Teach English in Malaysia
| country: | Malaysia, Borneo |
| location: | Sabah & Sarawak |
| departures: | The academic year runs from January to November |
| price: | From £1095 (4 weeks) - £1595 (12 weeks) excluding flights. Extra weeks £90 per week. We can help arrange flights from the UK from approx £650 - £750 and an optional teacher training day in London from £99 |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Teach English on the colourful and exotic island of Borneo.
Teaching placements take place in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. You will teach in rural primary or secondary schools, located in rural village environments in the northern part of the state. Outside the classroom you can assist in study periods, debating, school radio broadcasts and drama. Skills such as football and music would be appreciated for after school coaching. No qualifications are required to do this teaching project, although you can enroll in our optional 1-day intensive teacher training day in London before you go if you have no previous experience.
The two main schools that volunteers attend are from the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Christian group, and each school holds around 350 pupils. They comprise Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary Schools and teaching can be arranged within any one of these areas. You will usually be expected to work about 10 – 15 lessons per week, and you will soon find that you are in demand wherever you go! The children at these schools are not used to seeing westerners and so you may find that people stare at you at first, but they will welcome you into their school and you will soon find that Malaysia feels like a second home.
You'll be given a timetable of lessons and will have the freedom to plan and take your own classes (with assistance, if required). Your main focus is on assisting with conversational English but you may also be asked to help within other areas, such as sport, drama and music, if you have an interest in these. Both Science and Maths are taught in English, and as such assistance with these subjects at basic level is really appreciated.
Some of the classes will be conversation based and some tuition based to groups or individuals formally and informally outside the classrooms. You will be given plenty of assistance from the principal and teachers until such time as you have gained confidence in your own abilities. Outside the classroom you can assist the pupils in language group work, debating, public and choral-speaking, pronunciation practice, reading aloud, discussions, games – e.g. board games for language practice, broadcasts on the school radio, drama productions and presentations, and quizzes and general knowledge competitions. You may also help with English ‘camps’, supervising study periods, assisting in the library and helping during tests and examinations.
If you have additional skills, such as football and music (or in any other subjects), these would be very much appreciated and the children would love some additional after school coaching. If you do not want to teach in a conventional school we also have some placements in other centres and institutions. For example, we could arrange for you to work with children who have mental disabilities such as down syndrome, or if you have practical skills you could teach vocational subjects such as woodwork to young male adults who have not successfully completed conventional schooling, or who have severely underachieved.
Because English is taught in all schools, all the teachers have good spoken English and so communication won't be a problem. If you're living with a family, you'll participate in their way of life. In both these types of accommodation, because you'll be in a rural village environment, you'll become involved in the local life. Very often this is one of the most attractive aspects of our placements in different cultures because you get to experience the country in a way that you would never be able to do as a tourist. You may have your own room or you may share a room with one or two others. If you live with a family, you'll probably share a room with another volunteer.
There is a surprising amount of action in the evenings in Malaysian villages, including coffee shops, karaoke bars, and bustling open-air markets that are fascinating! As there is so much to do in Sabah and the surrounding region, we recommend that you do some travelling around the country once your placement has finished.
Teaching placements take place in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. You will teach in rural primary or secondary schools, located in rural village environments in the northern part of the state. Outside the classroom you can assist in study periods, debating, school radio broadcasts and drama. Skills such as football and music would be appreciated for after school coaching. No qualifications are required to do this teaching project, although you can enroll in our optional 1-day intensive teacher training day in London before you go if you have no previous experience.
the project
Teaching placements are available in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. You will teach in rural primary or secondary schools, located in rural village environments in the northern part of the state. Travellers work with two schools in particular, one located close to the capital city, Kota Kinabalu, and one which is further north, towards Kota Marudu. English is taught in all schools, but in rural areas the children have no need or opportunity to speak the language outside the classroom, so they get very little practice in pronunciation and speech. Thus having exposure to you as a native English speaker is very beneficial to them and helps them raise their grades, which is a big plus given that in the rural areas, the passing rate of English is only 60%. The two main schools that volunteers attend are from the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Christian group, and each school holds around 350 pupils. They comprise Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary Schools and teaching can be arranged within any one of these areas. You will usually be expected to work about 10 – 15 lessons per week, and you will soon find that you are in demand wherever you go! The children at these schools are not used to seeing westerners and so you may find that people stare at you at first, but they will welcome you into their school and you will soon find that Malaysia feels like a second home.
You'll be given a timetable of lessons and will have the freedom to plan and take your own classes (with assistance, if required). Your main focus is on assisting with conversational English but you may also be asked to help within other areas, such as sport, drama and music, if you have an interest in these. Both Science and Maths are taught in English, and as such assistance with these subjects at basic level is really appreciated.
Some of the classes will be conversation based and some tuition based to groups or individuals formally and informally outside the classrooms. You will be given plenty of assistance from the principal and teachers until such time as you have gained confidence in your own abilities. Outside the classroom you can assist the pupils in language group work, debating, public and choral-speaking, pronunciation practice, reading aloud, discussions, games – e.g. board games for language practice, broadcasts on the school radio, drama productions and presentations, and quizzes and general knowledge competitions. You may also help with English ‘camps’, supervising study periods, assisting in the library and helping during tests and examinations.
If you have additional skills, such as football and music (or in any other subjects), these would be very much appreciated and the children would love some additional after school coaching. If you do not want to teach in a conventional school we also have some placements in other centres and institutions. For example, we could arrange for you to work with children who have mental disabilities such as down syndrome, or if you have practical skills you could teach vocational subjects such as woodwork to young male adults who have not successfully completed conventional schooling, or who have severely underachieved. a day in the life of a volunteer
When you arrive you will be welcomed at the airport by Albert, our Malaysia Manager. He will take you to your accommodation in Kota Kinabalu where you will spend the first few days of your trip. Albert will give you an induction during this time, so that you can learn about the country and its culture, as well as useful information like how to use the phones, transport system etc. You will then be taken to your school and accommodation and introduced to everyone concerned. You will be made to feel very welcome by all! Accommodation will either be on site in school accommodation or you will live with a local family - it depends which school you're placed in. If you have a preference for one or the other we can ensure this is arranged for you. If you live in school accommodation, you will usually be with other volunteers and will also socialise with the teachers in the evening - you won't be left on your own! Because English is taught in all schools, all the teachers have good spoken English and so communication won't be a problem. If you're living with a family, you'll participate in their way of life. In both these types of accommodation, because you'll be in a rural village environment, you'll become involved in the local life. Very often this is one of the most attractive aspects of our placements in different cultures because you get to experience the country in a way that you would never be able to do as a tourist. You may have your own room or you may share a room with one or two others. If you live with a family, you'll probably share a room with another volunteer.
There is a surprising amount of action in the evenings in Malaysian villages, including coffee shops, karaoke bars, and bustling open-air markets that are fascinating! As there is so much to do in Sabah and the surrounding region, we recommend that you do some travelling around the country once your placement has finished.
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you 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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This trip:
We employ a local manager to co-ordinate all of the arrangements for your programme, which is based in a remote area that does not rely on tourism. As such, your actions can positively and directly influence the local economy, society and culture, whilst allowing you the opportunity to have close interactions with local people. By shopping at markets and seeking locally produced goods and services your presence will have a positive impact on the local economy. In addition, funds are given to the school for the accommodation and food that they provide, and some of this goes to a caretaker who will maintain cleanliness in your accommodation and prepare typical Malaysian cuisine for you. You’ll live alongside teachers and pupils which will give you the opportunity for cultural interaction and integration into the community – there is no doubt that this will be a highlight of the experience. You will be briefed on customs and cultures before and on your arrival, affording you an understanding of Malay culture which will guide your interactions with local people. Our company: Our volunteers work directly with communities and in the majority of our countries, our staff force in-destination are locally employed workers. We are responsible for over 100 overseas staff in 20 different countries. We ensure that all new projects are researched fully, considering the local economic and cultural factors as well as the level of impact. We do not embark on any project that is not beneficial to the communities, institutes or volunteers. Our UK office minimizes waste; our extranet site provides volunteers with documents and correspondence electronically. For each brochure that is downloaded instead of printed, we donate 50p to worthwhile tree planting projects. We recycle and staff have set up car-share schemes and encourage cycling. We strongly recommend volunteers to minimise emissions by ‘carbon neutralising’ their flights. We provide several websites which calculate the flight length; giving an estimate of how much it would cost to offset the CO2.  We set up our own Trust in 2004 and this funds research and rehabilitation plans for threatened animals, expansion and education programs relating to conservation and endangered species, as well as paying for education and necessary equipment for underprivileged children. You taking part in this project enables us to continue to donate financial assistance as well as necessary goods, where it is needed around the world. Examples of donations include building new classrooms, providing school uniforms for poorer students, buying computers, sports equipment, playgrounds, toys, mattresses, classroom equipment and funding school trips and the building of libraries, and more. We also donate significantly to conservation research efforts and the purchasing of necessary conservation equipment. In the past, these donations have been made in all continents and in projects where we work, and some where we do not work. Recent donations made in Summer 2008 include:
We are committed to upholding strict ethical standards that ensure a positive and lasting impact upon the environments, communities, institutions, volunteers, animals, children and people that we work with. For example:
Our projects enable vital conservation, research, care and education work to take place directly where it is most needed. For example, the schools where we teach English very often have no other English teachers, and so they rely on us for continued lessons. We kept a Species Survival Conservation project in South Africa afloat until completion after it was threatened by lack of funds. Our volunteers contribute, all over the world, to projects that would not exist without them. |
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. |