Others are interested in traveling, whether to the U.S. or other places, and it's much easier to do so if they know English. Finally, many people in my town have family members who have immigrated to the U.S., and they want to learn English to connect with family living there. That’s especially true if they have family members who are younger kids who might not know Spanish well.
A lot of progress has been made towards improving English education, but there’s still room for improvement. My school recently tried increasing the number of hours spent on English for one of the tenth-grade classes, from four to six. They’ve also been able to get new English textbooks and books.
During my time here, I’m doing my best to address this need. My main job is working in the local middle and high school. I teach classes ranging from sixth to 11th grade (the highest grade in Colombia). That provides students with a native English speaker with whom to practice. They also become more interested in learning English, since they’re able to learn about another culture at the same time. My classes are done alongside a Colombian English teacher with whom I co-plan and co-teach classes. The idea is that the teachers can also practice their English with me and we can come up with new, dynamic activities together. That way, English education continues to improve after I leave next year. Finally, I have a small English club for kids, which is more games/activity-focused, and community classes for adult learners interested in improving their English.
