English Conversation Clubs

Sometimes volunteers ask, 'What's your favorite project?' It's a hard questions to answer. 6 months into my VISTA year (half way already!), with almost all the that time spent working on the Flex Program, I've been to all the projects at least once, some dozens of times.

Don't get me wrong, I like them all. We currently have 22 Flex projects going into April, with volunteers making their mark on wide variety of issues affecting our community (Flex Calendar).

But currently I've got a favorite. It's our English Conversation Clubs. Volunteers act as 1-on-1 conversation partners for ESL students, typically Latino immigrants. We started our first club back in February at the Marin Opportunity Center in San Rafael. As is usually the case, there's an experimental element to new projects. You never really know how it's going to go...

Luckily, the first conversation club was a smash hit. The students were so enthusiastic and engaged, the conversations were often lively and extremely interesting. Time flew by. We started going every other week. Volunteers say that they can see a dramatic improvement in the students. Very cool.

Due to this success, we're starting two more Conversation Clubs in Novato. One will be at the Novato Marin Opportunity Center on Fridays from 10am-noon. Another will be at the Novato Public Library on Monday evenings with the Marin Literacy Program.

I am really hoping to replicate the same success we had at the Marin Opportunity Center in San Rafael. You never know...

Click here to find out! Sign ups for these projects are now open. Let me know if you have any questions at cfalvey@cvnl.org