I’ve attended the VaughanTown program three times over the years. Each time, the program lasted one week and I got to meet so many great people from Spain and around the world. I always add a few extra days on each end so I have some time to enjoy the rest of Spain too.
The one-week program is an ‘immersive’ language course for a group of Spanish professionals who are learning and building fluency in English. As one of the English teachers, or ‘Anglos’, you don’t actually need any teaching experience. You just need to speak English the way you normally do, giving the students a taste of how people really speak in the real world, accents and all!
The program has been running for years, so as an Anglo everything runs smoothly. There is a pickup and introductory meeting arranged in Madrid where you get a chance to meet the other Anglos, before being whisked off to the program location. There are many perks to joining this program – you get to travel in Spain, volunteer, meet great people, while your food and accommodation is covered throughout the week. Another great perk… lots of great wine!
The week consists of various activities, including one-to-ones, group activities like presentations or conference calls, and free time. Meals are also a part of the part of the program and an opportunity to speak English with the students in a casual manner. In fact, even with the timetable and activities, everything has an air of fun and casualness. Everyone is friendly, there are no tests or exams, and the whole week is about encouraging the Anglos and Spanish speakers to interact with each other in a fun and casual way. This puts the Spanish speakers at ease when speaking in English.
The exercises add a level of practicality regarding the business world, for example, a conference call can be harder for a student to follow than a video call because you can’t see the speaker’s lips or body language, so this is good practice outside of the office.
Everyone is also given free time throughout the days and in the evening, to nap, hang out with new friends, or just have some time to explore. There is definitely time to play and relax.
Volunteering with VaughanTown is like traveling with a purpose. You are going somewhere new and meeting new people, while also helping others to improve their language skills. You get to teach without needing any extra skills as your native English skills are put to use.
The highlight for me has always been the people. The team running and organizing the program are really friendly and good at getting everyone to interact and have fun. The Spanish students have always been friendly and eager to learn. I remember one Spanish student ran his own adventure travel company – one-to-one conversations with him were so interesting! And the Anglos are all friendly travelers from around the world who enjoy meeting new people. I made an Anglo travel buddy who I still travel with to this day – we met nearly ten years ago! Getting to know each other for most of a week gave us a head start on most travel friendships. Some of the places we have visited together include Toronto, Amsterdam, Costa Rica, and London. Good travel buddies are hard to come by so I’m glad we got to meet while doing VaughanTown.
Of the three times I’ve done the program, two times were with a friend and one time I went alone. I highly recommend VaughanTown if you are thinking about traveling by yourself but worried about being alone in a foreign country. The program is structured, organized, and you’ll be set up to be busy and talk with lots of people. You’ll get to travel and make friends with people from all around the world.
There is a reason why lots of people have done the program more than once – it’s because it’s a lot of fun and worth doing again! It is certainly back on my to-do list for the next time I’m in Spain.
Find out more about VaughanTown here:
https://volunteers.grupovaughan.com/programs/vaughantown/
Written by Shama
