Reflection                                            1   2   3   Next

Celina Chu

There are many people who have come to Taiwan to teach English to underprivileged children, and they have talked about their experiences in books, television shows, and other forms of media. But to truly know the feeling of what it is really like to teach a new language, one has to personally take the time to go through the experience.

          When I first received the acceptance letter to this program in the mail, I had no idea what to expect and no idea what the other volunteers would be like. I also didn’t know which way of teaching would be more effective for the children, and was very nervous. As a result I would check the website everyday for updates and anything else that might be useful. As time progressed I made many new friends online and found that they were all as nervous and also as clueless about teaching as I was. Finally, the training week at Taoyuan Training Center came, and there I learned many useful things that would help me teach English to my students in the most effective and fun way. Not only that, I also met many of the people that I had become good friends with online, and made friends with even more people too.

          After the training week ended, I was very sad but also excited at the same time. This was the time when I would have to leave my newfound friends and go to see my students and make new friendships all over again. Upon arriving in Bu-Dai, there were already a group of children waiting for me and my fellow group members, and I soon found that the people were all very friendly and warmhearted, something that isn’t very common back home in California. During the first weekend there my partner Micco and I were very nervous and didn’t know what to expect in our students and if we would be good teachers or not.

          On the first day of teaching and meeting my students, the atmosphere was very awkward and uptight, but as the days went by the class became closer and friendlier with each other. I also found that the most effective way to teach my students was to have them play various games and activities. This is because many of my students were only in the first and second grades, and did not have the patience and understanding to sit still and take notes for six periods a day. At the end of the two teaching weeks, my students had learned the ABC’s and various other simple words and terms in English. Aside from learning English, my students had also become good friends with each other and would commonly gang up against my teaching partner and me. Even though two weeks isn’t a very long period of time, I still became good friends with my students and many of the other children as well. After going through this once in a lifetime experience, I not only gained a new understanding and respect for teachers, but I also gained a newfound sense of patience in everything I do, and I also know that I have friends in this corner of the world as well.

          During the closing ceremony at the end of the second week of teaching, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see these wonderful children for at least a year if I would ever get a chance to see them again at all. I also regret leaving my fellow group members as well, because half of the either live in Texas or Oklahoma, and the other half live at least a half hours drive away from me in California. After going through this experience of teaching underprivileged children in Taiwan, and personally feeling the joy that comes from knowing that you have done something for your parent’s home country, I can now say that if I ever had the chance to do something like this again, I would jump at the opportunity. And I am very grateful that I was given this opportunity to change the lives of children halfway around the world when many were turned down.

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