Community Service

Community service is a great way to get involved in the ESOL world. There are many different ways to enter the volunteer work force, two of which are listed below.

Hosting Students

English is spoken in many areas of the world both natively and as a foreign language. The top four countries where English is spoken natively are the United States (approx. 215 billion), the United Kingdom (approx. 58 billion), Canada (approx. 17 billion), and Australia (approx 15 billion). Students from around the world who are studying English would love to live with a host family in these countries or Ireland, South Africa or New Zealand to sharpen their speaking skills.

There are many hosting services available and all make sure that the student who stays with you is a good match with your family. Unfortunately, there are not enough teachers or volunteers available to meet the demands of these students. As a hosting family, you can help! You don't need to have a TESL certification or even take the seminars available to volunteers working with refugees and immigrants. Understanding what your student is going through and following a few basic steps will go a long way to making his or her stay a success.

Volunteering with Immigrants and Refugees

Not all volunteer organizations are created alike. Be sure to interview the prospective organization to make sure that they will give you the support that you need when you tutor your student(s). Find out if you need to sign a contract (most require a minimum of two hours a week for six months) and make sure that you're able to keep this commitment. If an organization doesn't offer to send you to a seminar on facilitation of ESOL discussions or teaching ESOL prior to working with your students, this isn't an organization you want to work with. Remember that commitment works both ways. You sign a contract committing yourself to working for them and they need to commit to making the experience a success.

There are other ways to help you with your tutoring beyond taking seminars:

Did you know that refugees receive eight months of assistance (housing, food, language skills, etc.) and then they are on their own? Eight months may seem like a lot of time but it's not much for learning a language, especially when you factor in the enormous stress they are under moving here. In addition, some refugees haven't completed beyond a second or third grade education in their native language so you may be teaching literacy and basic math as well. Because of the short time period that we have to work with them, it's important to make good use of their time so they will be able to find and hold a job within that eight month period.