Ming’s Experience in Ecuador Teaching English

Ming: The Smile I will Never Forget

I’m writing this review based on my experience as a one month volunteer in Ecuador. I was assigned with a Ecuadorian family and they were very friendly and treated me as their own family. When I first got there, my Spanish was bad and my ‘family’ helped me bargain with the taxi driver and helped me settle down.

My ‘family’ treating me so well…

I got the best living situation in the house which I appreciated very much but also thought I didn’t deserve my ‘family’ treating me so well. My daily job is to teach English to the kids in the village and helped my host-family grandma do some farming job. I enjoy very much the time living there. I got the chance to feel the nature and experience this life that I will remember for the rest of my life. During the ‘hard’ but happy time, my Spanish improved from zero foundation to be able to understand daily conversation.

Traditional crafting in Ecuador

I was also introduced the traditional crafting in Ecuador. I’m a world traveler and a culture lover and I have been to a lot countries during the recent years. But Ecuador is my second hometown where I find my soul, experience the real humanity regardless of language obstacles and cultural barriers. I loved this experience and I will be back again.

How can this program be improved?

It will be better if the connection with local family is improved. Sometimes the internet is not good in this small village, so volunteers need someone who can speak english well.