English Classes

We are currently able to offer English classes to 27 students 3 days a week. Our students vary from ages 18-30 and are all working on their English proficiency to increase their opportunities in the work field. English had become the international language of opportunity and from working in the super market where all the labels are written in English to tourism where an ability to communicate efficiently with customers is everything, English is one of the most valuable skills an individual can develop in Haiti. Even when applying for visas to study abroad, students are often judged based upon their ability to sound fluent and capable in English.

In the course we are focusing on the basics: a wide vocabulary that will often be used in everyday speech, verb conjugation, and common phrases used in English. We have two 1.5 hour classes a week and one 2.5 hour class on Friday. Every class the students have quizzes and writing assignments. I am always blown away by the amount of work they do for a course they are not receiving any "official" credit in!

Everyone has been so excited to attend class each week, and we even have a group chat where we all talk about our week (in English only of course!). While the costs of funding this program are extremely low (just paying to photo copy course materials and provide minimal school supplies to the students), the longterm impact could bring real changes in these students' lives.

One of my students was recently accepted to a university program in Canada, pending his score on the TOEFL (a notoriously difficult English proficiency exam). He hasn't been able to afford tutoring for the exam so is excited to have the opportunity to attend the class, and works extremely hard to perform above and beyond. We have also started some one-on-one tutoring so fingers crossed for his exam at the end of the month!

A real and lasting change is being made in these students' lives thanks to the contributions and support of our sponsors back home -- and for that, we thank you!

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Update (June 05, 2019) - Graduation!

After months of hard work we had a little bit of fun! Following a final exam around 20 of our students that have been with us since we started "graduated" from our program. It was beyond inspiring to see just how much everyone's English had improved in just a few months. One of the girls I could barley get to introduce herself on the first week of class now speaks in complete English sentences. This program gave those a part of it so much: not just better fluency but community and friendship. We hope that in the future we can have the opportunity to have more English and skills programs like this one!