The True Balinese Village Experience

I was in Tianyar for two weeks and have met some of the most incredible people I've ever known! The village feels like a home away from home and you'll always be greeted with a smile and a "Hello, how are you?" - a truly amazing atmosphere. Program by the Sea gives you are great opportunity to experience Balinese life at all levels.

The children are an absolute pleasure to be with and love having your attention. It's amazing how even in a short period you can form such a strong bond with these children and you can really see how grateful they are to have you there. During your first couple of lessons it is occasionally tough to find new ideas to bring and inspire the children but once you know your class, you will find your feet really quickly.

There's 3 major things to remember about this project, the first being that the children have fun and want to return for more classes. The second is that you must be positive, patient and outgoing. And finally, be prepared for big class sizes. Don't come to this project intending to improve their grammar, what you need to do is improve their conversation English - this is the most important tool for their future.

It can be challenging at times as there is no curriculum to follow however, this can also be a benefit as you are able to teach whatever your English language passion is. One tip of mine would to make a list of things you would like to teach them and then amend the difficulty to suit their needs. The hours are 2 one hour and a half sessions from Monday to Friday which means you have time off at the weekend to explore Bali.

There are probably 101 things I've forgotten to say about the children and Yayasan because they are just fantastic. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone as it is hugely rewarding, but you must be prepared to think for yourself and throw all the time and energy you have into the program. It will be an unforgettable experience should you chose any of the projects.