I have recently volunteered for ‘the Language and Cultural Day’. At the one-day event, I taught Japanese culture and language to 30 local primary school students at UCL.
Why I Applied
I have always been drawn to educational volunteering activities in London and have even worked at a secondary school prior to arriving at UCL. However, I’ve had concerns regarding my English skills and with striking a balance between my volunteer work and my studies. Therefore, I found this one day only event to be the perfect opportunity for me to begin my volunteering journey. Additionally, I knew participating would enable me to apply what I’ve learnt in my master’s programme and gain a deeper understanding of the taught content.
“Our greatest achievement as a team was convincing the Japanese Embassy to cooperate and lend us a variety of valuable artefacts!”
Our Team
The Student-Led Project team arranged the initial meeting for volunteers, ensuring that the preparation for the teaching plan ran smoothly. I had no concerns since the team were extremely supportive. Working collectively with students from diverse countries, cultures and academic backgrounds enabled me to form fulfilling and even unexpected relationships, which has broadened my horizons. One of our greatest achievements as a team was convincing the Japanese Embassy to cooperate and lend us a variety of valuable artefacts!
An Inspiring Day with Primary School Students
The students were very keen and proactive in learning about different cultures and I was particularly surprised that most students participating were bilingual! This has sparked additional academic interest as a language teaching major. In the reflection session, a student informed me that he enjoyed the lesson and enthusiastically shared his interest in Japanese anime. This has given me confidence, and has inspired me to go onto volunteering as a teaching assistant at a local primary school.
I am grateful for receiving this amazing opportunity to meet new people and effectively apply and integrate the practices and theories I am acquiring in my MA degree!
By Azumi Naruse (MA TESOL In-Service)
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