Welcome to Conversation Club
Mondays
through Thursdays a loud chatter can be heard coming from a normally quiet café
as Nepali girls age 10-50 learn English through conversation with our
volunteers.
Conversation
club doesn’t start until 4:30 but the local girls start trickling in around 4.
Pinky and Priya, sisters, arrive and immediately walk over to Brendan and greet
him ‘you were sick yesterday.’ Brendan nods his head and replies in Nepali. The
sisters giggle and introduce a friend who is joining the club for the first
time.
It’s
a typical start to conversation club and routines have quickly set in even
through the group is only in its infancy. The conversation group was formed
just two months ago in response to a local volleyball coach’s concern for his
players. Most Nepalis learn to read and write English in school but they have
little practice speaking it which is vital when it comes to getting a higher
paying job.
In
just eight weeks, the club has seen regular attendance by the initial group of
volleyball girls and new locals seem to join each week as word spreads. Through
conversation, doodles and the occasional vocabulary list volunteers and the
girls share cultures. As bonds form discussion topics progress from favorite
foods and hobbies to religion and sometimes even dating.
So
far the club has relied on an informal system of teaching English in which
volunteers have created flashcards and practice worksheets to cater to
individual girls who need help in a certain area. Due to the success and
amazing attendance of the group more resources are being collected. The GVI hub
in Thailand is working together with local staff to share resources and secure
some English teaching books to cater to the girls who need to review the
basics. Cheers for the help.
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