Romania
Applications for Romania PY24 open!
2024 Program Dates: June 26th - July 30th
Orientation
Cluj-Napoca
June 26 - 29
Closing Ceremony
Brasov
July 27 - 30
Quick Facts
- Location: Volunteers will teach in one of the four/five counties LE works with every year
- Language Requirement: None
- Setting: Primarily rural
- Duration: 5 weeks
- Volunteers: 4 - 6
- Living Conditions: Modern amenities with some limited access to WiFi
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
Orientation: Volunteers will arrive four days before teaching begins for orientation in Cluj-Napoca. This is a great opportunity for you to get to know the other volunteers, the program director, get acclimated to the new environment, and be introduced to Eastern European culture. During this time, we will discuss lesson planning and other teaching strategies that will help you to succeed in the classroom. There will also be time to explore one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Medieval castles, Turda salt mine, Cheile Turzii, Catedrala Sfantul Mihail and great food are just some of the many sites one can experience in Cluj-Napoca! On the Saturday following orientation, you will travel (by bus or train or your host parent) to your assigned host family.
Host families will pick you up directly from the bus/ train station. They will go over information about their school schedules and the process of getting to school. Once with your host families, you will not have many expenses (other than buying souvenirs for loved ones back home and gifts for students and host families) since transportation, food and housing are all provided by the host family.
Closing Ceremony: After their second placement, volunteers will travel to Brasov by bus or train to conclude the program with a two day closing session. This is an opportunity to reconnect with the other volunteers for a final brief program reflection. Volunteers will experience a little bit more of the Transylvania region before heading home or continuing on their travels.
The Ideal Volunteer:
Host Community
Eastern European host families are extremely warm, welcoming, hospitable, accommodating, and will be eager to show you their local sites, scenery, and surroundings. Families typically have children, and at least one English-speaking member. You will likely spend much of your free time attending various family-oriented events and gatherings, and can also walk through the region’s iconic sunflower fields, go hiking with your host siblings, visit the ocea (pool), play soccer, go out for ice cream, experience a village festival with traditional Hungarian dancing, and spend many long nights having laughter-filled conversation!
You will likely be placed in a small village, although some volunteers are placed in larger urban settings. Everything will be within walking distance (including the schools), although some families may provide bicycles for added convenience. However, if placed in an urban setting, transportation to schools may take a bit longer (up to one hour maximum), and involve using the city’s transit system. While you may not be far from your fellow volunteers and transportation between all villages is easily accessible, you’ll probably be too preoccupied with the activities in your own village and host family to visit one another.
Houses contain moderate amenities, such as running water, plumbing, electricity, and accessible internet. Families also usually have televisions, cellphones, and cars, but likely will not have air-conditioning. Due to its continental climate, Romanian summers do get quite hot and humid, but most houses are built to accommodate this.
Teaching
Volunteers teaching assignment locations range from schools to community centers to religious camps. While many places provide teaching supplies such as paper, pencils, and potentially even projectors, it is highly recommended that volunteers bring supplies with them based on what their lesson plans require. Supplies such as a beach ball, stickers, and American candy have proved handy in the past! Student ages usually range from 5-18 years old but volunteers in the past have taught classes of adults looking to learn or improve their English.
The range of English spoken by students varies from none to fluent so expect to teach more than one class formed based on language proficiency, although it is entirely up to the teacher’s discretion on how to divide the students up. Volunteers will teach a minimum of 2 hours per day, 5 days a week. But this can range to a maximum of 8 hours per day depending on where the volunteer is teaching!
Often, teachers themselves have difficulties teaching grammar so focusing more on conversational English is beneficial, especially since it is a skill that cannot be learned in a textbook. And volunteers should not forget that students are on summer break; having fun with lessons plan and going beyond the classroom makes learning more fun for the students and the volunteer!
Service Project
Each volunteer will be required spend additional time with their students outside of the classroom (community permitting) engaging with them in extracurricular activities such as meeting with students at a local restaurant once a week to practice English or playing soccer after class.
Language Requirement
While LE Romania does not require any language proficiency besides English, it is important to note that volunteers will most likely be exposed to Hungarian as well as Romanian during their teaching experience.
Some Awesome things about Romania!
meet your program director, Kinga!
Kinga was born in Oradea, Romania. She studied at the Partium Christian University in order to become a social worker. She graduated in 2007. Later she moved to Budapest, Hungary, and she is working in a dubbing studio as an assistant director and translator.
In 2004, Kinga started to work as a volunteer for International Children’s Safety Service in Oradea, and that’s where she first heard about Learning Enterprises and met the first LE volunteers in Romania. Next year she became the Country Coordinator in Romania. She knew when she took the position that the job would be a real challenge, but she didn’t realize it would be such an amazing and pleasant experience.
Since LE Romania has not returned since the pandemic, Kinga will take on the additional responsibility of PD in order to bring back this program with hopefully many more years to come!
Interested applicants can contact Kinga at romania@learningenterprises.org.