This year, Anna took part in several virtual workcamps. These virtual camps took place over Zoom and focused on improving the language skills of the participants. 2 camps had the aim of improving the English of the participants, whilst the other camps introduced International Sign Language to the participants. Adam has just started his long term volunteering via the European Solidarity Corps at IBG and is asking Anna a few questions.
Adam: Hello Anna. How many virtual camps did you take part in this year?
Anna: Hello Adam. I led 2 virtual camps; both called the English Speaking Club. I also took part in 4 camps that introduced International Sign Language (ISL). In 2 of these camps I was more a participant and in the other 2 I helped to coordinate them.
Adam: Firstly we can talk about the English Speaking Clubs. How many participants did you have?
Anna: The maximum number of participants was 8. Unfortunately by the last day, only half remained. These participants were very motivated and we still had a great time. Only those people, who didn’t miss a meeting, received a certificate.
Adam: How long were the Clubs? How often did you meet?
Anna: We met from Monday to Friday for two weeks over Zoom. Each meeting was 90 minutes long.
Adam: What was the aim of these camps? What did you talk about?
Anna: The aim of these camps was to improve the spoken English of the participants. To achieve this goal, we spoke about a different topic each day and a then some homework to prepare for the next meeting.
Adam: What do you think went well on these camps?
Anna: We spoke a lot and focus primarily on practical exercises. We also learnt a several Idioms. Something else that went well was the Cultural exchange that we encouraged. We prepared and gave presentations about the traditions and customs of our home countries. The majority of the participants found our program with home exercises, energizers and games interesting and were always engaged.
Adam: Did you have some difficulties?
Anna: The main difficulty was the time difference for a few of the participants. It was always complicated for them to take part. Another difficulty was that some of the participants were not always as motivated as the others and so the exercises for them were not always so easy. However, in general the camps was really successful.
Adam: Now we can talk about the ISL virtual camps. How many participants did you have on these camps?
Anna: On these camps there was a maximum of 10 participants, but many more people were interested.
Adam: How long were these camps?
Anna: The first 2 camps met 5 times a week on Zoom for 2 weeks. The last 2 camps met only 3 times per week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, again for 2 weeks. The meetings for all the camps were 90 minutes long. For those who took part in more than 7 meetings, they received a certificate.
Adam: What was the aim of these 4 camps? What did you talk about?
Anna: We started with the alphabet and each time we met, we had a new topic such as Family, Hobbies and the Internet. By the end of the courses, we could discuss a few of the topics with each other with almost no difficulties.
Adam: Were there any difficulties with these camps?
Anna: There were a few problems with times for some of the participants, but other than that we had no problems that were not easily solved.
Adam: What do you think was good with these camp?
Anna: The participants had new experiences and could develop new skills. ISL is completely different to other languages but it is still important. On the last 2 camps, with Christoph, we introduced flash cards to better explain new words and he also made a lot of jokes. This meant that the Workcamp was certainly not boring.
Adam: Are you planning on leading more “normal” and virtual workcamps?
Anna: At the moment I am a coordinator for an “International Children’s Book”, where we, along with the other participants, are looking to produce a storybook in different languages. I also led a few “normal” workcamps and I really enjoyed that. I hope that, after the corona pandemic, I will have another few chances to do that again.
Adam: Thank you for your time, Anna!
Anna: No Problem, Thank you Adam!
Find out more about virtual workcamps and currently open places here.