English camp and experiences in Vietnam

English camp and experiences in Vietnam

We are the first two volunteers from Thailand. We both arrived Vietnam on the 20th of June 2016 and it was the last week of Summer camp for the kids. We had a chance to teach them English at school for five days but that was a very wonderful experiences for us. The kids that we taught are age around 5-10 years old, they are super lovely, they can speak English better than we expected because in Thailand is similar to Vietnam, we have our language and English is the second language that we have to study at school but for some people who had been studying English since grade 1 to grade 12 they won’t be able to speak English, but here the kids can communicate with usbut sometimes they need the translation in Vietnamese but that’s how they will developed themselves.
1st day of being an English teacher was very excited, the kids are cheerful, smart and lovely. Most of the kids are not shy to speak English with us, they ran to us just to say hello. We felt so good that they can speak English because we have 0% of Vietnamese language. The first day went so well, we introduced ourselves to them, and they also introduced themselves to us. We had been assigned to plan something to teach the next day, as the kids are too young so we started with colours, fruits, animals, flags and so on. This generation of Thai kids are developed too, they can speak English better than our generation because there are more English program open on school, they let parents choose to study in English program or general but the fees are higher than normal Thai programs.

2nd day, I feel like being successful teacher is when the kids are participated and they enjoyed the class, back in Thailand I really enjoy some classes but on the other hand I really want to skipped some classes, being funny teacher is great it makes the kids want to talk to you, and want to join you in every activity, being generous and kind are also important. After teaching them we also provide games which are related to what we’ve taught to remind them what they have been learning so far and also we bring snacks for some who can answered, and it seems like they all can do it well. These activities that we created are all from what we had experienced in Thailand when we were young, but Thai kids in this generation are more likely into digital stuffs. All the game they play always be in iPad or iPhone which I think they both have pros and cons. Like my sister she knows A-Z since she didn’t go to school yet because there are songs on YouTube that she can turn it on iPad. She was just 2 years old actually but in my generation we need to go to school and study for at least 2 years to know the letters, both in Thai and English. Mixing games and songs can make the kids participate more than teaching in front of the classroom. It’s boring for them and they are too young to sit there for an hour.

3rd day, this is the day that we plan some art works for them to link with colours with they had learned yesterday and plus we taught them about animals, they surprised me with 8 out of 12 animals that they know from what we planned to teach. And that made the class more fun because they have to compete with each other to win the question+snacks. And the Vietnamese volunteer let them play game which is link to animal which I don’t know the name and it’s really fun, we played with them.
Coulours help you to remember more that’s what I told them in classroom, and I got this tip from my professor in Thailand when we note down something important I always use different coulours of pen and works well! In Thailand we have art class since we were 3 – 18 years old. Art class helps to develop their creativity and it’s free to express their own imagination.

After learning the words they created some artworks.

Everyday after finished English class ,we prepared some game or activities for them to join and ask them , the question were from the lesson that we taught each day.

Every student were so excited to join our activities because we brought snacks for students who could answer the question first but at the end of the class we gave snacks to every students.

4th day, In each day we have to provide something to teach and some games for them to play and we put some Thais game but we translated the instruction all to English and they enjoyed the game so much, this day of the camp is our favourite day, we have to teach them about country that we are from, so we both are from Thailand and they were very excited to know about our country. They really participated well and they can answered all the question we asked for example we asked them how do we call our King and they all can replied correctly, they learn so fast and can remember well. We always have some presents for who can answer our question so that’s the tips to make kids participate in what we are doing. We done quite a good job at the end we showed them places and beaches in Thailand and asked them do they want to visit our country? They screamed out YES! and that made my day. 

5th day is our last day at the camp, in the morning the kids watched cartoon, it was a chill day. I watched cartoon with them but it’s all in Vietnamese but with English subtitles so we could understand. After a morning movie they went to had lunch and they played game in the whole afternoon. And the experiences that I gained from this camp is wonderful. I have been to most of English camps in Thailand and it is similar to Vietnam, in Thailand when we organize the camp we also visit others provinces where are different from where we normally live such as we will go to the sea, beaches, zoo, or even to some forest or cave for the science learning.So it’s quite similar to the camp here.

We love VIETNAM!!!

PatharawanPrajakthanathorn (Venus)
Bunyaontia Rattanapan (Gottie)

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