This past July, English Language Fellow Andrew Howard visited three summer camps for Access students in Uzbekistan. The students, who are usually from low-income families, receive scholarships from US embassies to attend these programs. The intensive two-week camps focus on language lessons, recreational activities, and personal development.
Howard led lessons on Independence Day, the basics of baseball and its role in American life, and song-writing. The students also learned how to use jump-rope rhymes to practice sentence stress. These interactive lessons combined education and physical activity to provide the students a fun outlet for speaking English. Most of the students had never spoken with a native English speaker, so it was a good opportunity for them to practice their conversational skills.