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WORK, STUDY, VOLUNTEER, LEARN, DONATE |
Travelers often wish to mix
their travels with language studies or teaching English.
Many also love mixing their travels with a volunteer stint
in one of the local
Tibetan Orphanages. Below we have gathered some
information about studying Tibetan and teaching English to
Tibetans in Tibet. However, this is limited information.
Check with local universities and colleges, Tibetan
organizations in Dharamsala, India, and local
travel guides for
additional opportunities. |
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STUDY TIBETAN IN TIBET |
The following information is
offered by Lonely Planet Guide Books.
It is possible to enroll in a
Tibetan-language course at Lhasa’s Tibet University. Tuition
costs US$1000 per semester; semesters run from March to July
and September to January. There are two hours of classes a
day and around 70 foreign students currently attend
(including some undercover missionaries). For an application
form contact the Foreign Affairs Office
(0891-634 3254;
fsd@utibet.edu.cn; Tibet University, Lhasa 850000,
Tibetan Autonomous Region). Once you are accepted the
university will help arrange a student (‘X’) visa and, after
three months, residency status in Lhasa. Students have to
stay in campus accommodation. It should also be possible to
hire a private tutor from the university for around Y20 per
hour.
Many travellers find it more
convenient to study at Dharamsala or Kathmandu, although
students say that the mix of dialects and high levels of
English make them less effective places to study. Courses
offered there include Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan
language and Tibetan performing arts.
Kopan Monastery
(www.kopan-monastery.com)
outside Kathmandu, in Nepal, is a particularly popular place
to study aspects of Tibetan Buddhism.
The various Tibetan
organizations across the world offer courses and meditation
retreats. The Tibet Foundation (020-7930
6001;
www.tibet-foundation.org) in London, for example, offers
a 10-week Tibetan-language course for around UK₤130
visit Lonely Planet at
www.lonelyplanet.com
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TEACH ENGLISH IN
LHASA, TIBET |
TEACH
ENGLISH IS YUSHU, TIBET |
Just outside of the cultural
capital of Lhasa and near the world-famous Potala place,
Global Crossroad volunteers teach English to poor,
destitute, and disabled children. Most of the time,
volunteers in teaching projects work as instructors or
assistant English teachers. However, our volunteer in Tibet
program welcomes your participation and help in the school's
extra-curricular activities, such as sports, games and other
activities, or sanitation programs. Volunteers usually teach
two to three hours a day for five days a week, working with
children 6 to 13 years old.
In our
Teaching English in Tibet program, the school staff supports
volunteers and helps them to understand the local curricula
and teaching methods, and also helps to resolve
communication barriers. Teach abroad in Tibet welcomes any
English speakers regardless of their origin. Tibet has been
isolated from the rest of the world for many years, so the
English level of local students is poor. Therefore, English
teaching in Tibet is truly a challenging and rewarding job
which can make a difference in the lives of both students
and teachers.
Contact Crossroads directly.
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Others talk, this girl lived
the dream of teaching English in Tibet. Here's a snippet
from her very funny and enlightening blog.
"Last weekend was wonderful. My host family decided that it
would be nice to go camping out in the grasslands and spend
some time with the nomads there. Saturday morning I woke up
to the family packing nearly everything they own into the
car: pots, pans, seven or eight tents, including one large
military-barracks-type one with canvas skin that was about
an inch thick and smelled vile, pillows, blankets, an
electric generator, light bulbs, a giant iron stove that
weighed about 1000 pounds, an aluminum chimney, and a whole
host of other equally random items. We drove for about three
hours, out of the valley and up onto a huge wide plateau
that was entirely flat and green for miles and miles. It was
a surreal location – the air was crystal clear, and from
where we set up camp the brilliantly green grass stretched
out for probably 20 miles in every direction, flat as a
chessboard, until way off in the distance a sheer wall of
Himalayan rock leapt out of the plains entirely without
warning; just grass, grass, grass, grass,
mountain.
Everything was so wide, and on such an immense scale, it was
almost hard to tell where the earth ended and the sky
started; it was like they were fused together, way way off.
Want to get a flavor of
teaching English in a remote Tibetan area to children who
don't have the opportunity for much schooling,
click here
to read this interesting, and REAL, blog! You may also
write to this teacher to find out how she got involved in
this teaching opportunity, if she liked it, etc. |
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TEACH ENGLISH IN
TIBETAN ORPHANAGE |
Teaching English to Tibetan
orphans is probably the highlight of any trip to Tibet.
Contact the orphanages direct and arrange a few days or a
few weeks to volunteer as an English teacher for their
orphanage.
Tibetan's
who learn English in India do their best to share their
English skills with the kids, but there is nothing to
compare to a native speaker's instruction, especially when
it comes to enunciation. If you can spare a few days or
more, it will surely be a very memorable experience for you.
You'll make lifelong Tibetan friends and you'll help these
poor children get a step closer to having a chance to make
an income from tourists when they grow up. Check out our
list of Tibetan
orphanages. |
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