English teaching with music in Cambodia from $302

When I first decided to volunteer in Takeo I had no idea how much of a meaningful impact it would have on me. I discovered a very beautiful and charming country from a different perspective. I learned so much from their customs and from their lives.

Teaching English through music is a very amusing volunteering experience and as the kids learn the lyrics and the key words so quickly you feel very heart-warmed. I was there on my own but I would also recommend going with someone else. Even though the town is relatively small there is a long list of things to, for me it was playing football with the locals that kept me busy during the afternoons. Nonetheless, others may find more interesting experiences visiting pagodas, cycling around, finding a nice place to chill and read next to the lake or simply interacting with the locals, who are always cheerful and willing to help.

With regards to the teaching method, music is a very powerful tool, but you can also carry out complementary activities such as games and filling the gaps with alphabet soup exercises. I wanted the classes to be very enjoyable and the kids just help so much.

I hope more volunteers can go there on a regular basis in the future because there are more schools to cover and a huge work to do.

Together with my boyfriend I went as the first volunteer to this program. As we stayed only for a week we couldnt, of course, make any huge differences. But I could see the potential, and I belive that once INTVS can start sending volunteers regularly and if the volunteers can stay a bit longer than we did this program will really make a big differnce for these kids.

Before we went I was a bit worried about that the program would be more like a tourist attraction, more for me to take pictures with cute kids than actually helping. But it was nothing like that, and if you want to help this is a really good program to choose. In the rural areas in Cambodia, like Takeo, the english level is really low. But still, english is a really important thing for the kids to learn. All this they explained to us when we arrived, and after that I felt really motivated. As I met the kids and saw how much they want to learn and how much fun we could have together during the classes I felt so happy that I went there. Both the kids as well as the teachers seemed to share my joy and I wish I could have stayed longer to see the childeren improve their english level.

Apart from making a difference and helping, it was a nice experience because we got to see something else than the typical touristic places most of people see when they go traveling. We got to see the countryside, parts of the everyday life, eat local food and meet local people and so on. The people at the volunteer house took so good care of us, showed us around and helped us with whatever we needed.

All in all, we had an amazing time and I would really recomend you to go. But remember, this program is young and for example the teachers in the schools are not yet used to voluteers coming. This means that the first days you might feel a bit lost and things can seem to be a bit unorganized, but have patience and everything will be just fine. If you are a person that can take initiative or if you maybe have some experience in volunteering/teaching/traveling that will help you. But dont worry, the people at the volunteer house will support you and after a few days you will understand how things work.

I apologize in advance for the long review but it is hard to sum up the experience in fewer lines.

Before starting the program we went to Phnom Penh and visited the prison museum and the killing fields which helped us to understand the dark past of the country. By knowing what Cambodian people have suffered and the impact it HAD on their education, we found the program even more needed.

Teaching English, why?

Before going to the program, I was wondering how useful I could be in a program based on teaching English, being Spanish, not A native English speaker and above all not having any kind of teaching background, but what I learned during this week is the following: The kids need to know how to speak in English, and we didn't need to be English teachers or native to teach them as their level and sometimes their teacher's is very low. Indeed, without English thESE countryside kids have a big disadvantage compared to urban children who have a better level.

Important side effects of not knowing English is that they cannot use Internet to learn by themselves, and they don't have access to any external source of information.

The people:

At the volunteer house, we could get very attached with some of the volunteer coordinators. They are all Cambodian from birth and always willing to teach us about their country, culture and help for anything we needed, I have hardly met people with such amazing smiles and I haven't laughed as much in a long time, believe me.

The kids in schools but also in the rest of the area are wonderful,willing to learn during the class and waving at me while I was riding back to the volunteer house.

I have only been on the program for a week so of course I didn't feel like I completely changed their lives back there. But I could really feel the need of volunteers. Me and my girlfriend were the first volunteers to be sent to the program, the first to meet the children and the teachers but hopefully not the last.

So one more thing I can do for the program is to write this review and hopefully convince some of you to follow our steps and make a real change on a long term. As our volunteer coordinator said: "it's all about sustainability"