Tips For Volunteers Coming to Teach English in Palestine: This is your first time coming to the EC in Palestine and your first-time volunteering as an English assistant/teacher here is some advice for you. You will be given a manual by the EC of course, giving you tips on class content, interactive workshops ideas, group activities, games, etc…

In your home country, you may have material for teaching English which is useful, perhaps you have teachers around you who could give you advice!  Perhaps you could even attend a class in order to grasp the psychology of teaching a non-native speaker.

Once in Palestine, bear in mind that you will be dealing with many different levels of language proficiency.

Sometimes, you will be confronted with groups who are total beginners (housewives, primary school children, professionals), adaptability is of the essence. Think that for them, learning English is like learning Arabic for you, everything is strange and doesn´t make sense. So, start by:

  • Speaking slowly and making a real constant effort to articulate
  • Make simple sentences with simple words
  • Write down the keywords when you speak
  • Get them involved, the more interactive the class, the better students learn

Often, students come to classes after their school/university days or after work.

Their attention span and concentration may not be optimum so you should include in your classes some lighter learning exercises, like a game or role-play. Before coming to volunteer think about possible games, fun and educational for various level of proficiency. Practice giving simple instructions and games for classes from 10 to 40 students. Think of possible topics of conversation, suitable for a varied age range.

Examples of popular/workshop topics are Social media: Pros and Cons, CV writing and Interview Preparation, Human Rights issues, etc…  Think of tools like presentations, videos, images that may help you establish a conversation whilst conveying messages. To keep students interested and engaged, it is worth thinking outside of the box, think about your own learning experience, what worked best for you whilst you were learning other languages!

Final Remarks

Last but not least, KEEP SMILING! Palestinians are happy people despite what you may think… They will relate to you a lot quicker if you can keep a relaxed atmosphere in class. It won´t be hard though, don´t worry! ☺ Good luck!