Introduction of volunteers: Team IV
Hello, readers! We are Team IV!
We all started our big and exciting journey together in Frankfurt. Some of us already knew each other, but some didn’t. We applied for the internship places back in October. Before the interviews took place, we were all quite nervous but we survived and were accepted. Prior to our departure we had regular meetings where we were prepared by Prof. Martin and then increasingly prepared ourselves to get familiar with our tasks.
A time full of new experiences was suddenly ahead of us. Every single one of us has her own story, of course, and therefore her own motivation why she wanted to be part of this wonderful project.
This short introduction will give you some insights into our lives and why we are here now:
My name is Venetia Dariou and Iām 20 years old. I have lived in Karlsruhe since the beginning of my studies in 2015 and Iām in my 4th semester. I am currently pursuing my Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education at the University of Education Karlsruhe. My major subjectĀ is English, and home economics is my minor subject. In my leisure time I like to do sports: I play football andĀ Ā I have been leading and animating children in a gymnastics team in Karlsruhe for one year. Besides this, I like to travel a lot, but I have never been to Southeast Asia before.
The project caught my attention because I always wanted to do an internship abroad. Therefore IĀ decided to apply for this programĀ because I can aid teachers in helping children improve their opportunities in life. I can also say I’m an open-minded person who can cope with various cultural difficulties.Ā I was fortunate enough to grow up bilingually with Greek and German.
My special task in Laos is housekeeping. Iām responsible for the Wifi, take care of the cleaning plan and write a shopping list for us seven in Sikeud.
I will be teaching EnglishĀ toĀ the “Non-English” teachers in Ban Phang Heng and also the pre-schoolers with the hand puppet āMr Mopsyā in Ban Sikeud.Ā
My time in Laos is something I look forward to very keenly.
Hello and Sabaidee!
My name is Laura Jakob, I am 23 years old and I study English and home economics at the University of Education in Karlsruhe in my third semester. I love learning languages, travelling, and experiencing new cultures. In my free time I enjoy cooking, sewing, and taking pictures. I have traveled a lot in Asia before and studied abroad in a Japanese High School for one year. I have never been to Laos before, so I am really looking forward to it.
My task in Laos is to teach the female English teachers at Phang Heng Secondary School. I prepared by going through the books we will use – Headway Elementary – and reading the weekly reportsĀ by the previous teams. For “Activity Time”, my partner Tanja and I prepared different new “Clubs” that we plan to introduce for the pupils at the secondary school,Ā i.e. the “ABC Club” and the “English Games Club”. My special task is to take care of and develop the new “Didactics Room” at the Phang Heng Secondary School which David and Anika from Team III created a short while ago.
I am really glad to have been chosen to be part of this project and look forward to working in Laos.
Sabaidee everybody,
My name is Jessica DeiĆler and I am 24 years old. When come back from Laos Iāll continue my studies to become a primary school teacher at the University of Education Karlsruhe in the subjects English and geography. During my studiesĀ so far I visited Nottingham Trent University last year, which was an inspiring experience for me, because I met many people with different cultural backgrounds and got to know university life in a foreign country. Besides studying, I love travelling, but I have never been to Asia before.
When I received the confirmation that I was going to be part of the project “Teaching English in Laos”, I couldnāt wait for the adventure ahead. Here in Laos, I now work with my tandem-partner Bounpheng, who is the English teacher for all classes in Phang Heng Primary School.
In the afternoon, I teach the “Mopsy” classes, which means I teach English to the pre-schoolers of Phang Heng Primary School. By including songs, games, rhymes, picture books, and the handpuppet “Mopsy“, the pre-schoolers get used to the English language and start learning the first English words and sentences. “Activity Time” is a set time every day from 3pm to 4pm where the pupils can choose between different activities the teachers offer. In my “English Activity” time, we sing English songs that involve matching movements, or we play language games to help the children understand English instructions and to get them to respond accordingly.
Otherwise, Alyssa and I are responsible for the English “Lending Library” at Ban Sikeud Primary School, where the teachers can find a wide range of not only English teaching material, but also other English books such as dictionaries or “Early Readers” to improve their English. We are going to create an ordering system that should help the teachers find material for the specific topics of their lessons.
As there are no lesson plans or set textbooks for class 1 and 2, we arrange meetings with our tandem-teachers in which we think of possible topics and appropriate material and teaching techniques for these classes.
Sabaidee and hello!
My name is Alyssa Weber and Iām 22 years old. Iām in my seventh semester at the University of Education Karlsruhe, where Iām studying in the degree of primary teacher education with the subjects English and geography. In my free time in Germany, I work at my local sports club where Iām a coach for gymnastics. In addition, I love to dance, to travel, and to see the world. As I already had the opportunity to spend a semester abroad at Nottingham Trent University last year, Iām now pretty excited to get to see a totally different part of the world. Iāve never been to Asia, which is why I think that this project is the perfect chance to get a realistic impression of what it is like.
Iām really glad to have been chosen as a part of this project and a member of Team IV. Here in Laos, Iām working together with Mittaphone (Mit) and Phovang (Noy), the two English teachers at Sikeud Primary School. I hope that I can help them to improve their English skills further as well as show them new teaching techniques so that we can create a modern and motivating way of teaching English together.
Besides, Iām working with Souphaphone, the schoolās head teacher, and Linda, Madame Engelās assistant. They both want to improve their English skills, especially in writing. From Monday to Wednesday, Iām also doing “Activity Time” at Sikeud Primary School, and on Thursday and Friday at Phang Heng Primary School, together with Jessica. During “Activity Time” we sing English songs or play English language games with the Lao pupils, which is a lot of fun, with the goal of activating them into speaking English.
My special task is taking care of the English “Lending Library” at Sikeud Primary School together with Jessica. We want to create a new ordering system where the material is ordered by different topics. This way, it should get easier for the Lao teachers to find suitable material for their lessons. Furthermore, we are presently arranging meetings with our tandem-teachers to pre-plan possible lesson topics. As Grade 1 and Grade 2 donāt have a book to work with, this is a great opportunity to give them some more communicative teaching ideas on what to teach and how to implement it.
Hello, my name is Rebecca Dengler.
I am 22 years old and I study at the University of Education Karlsruhe to become a primary teacher. Right now, I am in my 7th semester and I will finish my studies this autumn. I have already done internships at German primary schools, but I have never worked at a school in another country.
In 2016, I studied at the University of Newcastle in Australia for one semesterĀ because one of my main subjects is English, and thisĀ semester abroadĀ helped me to improve my English and also toĀ experience the way Australian teachers are trained.Ā My other main subject is chemistry. Therefore, I teach English to the science teachers here and together with Veronika I am responsible for theĀ new Science Laboratory (http://www.thelaosexperience.com/natural-sciences-teachers/) here in Laos at the Ban Phang Heng Secondary School in Ban Sikeud. We offer a new “Science Lab Activity Time” for pupils where they can come and do experiments, and we also visit the science teachersā lessons (which are in Lao, of course) and try to encourage them to include experiments into their lessons.
I love to be creative, to travel, and to take photos. Some of my photos can be seen on our new “Pageflow”, which Veronika and I have been creating together. I am looking forward to the time I can spend in Laos working for the project and for the foundation Angels for Children.
Hello, My name is Veronika Golla and I am 26 years old.
I am originally from Freiburg, which is located even further south in Germany than Karlsruhe is, but for my studies I moved to Karlsruhe, where I have lived since 2013. I am studying to become a primary school teacher. My subjects are English, German, mathematics, and science. I like reading and swimming as well as meeting my friends and family, as I love to have people around me.
Moreover I am very interested in other languages and cultures. I love traveling and meeting new people. In the last 10 years Iāve already been to Asia several times as I am very fond of Asian countries. Besides China and Japan Iāve been to Thailand and Cambodia – however, I think Laos will be a totally new and augmented experience for me as I have never taught at a schol abroad.
I hope I can learn new things from the Lao people and their country and I also want to share my culture with them. Besides teaching the science teachers Phit, Latsamee, Chanmany, and Khamsee at Phang Heng Secondary School, together with Rebecca I am responsible for the “Pageflow”, our new multimedia tool for live reports from Laos, and the “Science Lab”. I am looking forward to working with the Lao teachers and pupils and to lots of exciting moments.
Sabaidee!
My name is Tanja, I am 27 years old and currently in my third semester. I amĀ studying English and biology at the University of Education in Karlsruhe to become a teacher at secondary school. Before I started my studies I already gained a wonderful experience abroad. From 2013 until 2014 I was living with an American family in Denver, Colorado. It was a great opportunity to get to know a different culture and see what traditions they have. Last summer I decided to do an internship abroad where I gained first-hand experiences at a primary school in NSW, Australia. IĀ learnt a lot during that time and I am still profiting from it regarding my teaching skills. For instance classroom management – I was taught different techniques to keep the noise in the classroom to a minimum and to lead the pupils back to focus again.
The teacher I worked with was motivated and showedĀ me lots of interesting teaching techniques. We prepared lessons together and I got a closer look into what everyday life at a school in Australia looks like. Due to those fantastic and unforgettable moments I acquired in the past I was immediately interested inĀ the “Teaching English in Laos” programme. I would like to use this chance to give something back to the people I met along the way – and this project makes it possible for me.
Laura and I will be tandem partners for my time in Laos, which means that we willĀ be preparing our “Activities” together. Besides that, we both support the teachers from Phang Heng Secondary School. The two Lao tandem-teachers I am going to work with are Leud and Souvanh.Ā I amĀ looking forward to getting to know them and moreover to develop ideas for creating an even more interactive classroom atmosphere together.
My “special task” is to be your new blog mistressĀ – together with Amelie,Ā who will post reports from the Lao German Technical College from downtown Vientiane. I will therefore be responsible for keeping you up-to-date and for giving you a little insightĀ into our lives and work here in Laos.
I’m sure we all will have a wonderful time with lots of new experiences ahead of us, where we’ll learn a lot from the Lao culture. I’m looking forward to this adventure here in Laos and am excited to become a part of the project.
Sabaidee!
I am Amelie, 23 years old and I am happy to call myself part of Team IV!
At the moment I am in my
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