One of the highlights for me of our time in Laos was getting to teach English at a college in Luang Prabang. The college (Xayadeth College) happened to be two buildings down from our hotel, so we walked by it on a Friday and decided to try teaching the next week. The students we taught have classes for three hours in the evening, every evening Monday-Friday, with a 15 minute break in the middle. Tuition for the year for these English classes at Xayadeth is about 280 USD. Many of these college-aged students also attend college during the day and are working on becoming accountants, teachers, etc. We split up three of the four days (Mom, Findlay, and I; Tate, Keegan, and Dad) and I got to teach a huge range of students: 6-35 years old! It was so fun getting to talk to the students and help with pronunciation. What made it especially fun was that all of the kids wanted to learn and were okay with repeating words and sounds over and over again to improve their English. On our third day at the college, I got to teach the younger kids (6–11). They were so cute! There is a huge difference in English skill level between the little kids and the adults (the adults have been learning for 1-2 years longer), so it was a little hard at first to make the transition to teaching a more beginning level. Even with the older students, we had to make sure to speak very slowly and articulate every word. I loved returning each day and seeing the familiar faces and having conversations. At the end of each class, all the students would stand up and bow, saying “Thank you teachers!” If anyone is planning on traveling to Luang Prabang, I would definitely recommend teaching English. It’s an amazing experience.
We will miss this school!
that is super cool!!! It seems like a really fun experience
Thank you Mrs. Hakkarainen! Getting to teach other people something that I understand so well was a really amazing experience.
What an amazing experience, I have taught English in schools around the world too, mainly Botswana and The Philippines, and I know how rewarding it is to help those who want to improve their speaking skills! And a lot of fun too! Can’t believe Keegan is a teacher already at such a young age, how fantastic!
That’s really neat! I agree — amazing experience!! Keegan loved it also.
What an incredible experience! I’m so excited for you all – and for the students who had you as teachers. What words did you learn from them? Did they want to practice all kinds of words, or words for specific purposes?
We had a set lesson plan that the teacher gave us, and we would teach any extra words that connected with the lesson. So mostly, words for specific purposes. They taught us how to say “hello” and “thank you”.