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Perfection in the English Language

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For the past few months, YES Alumnus Ahmad Hamadneh (YES 2015 – 2016, West Bank, hosted by PAX in Boston, MA) has been leading a workshop called “Perfection in the English Language”. He held sessions once a week for two months at the Al-Asira Local School in the village of Asira near the city of Nablus, West Bank. Twenty-two students from his school stayed after class to attend the workshops, where they developed their reading, comprehension, and grammar skills. 

To make sure his workshops would be extra relevant, Ahmad sought input from the participants before he planned out the sessions. He sent a student survey and got responses from 40 students before the beginning of the program!

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The workshop included two main parts: lectures where Ahmad worked with the group as a whole and one-on-one tutoring sessions. Ahmad used interactive teaching techniques that were new and exciting for the participants. Instead of using the more traditional lecture style English class, Ahmad included videos, PowerPoint presentations, teamwork, indoor and outdoor activities, and student presentations.

Thanks to his ties to the US and the American friendships he has maintained from his exchange year, Ahmad also incorporated an element of cultural exchange. He asked his American classmates to send tutorial videos of themselves talking about the English Language.

Ahmad was inspired by the Workshop for Youth Leaders in English (WYLET) program, which he participated in while on the YES program. The YES alumni network in the West Bank has been advising and supporting Ahmad since the beginning of his workshop. He also received support from the administration of Al-Asira Local School, who are thrilled by the initiative.

The students are grateful and enthusiastic about their new English Language skills. With the help of English Access Microscholarship Program students from his community, Ahmed plans to continue teaching this course in the following years.

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