One of our primary tasks here in Transcarpathia, Ukraine is teaching conversational English. We teach English in a variety of setting and schools. In the summer months we are involved in a series of English and outreach camps, but during the winter and spring months we are able to teach English in two Reformed High Schools and in a local college. Students come voluntarily to practice their English: to practice both listening and comprehension, and to practice speaking.
It is our hope and prayer that we can not only teach conversational English, but that we can also use this as a means to befriend, serve, and witness to the young people here in Ukraine. It is our aim to build relationships and friendships with these students, to be a Christ-like example and witness, and to be someone they can talk to and trust. Students in the high schools come for conversational English classes during their study halls and free time. We have enjoyed going to the Nagybereg Reformed Lyceum, as well as holding lessons at the Peterfalva Reformed Lyceum in our home village. We also have enjoyed going to the Rákóczi Ferenc Kárpátaljai Magyar Főiskola, a local college/university, in the city of Beregszasz once a week for a conversational English lesson. We enjoy being reconnected with past students from both Peterfalva and Nagybereg who are now studying at a university level.
The classes cover a wide range of topics and activities. I hope to try to blog in the future more in depth about the individual schools and locations of our English classes as well as highlighting some specific classes we have conducted. The students learn grammar and English in formal English classes in their weekly studies at the school. Therefore we try to focus our classes on being interactive with the students: teaching English and vocabulary through conversation, games, songs, power point presentations on interesting topics, and through short videos and even through crafts and projects.
Pictured above is an English class on Valentine’s Day this past February that Stacey organized. This particular class was not only about the romantic aspect of Valentine’s Day, but about the history of Valentine’s Day, Valentine’s Day vocabulary and expressions, followed by focusing on God’s love for us made manifest to us by Christ’s death on the cross, and ending with making Valentines.
Looks like you guys have everything under control out there. The fleeing of the Hungarians you talk about in another post make me think that this and all things are under Gods control. Hopefully gods word will be spread throughout the world through all of the atrocities we are seeing today.