During winter break, a group of dedicated FLEX alumni partnered with volunteers to organize the five-day Winter Englishpalooza project for over 1500 participants at the American Corners in Dashoguz, Mary, and Turkmenabat.
The primary aim of the project was to promote English language learning and develop participants language skills through interactive methods. The project was divided into five days, each day dedicated to a discussion topic, such as: New Year’s Resolutions, Environment, Holidays, Technologies, and Communications. Each day, the alumni facilitators led three sessions and encouraged visitors to use their English language skills through taking part in interactive games, discussing TED talks, taking challenging quizzes, and playing American board games. Because most of the sessions incorporated group work, the participants also improved their communication and team-building skills.
The Englishpalooza project was based off a similar event organized in the summer of 2018,
which attracted more than 12,700 visitors to the American Corners and American Center in Ashgabat. The project received a warm welcome from Turkmen youth because it allowed students with varied level of English to improve their language skills. The alumni facilitators are looking forward to the next month-long Englishpalooza project that is planned for the beginning of the summer of 2019.
A big thank you goes out to all of the FLEX alumni who made this event possible: Aknur Saparova ’12 (Dashoguz, Turkmenistan/ Portsmouth, VA), Barna Babajanova ’18 (Dashoguz, Turkmenistan/ Manitou Springs, CO), Shahabat Jorayeva ’18 (Garashyzlyk Etrap, Turkmenistan/ Cottonwood, CA), Azim Bazarov ’18 (Bayramaly, Turkmenistan/ Little River, KS), Dovran Meredov ’18 (Mary, Turkmenistan/ Bedford Hills, NY), and Mekan Durdyyev ’18 (Dashoguz, Turkmenistan/ Des Moines, IA).
Written by Diana Muhammedova ’08
