Facebook Reposted (by Sarah Sturrock)

Sarah was a volunteer with us in June.  She recently added this Comment to Facebook about 3 trips she did with GVI on her Gap Year.  It was so insightful and lovely we asked Sarah if she’d mind if we added it to the blog!   

Sarah teaching at Xayadeth College

...From June, I spent 6 weeks in Laos teaching English to all different age and ability groups - children, teenagers, novice monks and adults. Although every class was very different in terms of what we would teach and how, all the students were very enthusiastic. GVI provided invaluable support in terms of training, and throughout the project whilst we planned and taught lessons. Joy, who owned our guesthouse, became like family. I was really surprised at how quickly I became confident about teaching.

Sarah with 3 other volunteers at a Basi (Blessing) Ceremony held by the guesthouse owners

[A lass thinking about joining the project in Laos asked Sarah for some advice and this is what Sarah replied....]

Firstly... Good idea to go for that long [3 months].   I'd recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to learn some Lao, because it really helps you understand where your students are coming from, and which parts of English will be the most difficult for them.  Also don't get disheartened if lessons go badly - as you'll quickly discover, the Lao way of teaching is very different and it can take students a while to get used to a different approach. It's also perfectly natural to take a while to get settled in how to teach if you've never done it before. You'll also find that you really have to insist on them doing any homework you set them, and I found that having prizes or some kind of reward for students who did the best job really encouraged them with this. Other than that, pay lots of attention to the training Sam Kurikawa will give you, as she's almost always right, and the most important thing is to have LOTS of enthusiasm! Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions.

Sarah and Laos Field Staffer, Sam, say farewell

Sarah is a GVI Ambassador these days and you can find her on Facebook!

Facebook Reposted (by Sarah Sturrock)