Por Cristina Mora – Student of the English Club

Ronald Reagan once said that “We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone”, and that’s what the English Club is all about. A group of several students sharing their knowledge of English skills with others. The English Club started in January 2019, and since its start it has developed an immense variety of activities to share its main goal, which is “Spread the Word” throughout the university. Nevertheless, it is important that the club goes beyond its boundaries and share their knowledge, solidarity, and desire to teach outside the university.

The English Club is key to a variety of different benefits along the lines of personal development, leadership skills, networking, and social opportunities (Heath, n.d.). The English Club allows its participants to practice their writing and speaking skills effectively, by creating or participating in different activities like conversation classes, playing board games in English, or having presentations about an interesting topic like different cultures, disability awareness, and many others. Today, knowing English has become a need more than an extra skill. It opens a large number of job opportunities, makes it easier to travel, and English is the language of international communication (The English Learning Center, n.d.).

There are many ways the English Club can reach out to people outside of the university and help them learn or practice their skills. Some activities to reach this goal are volunteering to help people outside the university, developing projects that are focused on people not only on the student community but in society, and partnering with other clubs to be able to have a bigger effect in different communities. However, there are some challenges to overcoming these barriers like the COVID- 19 pandemic, the costs of making these activities, lack of enthusiasm, and people being embarrassed to practice their English skills.

Even though there are threats to reaching people from outside the university, there can always be solutions for the exact purpose of these challenges. For instance, they can plan activities to raise funds, use the advantages of the internet, and have a committed and creative attitude. Jane Goodall once said “you cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” There are many people that are not part of the university’s student community that are in need and want help to learn and practice their English skills, they just need to be reached. The English Club needs to share their knowledge and solidarity with others.

 

MOXIE es el Canal de ULACIT (www.ulacit.ac.cr), producido por y para los estudiantes universitarios, en alianza con el medio periodístico independiente Delfino.cr, con el propósito de brindarles un espacio para generar y difundir sus ideas.  Se llama Moxie - que en inglés urbano significa tener la capacidad de enfrentar las dificultades con inteligencia, audacia y valentía - en honor a nuestros alumnos, cuyo “moxie” los caracteriza.

References:
• Heath. (n.d.). Campus life: Joining clubs and organizations. https://www.heath.gwu.edu/campus-life-joining-clubs-and-organizations
• The English Learning Center. (n.d.). 4 reasons why learning English is so important. https://www.elc-schools.com/blog/4-reasons-why-learning- english-is-so-important/