Program Reviews

We were fortunate to be in Cambodia for Khmer New Year. The wonderful, mostly Khmer, staff at CWF included the volunteers in their traditional Khmer New Year celebrations. It was a fantastic occasion. We were surprised and encouraged by the similarity of so many of the Khmer traditional games with games we played as young children in Australia.

Also, I could not complete this survey without commenting on the Khmer people. In our experience, they are exceedingly friendly, welcoming and generous people. It is impossible not to feel happy and positive in their company. We made many great friends.

And finally the students. Essentially because they have chosen to attend CWF, and paid money to attend, they are highly motivated and extremely well behaved. Teaching them was both a pleasure and very rewarding.

I volunteered with CWF in 2012 and it has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

The staff throughout the program are incredibly dedicated to the mission of the school and are always there to talk with you or help you out, and, unless you opt for the accommodation/food package, participating is completely free (however I definitely recommend going with the package if you're up for the socialising!)

The school itself offers you enough support both in regards to your volunteer teaching and immersion into the culture, offering both teaching workshops with a detailed curriculum as well as language classes and activities/excursions with the group.

The location is also great - you're a quick walk away from the school itself as well as only being a short tuktuk/motodop ride everything else. Cambodia has enough public holidays that you are also able to travel within the country.

The fact that CWF has a continuous cycle of volunteers also rids the school of a "voluntourism" vibe as there are no large gaps between the volunteer groups. Each 3 month volunteer program is an individual semester for the students so that the change of teacher in a new semester is not destructive to the learning.

All in all I would 100% recommend the program - it's so rewarding and with only ~5 contact hours every week day it also gives you enough time to enjoy the city the way you want to.

I applied to teach at CWF on a whim and without any teaching experience. 3 months later, I'm thinking of making teaching my career! I had the time of my life in Phnom Penh and the credit for that goes mostly to CWF and their support!

First of all, I felt very well taken care of for most of my time there. From the moment we arrived, there was always support. All our questions were answered by our wonderful and caring in-country support lady Soriya (who seems to know everything). We got optional free Khmer lessons and a very useful orientation about life in Cambodia. During our orientation period, we had the opportunity to visit one of the projects that are supported by CRDT, the organisation the school donates its profits to.

I lived in the volunteer house and we had everything we needed. Any problems could be addressed and were taken care of.

Since many of us hadn't taught before, we were nervous about it, wanting to do our best for the students. There was no need to worry, either:
we received some training in the beginning and then ongoing support throughout our semester. Any questions we had would be answered right away and David, the Education Services Manager was always happy to help us out with ideas (and he has tons of them) or share his vast teaching knowledge.
I was also impressed by our coursebooks. Many ESL coursebooks focus on American or British culture, which can be confusing and irrelevant to Asian students. Therefore, our school designed its own books with content relevant to life in Cambodia. I taught English and in turn learned a lot about Cambodian culture.

The school also organised outings to local sites and made everyone feel like part of the family from day one. I felt very welcome and have been told that I can come back any time, to visit or use the resources.

All in all, I'm grateful and happy that I could teach at CWF for these 3 months and already miss my students greatly. Cambodian students are a pleasure to teach, since they are very eager to learn, very respectful and friendly. I would do it all again and my come back for another semester in the future! :)

Every day, around 1000 learners, all ages and from all walks of life, experience the opportunity to take a class with English speakers without having to pay an exorbitant tuition fee. They open the School's front door quietly, cross the reception area respectfully and walk to their respective classrooms cheerfully, and willing to learn. The staff not only reciprocates the deference, care and attention, but also instills them in us -- the volunteer teaching staff.
Efforts are made to provide variety in teaching experience (different levels and modules), leisure experience (excursions and longer trips) and cultural experience (language and cooking classes).
In a fast changing developing country, difficulties are expected but there is nothing that advance psychological preparation and open attitude cannot overcome.

Loved my experience with CWF. We were all so well looked after by the staff who all have such a beautiful passion for what they do, they are so supportive and are literally there 24/7 and will do anything they can to help you. The programme is so well organised and the trips are fantastic. With the teaching there's a clear and easy structure to follow with the workbooks your students get and yet there is complete freedom on what you choose to do in your lessons. This was my first time teaching, and I'm so glad I chose to do it with CWF, I would recomend them to anybody beginner and experienced alike and I would do it all again in a heart beat! Teaching itself is so much fun as it's conversational English which means you really get to know your students and you feel like your make a difference to them. Our accommodation is literally a 5 minute walk away or a 2 minute bike ride, and it's in a really convenient past of the city with everything you need withing walking distance.
Phnom Pehn is a great city to live...warning: you will fall in love with it as soon as you step off the aeroplane! There is something for everyone weather its bars and night life, malls, rustic markets, wats or something more peaceful. Nothing is too far away. I think everyone should come here at least once in their life, everyone you speak to has either come here and ended up staying or have come back to work. The people are so friendly and you feel safe even thoigh it's a city and its easy enough to get out of the city too for day trips and short holidays.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with CWF. The school teaches conversational English in a semi-formal setting. I think that this creates a great contrast to the rigid formality of the English taught in school.
The students are all very eager to learn, and you come away with the sense that you've genuinely made a difference. You have the freedom to teach whatever topics is your students are most interested in, but there is also the choice to follow a comprehensive textbook. Most volunteers use a mixture.
The staff are all very friendly and ready to help with any issues that might arise. The entire course is well structured with a comprehensive induction week including a trip to rural Cambodia.
All in all, a fantastic volunteer placement, I can't recommend it enough.

Volunteering at CWF is one of the best things I have ever done, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The administration of the programme is exceptional, the level of support and genuine care of the staff is fantastic. Living with fellow volunteers just a stones throw from the school in a vibrant and exciting part of town was an experience that is hard to accurately describe in words.

My time at CWF was culturally richer than anything I could have imagined. The teaching was highly challenging, but the support in place at CWF made meeting those challenges achievable and very rewarding.

The CWF programme is a perfect example of how a volunteer experience can really work. Its incredibly rewarding to volunteers, and of significant benefit to those they help.

This was something I will never forget.