Lottie's Blog

I can’t get over how friendly everyone here is! Most days my fellow volunteer Lara Burdorf and I are invited for breakfast, lunch or dinner by various teachers and students.

We have just started teaching our own English lessons. We’ve also been busy helping preparations for a big language week competition between all the schools in our area. We’ve assisted with the drama performance, public speaking, poetry slam and story telling, trying to build confidence in the students and helping with pronunciation.

At the host school we enjoyed two days jam packed with competitions. Our school didn’t win anything but we were so proud of their performances. It also helped us to really get to know some of the students and better understand what it’s like to grow up in Malaysia.

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The school also competed in the Asian English Olympics so we worked with some students to produce a radio drama as well as readings and checking creative writing stories. We’ve been so impressed with the level of English here. All the students work so hard and are so willing to learn more about our language and culture.

We’ve also been working with the students’ English Motivational Committee which organises a programme for the weakest students which allows them, through role play and discussion, to practice their English in smaller groups and a more comfortable environment.

Away from the classroom we really enjoy playing netball and football with the girls even in this ridiculous heat! During the weekends (Friday and Saturday here) we haven’t done a lot yet and we can’t go to the beach because of the monsoon season. We visited Kota Bharu with its amazing central market where we haggled for batik, a beautiful fabric, famous here.

When school broke up for the Chinese New Year holiday we spent time in Penang, a state with a large Chinese population. By spending five days visiting temples and trying new food we began to understand more about what it’s like to be Chinese or Indian in Malaysia. It was the first time we had travelled alone so it really gave us confidence and was a truly amazing experience.