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

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.

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.

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.