exchange which benefits both residents and international volunteers alike.

How you can help

Volunteers play an integral role in achieving the goals of this project. English speaking international volunteers tend to be great English language teachers as they impart a skill they have effectively spent their entire lives developing, and can effectively teach all the nuances that make up the English language. Because volunteers aren’t usually fluent Spanish speakers, local students have no choice but to learn English if they are to communicate and lessons progress quickly, with great results. It is suggested that volunteers have at least a basic level understanding of Spanish prior to arrival, and these skills should quickly develop over the placement period. Volunteers always work in teams and are supported by an in-country Project Manager who assists in planning and preparation. Whilst the project follows a weekly theme and curriculum there is lots of room for creativity in how volunteers choose to work within their groups. Immersion is one of the easiest ways for children to learn a new language, so volunteers are encouraged to teach English in an informal and entertaining manner – often through songs, movement, games and other fun activities.  

Volunteers on this project therefore provide a valid and effective means of English language tuition. They will contribute in a number of ways and can expect to undertake the following tasks:

• Teach English to classes of all different age groups from young children - adults
• Assist the manager design lesson plans
• Network with local residents and local project staff
• Monitor students’ progress and write debriefs

A volunteer’s work day on this project will generally last between 4 and 6 hours and while we ask all volunteers to be flexible in this regard, a typical daily schedule is likely to go something like this:

7:00am Breakfast at the accommodation

8:00am Pre-start meeting with project supervisor

9:00am VOLUNTEERING DUTIES START

A tea break and lunch break will be fitted in during the day, but often the timing of breaks will change based on the needs of the local staff and number of volunteers on hand.

4:00pm VOLUNTEERING DUTIES END

Note that volunteers work just a half-day on Fridays and resume volunteering activities on Monday morning.

Evenings Volunteers are welcome to help teach adult English classes in the evenings and are of course are free to explore the local area, laze on the white sandy beaches or relax with the other volunteers.