The Challenge: Nong Chang is a village in Uthai Thani province, about three hours north of Bangkok, disconnected from tourism. The children at Wat Thung Luang School learn English from teachers who are not fluent themselves and have rarely heard it spoken by a fluent speaker.

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Our Action: Partnering with the Jan and Oscar Foundation since 2016, we support Wat Thung Luang School across two campuses, teaching children aged 6 to 15

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The Impact: Volunteers are split between the two campuses in pairs and deliver 25 to 30 highly interactive lessons weekly. Volunteers follow the school's curriculum where it works, adapt it only where it seems appropriate, and build their own lessons on top of it. The most successful lessons in the past included: drawing, miming, games, songs, and repetition. Long verbal explanations tend to be less effective, as the English level is rather low and some of the youngest students are still learning the Latin alphabet.

Due to these circumstances, the expectations for a good lesson are harder to meet. In summer 2026, a class of primary students who couldn't form an English question at the start of the first lesson asked complete ones by the end. This is the type of progress we aim to achieve every year.

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AT A GLANCE

Partner: Wat Thung Luang School, Nong Chang, Uthai Thani; Jan and Oscar Foundation
Running since: 2014
Volunteers sent: 4, twice a year
Duration: 3 - 4 weeks
Teaching: 25 - 30 lessons weekly, two campuses, ages 6 to 15
Language prerequisites: none