Sallam ma Lakem! I wanted to share a little bit about my experience as a volunteer English teacher in Morocco. I have been assigned to a Dar Chab or Youth Center (the literal translation is a house of youth), and it serves as a place for students to learn and play both before and after school. I get to teach them English, and sometimes they get to teach me about Arabic!
I was very nervous before I started teaching English because while I am a natural-born English speaker, I have never been formally trained on how to teach it. I was worried that my students wouldn't like me and that I would fail at connecting with the students. I can now say after my third-week of volunteering, I am no longer scared and I really look forward to my time at the Youth Center each week.
Let me walk you through my typical day as a volunteer English teacher. After my classes are done for the day, my fellow English teachers and I walk from our school to the Youth Center. The walk takes about 45 minutes as it is over a mile away. I look forward to these walks, as every time I do it, I find something new about Rabat on the way. Once at the Youth Center, I greet my class. This is one of the best parts of the job because all the students are so excited to see me.
