​What makes SPICE special is that you don’t have to go through the shock, barriers, or challenges on your own. You have teammates that you work with, running successful camps that push you to try new things. ….. After finishing the camps, I myself have grown so much not only as a teacher but as a person...

"My decision to be an English teacher for the SPICE 21 summer programme was one of the best decisions. …. in the training, Tom* taught us about the importance of human psychology in teaching which has made me see the profession in a brighter light…... It was also a first for the students to have someone from my background to teach them. However, the ice between us was broken through constant communication and fun activities, and a deep bond was built."

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* Head of Pedagogy who trained the interns for 2 weeks prior to camp

"We were from different cultures, we had significantly different personalities but in the end, we were able to mould a bond that was forged in the heat of the classroom and hammered out by the challenges that we faced together……. at times, the challenge was the activity itself. It just wasn’t fun for them so the solution that we came up with was intense competition! We gave each group a quirky name like bird, brown, boat. This seems to have lit the competitive fire in them..."

​"The most important thing was boosting my confidence in speaking English. There were non-ethnic Chinese interns who knew little Chinese, we had to discuss our activities and strategies only in spoken English. You have to let go and try hard to express yourself. Sometimes it was hard for us to describe due to the cultural differences, but we could always understand each other with great hearts and lots of explanations. …... I could even joke around and have a daily conversation for more than an hour. It is unbelievable to do so before the SPICE camp."

"Throughout the camps, we have realized the vitality of building relationships with students…. In a traditional classroom setting, it is no easy task to cater to everyone. However, in SPICE we had the chance to chat with the students individually. The more we communicated with each other, the more we could connect and learn about their needs and preferences. Thus, we could adjust future activities accordingly. There were even times when students asked to play the same language games! Therefore, we found it incredible that the classes were so welcoming and harmonious."

"The SPICE programme was a life-changing experience as it helped me confirm my ambition of being an English teacher. …The internship offered by SPICE truly felt like a full-package deal in terms of roles and responsibilities. On the one hand, I had to take on a teacher’s responsibility, leading and guiding a class of children through the camp activities. On the other hand, I also had to assume a colleague’s role to my fellow intern teachers, collaborating with them to devise the best possible summer camp experience.

Likewise, SPICE has also taught me how intricate and thorough it was to have a legitimate English summer camp. The entire process around the programme was no simple feat as it involved many procedures and stages. Before the actual camp, interns had to undergo a 2-week training period in which our trainer would brief us on the theories for practice, preparations, and explanation of activities.

Besides that, we had to plan the activities and make the class materials among our intern groups before camp. Once camps had officially begun, we … had to concern ourselves with the delivery of activity contents, the handling of children (as a whole class and an individual), and the debriefing afterward to discuss how to improve moving forward.

Equally important, the SPICE programme had given me the opportunity to be exposed to teaching children with different backgrounds, cultures, values, and demeanors. The three summer camps consisted of children coming from different schools. Sixteen children would be assigned to an intern group of three teachers at each camp. Thus, it offered my groupmates and I the chance of a lifetime to know what it is like to teach a class of cute and unique individuals…. No other internship could have given me this extensive sampling size of children to lead and be inspired by.

In retrospect, during my internship, my peers’ simple words of encouragement and the practical words of wisdom that I received from my trainer and programme coordinators helped me nurture as a teacher. The SPICE programme was constructed in a way that also aided me in understanding the value of group coordination."

"I have received a lot from my SPICE students…. During the camp, they have entered a fundamentally new environment with English as the main communication language, learning activities awaiting every morning requiring both team and personal performance and the unseen demands of adaptation, understanding, productivity and creativity to the learning activities. Thus, plus the different formats of games we prepared, the children encountered a great scope of unfamiliarity, difficulty and challenges. The students gradually stepped out of their comfort zone, and reflected to us that they enjoyed the fun and happiness in resolving the multiple-dimensional challenges, spending time together with their new friends, and fulfilling all the learning activities of the seven days. I was delighted to witness the demonstration of their growing efforts day by day, and help increase their self-confidence and positivity during the camp…and to inspire the children with knowledge and skills and help them broaden their comfort zone."

"It was different from your typical local English education. There was heart, and everyone in SPICE worked hand in hand all the way.

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Day 3 was our ‘superhero day’– the students painted their superhero T-shirts! …the superhero painting was one of the most fun activities that the students had! ...most importantly, painting became a chance for them to practice their English-speaking skills! I was able to have casual one-on one English conversations with them. We talked about their superpowers and their T-shirts– their perfect chance to use English without the pressure but with all the fun!"

"SPICE is a very comprehensive programme, which equipped me with effective communication strategies and professional knowledge of English education. In addition, I gained a theoretical understanding and essential pedagogical skills applicable to different contexts and workplace settings.

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Apart from enabling me to acquire academic knowledge, the internship allowed me to appreciate the beauty of diverse cultures. The more I see, the more I realise how much I have not seen. Furthermore, this once-in-a-lifetime experience was an invaluable opportunity to explore and understand the English language world more thoroughly and extensively."