Teaching English in Peru

In 2023, Communities for Life launched a two-year, 4-level ESL program with 12 participants in partnership with SCcyber E-Learning Institute in Calgary, Alberta. The online program is taught several times a week by Dalene Volschenk, a qualified and experienced instructor, and is facilitated by Julio in the Life Resource Center. An update from Dalene:

There are 12 students remaining [of the original 15] in the class who attend on a regular basis. We have lost some students due to new jobs, night classes for further studies, and too much going on in their lives. The remaining group seems very committed and is a joy to work with. 

One of the highlights of this last quarter is seeing students gain confidence. They used to be very shy when presenting and saying something new in English. Now, they are speaking louder and with more confidence. Students also recognize sentence structures and have acquired enough vocabulary to read a short paragraph and understand most of it. We practice and speak as much as we can in each class. The challenge remains that they all speak the same native language, so group work is less effective than ESL classes [in Canada]. They speak one-on-one with me, but it’s limited by time to give everyone an opportunity.

Julio is a great facilitator and helps to support the learning. When I ask a question in class, and the students give a blank stare, he simply repeats it in English instead of translating. That has been a big help for all of us. 

The ESL program is a sustainability initiative for Manchay that will allow students to get jobs in tourism and have more career opportunities. 

Interested in helping more students? You can give today to provide more ESL opportunities in Manchay.