ENGLISH LANGUAGE & CULTURAL EXCHANGE

The program is open all year round, depending on availability.

The English Language and Cultural Exchange Program offers participants the chance to immerse themselves in the Ecuadorian culture and explore the country, while teaching conversational English to their host families. Participants will teach spoken English to their host families for 15 hours a week and can use their free time to travel and explore the Amazon Jungle, the Andes highlands, the beaches of the Coast and more! This program helps Ecuadorian families to develop their English skills, a basic requirement for today’s worldwide employment market. It also provides the participant with a broader view of the world and an opportunity to be part of daily Latin American life with the family. Teaching at your host’s home, traveling, enjoying the local cuisine and establishing life-long friendships is something you will not want to miss!

Volunteers can enjoy the following activities in and around Quito in their free time:
 

* The Teleferico takes visitors almost to the top of the Volcano Pichincha in a sky tram. It is worth putting aside a few hours for the trip, and a trip by day or at nighttime is equally interesting. The cable cars will take you up to almost 14,000 feet and the views are stunning.
 

*  Visit the "Middle of the World City" where the monument that divides the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern is located. You must also straddle the line dividing the north and south hemispheres, with one foot in each. It was built during the XVII century when a French Expedition defined the precise location of the equatorial line. The Ethnographic Museum can be also be visited here.  

For those placed in the Galapagos Islands, you can enjoy the following activities at an additional cost:

* Island Hop! Start at Espanola Island and enjoy the incredible natural wonders, from the immense blowhole to the thousands of nesting blue-footed boobies and the world's largest waved albatross colony. Continue to Floreana Island and see the flamingos. Enjoy Black Tortuga Bay on Santa Cruz and marvel at the mangrove maze which is chock-full of sharks, rays and sea turtles.
 

* For volunteers who love diving, the Galapagos is a unique, world-class diving location. This underwater Marine Sanctuary is still private, pristine, and relatively unexplored. It is not the coral reefs that are the main attraction, but rather the megadiverse species of marine animals and their fearlessness of intruders into their watery world. Dive next to sea turtles, manta rays, penguins, sea lions, dolphins and numerous species of sharks, including hammerheads and whale sharks. There are also hundreds of species of tropical reef fish, many of which are unique to this fantastic underwater sanctuary.
 

* Visit the Charles Darwin Foundation in Santa Cruz. This is an international non-profit research organization dedicated to providing scientific research, technical assistance and information to ensure conservation success in the Galapagos Islands.

The program takes place in Quito (Mainland Ecuador), Santa Cruz and Isabella (Galapagos Islands). 

The volunteer will be in charge of teaching conversational English to the members of the family, based on TEFL methods. The volunteer will first identify the level of conversational English that each students has. Based on this, the volunteer will focus on using a method that best applies for each level: beginner, intermediate and advanced. The TEFL method for conversational English includes exercises to perfect pronunciation, improve comprehension and understanding, increase vocabulary and more. The TEFL method helps students achieve fluency without memorizing, but rather through practising by way of conversation.

The volunteer will be teaching the members of the family that will be part of the program for 15 hours a week (Weekdays: Monday - Friday).

Volunteers will be accommodated at home stays.  Home stays have been selected after a rigorous application and screening process to make sure the families are able to meet the volunteer’s needs.

Families who participate in this program will have been selected from a wide group of families who want and need to learn conversational English. All of the families are motivated to be chosen to take part in the program. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included at the host family home.