Global Youth Service Day

While on exchange there are many ways in which we can give back to the community. Global Youth Service Day is an international event where young people from around the world participate in helping and improving their respective communities. For this year’s service day I have chosen to write a blog about my volunteer work at the SOS Enfants orphanage in Dakar. For the past several months, on Tuesday evenings, I have volunteered to teach English to the kids at the orphanage. The children are between the ages of 12 and 13 and I am happy to be able to teach them early so that by the time they are ready to graduate they will have proficient English skills. As a native English speaker I can expose them to how English is colloquially spoken and really help their conversation skills. They can learn English grammar in any book but I can give them an essential addition to their education.

When I teach I like to get the children engaged by playing games or listening to songs rather than drilling them with grammar and conjugations. This way they are excited to learn English rather than bogged down in the minutia of the language. I love seeing them have fun and really get into the games we play.

To improve their listening skills, I play a song on my phone (usually a Disney song like Let It Go) and then write the lyrics on the chalkboard with words missing. The kids listen to the song and try to figure out the missing word. They love this game and they all gather close together around my phone to try and hear the words.

I get my ideas for the activities from some of the more fun and memorable activities I played when I was learning French. One thing I always loved doing in French class was getting into pairs or groups and creating and performing skits. So for my class, I had the kids make a skit about ordering food at a restaurant which they really enjoyed. Some of them wanted to go twice.

Then at the end of the class to test their knowledge of the restaurant vocab, I had them play a game with two teams competing against each other. I wrote the English words on the board, then said one of them in French, and one kid from each team had to go find the English word and circle it before the other. Whichever team circled the most words at the end won.

Yesterday, I taught them Simon Says and gave them a vocab list with different commands. Also I brought with me candy for the winners. Some of the kids really got the hang of the game and won a lot of candy. With this activity I was able to teach them basic commands like sit and stand up but also body parts like hand, mouth, and ears.

Teaching the kids at SOS Enfants is the favorite part of my week. I love seeing the kids learn and have fun at the same time. I also love making an impact on these kids lives and give them help and exposure to English. Although I believe teaching English is very important, the best part of teaching at the orphanage is connecting personally with the children and showing each and every child that I care about him or her. I’m not sure who gets the most out of the teaching experience, me or the kids.