cursos de inglés

Ever since I arrived in Julcán, I have been asked to help people learn English. I started teaching English a few weeks ago and so far it has been pretty successful. I am teaching in the school during their summer (rainy season, rather) vacations. In my town, there isn’t anything for schoolchildren to do during vacations, so at least now they have an opportunity to do something productive educational for a few hours a day.

I was a little nervous to start, I had no idea how many kids would show up or if I could handle teaching. I made an announcement on the local radio station, which is the only means of media up here in the mountains. The first day 12 kids showed up, and I was pretty happy. By the next week, my class had more than doubled, as my students spread the word to their neighbors and friends. Now I am teaching about 25 kids ages 6-14. I am surprised about how enthusiastic and eager to learn they are. The kids in high school already have to take English in school, so these courses help them prepare for the upcoming school year. And the little ones just like learning and this can hopefully help them get ahead.

It’s encouraging to see that my first “peace corps project” has been successful so far. Not only is it helping the kids, many parents have thanked me for supporting their kids during summer vacations. Additionally, it has helped me get to know some of the local kids. It’s great that now when pass one of my students in the street, I’m greeted “¡Hola profesora!” (Although in the classroom, they say “Good morning teacher!”)