Songs are a great way of learning a language. They help with pronunciation, vocabulary and rhythm. And kids (and adults) love them! Particularly if there are actions to go with them! The kids really won’t mind how terrible you are. Trust me, I’m terrible and they still ask me to sing (again, and again, and [...]
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Fundraising Tip : Dinner Party
Here’s a great tip for fundraising beginners : I found that hosting a dinner party at home for friends and family was a great way to help me raise a little money and also helped to build confidence in talking to people about where I’d be going, what I hoped to achieve, and crucially – [...]
Bargaining
A normal part of daily life In many places bargaining is a normal part of daily life but it can be hard for foreigners to get used to. It’s difficult to get over the feeling that you’re being rude or that you might insult someone, however, bargaining is the usual medium of exchange and people [...]
Help! I Don’t Understand What People Are Saying!
Sometimes you will have trouble understanding the people around you. It might be your host family or the other teachers at the school or your students or the bus conductors or the people in the shop or just about anyone. There are things you can do to make it easier. Ask Them To Slow Down [...]
Help! People Don’t Understand What I’m Saying!
Sometimes the people you are talking to when you’re overseas will have trouble understanding you. It might be your host family or the other teachers at the school or your students or the bus conductors or the people in the shop or just about anyone. There are things you can do to make life easier. [...]
What To Wear While Teaching in India & Sri Lanka
It is important to be dressed appropriately while teaching. And what is considered appropriate is different in different countries. (These suggestions apply to Sri Lanka and India) For Male Volunteers First rule – Don’t wear shorts! It’s important to be seen as a respected member of the teaching faculty and, even if you don’t [...]
Gifts For Your Host Family
I’ve stayed with lots of people whilst volunteering in India and in Sri Lanka and I’ve always found it difficult to buy gifts for people. What exactly is an appropriate gift?
Using Art to help teach English
Here is a story of some primary students at a school India from a volunteer who had success using art projects in the classroom. “The students were quite disruptive and could be a handful at times. The school was in a poor fishing community in Kerala and many of the students came from very difficult [...]
My Volunteer English Teaching Kit
There are two parts to my volunteer teaching kit: what I take to class everyday and what I have at my homestay placement. I buy as many of these things from the village closest to my homestay placement as I can. Sometimes I need to make a trip to a nearby big town or city [...]
