Teaching English as a Foreign Language

 Volunteer's Tasks

The volunteers use their knowledge of English to help the students in group classes. The presence of native speakers evidently is very helpful to the children’s learning of the language.

Your role in the school will be proportionate to your level of Spanish and the amount of time you can volunteer for. Consequently, this program is ideal for undergraduate students of modern languages on a year abroad, particularly those interested in teaching. If your Spanish and/or time is limited, you will be able to assist classes.

Why is this project important for the community?

Although there are no professional teachers, the volunteer teachers provide a rich and cultured education. Other English schools are between three to five times more expensive than this one, therefore, parents living in nearby neighborhoods are not able to send all of their children to study English. This is why the school is important for the community; it allows all the children to have the same opportunities and access to education, and it is also a way to fight for social justice. There is a lack of infrastructure, such as running water and paved roads in this particular neighbourhood and it is also known to be “left aside” because the state does not intervene. However, the school helps the families and also the young people of the town, because it also provides a first-job opportunity to students that are more advanced. This allows students to have a disposable income with which they can travel; an almost foreign opportunity to most.

Local Coordination

 Silvia, the owner and director of the school, is also the coordinator for Voluntario Global there. She has made this a place of recreation, where the children come in the late afternoon, after going to school, to study English while taking a cup of tea in a relaxed and family atmosphere.

 What can you learn as a volunteer?

Learning is a two-way street because the volunteer also learns through this experience. Their official duties are to assist the teenaged teachers, help them with pronunciation or grammatical rules, correct homework, read and explain to the children the basic elements of the language. Moreover, they can also help the oldest students get ready for international exams. This work allows the volunteer to exchange with people from different cultures, mainly thanks to the mix between communities from various countries of Latin America. Furthermore, teaching is the perfect exercise to learn how to speak to an audience and to get its attention. The volunteer learns to communicate with the youngest children who don't speak English correctly, and is able to learn how to adapt quickly and use other means of communication. Above all, the volunteer is able to create relationships with their students that will go beyond the classroom.

How does your work impact on the community?

Not only does this school offer the families a chance to further their education, it also provides a center for community. It is a place of exchange and hope, based on the idea that the children are able to study and to have a good future, because their parents were not awarded with the same opportunities even if the schools and the best universities are free. Students are able to connect more intimately with the volunteers and share their cultural differences, their accents, theirs travels and more. The volunteers also symbolize hope for the students that admire them because they are role models. They make the students believe in a brighter future and instil in them the motivation and aspiration to achieve their goals, no matter how big and regardless of their current socioeconomic status.

Schedule

The school is open from March to mid-December and works Monday through Friday, 4.30 to 7.30pm. It welcomes between 80 and 90 students of all levels and ages, for two-hour lessons. They also teach on Saturday morning to adult students, but the volunteer will be able to choose if to attend on the weekends or not.