Sophia Magazine vol.8 / WINTER 2018

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dia will this year add a new program for cultural exchange. The volunteers will learn the traditional Cambodian Apsara dance from their students, and watch traditional Sbaek Thom puppet shows together with them. Meanwhile, STP will give practical instruction in aspects of Japanese culture such as the Bon Odori dance, a traditional sea shanty “Soran Bushi,” and how to dress in yukata.“It is not possible in nine days of classes to make dramatic progress in English, so our role is to instill in the students a desire to study English,” notes Shibata. She recalls a delight-ful thing that happened this year: “In a vocabulary-building level, instead of randomly dividing them as previously done.”The changes made to the learning materials provide more enjoyable experiences for the Siem Reap students. They in-clude texts generated by computer instead of by hand, and videos can now be shown in class thanks to the introduction of projectors.Explains Shibata, “Similar to the way it is done in Japan, English classes in Cambodian schools take a lecture-style approach although student skill levels vary. With the STP method, there are two lead teachers and six assistants and by making classes for different levels, the team is able to provide more personalized teaching to students than before. I think it has improved the quality of our classes.” In addition to classroom-based teaching, STP Cambo-Siem Reap, situated in the northwest of the Kingdom of Cambodia, is known as a hub for tours of Angkor Wat, a World Heritage site. STP Cambodia has been operating in this area for the past decade.One STP Cambodia member, second-year student Kohei Fukushima, says, “We stay in Siem Reap for around 20 days every August, nine of which are spent providing classes in local junior high schools. At Wat Chork Junior High School, the number of attendees is growing all the time. In 2017, we gave lessons to around 150 students.”Before he entered Sophia, Kohei intended to join the uni-versity football club, but the activities of STP Cambodia seen via Twitter captivated him. “I always imagined volunteering to be a very formal affair, but the interaction between STP Cambodia volunteers and local children looked really fun.” Nodding in agreement beside him, fellow sophomore stu-dent Kanade Shibata adds, “I was also under the impression that volunteering was something very earnest and grown-up.” She decided to join the group just after starting at So-phia because as an aspiring English teacher, she wanted to gain experience from teaching English in a fun way.STP Cambodia’s local survey, conducted annually, forms the basis of the year’s activities. As Siem Reap is a rapidly growing tourist city, English learning needs are changing by the day, and with this year being the 10th anniversary it was time to try something new. Fukushima, who joined the third-year leaders on the survey, explains what sets this year’s activities apart: “A major new initiative is the introduction of thematic learning for tour guides. In addition, we decided to separate the 150 students into three classes according to their ability and create learning materials suited to each STP Cambodia Steps Up for 10th yearBudding Interest in English Cultivated Among Students1KoheiFukushima24Student