Around the world, English is the language of commerce, technology and opportunity.

In developing countries, English can be a passport out of poverty, but most youth have no access to English language instruction. You can be a valuable resource in classrooms, small groups or offices to teach conversational English to children and adults. No formal teaching experience is required. We provide you our proprietary teaching guide including fun, interactive lesson plans, cultural adaptations, and suggested songs and games appropriate for all learning levels. Each setting presents different opportunities and joys. While adult students who value English in professional settings may pursue business English, youth are always fun-loving, and are motivated by new approaches and physical learning.  Here’s how you help:

  • Use texts, music, stories and your own creativity to make the English lessons your own!
  • Teach alongside local English teachers, or team teach with other volunteers.
  • Lessons might be English idioms for advanced students – or common phrases for new learners.
  • Choose summer language camps, traditional classroom instruction or one-on-one tutoring.
  • Plan lessons around shopping excursions, field trips, musical events or community cultural activities.

WATCH HERE: Volunteers describe their own experiences teaching conversational English in short video clips including:

  • Greece volunteer explains benefits of teaching English to middle-school students.
  • Poland volunteer uses baseball to teach English skills.
  • Vietnam volunteer teaches English to university students.
  • Tanzania volunteer describes teaching English to primary school students.
  • Nepal volunteers say “average” English speakers can be great teachers.
  • Poland volunteer moved by student’s gratitude for learning English.

Where Can I Teach Conversational English?

Cook Islands

Work one-on-one with children to advance their English speaking and reading proficiency.

Cuba

Help Cuban youth and adults in small groups advance confidence and fluency in English practice sessions.

Greece

Teach students in afternoon classes during the school year, and in an English school during the summer.

Italy

Help young Sicilian students improve educational and employment opportunities through English skills.

Nepal

Teach practical English skills to students in primary through university classrooms and learning centers.

Peru

Work with primary and secondary school students to encourage their interest and proficiency in English.

Poland

Help students improve their English in classrooms during the school year or summer language “camps.”

Portugal

Help students in elementary, secondary, technical and trades schools learn English language skills.

Tanzania

Work one-on-one with students from kindergarten through high school on English language skills.

Aguadilla – Puerto Rico

Practice English with primary, secondary, and university students, researchers and visually impaired adults.

Vietnam

Practice English with primary, secondary, and university students, researchers and visually impaired adults.

Why Are My Skills Important?

English is the international language of opportunity, and can be a passport out of poverty for many young people throughout the world, especially in this time of increasing globalization. Students all over the world want to learn English because they know it will improve their future.

Helping students speak English can open doors for higher education, lead to better jobs, provide access to healthier lives, and reduce the likelihood of their exploitation.

Students listen to and practice the language with you – training their tongues and ears for English – and enhance their educational and job opportunities. 

Even though you may teach for only one, two, or three weeks, a continuous flow of volunteers ensures continuity and an ongoing opportunity for students to learn. You may not be the volunteer who enables a student to begin speaking in complete sentences, but if you can encourage that student to continue to study English, it may be the next volunteer who leads the student to that milestone.

Every volunteer is an important link in a long chain of volunteers, and you’ll make a significant difference in a relatively short time.

Roig Ramirez, Ciego de Avila, Cuba

Roig is studying to become an English teacher, and takes advantage of every opportunity to work with Global Volunteers. “The volunteer English tutoring program is invaluable for me,” Roig says. “Although we have great teachers in our school who make great efforts to provide good language learning, sometimes this is not enough. There is nothing like the opportunity of talking with a native English-speaking person,” he continued. “We also get to know more about cultural and historical aspects of the United States that are vital for someone who will have to teach the language in the future. For me, Global Volunteers is a remarkable opportunity I’m very grateful for.”

“For me, Global Volunteers is a remarkable opportunity I’m very grateful for.”

VOLUNTEER STORIES: TEACHING CONVERSATIONAL ENGLISH

“Through songs, dances, and games – as well as lively conversations in English – we renewed the teachers’ enthusiasm for teaching English. Volunteering in China is an experience not to be forgotten.”

“I’m certain that in teaching English, we left a positive impression of who Americans are and what America represents. And, we piqued students’ interest in America, the country – its peoples and its problems.”

Get Started: Call 651-407-6100 | request info. | register