WORK CONTENT:

Your lessons will usually be a combination of teaching from the standard text book and teaching lessons of your own design. Your personal lesson plans can include anything from your hobbies and interests to current affairs and local news as subject matter.

Language games always go down extremely well too. The students absolutely adore hearing about your life in England, so make sure to bring photographs of your family and friends to show them.

The vast majority of your teaching will usually concentrate on improving the students' conversational English; familiarising them with proper pronunciation and increasing their confidence. They’re often excellent at English, but get so little practice with spoken English that they make many mistakes... This is where you come in!

Sometimes you will be teaching classes on your own and sometimes with a Chinese English teacher present – it differs depending on the particular school or centre you are placed at. Usually, you will at least spend the first couple of weeks of your placement assisting a Chinese teacher.

Also, there will usually be a classroom assistant present who will assist you with translations.

If you are confident in any other subjects, then you can integrate these into your lessons.

YYou may also have the chance to help out with “English Activity Time” at some schools – which can include mask making, playing monopoly and other fun activities! ‘English Corner’ is always fun too – students fire all manner of questions at you in order to practice their English!

In some schools, you may also have the opportunity to add teaching science, music, PE, art or drama to your English teaching.

TEACHING AT KINDERGARTEN:

One of the many joys of this project is that not only will you have the opportunity to work at a school in Yangzhou, but you'll also have the added bonus of assisting at a Kindergarten, too. Therefore you'll have a unique and varied experience which will look great on your CV! 

You may find that you will spend your time at the Kindergarten for most of the week and then take two or three lessons at other schools on pre planned days, or vice versa - it all depends on what help is required at the time.

We provide you with a Teaching Suggestions Booklet which has ideas for teaching English, but will also help structuring lessons in other subjects. Video facilities are available in some schools and audio equipment is quite commonplace.

AVAILABILITY:
National Holidays in China
All projects will break for Chinese National Holidays. The main events are:

·         Chinese New Year - usually sometime in late January or early February. All projects will break for 1 or 2 weeks for New Year

·         May Holiday – usually the first week of May. Most projects break for 3-7 days

·         October Holiday – usually the first week of October. Most projects break for 3-7 days

There are also a number of shorter holidays throughout the year where some projects will be closed. You are very welcome to join a project during holiday time, however you will not be able to work if your project is closed.

ACCOMMODATION
You’ll be accommodated in a flat which you are likely to share with other volunteers and you will usually have your own room, although sometimes you may have to share a room with another volunteer.

The accommodation is comfortable, fully furnished with a ‘Western-style’ bathroom, and has all the modern facilities you'll need. The flat is in a beautiful complex in Jiangdu District of Yangzhou City, within 5 minutes' walk to the school.

FOOD: 
You’ll be given a food budget to buy your own breakfast and you will be provided with lunch and dinner at the school. Eating out in Yangzhou is also cheap, easy and delicious! Tim, our Yangzhou Organiser, often takes volunteers out for group dinners to introduce them to the best local cuisine in the area!.