Volunteers who come to Palestine often bring with them a variety of intentions, goals, and sets of skills. The various programs that the Palestinian Center – Go Palestine offers allow internationals to share their skills and experiences with eager Palestinians who want to optimize their opportunities and further develop themselves culturally and professionally.
One program in particular, the Teach English in Palestine program, allows foreign volunteers to teach Palestinian students the practical skills necessary to developing conversational fluency in English, while simultaneously bolstering their reading, listening, and writing abilities.Volunteers at the Palestinian Center find opportunities to help Palestinians everyday—both within and beyond the classroom.
What Exactly do English Teaching Volunteers do?
Before understanding how English teachers at the Palestinian Center help Palestinians, it is important to understand what they do. Volunteers enrolled in the Teach English in Palestine program are responsible for preparing and executing English classes, as well as engaging in their own personal Arabic lessons with members of the Palestinian Center staff.
Volunteers are assigned various English classes to prepare and lead each week, either as the primary instructor of the course or as a Teaching Assistant. Internationals will only be assigned as the primary instructor to students who have achieved higher proficiency in English.
For classes in which students are just beginning to study English, volunteers will serve as Teaching Assistants and work alongside a native Arabic speaking teacher to help expose the students to different English accents.
The majority of English classes are held at the Center in Hebron; however, volunteers also host classes in various villages within a 15 minute taxi ride from the city center. The highlight of a typical volunteer’s day is interacting with their Palestinian students, who come to class everyday eager to learn more about the English language and different cultures.
Beyond leading classes, volunteers help administer language placement tests and write informative articles about life in Palestine for the Center’s website. International volunteers are essential to the operation of the Palestinian Center. Not only do they bring new, fun, and engaging ideas to the classroom; international volunteers provide diverse cultural insights to the staff and students.
Your Impact on Palestinian Students
At the Palestinian Center, English teachers have plentiful opportunities to positively impact Palestinians using their English language skills. In Palestine and around the world, being bilingual or multilingual is a serious asset that can make an applicant for a job or university position stand out from the rest. The practical English skills that native speakers share with their bright and eager students will allow them to develop fluency in the language, boost their confidence, and give them an edge over other applicants for future career opportunities.
Furthermore, Palestinians have much to gain culturally when receiving lessons developed from the perspective of a native speaker. At the Palestinian Center, English students are given top-notch instruction on proper pronunciation, accents, and other cultural nuances that come with the language.
Due to the many travel restrictions placed upon the Palestinian population by the Israeli government, many students do not have the opportunity to travel abroad to see different regions of the world and their respective cultures.
By developing relationships with their students and maintaining an open dialogue about various global perspectives, international English teachers bring an added element to the classroom that their students may not find anywhere else—broadening their cultural horizons and global perspectives. This dynamic between the students and teachers often leads to longtime friendships and serves as one of the most powerful ways that Palestinians and international volunteers can help one another: working together towards creating cross-cultural understanding.
At the Palestinian Center in Hebron, international volunteers with strong English skills have countless opportunities to create a positive influence on the lives of Palestinians. The amiable nature of our staff, volunteers, and students make the Go Palestine team truly unique. Please come and join us!
If you are interested, please send an email to Mr. Tamimi, at info@gopalestine.org. Please type “Teach English in Palestine Program” in the subject line. In the body of the email tell us of your interest, ask any questions you may have, and request an application. Very shortly we will reply to you.
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