THE ENGIN BLOG

Ask any experienced English teacher what their go-to conversation starters are and you'll hear the same list. 20 questions. Hangman. Would you rather. Those activities aren't bad. They just expire. After a few months with the same group, your students know exactly what's coming the moment you get that particular look on your face. You're about to announce a game. They'll smile politely. Someone will ask how it works even though they've played it four times...

Osama Raii, an 18-year-old student from the coastal region of Syria, knows that feeling intimately. And it was from within that restlessness that he discovered something that would change the course of his life: a small nonprofit connecting Ukrainian students with English-speaking volunteers for weekly conversation practice, called ENGin. This is his story.

If there were one thing I would tell my younger self when starting my career as a CELTA-certified English teacher, I would emphasize the importance of cross-cultural awareness. And volunteering with ENGin has reminded me that teaching English is not only about grammar and vocabulary, but also about understanding the people behind the language.

When Vita first stumbled across ENGin online, she wasn't even looking for it. She was searching for something else entirely when the program appeared on her screen. She almost scrolled past it until she realized her friend was already part of it.