A Fun English Class with Stepping Stones Volunteers
On March 20th, Dara from America, Dagmar from the Netherlands and Kevin from Shanghai came to SYB baking center and taught the students English. All these volunteers are from Stepping Stones, a partner NGOwith a mission to improve the education and general welfare of disadvantaged children in China. Stepping Stones selects and trains volunteers who then teach English at SYB twice a week for one year.
Early in the morning, Students came to the baking center with English books in their hands. Kevin firstly led students to reviewtheir lesson of last week, which was about how to tell the time in English. After Dara and Dagmar arrived, they said, ”Today we don’t need any book to learn because this would be a special class.” Students were both puzzled and excited—If we don’t use an English book, how can we learn English?
In fact, Dara and Dagmar had planned to teach the students the vocabularies they would come across when working at the baking center. They prepared a lot of cards and told the students,” Today, we will help you to learn how to name the tools and equipment that you use at the baking center.”
As a result, all the students put down their books and started to “examine” the equipment in the training center. “This is a microwave oven.” “This is a refrigerator, or we can just call it fridge.” Dara and Dagmar spoke in English while Kevin was responsible for translation. Everyone took notes, trying to write down the pronunciation and meaning of every word. Every time they studied a new word, Dara would put the vocabulary card on that tool.
After the class, almost every corner of the room had a card with the respective vocabulary on it. The 3 teachers patiently corrected the pronunciation of students and encouraged them whenever a small progress was made.
“I love being with kids.” Dara said, “Besides at Shanghai Young Bakers I get to know every student well, which helps me to adapt my teaching to every student.” Dara also mentioned the experience she gained at SYB. She thinks that the English classes in China put too much emphasis on grammar but ignore language’s practical aspects. At SYB, she has more flexibility and usually spends more time on vocabulary and pronunciation. “That way the students can use what they learn!
“The SYB program is fantastic. Students can learn very concrete and useful skills, which what I and many young people lack. I believe that every student here is going to have a bright future.”
Dagmar from the Netherlands used to teach little kids English in Henan Province. She has been in Shanghai for 3 years and got to know Shanghai Young Bakers recently. “I find the English class very engaging. Everyone gets involved and even I as a teacher enjoy it pretty much.”
Shanghai Young Bakers and Stepping Stones have been cooperating for about three years. Every week, volunteers from all around the world would come to our baking center and teach the students English. Zhou, an SYB student from Shaanxi said, “ I really like the English class because it is very relaxed and the teachers are always friendly. I thank the teachers for coming to help us. We have learned a lot of useful knowledge thanks to them.”
Scarlett, Communication Coordinator
跟着铺路石公益中心志愿者轻松学习英语
3月20日，来自我们的合作伙伴铺路石公益中心的三位志愿者来到烘焙中心来参加教海上青焙坊学员们英语。三位老师分别是来自荷兰的达格玛，来自美国的戴拉和中国大学生凯文。铺路石公益中心是我们的长期合作伙伴，它关注中国贫困地区的儿童的福利，并致力于为他们提供良好的教育资源。
一大早，海上青焙坊的学员们就带着他们的英语书来到了烘焙中心，凯文老师先带领他们复习了上节课所学习的关于时间的英语表达。戴拉和达格玛到达之后，她们对所有学生们说：“今天我们将来上一堂特别的课程，我们这堂课不需要用书！“听到这些，学员们既兴奋又疑惑：不用书？那我们该怎么学习英语呢？
原来，两位志愿者早就计划在今天教同学们学会有关烘焙的一切常用用语，她们自己准备了很多卡片，并对大家说：“今天我们会在这个烘焙中心学习所有的常用工具和设备的英语表达。”
于是大家全都放下书本，开始从对教室里的所有设备进行“扫查”。“This is a microwave oven.” “This is a refrigerator, or you can just call it a fridge.”戴拉和达格玛全程说英语，而凯文则负责翻译。大家也拿着他们的笔记本迅速地记下每一个单词的音标和意思。每学习一个单词，戴拉都会把单词卡放在那件工具上。
经过一个早上的课程，教室里的每个角落几乎都有英语卡片。3位老师耐心地纠正同学们的发音，每当大家又学会一个单词，老师们对会鼓掌鼓励同学们的进步。
“我很喜欢和孩子们在一起。”这次的老师戴拉说，“而且在海上青焙坊，我和每个学生的关系都很紧密，我了解他们每一个人，这样也帮助我更有针对性地进行英语教学。”戴拉也提到了她在教授海上青焙坊的学员时的一些经验，她说现在中国的许多英语课程都把语法放在一个太过重要的位置，却忽略了英语的实用性。而在海上青焙坊教学给了她更多的空间，她可以把重点放在词汇和发音上。“这样学生可以学以致用。”
“我觉得海上青焙坊这个项目非常棒，它致力于教授给同学们非常实用的技能，我相信这些孩子会有非常灿烂的未来，因为她们拥有专业知识，这是我也是现在很多年轻人缺少的。”戴拉说。
来自荷兰的达格玛曾经在河南志愿教过一些低龄儿童英语，三年前她来到上海并在最近了解到了海上青焙坊。“我觉得在这里教授英语课程非常有趣，每个人都能参与进来。我自己也乐在其中。”
海上青焙坊和铺路石公益中心已经有了三年的合作，每周都会有来自世界各地的志愿者来烘焙中心教同学们英语。来自陕西的小周说：“我很喜欢英语课。因为课堂很轻松，老师也很亲切。感谢老师们一直能来帮助我们。这让我们都学到很多实用的知识。”
王凊怡，对外联络