TSF English Language Program Receives High Praise
As the sun begins to set on Roteang Village, most would think that life would quiet down, especially after the long labors and heat of the day. Not so at the One World School built by the Sharing Foundation. Having already attended public school earlier, over 400 high school students from the Village voluntarily return at day's end however they can get there — walking, bicycling, or on the back of a "moto."
Some of the first to arrive are soon sweeping out the classrooms and picking up trash in preparation for the first of two one-hour sessions. The sleepy campus gradually awakens to new life and, at 5:30 p.m., the first session of eight classes [English language] begins. Before long the spirited engagement of these young people is heard and felt across the campus. I have seldom seen such enthusiastic students, many of whom are beginning to understand the value and importance of learning English in potentially bettering their lives.
The teachers do a wonderful job in making the material relevant to the students and have skillfully incorporated a variety of teaching methodologies to keep their students fully involved. TSF has eight teachers on its English school staff, all Cambodian who have learned English as a second language, but who are very acceptably fluent. English Program Head, Mam Sary, is a very serious teacher, who has taken special courses, and even been sent to Bangkok by TSF for extra training. As well as teaching 2 sessions each day, each teacher comes back to Roteang on Saturday mornings for group teacher meetings and training.
Compared to resources readily available to American students, the materials are limited in the English school because textbooks for ESL are European or U.S. based, and rarely refer to Asia. Tape recorders, and an overhead projector help, and wide use is made of photocopied materials. What is truly remarkable to me is the amount of learning which takes place with so little, in no small measure due to the deep commitment and dedication of the faculty, some of whom come from teaching assignments elsewhere earlier in the day, and an incredibly motivated and eager student body. I discovered that native English-speakers are sought out before, between, and after the two sessions as an opportunity to test skills and vocabulary.
Testimony to the effectiveness of the program can be found in consistently rising test scores as tested at the Australia center, the number of students attending college. The employment of the program's newest teacher, Kong Maneth, a recent college graduate from The International Language University who had benefited so much from TSF sponsorships in high school and University and now has returned to teach in the English school in Roteang Village makes a full circle.
Education is clearly the key to the future, and English is very much the language of opportunity. Thanks to TSF, the young people in a small, rural Cambodian village of 3,300 are beginning to know what it means to live increasingly in a global village and to develop some of the knowledge, skills, insights, and tools necessary to contribute to its own betterment and their own well being.