Midpoint Break in Komárno, Slovakia – Arrivals and Departures

(posted by Zsofi Budai)

Continuing with the LE tradition, CEVP will hold midpoint break in Komárno, Slovakia, this year. Please read the following few lines to learn some important info about arrivals and departures.

First, you should know that the Hungarian name for the city (which is mostly ethnically Hungarian) is Komárom, and Komárno is the Slovak name. This is not to be confused with the Hungarian city called Komárom that is actually across the Danube (the border between Slovakia and Hungary). Hungarians in Slovakia refer to both cities as Komárom, but if they mention the name they are most likely talking about Komárno (SK).

If you are currently teaching in SLOVAKIA, your host family will drive you to the hostel in Komárno on Friday, July 20, between 4:00 and 6:00 PM (they should have already arranged this with Imre).

If you are currently teaching in HUNGARY, you should take a train to midpoint break. Your host family will help you figure out which one to take (and you can always look it up on www.elvira.hu) – they already know about midpoint break, but you should remind them in advance anyway. You should plan to arrive on Friday, July 20, in the late afternoon or evening. The tricky part is that the train you take should go to Komárom (HU), NOT Komárno (SK), since the latter is way easier to reach from Hungary and also much less expensive to travel to. If you let us know in advance (i.e., a few days before you travel) when your train is to arrive there, someone will go and meet you at the station. That would most likely be Janelle, Balazs, Zsofi, or me (I know that none of you have met me, but you should know what I look like from the country background guides and my introductory blog post). The hostel is pretty easy to reach from there – we just need to walk across the bridge into Slovakia. However, the bridge is quite long and all, so it’s a fair amount of walking. I hope everyone heeded Janelle’s advice and packed lightly! Otherwise, it is possible to take a cab if absolutely necessary.

As for the hostel – it’s the same one we stayed in last year, and it is actually a HUGE step up from Martos (but I love Martos). It is called DANUBIUS, and it is located on the Dunarakpart (Dunajske nabrezie in Slovak). That just means it’s right by the river. If you’re coming over the bridge from Hungary, you’ll need to turn left once you get into Slovakia (but someone will be with you to help you navigate).

We have a bunch of activities planned for Friday night and Saturday (including dinner/lunch with the incredible Imre!). Balázs and Zsofi are both from Komárno, and they know the city inside and out.

On Sunday, you will all travel to your second session villages.

If you are going to teach in SLOVAKIA, your host family will pick you up at the hostel on Sunday morning around 11:00 or 12:00.

If you are going to teach in HUNGARY (this is always more complicated), you’ll need to walk (or take a cab, if you must) across the river to the train station in Komárom (HU) and go from there. We’ll have everything arranged with the host families by then so you know exactly where you’ll need to go when.

See you in Komárno!

Greetings From Sarah F, Tallos, SK

I´m teaching here in Tallos/Tomashivoko. The town has about 1600 people, with lots of other villages nearby. The nearest village, Vasakey, is sending some students to my classes, too. In total I have about 40-45 students. I have around 12 younger students - under the age of 10- over 20 between 11 and 15, and about 10 adults students, from 18 to much older, most of whom speal some English. My classes are going well. The students are fun, and the peple in the village are very nice. From what I understand this is there first time having a LE volunteer. I´ve been having lunch with various students and their families, as well as going on afternoon bike rides, walks,or car trips. My host family, the Kossars, are wonderful. They have 3 children, and are welcoming, kind, and exceptionally good cooks!

Some ideas for teaching (part 2)

Spanish classes are going super well. Its so funny being on this side of the classroom because after last year, Im super conscious of everything my teacher is doing. For example, she never ever ever just translates a word into English. She explains it in Spanish using different words and as much drama as possible. The other day, a lesson plan of hers didnt pan out so she said it aside and just had a long conversation with us. It started out with what are you doing tonight and just kept going - with her help, of course, asking very guiding question sto steer the conversation.

An activity I liked was to practice future tense. It was called I´m Going on a Trip. I worked with this French asshole and one of my new Dutch girlfriends. We said we were going to Pamplona tomorrow, and this is what we would do before our trip, this is what we woul do during, this is what we would bring, etc... Another good trip activity about going on trips is where you go around a circle stating all the things you would bring in alphabetical order - An apple, a banana, a cat.. The list gets longer and longer, but you have to name everything everyone else has said, then add your own until you get to Z.

Also, a really good way to get little kids quiet is to yell. Really! Start with a loud HEY and have them repeat it. Then give a slightly quieter hey, then quieter, then quieter until youre at a whisper, and then theyre whispering, and then theyre silent. They love it, too.

Miss you guys. See you our Komarno extravaganza in two weeks!

Some ideas for teaching (part 1)

(posted by Zsofi Budai)

I hope all of you had a wonderful first week teaching in your villages! If not, let Janelle and/or me know about any problems that arose – we’ll do our best to solve them.

In the meantime, here are some ideas/lesson plans that really worked for me when I was an LE volunteer (I taught in Slovakia – yes, only in Slovakia – in both 2004 and 2005). Feel free to add your own to share with every one. You should be able to post comments anonymously, but if for some reason you can’t, do let us know!


FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN (BEGINNERS)

Ice Cream

I had several classes of elementary school-aged children, all of whom were more or less beginners, and they LOVED what I called the “ice cream lesson.” I spent part of a class period teaching them ice cream related vocabulary, including phrases such as “I would like X scoops of Y and Z flavor.” I went over all of the flavors (you can draw the corresponding fruit on the board so that they understand what it is) and had the kids practice ordering ice cream from one another.

The next day, I took the kids over to the local ice cream shop (which was actually one town over) and promised to pay for their ice cream if they ordered in English (I first had them say everything in English, then point to the flavors so the lady behind the counter actually understood). It worked perfectly! It didn’t cost me very much either, since ice cream in rural HU or SK is very cheap, as I’m sure all of you know by now.

Songs

I’m sure most of you have done or are planning to do this already, but kids really love learning fun, catchy songs in English (like Bingo), especially if they involve movement. You could choreograph a dance to the song as a class, with each person getting one line of the song to make up steps to.

FOR TEENAGERS/YOUNG ADULTS (INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED)

Song lyrics

I got this idea from my high school Spanish class – I picked a song, wrote out the lyrics, and cut out random words. (If I wanted to make it easier, I wrote all of the words out on top; if I wanted to make it harder, I didn’t give my students the words at all.) I actually had access to a printer and copier in the mayor’s office so I typed up the lyrics and distributed them to my class, but you could just write everything on the board and have your students copy it into their notebooks. Then we listened to the song in class (several times); once the students got most of the missing words, we went over the meanings of those they didn’t know. This activity was actually pretty hard for most people, so make sure you pick a song in which the singer enunciates well and doesn’t swallow his/her words.

Lesson in slang

This was hard for me because I don’t use much slang in my everyday conversations, but teenagers love learning the latest American (or British) slang. Spend part of a lesson teaching them vocabulary, illustrating how to use it, and then having the students come up with their own sentences. Just stay away from anything raunchy, because that’s the point at which you’ll lose the class’ attention. Also, my students loved learning about regional expressions, so teach them something about the way in which people in your hometown speak. At the end of the class period, have your students teach you a few slang expressions in Hungarian or Slovak!

FOR ADULTS (INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED)

Scattegories

This certainly works with more advanced teenagers as well, but I found that I only really had success with it in my advanced adults’ class. If you don’t know how this works, let me explain: you come up with 6-8 categories (like country name, city name, animal, move title, etc.) and then have someone stop you as you recite the alphabet in your head. Whatever letter you stop at is the one that everyone has to use as the first letter in all the things they come up with in their categories. After a set amount of time (like one minute), you stop everyone and go over the answers. If people didn’t put down anything or if they wrote an answer identical to one of their classmates’,

Lesson in politics

Everyone likes learning more about the US (or Britain, whatever the case may be) but more often than not your students’ understanding of American politics will be, well, misinformed. Use this opportunity (with the presidential election coming up next year) to teach them about how the American government works. First, go over a list of political vocabulary to make sure your students are able to discuss this topic, then give a mini-lesson on American politics (complete with pictures of key people and places, if possible). Afterwards, have a discussion with your students about the government in their home country (HU or SK) – I find it fascinating to learn about what people think of Gyurcsány (HU) or Fico (SK).

Lets Keep in Touch

Hey guys -

This may come as a bit of a shock but... someday, I won´t be your program director anymore. Its tragic, I know, but all that means is that one of you will take my place. Its an amazing position that requires a lot of work over the course of the year - reading application after application, holding interviews, communicating with Country Coordinators, matching volunteers with villages - but it´s all so worthwhile. In order to make it easy on you, lets keep a little paper trail of villages thta wasnt available to me this year. Send me a little blurb about your village - its name, how many students, what theyre like, what your host family is like, etc. Ill post it on the blog and we can all keep track of each other.

BTW Although Budapest will always be my favorite, Spain is an amazing place. Im sure well all have stories to share when we see each other.

On calling me

Hi guys -

When calling me, I noticed that numbers only show up as private if I dont already have your number. If you have a cell, please email me the number asap. Texts are also better because Im being blocked from checking my voicemail, although Ive texted Sylvan and Sophie a couple of times unsuccessfully (or else youre just avoiding me).

Thanks for letting me know youre having a great time! Keep up with my adventures via my silly internet diary..www.livejournal.com/~jr_robot..ive been keeping it since i was 16 zears old.. shame..

Oh yeah, and facebook, of course. the pictures are gonna be sweeeeeet

orientation was a BLAST

I miss you guys and hope to hear from you as soon as possible! And see those photos up on facebook, too. For now, here are detailed instructions on that thank you card Ilona and I described at orientation.

Dear Volunteer,


Learning Enterprises operates solely on the generous support of donations and grants. We don't require you, the volunteers, to pay program fees. We don't receive funds from the villages where we teach. The host families who welcome LE volunteers do so without any financial compensation.



Each year, LE's mission is fueled by the dedication of its staff and the donations of its generous sponsors. As an incentive, we have the Village Sponsorship Project (VSP), where donors get information about the programs they are helping operate. Through these fundraising projects, over 200 people donated to LE this year, and we need your help to follow through with VSP.


Each volunteer will be required to complete three tasks:

Emailing 5 photos
Mailing 1 postcard
Mailing 3 letters (2 from students & 1 from a class)


Please print out the following pages and bring it with you to remind you what you have to do! Your PD will discuss it with you again at orientation. Please try to send all four things by the end of July so we can get them to donors before the summer’s end. Feel free to be creative!


Thank you for your help and making this summer a success!


Docendo discimus~

Teach, that you may learn




Email 5 photos to lephotos2007@gmail.com with the subject:
, ,


Some Ideas:

You with your class
You doing something with your host family
Your village
The students



Please send the a post card, a class thank you notes, and student thank you notes (described below) in a packet to:


Maureen Russo Chant

1325 18th Street, NW

Apt. # 1008

Washington, DC 20036


Send a postcards describing your experience and thanking the donor.


Sample:

Date

Dear Sponsor,


I write you from , , where I am currently serving as the English teacher for . When I am not teaching, I .


Thank you so much for making this possible. Both the students and I are very grateful.


Sincerely,




Have two of your classes design and write a thank you letter. Write the letter on the board and have one student with good handwriting copy it to paper. Have all the students sign it. Make it pretty! One idea is to have each one draw something and write the English word for it on the cover. This is a great lesson plan!


Sample:


Dear Sponsor,


We are from , . We are learning English this summer. Our teacher’s name is . Our favorite part of the class is <_______>. Thank you for helping us learn English.


From,





Have individual students write a thank you notes we only require two, but if you end up with extras feel free to send them along anyways!


Sample:


Dear Sponsor,


My name is . I am years old. I live in , . I like to . When I grow up I want to be a . Thank you for helping me learn English!


From,