You don’t need any previous teaching experience to volunteer with us. And no one is expecting you to be the best teacher on the first day! Actually, our teaching method is quite different than traditional teaching methods, so it will be new for everyone on the first ILP semester (even if you happen to already have some teaching experience).

As a heads up, there is a learning curve to teaching — it’s not difficult, but it usually takes most volunteers a few weeks (or a month or so) before they feel more comfortable teaching.

The method is extremely effective, with most children becoming functionally fluent after about 500 hours (about one year) of classes. You may not notice your students improve with their English skills day-to-day, but know that you are still making an impact. It takes time to learn a new language. When you look back over the semester you’ll likely see how they’ve grown and you can feel proud that you’ve had a hand in that!

While learning the teaching methodology is not difficult, working with kids can be! They have short attention spans and lots of energy. In many of our programs, especially humanitarian locations, your students often have limited experience with structure and discipline. Combine that with the fact that you’re teaching them in a language they may not understand well yet (or at all), and some students may act out in ways that make your job as a teacher harder. The majority of our volunteers will tell you that teaching is the most challenging but most rewarding part of the whole ILP experience though. There will be difficult teaching days, but by the end of the semester, volunteers have a hard time saying goodbye to their students and say that the kids were their favorite part of the trip.