Help us with English teaching while you immerse yourself in rural village life near Ph'av, Cambodia

Detalles

• 

  Descripción

  Hello, sous dy!
  Welcome to our small English School. We are Chiva, the founder, and Kyle, an expat who has decided to live here and help with the school for the past 3 years. We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to come teach English, and share their culture with the students.
  We are a supplementary English school (students go to their normal public school, and come to us for English classes in addition). It is almost a free school.. students pay only $50 per year to help us cover basic expenses, but we aren’t doing this to make a profit. There are about 250 students, aged 6-18, split into different class levels throughout the day. A typical class size is 15-20 students. We have one big classroom that can fit up to 30 students, and a smaller room that can fit 12. We teach a pretty busy schedule: 11 hours a day, 6 days a week, and double classes in the evenings which require 2 teachers. We are hoping to find volunteers who are willing to help with 20-25 hours of that.
  One of the main things to know is this is not a touristy area of Cambodia. You will not likely see another foreigner in the area besides other volunteers. So this is a good place for travelers who’s goal is to see and experience a different local culture without much western influence.

• 

  Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  Práctica de idiomas

  Enseñanza
• 

  Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  Here in Mepring we are only about an hour and a half drive from Phnom Penh, but culturally the village life is completely different from the city. While Phnom Penh is a rapidly developing and changing major city, the villages here still retain a more traditional feel. If you are looking for a culture shock, you will find it here.
  This is a small village.. everybody knows each other. Walk around in the mornings and you'll see kids riding bikes to school, others leading their buffalo herds, and you'll see lots of people working hard in the rice fields. In the evenings you'll see kids outside playing, and you are guaranteed to be invited into locals' homes for beer and karaoke. You are not likely to meet an English speaker when you ride to the market to buy fruit, but don’t worry: our older students love the chance to be tour guides and show you their village while practicing their English.

• 

  Proyectos con niños

  En este proyecto podría haber niños. Para obtener más información, consulta nuestras directrices y consejos aquí.

• 

  Ayuda

  We are looking another volunteer, or perhaps a couple traveling together. We'd like a minimum 1 month commitment to give you time to establish connections and make a lasting positive impact on the students. Longer term volunteers would be greatly appreciated also. The main focus is the English classes. The students are from 6-18 years old, beginner all the way to fluent. So we have quite a range of ages and levels. As usual for a language school, we do our best to match up classes by age and ability, but this isn't always perfect.
  From a short term teacher, we would love someone who can come in and bring some excitement by showing the kids something different. A different teaching style, or a new idea for a project. Maybe cooking a foreign food or learning a new song. Maybe you can give karate lessons or teach an art class, or maybe show them some dance moves. The main sports here are football and volleyball, so if you can play/coach these sports, or any others, the kids will love that. We had another volunteer teach them ultimate frisbee, which they really liked.
  In the classroom, you'll work with one of us at first, and then as you are comfortable you'll eventually teach the class by yourself, with a translator if needed. Our top class includes about 15 high school aged students who have shown the leadership necessary to be teachers or translators when needed. So, you'll always have a good English-Khmer translator in the class with you when verbal communication with lower level students is difficult.
  We are not a public school, so we are not bound to having to teach a set government curriculum. There is a lot of freedom to observe the class in front of you and decide what would be a relevant subject (rhyming practice, a new vocab list, using different verb tenses, etc…) and how to teach it effectively. We don’t have the resources to be able to provide workbooks for each student, but we do have a large assortment of different textbooks and workbooks for the teachers to use. We have a copy machine to copy out an exercise and a projector to be able to put it up for the class to see. You can always follow along with the textbook progressions, but we’d prefer not to rely on them too much as they can become a bit boring and repetitive.
  For a short term volunteer, we're looking for someone to get the kids excited by mixing things up for a month or two... and, of course, we'd like them to converse with foreign English speakers as much as possible.
  Longer term volunteers will take a more active role in planning the classes and progressions.
  Your schedule would typically be about a 4 or 5 hour day, Monday-Friday. Each day will be a bit different so you have a chance to see all of the different classes. After a few days for you to see the different classes, we’ll sit down together to make a schedule for you. Its flexible, so if for example you are feeling more confident teaching the teenagers, or prefer spending more time with the youngsters, let us know. We could arrange a 4 day week with longer days instead if you want more time to explore on the weekends.
  We also have a small library of English books at the school, which the students use every week. Any donations of childrens books, especially at the lowest levels, would be greatly appreciated.

• 

  Idiomas

  Idiomas hablados
  Inglés: Fluido
  Khmer: Fluido

  Este anfitrión ofrece intercambio de idiomas
  We're a language school with a goal of exposing students to different cultures and ideas. So, of course, we would love to learn some words in other languages besides English and Khmer. Every student in the school will be excited to see a foreigner who wants to learn some Khmer, and I’m sure they’ll all be happy to teach you.
• 

  Alojamiento

  You will get to live with Chiva’s family. We have converted the upstairs floor to a volunteer area with private bedrooms, a running shower and a western toilet. We have mosquito nets available on the beds if you want to use them.
  
  For food, we have a couple options depending on how many hours you are working:
  You can choose to teach 15 hours per week, and we ask for $5 per day for meals with Chiva's family (which is optional, you can also find food separately if you wish)
  Or you can teach 25 hours per week, and the meals will be free.
  We have a small shop at the school where you can buy snacks and drinks including coffee, and there are several little breakfast stalls around the village that you can easily walk to. The market is a 5 minute drive away, and it will also have lots of food options. And, while you are here, you will probably be invited by students to eat dinner at their houses.

• 

  Algo más...

  Nearby attractions include Phnom Penh an hour and a half away, and Kampong Cham the same distance in the opposite direction. There are two mountain temples nearby famous for having monkeys that you can interact with. In the village are 3 beautiful pagoda complexes for you to explore, or visit during Buddhist festivals. There is also a swimming pool nearby that the kids like to go to on Sundays. In rainy months, there are many small creeks and flooded ricefields where you can swim with the kids and escape the heat. The village is surrounded by ricefields which always offer amazing sunrise and sunset views.
  Football and volleyball are popular in the villages here. If you want, you can join locals when they play in the evenings.
  There's a restaurant on the highway nearby that cooks and sells various insects (tarantulas, scorpions, grasshoppers, etc) to passing tourists. So if you are feeling adventurous, we can eat spiders and wash it down with local palm beer. Chol Mouy!!
  3 or 4 times a year, we like to organize trips around the country with the older students. These are multiple day trips to places such as the beaches down at Kep, or Angkor Wat, or the remote northern parts of Cambodia. Any volunteers are of course invited to join these trips.
  Definitely take a look at the weather if you are looking to travel to Cambodia. It's nice and hot all year round here. We have a rainy season roughly from June-October, and a dry season from November-May. Be prepared to deal with mosquitos if you come during the rainy season, especially at dusk.
  For transportation, we can loan a bicycle for getting around the village, or for about $20/week you can rent a scooter.

• 

  Un poco más de información

  • 

    Acceso a Internet

  • 

    Acceso a Internet limitado

  • 

    Tenemos animales

  • 

    Somos fumadores

  • 

    Puede alojar familias

• 

  Puede acoger a nómadas digitales

  Wifi in the school and in your room is about 16 mbps. You can also buy a Cambodian SIM and get unlimited data for $5 per month. There is also a local coffee shop nearby, owned by the parents of one of the students, if you need a quieter place to get some work done.

• 

  ¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?

  Más de dos

• 

  Horas esperadas

  maximum 25 hours per week, days/times negotiable