ELS Language Centres, Malaysia

In July and August, ELS Penang played host to some young Koreans at a special fun-filled, summer Holiday Enrichment Programme (HEP) Camp. It was a camp that offered the young visitors an interesting experience in the use of the English Language during the weekly outings. They had to follow instructions in English in order to print T-shirts, paint rocks at Botanika, paint batik scarves at Craft Batik as well as produce some pieces of pottery at Asian Pottery. While enjoying their nature walk at the Penang Botanical Gardens, they were exposed to the beauty of plants and their uses.

Their guide, an expert horticulturist held their attention by pointing out the interesting tropical plants at the garden. There was also a study of pond and streamlife with the children enjoying themselves handling live specimens. Besides, they also had the beautiful opportunity of asking questions in English about the aquatic life.

Visits to the Penang Butterfly Farm and the Bird Park were equally enjoyable and meaningful. At both these places, squeals of pleasure were heard when the insects, reptiles and birds landed on them. The museum at the farm was also very informative and our instructors were bombarded with questions to confirm what the children had read from the posters.

Lunch at one of the outings was at a traditional kampung house and the children experienced eating rice with their hands. Although a couple of the children baulked at the idea, the rest were thrilled with the experience.

Another memorable experience was their ride on trishaws through the UNESCO Heritage Sites of the inner city ending up at KOMTAR where the children had a panoramic view of Georgetown from the viewing tower there.

More mundane, though equally meaningful, was the viewing of the latest box-office English movies at the Cineplexes in Penang. The movies were selected to appeal to the children as well as provide the opportunity to improve their listening skills.

Bearing in mind the Korean attitude of work and more work, these outings were interspersed with interesting lessons whereby the children could improve their sentence structures and prepare themselves for the practical sessions at their outings. Even parents who had initially requested for reams of worksheets were happy with the enjoyable and practical use of the language and their children’s progress.