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#Positive energy; consideration #Bonding with the children; cultural exchange #Gratitude for what I have
What I gained from this program is the positive energy I felt from the children and the sense of consideration for others I felt while communicating with my European friends. Perhaps because it is a country of constant bright sunshine, Cambodian children are cheerful and innocent. When I saw the children''s laughter, I found myself smiling without realizing it.
-Cambodian English education volunteer work that plants seeds of learning in children / Yoon Bitna, Gapyear family gapper / 6-week gap year |
What led me to take a gap year
I am an ordinary South Korean woman who, after finishing university and working in an office, decided to take a gap year because I wanted a new experience.
Until now I hadn''t had any particularly interesting experiences. Wanting to spend the last of my twenties meaningfully and to blow off the stress accumulated from work, I came across Korea Gapyear while looking into various options. Among the many gap year programs I was interested in volunteer work, and I found a program that teaches English to children. I chose this program thinking it might be nice to use my major to teach science in English to the children.
My personal gap year story in Cambodia
From the first to the second week of the program there were hardly any volunteers, so it was tough. Around 8:30 in the morning I would go to school and watch the children closely as they played during break, and the children found me watching quite curious. They played games very similar to those I played when I was young: rubber-band jumping, a game of claiming territory (ttang-tta-meok-gi), towel-rolling, and others—similar yet different games. In the rubber-band game, the winner was simply the person who could last as the height increased. I wanted to join too, but I only watched because I was tall and thought I might get in the children''s way.
I had prepared to teach the childrenEnglishto teach, but the organization wanted...Koreanto teach. The reason was that many people in Cambodia find employment in Korea, so learning Korean would be a big help to the children in the future. Although I hadn''t prepared for it, I happily prepared to teach my mother tongue and spent two days getting ready to teach Korean. I searched for materials online and consulted acquaintances to prepare.
First, I decided to gather students who wanted to learn Korean. I recruited children by asking those I had become close to, "I can teach you Korean—would you like to learn?" The children wanted to learn Korean more than I expected, so we divided them into two groups each day and held classes. Since the children''s school lessons finished after 5 p.m., we usually taught in two sessions at around 6 and 8..
As for the class content, first to give the children an interest in KoreaninterestI started with simple greetings, and when they said a desired expression in English I would tell them the Korean equivalent. For example, I taught basic conversational phrases like "What''s your name?" or "How old are you?" in Korean. And every morning when I met the children I began greetings by asking and answering those expressions in Korean. Instead of "How are you?""Are you doing well?"By repeatedly exposing them to Korean like that, many children followed along well.
The children who became interested in Korean wanted to learn more expressions. But rather than only teaching conversation,HangulI thought teaching them to read and write Hangul would be more helpful in the long run, so I began teaching Hangul. I wasn''t able to finish everything, but I heard that the Korean volunteer who followed continued teaching.
What I gained from this program is thepositive energyand theconsideration for others I felt while communicating with my European friends.Perhaps because it is a country of constant bright sunshine, Cambodian children are cheerful and innocent. When I saw the children''s laughter I found myself smiling without realizing it. When I first started the program I thought I would give more than I would receive, but looking back I realized there were many more times I received. It was also a great opportunity to make friends with Europeans. I thought it would be hard to converse because I wasn''t good at English, but instead I felt their consideration when they spoke slowly to me and waited for me.
If given the opportunity,Want to learn about themselves and have new experiencesCollege students who want thatI want to recommend this program to them. After completing this program, rather than graduating from university without thought and becoming a member of society who follows the path others take,their own identity/colorI believe they can find it and become young people who can give energy to others.
Finally, I thank Korea Gapyear for creating this program so we could make good experiences and happy memories.
Structure and composition of the Cambodia English volunteer program
We organized programs to provide to the children together with volunteers; generally within a broadly organized framework we divided which language each person would teach and proceeded. Once you choose the class you want, you then decide for yourself how to spend the time and what lessons or activities to run.
Daily routine
8:00 AMgo to the school and play with the children,
around 3 or 5 PM when the afternoon classes finish,we gathered students who wanted to learn Korean and taught them.
After evening hours,we had dance time with the kids or did active activities.
Language
English ability before participating wasa little conversational / basic conversational
At the time of participation,a bit challenging
My personal tip about language!
How well you can speak English affects how actively you can participate in the program, so if you have time to prepare I recommend investing a little more in English conversation before you go.
What to bring
Items I was inconvenienced by not having:thin long pants, coffee
Items that were convenient to have:items:gochujang (Korean chili paste)
My personal tip for what to bring!
It''s a good idea to bring a strong mosquito repellent. Also, if you love coffee, be sure to pack some.
Capturing the growth journeys
of our participants.
