Becca's intercultural conversation course

In July and August, 2024, the Hands Up Project held a six-week Conversation Course that gave students and volunteers a chance to discuss a variety of topics. The students themselves chose the topics, which included world events, culture, sports, and technology. Each week the students also shared ways they were working to improve their English. The course was attended by a total of 25 students with the participation of 10 volunteers. 

Below are reflections from two of the students, Thoraya and Mohammed, sharing their experiences in the course:

Thoraya

Thoraya

The conversation course was a great opportunity for an introverted person like me to improve my speaking skills, build strong relationships, and gain self-confidence. Talking with others in an organized way helped me to discover my mistakes while speaking, my weak points, and what I should focus on. Moreover, speaking about various topics encouraged me to rediscover myself from diverse perspectives, obtain knowledge, and furthermore directed my attention to the fact I am unique in my own way, just like everyone else. Every human has their own shine. Besides that, the world is filled with many colors and shades; it’s not nothing but black and white. That's what I recognized during this course, through others' visions.  I’ve met many awesome people who gave me the space to express myself freely, were active and easy-going. Although we are from different places; humans are always related. In conclusion, the course was my own gate to leave the war zone and make myself feel productive for a while.

Mohammed

Mohammed

Hello everyone, it's Mohammed Abu Jayyab from Gaza, Palestine.

In the beginning, I heard about this course from one of my  teachers. He said that this course would be useful for me for sure and at least I would  practice English, so I decided to join it.

In our first meeting I  was so excited because of these fabulous teachers and classmates. I was surprised to find many nationalities in this course, whether among teachers or students, and this helped me a lot in getting to know other cultures.

This course took place in a very nice and friendly atmosphere, far from being so formal and complicated.

Furthermore it was not all about practicing. I've learned many vocabulary words and we had many beautiful conversations about various topics like sports, technology, and recent events in the world.

In addition, our nice teachers suggested that we promise them to do a certain useful thing in learning English for a whole week in order to stay in touch with the language during that time.

In conclusion, this course was really amazing. For me it wasn't just a course. It was a life-changing experience.

NB: The avatars by their names were made by a South African volunteer, Maryam, who as a surprise on our last class shared wonderful avatars for each of our student participants, including Thoraya and Mohammed, as you see here.