Summer camp in Thailand, teaching English
| country: | Thailand |
| location: | Southern Thailand |
| departures: | 2009: 30 Jul |
| price: | From £650 (14 days) excluding flights |
read 1 travellers review
the amazing things you'll be doing
Take part in a 2 week English camp programme for Thai children from 8-12 years old on the beautiful island of Koh Phangan. Our summer English camps are an exciting way to help and encourage Thai children from 8-12 years old to learn and practise English. The children are from government primary schools on the island of Koh Phangan.
Working with a group of other volunteers and our staff, your role will be to run 3 English camps (2 days long) at different schools around the island. The camps involve as much fun and interaction as possible including games, sports, songs, art and other creative activities. There is also an opportunity to explore different cultures and the Thais are very keen to share some of their traditions. The island of Koh Phangan is a dramatic mix of dense jungle and hilly terrain in its interior and beaches along the coast. It offers stunning beaches, great snorkelling and diving, and jungle and temples to explore inland. It is a popular traveller destination and there is a lively social scene.
Placements include a detailed information booklet, travel assistance, being met on arrival, 14 nights accommodation, Thai language & culture training, support from our local staff, a snorkelling trip and Thai cooking class.
The camp days themselves start at about 8am and finish around 3pm. After an initial welcome and introductions, the children rotate between stations, each station featuring an activity run by volunteers. Activities range from games like "What's the time Mr Wolf", to arts and crafts incorporating English, to a giant treasure hunt! It's tiring but great fun, especially seeing the enjoyment on the children's faces.
In between camps there will be time off to rest and prepare, and at the end there will be a couple days to celebrate and relax. In your time off you can explore the island, and a snorkelling trip and Thai cooking course is included in the programme. You will live in a Thai bungalow by the beach with restaurants and facilities nearby.
Working with a group of other volunteers and our staff, your role will be to run 3 English camps (2 days long) at different schools around the island. The camps involve as much fun and interaction as possible including games, sports, songs, art and other creative activities. There is also an opportunity to explore different cultures and the Thais are very keen to share some of their traditions. The island of Koh Phangan is a dramatic mix of dense jungle and hilly terrain in its interior and beaches along the coast. It offers stunning beaches, great snorkelling and diving, and jungle and temples to explore inland. It is a popular traveller destination and there is a lively social scene.
Placements include a detailed information booklet, travel assistance, being met on arrival, 14 nights accommodation, Thai language & culture training, support from our local staff, a snorkelling trip and Thai cooking class.
a day in the life of a volunteer
After a few days to acclimatise, settle in and have some local tours, we start the process of preparing for the camps. We will provide guidance, ideas and resources, and the group will run and manage each camp. Each camp is based at a different school, located in a different part of the island. The camp days themselves start at about 8am and finish around 3pm. After an initial welcome and introductions, the children rotate between stations, each station featuring an activity run by volunteers. Activities range from games like "What's the time Mr Wolf", to arts and crafts incorporating English, to a giant treasure hunt! It's tiring but great fun, especially seeing the enjoyment on the children's faces.
In between camps there will be time off to rest and prepare, and at the end there will be a couple days to celebrate and relax. In your time off you can explore the island, and a snorkelling trip and Thai cooking course is included in the programme. You will live in a Thai bungalow by the beach with restaurants and facilities nearby.
travellers' tales
Overall this holiday was brilliant I had no idea what to expect before I went but I had so much fun, met lots of lovely people, learnt about a new culture and felt I was able to give something back to the community. (more)
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you are looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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For the Thai people, good English means good opportunities. The English camps are a really fun and active way of motivating and helping the children to learn.
In addition to this direct benefit, we try to ensure: Social responsibility - before volunteers depart we provide them with a detailed information pack on the area they will be visiting. On arrival we provide Thai language and cultural training. We try to educate and encourage our volunteers to understand and respect the local cultures and customs and get involved with local communities. Economic responsibility – a significant proportion of the fee that volunteers pay is spent in Thailand. We always work with locally owned Thai businesses and we employ Thai staff to support our volunteers. While volunteers are in-country, we encourage them to buy locally and support local businesses.  Environmental responsibility – one of the main negative impacts of our volunteers travelling, is the carbon dioxide created from flights. We work with a 'carbon neutral' charity to help ensure that an amount of carbon is sequestered through tree planting or the promotion of low energy technologies. While our volunteers and customers are overseas, we identify and encourage simple steps to minimise their impact on the local environment. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |