January 2014 Playa del Carmen, Mexico

English lessons at the Ludoteca (toy library)

Summary In the current age of globalization and social media being bi or multilingual is increasingly common and certainly an asset. English is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world, second only to Mandarin. English as a language still has enormous political, economic and cultural significance. For children in Mexico having some understanding of English in addition to their native tongue (which is the third most commonly spoken language globally) is a distinct advantage1. Mexico has a rapidly expanding tourist industry. This is even more poignant for the Quintana Roo region and Playa del Carmen, where tourism is the primary industry. 2 In January 2014 we started delivering English lessons at the ludoteca to continue contributing to the development of the children that attend daily.

Figure 1 First English Lesson at Ludoteca

Report Having basic English will be an advantage and create opportunity for the children at Ludoteca. Playas already thriving tourist industry, is rapidly expanding with even larger commercial ventures in the pipeline. By introducing or consolidating knowledge of English to the children at the Ludoteca we can begin the process of learning (creating the foundations upon which they can progress) fo r the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playa_del_Carmen

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future. If capitalized upon, this childhood curiosity could be developed into an interest which could lead to more advantageous job opportunities at a local level (in Playa or the greater Quintana Roo region) or globally. This equally serves to sati sfy the childrens curiosity, reward their enthusiasm and make the most of on their inquisitive natures. When at the Ludoteca we are constantly bombarded with questions about English from the children. They are fascinated by not only the language itself b ut see it as a significant advantage even in their limited perspective due to the cultural impact of English language films and music. The girls at Ludoteca also speak constantly about the British boy band One Direction. Some of the children have begun to learn English at school, but from our understanding these lessons vary dramatically across the region in quality, quantity and consistency. In addition to being vastly enjoyable is beneficial in other ways. The sharing of language knowledge aides us (as volunteers but primarily led by the current interns) in understanding the workings of language. When explaining (in Spanish as we write the lesson plans and deliver them in the native language) we have to consider the best ways to explain phonetics, sentence structure and the many rules, exceptions and complexities within the English language. The English lessons serve to reinforce and consolidate our bond with the Ludotecarias, our implementing partners Save the Children and the wider community. The sharing of knowledge and contributing to the development of the children at the Ludoteca strengthens GVIs reputation for development within the Playa del Carmen community. This demonstrates our commitment to the community and displays our willingness to take the initiative in benefiting the children. The Ludotecarias (teachers) also appreciate having a bit of time to catch their breath and focus on tasks for which they usually dont have the time.

Figure 2 Maddie and Nicole teaching English to youngest kids

Figure 3 Naomi delivering the class for older kids

With the approval of the Save the Children representatives we have planned out English lessons weekly for the children until June, the end of the current interns time in Playa. These lessons largely focus on expanding vocabulary and key conversational phrases. The first few weeks address Hello my name is, Numbers 1-50 and I am _ years old. It then develops along these lines to include colours, countries, flags, animals, food and so on. These are also topics which can be creative, GVI.2014.1

interactive and fun. We try and include an activity within the English lesson which is either creative or fun such as games. In the first week the children created name badges, in the second they played bingo with the newly acquired knowledge of English numbers. Future activities planned include Guess who? (a celebrity version for when we are learning facial features and describing words) and Noahs ark (for when we learn about different an imals) so acquiring another language will be tremendous fun. The first few lessons have been a great success. We have found (particularly with the later afternoon shift at the Ludoteca) that we have to plan different lessons for the older and younger child ren. Many of the older children have begun to learn a smattering of English at school or prefer a more challenging task than the younger children. The younger children (by this we mean those roughly under 7) have a much shorter attention span and respond best to a shorter amount of time spent on the written/learning aspect and a larger part of the lesson spent on consolidating the knowledge through interactive and fun activities. For example in the first lesson (where we addressed My name is) the younger children learnt largely through repetition and the creation of name badges. The older children learnt both phonetically and through writing before moving onto the additional task of naming family members. When revising this part of the lesson a matching up the words game was used to consolidate knowledge of English. In the lesson planned for next week and in the future, we will continue to provide (whenever possible) lessons of different standards so all the children of the the Ludoteca and the community benefit. To find out more about the Childcare and Community development internship in Mexico visit: http://www.gvi.co.uk/programs/volunteer-childcare-projects-mexico http://www.gvi.co.uk/programs/community-development-internship-mexico

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