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GYC3179 - Teaching conversational English Country: India Cost: £995.00 Cost Includes: The price includes accommodation, food and pickup from airport but does not include flight, insurance, kit or visas     Duration: 1 months Company Rep Nearby: All the time 0845 344 7627 or

 

	This placement would suit... people hoping to become teachers and those who are not who want to do something worthwhile. The teaching placements are ideal for good English speakers who want to do something worthwhile, other than just traveling in a country. Teaching conversational English is a great way to give something back to your host community. In Kerala, most of the lessons are conducted in Malayalam and English. Historically, Keralans have begrudged speaking the Indian national language, Hindi, and so English is an important language to learn if the children want good jobs. English is already taught in most Indian schools and you will be surprised at what the children already know. Pick up some of the work that the children have written and you will wonder why you are there, their written work is immaculate. However, ask the children to read out what they have written and you will quickly see where they need help. Most of the children have been taught English by people whose first language is not English. Often that means that they have been taught to speak English through the phonics of their own language. Y's, R's, L's, Th's, Ph's are pronounced differently in the Malayalam so your role is not to teach the children grammar, but to teach them the phonetics of the language - how to pronounce the letters that form the building blocks of the English language. As well as helping teach conversational English people with interests in music, drama, and art are welcomed as well as anyone with a keen interest in cricket! Note all projects working with children require a background check. This is an extra cost of about £10 but we will make the necessary arrangements. Parking tickets, speeding fines, and some criminal convictions will not prevent you from joining us; we simply check if you have any prior convictions relating to harming children. Note all projects working with children require a background check. This is an extra cost of about £10 but we will make the necessary arrangements. Parking tickets, speeding fines, and some criminal convictions will not prevent you from joining us; we simply check if you have any prior convictions relating to harming children. Accommodation During your time with us in India you will be staying in accommodation that we rent from the local people. This house is quite spacious and clean and volunteers share a dormitory style room with 3 other people. Whether you are teaching, on the journalism placement or working in hospitals, all the volunteers stay together in the same accommodation which means that you are never far away from someone to socialise with in the evenings or travel with at weekends. Usually, four people will share a room. The standard of the accommodation will be basic and not be what you are used to at home so please don’t expect all mod cons, but it will be clean and tidy. The house has running water and electricity, but please be aware that the water is delivered and stored in a tank above the house so there may be times when it runs out and the electricity supply is unreliable and may often fail. India often has problems with its electricity supply and will be cut off at times with no warning. Even breakfasts in India have an element of curry spices to them. There will be someone there to look after the house and they will cook your meals, which means that if you can't quite get used to Indian food then they can cook something similar to what you are used to at home. Travelling around Trivandrum is easy whether you are teaching or on a medical project, you placement will be easy to reach by auto rickshaw or bus. Very occasionally, we place volunteers with local families. This is usually during off-peak times when only a handful of volunteers are with us in India. If this is the case we will send you full details of your family accommodation before your departure. Our staff will be on hand during office hours if you have any general queries and only a phone call away outside office hours if there’s something much more urgent. Weekends The cost of the programme includes yoga lessons which are usually conducted each morning. Practising yoga is a great way to learn a little bit about Indian culture. Weekends are usually free and volunteers usually use this time to meet and go travelling. Our location in Kerala means that you are well placed to see some of the most interesting sites in India. The beaches of Kerala are reputed to be some of the best in the world. Not far away is the palm fringed Kovalam, perfect for just chilling out and relaxing by the sea after a hectic week in India. Further afield is the coastal port of Cochin, once centre to the spice trade from India. Travel further inland and travel down the famous backwaters of Kerala or journey up into the Western Ghat mountains and the wildlife reserve at Periyar roamed by herds of mud-caked elephants. If you’re exhausted by constant travelling, take a weekend off and take time to appreciate the various theatre and dance styles that abound in Kerala. Mohiniattam (‘dance of the enchantress’) and the martial art influenced Kathakali dance drama are well worth experiencing if you have the chance during your time with us in India. Those interested in travelling much further afield can journey into neighbouring Tamil Nadu to visit the many Hindu temples or much further north to Agra and a pilgrimage to the Taj Mahal. 0845 344 7627 Joining Global Volunteer Projects is as much about learning as it is about giving. Our programmes are designed to incorporate learning the local language and something about the local culture. All our programmes include, where applicable, basic language courses as well as 'culture' courses. This may be drumming in Ghana, yoga in India or learning Swahili in Tanzania. We also offer a wide range of projects, teaching, conservation and orphanage work for those keen to get involved as well as medicine and journalism placements for those looking to gain that all important work experience.