The English (and German!) classes that we helped out with were held in the Center for Youth and Sports in Căuşeni. The center is actually brand new and the students have only been working in it for about a month. It has a huge gymnasium, classrooms and offices, as well as a fitness area. Construction on the building was completed in the fall with the help of European Union funding and is called “the nicest building in Căuşeni.”  I would have to agree. It’s a pretty snappy place.

Căuşeni Center for Youth and Sports

We worked with a total of 155 students, ranging in age from 7- 45 years old. Some of them had only half a dozen English lessons under their belt, while others have already been learning for years and are able to hold complex conversations. All of the classes take place after the normal school day and students come voluntarily to improve their language skills. The importance of English as the “international language” and “language of the internet” is growing, but the quality of English education in Moldovan schools remains sub-par. Hence the high demand at the Youth Center for supplemental instruction!

Romanian is the official language in Moldova, but Russian is spoken at home in many families. In some of the classes, Svetlana would translate between English, Romanian, and Russian. During the German classes, she would do the same, constantly moving between FOUR different languages! It was really crazy to watch.

Something else that was really crazy to experience was Joe teaching one of the German classes! He led a two-hour class…in German…with no preparation! He did an awesome job and I was so proud of him! Here he is reviewing body parts with the students. What IS the word for “elbow” in German?! Good thing he remembered, because I definitely didn’t!

Joe also re-organized (of course!) the teacher’s growing stack of paperwork. Here he is grading tests…just like his Grandma taught him to do thirty years ago!

Here is a portion of a poster that was made as part of a group assignment about the USA. Ummm…despite what this may look like, we swear we behaved like responsible adults and were good representatives of our country!

Even though our week at the Youth Center was relatively short, we hope that one or two of the students gained something from our time with them. If not, at least Svetlana got a bit of a break from her grueling schedule. As a former teacher, I know that even 5 extra minutes in a day feels like a gift from heaven!