Volunteer Report

18.10.22 01:34 AM - By r.wagner

Report of my volunteering with Volunt2Thai

My name is Manon, I am 24 years old, I am from Paris and I have been traveling in Thailand for 1 month. During this trip, I wanted to do something important, helpful and I have looked for a volunteering with children because I really appreciate their company. I like to play or teach them some elements, and I have studied during my bachelor degree how to teach English to foreign children. This is how I have found this association and it has been a really beautiful experience with it.

What was I expecting ?

As a European girl, I am used to some particular ways of learning, of being at school, of acting as students and I knew that this would be different depending on the country and parts of the country, rich or poor parts. As Volunt2Thai is an association to help the poor villages, I knew that I would teach English in a different way, with children with a different life as mine and I knew, or at least I thought, that this could be hard because the children would maybe not be used to stay on a seat, to learn during few hours and then just go. I did not know really what to expect with the children, but I knew that I really wanted to have even a small impact on them, to improve their life a little bit and to help them with my knowledge and my skills. I did not know if they had enough scholar material, if they were used to go everyday at school, or if they were learning the same basis as European people. I was wondering all of that but I was excited to discover how it would be, and to try to do something good for these students and maybe also their families.

What have I done ?

During my experience as a volunteer, I have taught English to different ages and I could see something, the more they were old, the more they had difficulties to learn and with the English basis, whereas the youngest ones were more focused to learn, and could remember more easily the words we were learning.

I have given different kinds of classes, always with activities like games, to capture their attention and to make them learn at least a minimum of things, or to review what they were supposed to already know. As for games, I was trying to make them learn new words and to review the letters, and for that I have used wood letters and cards to give them some tips. I have done an activity where they had to spell a new word, which was linked to an image, and then I was giving all students one word and they had to replace it with the good image, or the reverse. I was using the game to help them to learn new words, and I was also creating some teams, the ones who had the images and the ones who had the words to make them work together also. To review the body, we were all standing up, and I was showing some part of my body and they had to find it as fast as possible. I was repeating my gestures all the time to also give them some other ways to remember, for those who need to see to remember things for example. I have also drawn some signs and they had to tell me the word, or we were playing the game “The Hanged Man” and they had to give me the word and the letter to write the word, and it was a good exercise for them. Thus, I have tried different ways of teaching and learning to try to get as many students as I could, to help them with English.

Outside of the class, I have discovered the region with Raimund. I have met many locals, they have invited me to eat and even if we were not speaking the same languages, some were trying to speak with me and we were finding some ways to understand each other. I have seen the beautiful rice fields everywhere there, and the poor villages also. I have discovered how they were living and how they were able to survive with almost nothing. It was a very human experience where I could see the reality of poor areas of Thailand.

My special project for them

As I had not had the time to buy them some material, I really wanted to do something special for the children, that would make them happy and learn something new. Thus, I have decided to cook them some crepes and it was an amazing idea. I had the chance to cook the crepe with a chef of a 5 star hotel, who was a friend of Raimund and it was also a very good experience for me. I wanted to show and to make the students discover my French culture, this is why I have decided to cook crepe. I have also decided to do that, because I knew it would be easy to do it, and I knew that everyone would be happy to eat some crepes.

So with the chef we have cooked almost 120 crepes and it was a success. The day after, I was able to give crepes to different classes, and seeing the children happy with them was really nice. Even the teachers were happy to eat some crepes and it was a good way to gather everybody and to spend a good time together. Thus, I have been able to share with them some of my culture, as they had done with me, and I was able to give them a different day, without the daily problems and the habits of everyday, and it was also the point of this idea, going out of the daily life with some extra sweet things.

I am very happy to have done this project and I know that maybe some will remember it later, or at least some teachers that were very nice, but also very happy to eat crepes !

What can be changed, what can evolve or what can I tell to help Volunt2Thai

I am still learning how to teach, and I do not have a lot of experience in teaching English but I could notice some things. Children there start to move easily after a few minutes of focusing, so teaching them with games is better than doing it in a formal way. However, making it in a too gaming way, can also be a problem, because for some of them, they won’t take the class seriously, and unfortunately, a lot of students, especially the oldest one, were not really focus, or no focus at all during the class, and as I was staying there only one week, I did not have the time to learn and see how I would be able to integrate them during the whole English lessons. Also, I could see that the activities could be really different each days, but for me, the repetition is the key to learn a new language, and when it was my turn to teach by myself, I was trying to do everyday some same things in order for the students to remember more easily some words or expressions. So I think it would be interesting and important to create a routine for the class, so that they will always remember some types of sentences and words. It would also be interesting to do some same activities for example during one week, to make them recall the new words they have learned, or to change the activities but with the same words, or sentences so that they will repeat it often and it will give them more chances to remember them. Thus, here is what I think that can help the students to improve their English with a minimum of level.

Conclusion

This experience with the kids and this non touristic area has been very interesting and rewarding. I have discovered another part of Thailand, far away from the tourist places and the rich places and it was very instructive. I have been able to develop other ways of thinking to teach children some English. I have also been able to see how these people were living, and seeing this reality was very interesting and good for my future because I am aware of what some people have to face everyday and I think it has helped me to realize the other reality that exist in our world, far away from my expensive life in Paris with education and everything I want. So I really recommend you to come with Volunt2thai to discover the children that are really close to us and happy that we come. I recommend it also because it is a very human experience and just seeing the smile of children who don’t have anything can be everything for us. So do not hesitate and take part in this incredible adventure where you will be able to discover another part of Thailand, more authentic, beautiful and very rewarding for you !

Manon Zarka

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