By Lou Lachter

Volunteered in the Engliyada projects in the Sovev Kinnere Region in May 2008

I recently returned from my 21st (and far from final) trip to Israel. This was not a travel writers tour or a family visit. This was a two week “working” voyage, and it was great. Stay tuned to learn how you can sign up for this experience of a lifetime.

Called Engliada, the trip was organized by Partnership 2000 (or P2K), and is sponsored every year by the Jewish communities of St. Paul, Milwaukee, WI, and Tulsa, OK. The staff of the St. Paul United Jewish Fund and Council and the P2K committee handle all the logistics and training.

What is the work? I taught conversational English to seven Israeli working adults five nights a week for two weeks. I met with the students from 5 to 8 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday.

I did not teach grammar, reading, writing or punctuation. I have a limited knowledge of Hebrew, but that was no problem. Luckily my English conversational skills are pretty good.

One of the primary rules of the program is that  no Hebrew is spoken in class. The students are supposed to be totally immersed in English conversation as soon as they enter the classroom. In this imperfect world, the students did not follow the rule 100% of the time, but they tried.

The classes are held in an absorption center (Mercaz Klita) in Tiberias, the sister city of the program. Tiberias is located in northern Israel, and borders on the beautiful Sea of Galilee, aka the Kinneret in Hebrew.

The annual Engliada program is usually held in May. The students sign up for two two week sessions. They pay about $125 for the course. Some teachers sign up for four weeks, but most work for two weeks.

Students are pre-tested by Israeli staff people, and placed in class levels one to five (five is high) based on their English speaking skills. Some students take the course more than once. They have the option of moving to a higher or lower class during the program. The idea is for the students to learn at a level that is comfortable for them. The teachers try to get the students to push the envelope, but also to enjoy the experience. There is a lot of laughter in the classroom, but the people are highly motivated.

I had seven fourth level students. They came from varied backgrounds, and ranged in age from 19 to 60. One of my students was a woman from Russia who was an internal medicine doctor at nearby Poriya Hospital. Another student, an engineer, also worked at the hospital, and was a sixth generation Israeli. A 19 year old religious woman in my class did a lot of giggling, but was serious enough to improve her verbal skills. Another woman was taking the course for the third time. One young man was just out of the army, and worked as a security guard at the lovely Scottish Hotel in downtown Tiberias.  Another woman worked at the local Post Office. She came to my rescue when I got caught up in the Post Office bureaucracy.

I asked the students why they were taking the classes. The reasons included: likely job improvement; facilitate travel abroad, especially in the U. S.; be able to help English-speaking tourists in Israel; be able to converse with their children in English (the kids all learn English in school). Another popular reason was to meet new people in a learning environment.

Some of the subjects we covered in class were going to the doctor or dentist, ordering food in a restaurant, asking for and giving directions, learning American money and American measurement words such as feet, inches and yards. We had small group exercises, and discussions with individuals as well as the entire class.

A highlight of the course was a trip the whole class took to a coffee shop in downtown Tiberias. We organized a car pool to take us from the school to the spot selected by the students. The point was for them to place their orders in English, and to converse with the waitress and each other in English.

Another highlight was a party put on by the students in the classroom on the final evening we met. The students brought from home wonderful cooked and baked goods to feed a small army. We had wine and soft drinks. The students were embarrassingly effusive in their praise of the classes, and there was a real sense of camaraderie. The appreciation they showed this St. Paul volunteer brought a tear to my eye. Did I mention the hugs and kisses?

In addition to the classroom experience, two guided bus tours were organized in and around Tiberias for all the teachers during the day. Our stops included Rambam’s tomb, the Degania Aleph kibbutz (including a delicious lunch), the Afikim Kennels where seeing eye dogs are trained, the Old Gesher kibbutz with its outstanding audio-visual exhibit describing the building operation of a hydroelectric power station.

Another out of classroom activity for all the teachers was home hospitality for Shabbat. This gave the volunteers an excellent opportunity to meet with Israeli families. I met a wonderful family that wined and dined me in their lovely home. They also invited me to have dinner with them in a restaurant after class one evening. On other weekends,  I was able to spend time in Haifa with my son and his family.

I want to strongly commend the Engliada staff in Tiberias for their great support, the students who worked hard to improve their English conversational skills, and the dedicated teachers who gave of themselves so generously. And of course, thanks to the St. Paul UJFC for making the experience possible.

Engliada is not for everyone, but if it sounds interesting you, try it on for size. You’ll be glad you did.