The Global English Camp Program: We Don't Teach English

We don’t teach English.

Yokohama. It’s Friday, and all the interns are at the front of the room. For the last few hours, we’ve listened to our students deliver their prepared life mission speeches to the whole class. They’ve told us their dreams, their aspirations, and what they want to do with their lives. Now, we’re standing here, as we do every week, to say our goodbyes.

Far from the intense, rote learning-focused lessons they’re used to, they’ve just spent five days speaking a language they’ve only spent, at most, an hour or two speaking at a time – and in the process, they’ve discovered entirely new ways to express who they are. For some of them, they’ve realised things that just five days ago they’d never even thought about.

Standing at the front of the room, one by one, each of us speaks. There is so much to unpack, so much to share in our parting statements! The grinning recollection of passing on a +8 in UNO by turning it into a +10 for Hiroki, who started it all. The vexing memory of having to define “desertification” for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (again). The emotional moment of Yumiko declaring that she wanted to become a doctor in honour of her mother. We’ve all been touched, moved and inspired by everything that our students have accomplished.

Aakriti has a heartfelt moment as she tells her group how proud she is with just how far they’ve come, going from the silence of Day 1 to the bright energy of today. Jennifer recites her prepared Japanese phrase, drawing soft laughter and applause from our students. Then, Alex speaks, only to set the room on fire as they reveal their secret, advanced Japanese skills that has just about every student in the room loudly exclaiming.

Now it’s my turn.

There are so many things I could say, and so many things that have already been said. Yet, as I raise the microphone, if there is anything that I want students in the room to remember, it’s one thing:

 “In the last five days, you’ve found a new confidence to speak English. But it’s more than just that. This ability to give your opinion, to express yourself, and to be who you are, is now yours, in any language.”

What is being an English teacher really about? It’s not about teaching vocabulary or grammar – the amount of times I’ve had students pull out words like “pre-industrialisation” and “macroeconomics” have taught me that. 

Being an English teacher is about bringing out the best in our students, and having them see just how articulate, just how thoughtful and just how brilliant they really are.

What is Global English Camp really about? It’s more than the speaking exercises we do, the Tokyo 2020 posters we draw or even the life mission speeches we help bring to life. 

Global English Camp is about creating a place for our students where they can step into who they are and who they will become.

What do students really get out of our five days together? It’s more than just fond memories of games, presentations and conversations.

It’s a newfound courage to express themselves in any language. Anywhere.

By Robert Vilkelis, UCL, 2018 and 2019 Intern