Facilitating Conversational English workshops to learners whose first language isn’t English comes with its challenges, but the reward is always worth it. I have facilitated English workshops overseas with young children before and enjoyed it so much that I wanted to continue making an impact in Nepal.
In Nepal there is a different schooling system to England, there are government-run schools and unpaid schools so kind of like private and non-private. However the government-run schools face resource challenges and are often based far away from where children live, so they have to walk a long way to get to school. All of this we had to take into consideration when planning and facilitating our workshops so we could provide support that was responsive to the needs and strengths of the local learners and educators.
We spent three weeks focusing on facilitating conversational English activities, covering reading, writing and speaking. For example, with the older years we read ‘The Twits’. With the young years we would use their English books to do comprehension. To practice writing we used the alphabet, they had to think of a word for each letter in the alphabet and then create a sentence with these words in them.
During these three weeks, we saw many of the learners work to develop their knowledge of complex words and grow their vocabulary beyond their initial understanding of conversational English. It was incredible to see them develop and be able to create more advanced sentences. The most rewarding part for me was to see how much the learners appreciated expanding their education outside of traditional ‘rote’ learning. Schooling is something that is highly viewed in Nepal however many people do not have the correct access to it, many children want to have access to it as they want to be able to get better jobs to support their families.
One week at the school it was their exams so we decorated a classroom and created a garden so they could grow food to use in the kitchen. This again was very rewarding as these activities allowed us to engage with the school beyond the English classroom.
We created a strong bond with the teachers but mostly the students and it was very sad to leave on the last day. They gave us a ceremony to send us off, dancing for us, reading poems and sharing what they had learned during our work together.
For anyone considering making an impact in Nepal or other countries, I would encourage you to approach the experience with an open heart and a willingness to learn. The impact of your work is not just about what you bring to the community but also about what you gain from understanding a different culture, working collaboratively, and supporting local initiatives.
Written By Bea Kendrick
Gap Year Volunteer Nepal
July/ August 2024
