Volunteer opportunities
Want to make a difference for local immigrants in your community? EAL offers a full menu of volunteer opportunities with access to a network of training and support.
In addition to the opportunities listed below, we current have an immediate need for volunteers to help us as:
EAL Volunteer Test Administrator
Submit a Volunteer Inquiry Form
One-to-one Tutors
To be an English tutor, you don’t need previous teaching experience. You don’t even need to know another language.
As a volunteer one-to-one tutor with English At Large, you will be:
- Trained in a 12-hour workshop series to learn the essentials of a successful tutoring relationship.
- Matched with an adult learner in your area.
- Encouraged to work with your learner for 1½ – 2 hours per week, always in a public space—usually a library. (You and your learner will agree on the time and place.)
- Expected to make a minimum commitment of 50 contact hours with your learner.
Beginner English Teaching Support
English At Large Beginner English classes are taught on Tufts University (Medford) and Brandeis University (Waltham) campuses by student volunteers. The 90-minute Beginner English classes meet two days a week during the fall and spring academic semesters. If you have a Masters in TESOL, a CELTA or TEFL ESL teaching certificate, or have experience teaching ESL in the U.S. or abroad, and are interested in supporting the student volunteers at either university with classroom observations and feedback, please contact our staff. This flexible volunteer role provides welcome support and development for the volunteer teachers, as well as an opportunity to see Beginner Classes in action.
Conversation Group Facilitator
Conversation Groups help English learners to build fluency skills and speaking confidence. Each Conversation Group of up to 12 adult English learners from intermediate to advanced levels is led by two co-facilitators. This is a weekly, 1½-hour commitment for a minimum of three months.
As a group leader, you will receive a four-hour training to learn how to:
- Create a constructive and engaging learner-centered environment
- Encourage active conversation among participants
- Work with multi-level English learners
- Select the most beneficial conversation topics
Book Club Group Leader
The English At Large Book Group provides opportunities for intermediate to advanced English learners to practice reading, speaking, and writing skills. Groups of 10-12 learners meet with their discussion leader and group each week for 1½ hours, for a 6-week session. Learners do the assigned reading before the meeting, and might also be assigned a different discussion role to prepare for the next meeting. Learner preparation includes 1-2 hours of reading and approximately 30 minutes of discussion role preparation each week.
The Book Group Discussion Leader’s main role is to facilitate book or short story discussion for groups of 10-12 intermediate to advanced English learners. Group leaders plan activities that promote interactive speaking practice and engage learners. Learners will be encouraged to develop the discussion topics and to participate in small and large group speaking activities. This role requires a 3-hour weekly commitment for 6 weeks, including 1½ hours of weekly meeting time. Discussion leaders read the short story or book prior to the start of session, and plan group discussion activities in advance.
Intake Assessor
Interview prospective learners to determine their eligibility for the English At Large tutoring program and test their English level. This role has a flexible schedule where volunteers can conduct as few as two interviews per month, or as many as you like.
As an interviewer, you will receive a one-hour training session to learn how to:
- Determine a learner’s goals for learning English
- Gather basic demographic information
- Administer a brief reading/writing and listening/speaking test
- Evaluate all of the information you collect to fully understand the needs of our learners.
Test Administrator
This important volunteer function helps English At Large track the language progress of our learners.
As a test administrator, you will complete formal state certification training and administer standardized speaking or writing tests to our learners. Test Administrators can administer as many or as few tests as they like per month, though much of the testing must be completed in May and June.
Career Access Lab (CAL) Volunteer
Our Career Access Lab (CAL) welcomes volunteers willing to share their experience in the U.S. workforce
CAL volunteers support the Career Readiness Group, a 15-week program that covers the skills needed to start a career in the US. The topics include resumes, cover letters, networking skills, job interview skills, and information about US workforce culture.
Volunteers may choose to:
- Visit the CAL Group to co-facilitate a career lesson
- Provide Career Mentoring to a CAL participant
- Offer feedback at the Resume Review Event
- Conduct interviews at the Mock Interview Event
- Participate in the Networking Event
For more information on volunteering in CAL, please contact the program facilitator at americorps@englishatlarge.org
Changing Volunteer Opportunities
If you don’t have time for a weekly volunteer commitment, consider one of our other volunteer roles:
Event Volunteer
Event volunteers lend a hand at our volunteer, learner, community, and fundraising events. Typical activities include staffing a raffle table, food table or information booth, greeting guests, registering attendees, or being part of the set-up/clean-up team.
Fundraising & Grant-Writing Volunteer
Help us grow to serve more newcomers by conveying why English At Large is important in your community through fundraisers and grants.
English At Large
800 West Cummings Park, Suite 5550
Woburn, MA 01801
tel : 781.395.2374
email : info@englishatlarge.org
We thank our sponsors
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Registration for our Fall Conversation Groups is now open! Learn more about this program for #English language learners and enroll in a group here: https://t.co/turxr5sBvJ
Recent @NatImmForum report shows #immigrants & #refugees are more likely to start businesses than US born & that these businesses revitalize local economies: https://t.co/PclQCch1Ex @IIRGMU
Representation matters. A key first step is to register & mobilize voters of color, incl. naturalized #immigrants & children of immigrants. But we also need to actively encourage emerging political leaders.
The Mass. Legislature is not diverse, and that’s probably not going to change next year. - The Boston Globe
The status quo is especially stark compared to other states: Massachusetts, according to 2015 data from the National Council of State Legislatures, is...
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Check out our newly designed "Cummings Buildings Power Charities" webpage! Many thanks to our #leasing clients for making this kind of giving possible. https://t.co/LMpqdlapJj
Food was the topic at a recent conversation group at the @walthamlibrary! A delicious way to learn new words and share culture!
Thank you @CindyFriedmanMA for your efforts to preserve programs for local immigrants. Also co-sponsors @SenJasonLewis @JamieEldridgeMA @BarrettSenate and our reps @repjaykaufman and Jim Dwyer
Woburn Earmarks Include Opioid Awareness, English Instruction https://t.co/H3IFfQt0Lc
This is an awesome opportunity to sharpen your skills, learn more about key policy issues, and prepare for a busy election season. Sign up today & please SHARE! #mapoli #SafeCommunities #UnitetheVote
Sign up for Democracy School! Regional workshops across Mass. start Aug. 6
Join us for MIRA's annual workshop for new and emerging community organizers to build up their knowledge and skills and make new connections.
mailchi.mp
Fun in the office today giving feedback to one of our learners on the English he uses as a ballroom dance instructor at @SuperShagStudio
It's a Scavenger Hunt … with Libraries! Visit 5 libraries to receive a prize (1 per group while supplies last) Be sure to post your photos and tag @winpublib.
Check out our dedicated web app for this event: https://t.co/6Gk2pcfkSa #scavengerhunt #libraries
Thank you @CindyFriedmanMA for your work to secure funding for local #ESOL programs. You are our hero!
Today is Prime Day! Amazon donates to English at Large Inc. when you shop Prime Day deals at https://t.co/Kb2UGabCET.
Our Ice Cream Social and WHS Show Band concert is TONIGHT rain or shine! You will also be able to buy Sam Adams beer. Join us at 6:30PM on the front lawn - in the Lecture Hall if it rains.
#Teachers! Join 10 experts in our annual, free online workshop to gain the skills and strategies to promote immigrant student success in these perilous times. Learn more and register for free: https://t.co/fD3QfTGfn3 #ESOL #adulted #immigration #K12
Offices and programs are closed today!
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp…
The Lenny Zakim Fund on Instagram: ““Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the…”
17 Likes, 1 Comments - The Lenny Zakim Fund (@lzfund) on Instagram: ““Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breat...
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Parking interruption headed our way...
Conversation Starters: News You Need to Hear from English At Large! https://t.co/JNccenDOV1
Thank you Concord Carlisle Community Chest, for investing in the potential of local immigrants! #ESOL #community
Learner graduates share their experience with their volunteer tutors.
Starting now EAL learner graduation!
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Gain great experience and make a difference! Apply today!Looking for hands-on, substantive work experience and a chance to make a difference? We still have slots available for NAIP 2018-19. Teach English, help immigrants adapt to life in the U.S., help aspiring citizens apply... Learn more & apply today! bit.ly/apply-naip.
Registration for our Fall Conversation Groups is now Open! This program fills up quickly - register today to secure your spot! www.englishatlarge.org/conversation-groups/
We are still recruiting for an AmeriCorps Member for the 2018-19 service year! patch.com/massachusetts/woburn/americorps-members-needed-serve-woburn-organizations?utm_source=ne...
AmeriCorps Members Needed to Serve at Woburn Organizations
patch.com
Check out the latest community post from one of your neighbors. (The views expressed in this post are the author’s own.)There are two #Woburn organizations with openings for 2018-2019 NAIP AmeriCorps members! Your service will help local immigrants secure employment and advance their career. Apply today!Where will YOU serve? NAIP AmeriCorps opportunities are still available in Woburn, Gloucester, Peabody, Lynn/Lawrence/Lowell, Chelsea, Quincy, Framingham, and Boston!
Action for Boston Community Development The Chelsea Collaborative English At Large English for New Bostonians JFS of Metrowest JVS Boston North Shore Community Action Programs Quincy Asian Resources, Inc. Wellspring House YMCA International Learning Center YMCA Training, Inc. Boston
Learn how to apply: www.miracoalition.org/apply-to-naip-americorps
We are still recruiting for an AmeriCorps Member for 2018-2019!Applications are still open to join New American Integration Program in 2018-2019! View our openings in Greater Boston, Framingham, Merrimack Valley, Woburn, Gloucester & Peabody here: www.miracoalition.org/apply-to-naip-americorps
Action for Boston Community Development The Chelsea Collaborative English At Large English for New Bostonians JFS of Metrowest JVS Boston Mujeres Unidas Avanzando North Shore Community Action Programs Quincy Asian Resources, Inc. Wellspring House YMCA International Learning Center YMCA Training, Inc. Boston
What are your favorite foods? Where do you like to eat? These questions lead to great discussions in our summer Conversation Groups! Participants learned new vocabulary, shared their culture with recipes on favorite dishes from their home country, and picked up some great tips on where to eat locally. Thanks to the Waltham Public Library for partnering with us to deliver this important local program!
AmeriCorps Members help deliver services to thousands of local immigrants in local communities across Greater Boston! Applications are still being accepted for the 2018-2019 program year!Five of our NAIP members who have dedicated this past year to removing barriers to employment for immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts are ending service tomorrow, and three more are ending service at the end of the month! Congratulations to these soon-to-be alums of the New American Integration Program for their outstanding achievements!
NAIP 2017-2018 Leaders in Job Readiness Training:
Catalina Bello Puentes, Isaac Fuhrman & Aviva Herr-Welber, JVS Boston
Malou Duverne, BINcA
Danae Webster, YMCA International Learning Center
Gretchen Kellogg, English At Large
Andrew Wofford, YMCA Training, Inc. Boston
Samuel Spencer, BEST Hospitality Training
Apply today to join next year's job readiness team! Click here to learn about current openings in 2018-2019: miracoalition.org/apply-to-naip-americorps
We are proud and grateful for the support of these outstanding legislators who stood with State Senator Cindy Friedman to protect services for local immigrants. Also Jason Lewis, State Senator Mike Barrett and Senator Jamie Eldridge patch.com/massachusetts/woburn/woburn-earmarks-include-opioid-awareness-english-instruction
Woburn Earmarks Include Opioid Awareness, English Instruction
patch.com
State legislators representing Woburn issued a press release Tuesday highlighting the $110,000 they secured for Woburn in the state budget.Scenes from the site of our recent staff retreat at the Boston Public Library. This local treasure was established in 1848 to provide a public space for learning in this immigrant city. The perfect place to work on program strategy for the coming year. We highly recommend the free Art & Architecture Tours, offered daily!
Cindy’s work in the Senate made sure that services for local immigrants received funding in the FY 19 State Budget. We are proud and grateful for her support!
To commemorate my 1-year anniversary as your state Senator, my team compiled a list of highlights from the past year. Please click on the link below to view our “Year in Numbers” and get a better sense of the work I’ve been doing this session to benefit the 4th Middlesex district and the Commonwealth.
This morning EAL staff put on their dancing shoes to give feedback to one of our learner's on the English he uses for his work as a ballroom dance instructor at SuperShag Dance Studios in Waltham. Interested in dancing with Imi? We highly recommend it! www.supershag.com/imre-gombkoto.html
Congratulations and thank you to our #AmeriCorps member! MIRA: Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition
Prime Day is here! Amazon donates to English at Large Inc. when you shop Prime Day deals at smile.amazon.com/ch/04-3050593.
Thank you En Ka Society for supporting life-changing services for Winchester immigrants! We value your partnership in service to the community.
We have posted the gallery of pictures from our first-ever Learner Graduation Event! Congratulations to the graduates and thanks to the wonderful volunteer tutors who supported their success! www.englishatlarge.org/events/2018-learner-graduation-event/
Thank you Concord-Carlisle Community Chest for investing in the potential of local immigrants! We are proud to have you as a partner in our work.
We keep losing phone service due to the ongoing problems Comcast is experiencing with its Business systems. We apologize for this inconvenience. Our email is working - please contact us at info@englishatlarge.org. Thank you!
Apply to Join NAIP AmeriCorps for 2018-2019!
We are now recruiting applicants to serve with English At Large as an NAIP AmeriCorps Member.
www.englishatlarge.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/NAIP-AmeriCorps-EAL_Job-Description.pdf
Quick shout out to the wonderful local businesses who are donating refreshments for this week's Graduation event! Thank you for your generosity and community spirit!
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