Volunteer in Poland

Share what you’ve been given.

If you are a fluent English speaker, you can make an enormous positive difference in the lives of rural Polish youth and Ukrainian families, while enjoying a profound and consequential experience. English proficiency is a baseline requirement for higher education and meaningful employment. Every fluent English speaker can do this.

You have the opportunity to become significant in ways you could not imagine by becoming a Global Volunteer.

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English is foundational for the Polish national high school exam system, university admissions structure, and success in higher education. Strong English skills result in wages 50–60 percent higher than those without. And for over a million Ukrainian refugees, English language skills are essential as they rebuild their lives in Poland.

You’ll stay at the lovely Hetman Hotel in downtown Siedlce or at the historic Reymontówka Manor House, a very comfortable guesthouse in the countryside. Both facilities offer single, double, and family occupancy rooms with private baths and traditional Polish accoutrements. Enjoy delicious Polish meals throughout your stay and during an optional weekend in Krakow where Shindler’s List, directed by Steven Spielberg, was filmed.

“Most of all, the students reminded me that teaching is never one-sided. I may have arrived as the teacher, but I leave feeling deeply shaped by the experience myself.” Diane Amdur, 3-time Global Volunteer, Poland 2026

“The kids are wonderful, anxious to learn. The organization runs like clockwork. The staff is incredibly dedicated and helpful.” Edward Hatch, 4-time Global Volunteer, Poland 2026

“Everyone who comes on a Global Volunteers team who comes to Poland will be forever changed.” Chere Weiss, Poland 2026

“The kids are always enthusiastic and keen to do good work with the volunteers.” Leo Pyzynski, 19-time Global Volunteer, Poland 2024

“I have traveled and taught in every state in the US and all over the world (17 countries) and have never had a host that is more prepared, helpful, warm, empathetic, and willing to go above and beyond to assure each team member’s success.” Edward Hatch, 4-time Global Volunteer, Poland 2026

“Reymontawka is beautiful, and the camp is very well run, the kids obviously love it and the whole setup is ideal for the volunteer. We have clear roles and a predictable schedule. Excellent food!” Dennis Freeman, Poland 2025

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Poland Service Program Information

Discover Poland’s warmth and history, from Siedlce’s city streets to the Reymontówka countryside.

Click the tabs below to learn more about our Poland service program.

The Difference You Make As a Volunteer in Poland

Two community work projects run through the year in Poland.

Teach Conversational English in Poland

Why Volunteers Are Needed

In rural Polish towns and villages, access to native English speakers is scarce. Students often learn grammar and vocabulary without ever gaining the conversational fluency needed to use the language. The result is a widening gap for rural youth who can conjugate verbs on paper but freeze-up in a job interview, a university oral exam, or any real exchange with an English speaker.

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The need for English has expanded with the arrival of over a million Ukrainian refugees, whose children and families are rebuilding their lives in Poland. They are navigating a new country and the emotional barriers that isolate them from their extended family support, their community, and the tools they need for a stable future.

Since 1990, Global Volunteers has offered conversational English instruction to Polish students in rural communities, at the request of community leaders. English is a core subject in national exams; students must show appropriate level proficiency at the end of their primary education years, and again for their secondary school graduation exam. English weighs heavily in university admissions and classes, especially in competitive fields like technology, economics, and international studies, shaping access to future careers.

A peer-reviewed research study of over 600,000 Polish workers found that monthly wages for those with “good” or “very good” English skills exceeded wages for those with no English by nearly 60 percent for men and more than 50 percent for women. Across multiple European Union employment analyses, English is consistently the most in-demand foreign language in Polish job postings.

In today’s Polish economy, English is a baseline requirement. In rural communities where access to native speakers is scarce, the gap between those who speak English confidently and those who don’t translates directly into unequal opportunity. For children in small towns and villages, the absence of real conversational practice leaves textbook knowledge stranded. They can conjugate verbs but cannot hold a job interview, navigate a university admissions process, or participate in the global digital economy. This is precisely where you make a difference that.


The Difference You Make


No English workbook, textbook, or nonnative speaker instructor can replicate what you as a native English speaker can offer. You are needed to serve as a valued “teacher” in primary schools, secondary schools, or university classrooms, but you do not need to be a professional teacher. We know that any fluent English speaker can do this because thousands of volunteers have done it successfully. It only requires engaging students in conversation using tools which we provide.

Students know what’s at stake. Strong English skills make higher education possible, open up global communication, and unlock competitive careers. So, students are motivated to learn from you.

Global Volunteers will provide you with our Conversational English Teaching Guide (CETG) which offers you a wealth of ideas and lesson plans to help you engage your students in conversation. This Guide was prepared by previous volunteers, many of whom are professional teachers, and includes songs, stories, games and vocabulary exercises that will keep students engrossed while they expand their English language capabilities. In the classroom, you’ll facilitate natural conversation practice, refine pronunciation, build vocabulary, and guide listening activities. Your fluency and real-world experience bring lessons to life, helping students express themselves naturally and communicate with confidence. No prior teaching experience is required; your fluency and cultural perspective are the only assets needed.

Your personal experiences about your home, community, family, job, profession, hobbies, and interests will fascinate the students and allow them to hear the English language spoken. You’ll ask questions, and they will form sentences in response. It does not matter if they get it right because this is all about practicing speaking the language. It’s all about conversation!

Polish and Ukrainian kids are selected to participate in a multiweek English language camps based on their academic achievements and language interest. They stay on the Reymontówka campus for two or more weeks for intensive conversational study. Your team leader, Global Volunteers’ translators, and Reymontówka staff assist you and your fellow volunteers to help these energetic students sharpen their English language skills.

Through playful, hands-on learning, you’ll guide students in improving pronunciation, expanding vocabulary, and mastering everyday expressions through games, songs, exercises, sports, skits, and conversation.

Immersive language learning research shows that two weeks of intensive conversational exposure can produce language gains equivalent to an entire academic year of classroom instruction. These improvements show up later in test scores, university applications, and job readiness.

No teaching experience is necessary, although professional teachers are always especially helpful. You bring your enthusiasm, creativity, patience, love of children, and willingness to make a difference. We will provide you Global Volunteers Conversational English Teaching Guide (CETG) and an extensive resource library. That’s all you’ll need to help change the arc of these children’s lives.

If you prefer working with older teens and young adults, you are needed to support students and faculty at the University of Siedlce. Volunteers work primarily with small groups, providing conversational English practice and fostering meaningful cultural exchange.

You help students build confidence in speaking in and listening to English and improve their pronunciation and expand their vocabulary. You’ll lead informal discussions and interactive activities designed to strengthen English communication skills and simply share your perspectives about your home country, culture, family, education, and professional experiences.

Global Volunteers also encourages volunteer professionals to consider being a guest lecturer by suggesting subjects they feel comfortable presenting. We’ll share your résumé with professors in the English Department and work with them to match the suggested topics with the university’s curriculum and student interests. Popular lecture topics include the U.S. legal system, American political system, business and entrepreneurship, leadership and management, marketing and branding, financial technology, personal development, education, and technology.

When a suitable match is identified, the volunteer is invited to deliver a guest lecture at the university. Each teaching block lasts two hours, and volunteers typically present the same lecture to two different groups of students on each of two days, generally Thursday and Friday, reaching up to four classes over the course of the week. This arrangement allows volunteers to prepare one well-developed presentation and share it with multiple student groups, making a meaningful contribution to the university’s academic program while enhancing students’ listening comprehension and overall confidence in using English.

Hope and Healing for Ukrainian Families


Why Volunteers Are Needed

Unfortunately, the tragic war in Ukraine persists. The killing continues, families remain separated, villages are being decimated, and children are traumatized. Ukrainian families displaced by the war continue navigating profound emotional and practical challenges as they attempt to rebuild their lives in Poland.

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Children who still live in Ukraine long for anything that seems “normal.” For many, English is the language that connects them to the broader world beyond their immediate circumstances, a book they can read that offers escape if only momentarily, an education that brings hope for their future. Only peace will bring an end to their nightmare, but in the meantime, their many needs are ongoing.


The Difference You Make

Throughout the school year, Global Volunteers hosts Ukrainian mothers and children for weekly dinners and entertainment at Reymontówka Manor House or the Ukrainian center in Siedlce for conversation and connection with volunteers and other refugees. Volunteers play an important role in these restorative evenings of shared meals, music, games, laughter, and meaningful communication. You can show these wonderful women and children that people half a world away still care about them and want to help.

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These gatherings give families a safe space to relax, build friendships, experience belonging and support, and participate in much-needed respite from the stresses of displacement and war.

During the summer, volunteers lead English language camps where Ukrainian and Polish children come together for games, crafts, conversational English, songs, and field trips. For Ukrainian children processing trauma and upheaval, these camps offer invaluable weeks of something that appears “normal,” having fun with other kids, and even a sense of stability. For those children who are beginning to settle in Poland, this experience builds English language skills, nurtures new friendships, grows confidence, and offers hope for their future, even amidst the tragedy that surrounds them. Volunteers offer every child affected by the war priceless tools that they’ll carry into their schools, families, future careers, and adopted communities for decades to come.


Impact

The impact you create in a single summer camp or during the school year reaches far beyond the classroom. A young Polish professional who had attended several English summer camps during her youth commented on the benefits of learning English from native speakers. She said it was the volunteers in her primary and secondary school classrooms, and all the summer camps, that enabled her to pass the intensive Warsaw University English admission exam. Being able to study at the university level changed everything for her. When asked why she spoke such pristine English without an accent, she responded, “I was taught by global volunteers with accents from Texas, New York, Minnesota, California, and British Columbia. I think all those accents rolled into one that combines them all, so I don’t have any accent,” she laughed. There are thousands of similar stories throughout Poland. No one volunteer teaches a student English. It is the dedication of many volunteers with patience and willingness to help children learn the language that causes an enormous impact.

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Global Volunteers
375 East Little Canada Road
St. Paul, MN 55117-1628 USA
(800) 487-1074 | toll-free
(651) 482-0915 | fax
globalvolunteers.org
email@globalvolunteers.org
Federal EIN: 36-3352680

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