Learning English has never been so interesting

Nicole Heise, program director of Learning Enterprises China, conducts an English lesson for primary school students in Jishui, Jiangxi province. Provided to China Daily

Like most middle school students in China's rural areas, 14-year-old Wang Zhen used to find English the toughest subject.

The situation changed this summer, after he spent a month with a group of native English speakers from the United States and Ireland who were in his hometown Jishui, Jiangxi province, to teach the language.

"I am so grateful to have native speakers to teach us English for free," Wang says with glowing eyes. "They are so caring and patient. Now I find that studying English is not so difficult."

Wang is among some 1,000 students in Jishui who enjoyed an unforgettable summer being taught by volunteers who are undergraduates of 14 colleges and universities from the US and Ireland, including Stanford University, Brown University and Trinity College. Students from China's Nanjing University also took part in the teaching program.

Yin Shupan, a first-year high school student, says after attending the classes, he felt confident conversing in English, for the very first time.

"Even though I'm already a high school student, I could hardly have a conversation in English before the summer program. Our teachers came up with a thousand and one ways to open our mouths," he shares. "Within only two weeks of attending the classes, I was ready to practice what I learn."

The program is run by Learning Enterprises China (LE China), a student-run non-profit organization. Through 11 years of work in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, the organization has opened up a new pattern of volunteerism. Apart from teaching English, volunteers are involved in social services, urban-rural development, and international cultural exchanges.

Learning Enterprises, which was founded in 1991 at the United States' Georgetown University, runs programs in more than 10 countries, including Thailand, Poland, Mauritius and Hungary.

Nicole Heise, program director of LE China, says China is the only country where their programs are provided with local teaching partners.

"The Chinese volunteers have contributed a lot to this program, and China is the best among all of our programs," Heise says.

Although English is an important course in China's compulsory education, many rural students generally do not do well in the subject because of lack of interest and insufficient teaching resources.

To evoke the students' interest, the summer volunteers make the classes fun with interactive games and activities. Classes focus on conversation more than writing. The students are encouraged to speak English in front of classes and gradually, they built their confidence in using the foreign language.

In terms of teaching resources, each Chinese undergraduate from Nanjing University partners a foreign undergraduate to teach two classes. After four hours of teaching in the morning, volunteers spend the afternoons creating lesson plans, visiting students' families and giving extra tuition. The volunteers live with local host families, with the Chinese volunteers act as cultural and language coordinators for the international volunteers.

"It's a wonderful experience working and living with international volunteers 24-7 for four weeks," says Xu Xinran, a Nanjing University volunteer. "Although my teaching partner and I hold different views while planning our lessons sometimes, we always end up collaborating to come up with a much better way of conducting our classes."

Xu's teaching partner, Colm Manning, a student from Trinity College of Ireland, says: "We couldn't have done it without the Chinese volunteers. I can't speak Chinese so they help me a lot with the language. They also teach me about Chinese traditions like table manners, culture, and every day greetings."

For Manning, the teaching program also enables him to see a different China, other than big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

"I really appreciate this opportunity to be an English teacher in rural China," he says. "I will miss such a beautiful country, those lovely students and the nice host families when I get back to Ireland."

The 40 volunteers were selected from more than 400 applicants. The went through resume skimming, two rounds of interviews, one class demonstration and an outdoor task-bound expedition before they finally landed in Jishui city.