About 200 students study English at CRP each semester. Classes are taught by a diverse group of volunteers who come from a variety of backgrounds. This week, we asked two current volunteers to share their experiences.
Sandhya
Why did you want to volunteer to teach English at CRP?
I’m interning with the grant team and I’ve been doing that for over three months now. But even though we work in the same building, we don’t really have much contact with our beneficiaries. I feel that having that contact is important just so you understand what we do, why we do it, and most importantly, who we are doing it for. I felt that having that connection would make a difference for me. I’ve also taught English before and I love teaching so I figured it would be a nice way to help.
Can you walk us through a typical English class?
We have a few minutes to chat and I give everyone their homework back. When we first started, it was recommended to start our class with some warm-up activities. But my group is already warmed up when they come in, which is great, so we jump right in. We always have a new reading passage so we’ll read that together and go over the hard words. Then we have a discussion.
The hour goes by really quickly and then I tell everyone about the homework. They are always asking for more homework. Different people want different types of homework so I try to keep it flexible so they can do what they are comfortable with.
As a teacher, do you have to make any adjustments when you’re teaching students who have recently undergone trauma?
Yes. It’s important to have an understanding of what trauma is and how it works. It might manifest differently for different people. Some students might not want to touch on any issues that might be sensitive to them and could trigger some sort of an unpleasant memory or emotion. But trauma also might mean that someone is on edge in class or more self-conscious or just uncomfortable. You just need to be aware of what that means and be sensitive.
What are you enjoying the most about teaching?
The beneficiaries, the people. They’re really great and I love all of them. They’re so sweet and it’s been really nice seeing the change each week; watching them get more comfortable in the classroom and with me and with each other.
I also think their attitude and their drive to learn has been really inspiring. They all have different reasons for wanting to learn, different things motivate them, but there is this thirst for knowledge and thirst to advance. It’s amazing and it’s not something you see everyday.
Do you have any advice to those who are thinking about volunteering at CRP?
Be open-minded. Understand that even if you are a native speaker, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a good command of the language. When you are teaching, you do have to explain things that come naturally to you, that you don’t think twice about. But when you are explaining that to someone who doesn’t have that background, it actually is work and it takes thinking — potentially more than you might assume. In that vein, you do learn a lot from the people you are teaching.
Secondly, try to understand that in this case, the goal of the program isn’t about perfecting people’s English. It’s not about being picky about the mistakes that someone might make and trying to be fussy about the nitty-gritty things. It’s more about engaging students and giving them a sense of accomplishment, which might mean different things to different people in that classroom.
Maria
Why did you want to volunteer to teach English at CRP?
I came to Jordan to study, but obviously Jordan hosts a very large number of refugees, so I knew I also wanted to work with refugees in some capacity. I was looking around for the right opportunity and I found CRP and talked to a few people who worked there.
Everyone said CRP really listens to the community and asks ‘what can we do?’ I think that it’s really important for NGOs to put the community at the front and ask ‘how can we collaborate’ rather than coming in and saying ‘this is what we are going to do.’”
Can you walk us through a typical English class?
I normally come in and wait a few minutes for everyone to trickle in. I ask students how was your day, how was your weekend, to give people the chance to kind of organically use the words they’ve learned without any pressure. People who want to talk more can talk more, and people who want to talk less can talk less.
Then we go into a bit of a grammar lesson and then we’ll switch over and play some type of game. I’m learning Arabic right now and I remember things best when it’s in a game format or any interactive format rather than just writing on the board. Then we wrap up and go over the homework.
As a teacher, do you have to make any adjustments when you’re teaching students who have recently undergone trauma?
When you are trying to teach a language, you usually defer to some things that you might consider to be easy starting topics, like talking about your family or your home. But when you are working with refugees, those topics that I might think of as easy starting topic might actually be quite traumatic. So you have to re-adjust your ideas. People can share what they want to share, but you don’t push anything.
What are you enjoying the most about teaching?
I just really enjoy seeing how proud students are when they accomplish something difficult. Just seeing people being happy is always a great feeling.
Do you have any advice to those who are thinking about volunteering at CRP?
Definitely look into volunteering here. Just make sure that you are committed because you are making a commitment to the people you are working with. But 100 percent look into it! Jordan has been so welcoming and CRP allowed me to meet even more people. It’s a wonderful opportunity.
If you would like to teach English at CRP, please apply online!