Boomers Abroad

Description

Volunteer teaching in Mongolia is an ideal way to help at some of the most poorly resourced schools in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. The Mongolian government plans to increase its economic trade with neighboring countries to improve high unemployment levels after years of slow economic growth and debt. With this in mind, the hard-pressed schools desperately need native English speakers to help give the children a better chance to move the country forward.

Volunteer abroad in Mongolia and you can gain work experience teaching without the need for TEFL training or previous teaching experience. All we ask is that you have a good level of spoken English and the energy and enthusiasm to work in the classrooms of the most remote capital city in the world!

Whether you want to volunteer in Mongolia as an English teacher during your gap year, career break or during an extended vacation, you will have an important role to play in one of the schools in which we work. The impact you have on your students will be obvious, but you will also be part of a much larger network of international volunteers, which is making a positive and ongoing contribution to the wider community.

When you arrive at your school in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, don't be surprised if you find an old "communist-style" concrete structure with basic, clean but purely functional facilities. The stark buildings certainly don't reflect the welcoming nature of the people within.

Our Projects Abroad Mongolia staff will introduce you to a friendly supervisor, usually one of the English teachers at the school, and then to lots of enthusiastic students. They are unlikely to have had a great deal of contact with Western people in the past and you may well find yourself rapidly become something of a celebrity!

Volunteers who have placements in secondary schools teach children between the ages of roughly 12 and 17. Those who work in language centers during the summer holidays could be teaching groups of young teenagers and adults. The average class size in a school is between twenty and thirty and volunteers are expected to work for about four hours per day. In a language center class, classes will be much smaller, but you will still be asked to teach a similar number of hours.

Your main role as a volunteer teacher is to help the local staff by teaching the conversational elements of their lessons. Although learning the English language is the aim, many of your lessons will also be opportunities for cultural exchange. Your students are the perfect age to spend English lessons talking about soccer, current affairs and pop music. Find out what Mongolians really think about fashion or whether they celebrate Christmas!

It is also possible to teach French in Mongolia for parts of the year. Please let us know if you are interested in this when you apply.