Stuck at home because of coronavirus (COVID-19)? Wondering what to do at home? I’m sure you know you’re not the only one. In Cambodia, all the schools are closed too so I invited a couple of Cambodian youths to write something for me. 😊
I have been writing my blog from a volunteer’s perspective. I want to know what the students think. That’s the topic I gave them. 😊
Let’s see what the Cambodian youths think about us. 🙂
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Topic: What do you think about learning from a foreign volunteer English teacher?
Written by: Samnang Sok (17 years old)
From: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Dream: to be an astronaut
Most countries which are still in low education system require a big amount of foreign volunteer teachers to educate their local students as well as teaching English. Student who has studied with foreign volunteer teacher experiences the differences between learning with their local teachers. Learning with foreign volunteer teacher provides lot of benefits.
I’m one of the local student who lives in a country that remains developing after a long years of cold war. I’ve had lot of experiences learning with foreign volunteer teachers before and my experiences were quite good. I’ve received lot of knowledge from my volunteer teachers.
First, I started learning English with an American volunteer when I was in grade 6, everything was new to me. I needed to adapt myself to a different teaching technique. I thought it was hard at first, her English accent is very Different from my English local teacher, I often didn’t get what she meant however day by day I begin to understand her accent. learning English with a foreign volunteer who speak fluently English really help you to improve your own listening skill.
Secondly, during my period learning with a foreign volunteer I’ve aware that I was truly improving my own knowledge, foreign teacher not even just taught me English they taught me the general knowledge that I’d never known before , my comprehension started to gain higher when I was taught by a foreign volunteer teacher also I’ve learned new culture and tradition, etc.
Thirdly, after studying English with the foreign volunteer teachers I’ve realized that it’s beneficial to have a chance studying with foreign teachers. My speaking ability has improved when I was studying with the volunteer. Foreign teacher was really strengthen my pronunciation in English , I was shy to speak and pronounce any words in English but when I was studying with the volunteer I started not to feel embarrassed for pronouncing the word wrong because whenever I pronounced it wrong the teacher would correct me immediately and then I started to remember how to pronounce the word correctly . studying with the foreign volunteer help you to have a better accent than learning English with your local teacher, these are the main benefits that I’ve received from my foreign volunteer teacher.
All in all to have the opportunity to learn English with a foreign volunteer teacher is a great chance that you should take, You will improve your listening skill as well as speaking and gaining your own knowledge too. not only these 3 advantages but you will received something more than that. I personally love to study with foreign volunteer teacher and really appreciate how they sacrifice their own valuable times to teach the students who in need. For me I would like to be a volunteer teacher also in the future if I had chance, teaching poor students who are in need is what I want to do in the future. This will also give me lot of experiences and benefit before I work for a private company or school in the future. So studying with a foreign volunteer teacher is the best opportunity that everyone should takes and being a volunteer is also the great chance to improve your life experiences.
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How did I meet Samnang? I was introduced to him by an Indian volunteer when I went to Phnom Penh. We had farewell lunch with the Indian volunteer before she left and saw her off at the airport too.
Samnang was the guy who complained about foreign volunteers responding to his messages with one word – ‘yes’ or ‘no’ only. Check out our ‘Funny Moments’ here. 😄
Back to this piece of writing, this is the original piece. I did not change anything except that I broke the long paragraphs into a few shorter paragraphs.
Well done and thank you, Samnang! 😊
Want to learn more about what it is truly like to be a volunteer? Don’t miss out on our Guide to Becoming a Volunteer series. 😊
Before you leave, check out the video of my unconventional online English class that I had with my students.
Contact us for an unconventional online class!
Check out what other Cambodian youths say about their experiences with foreign volunteer English teachers:
3 thoughts on “Voice of Cambodian Youths”