Frequently Asked Questions

If you have any questions not answered here, please contact us

What is Building Bridges?

Building Bridges is a non-profit organization that gives children in China and Korea free English classes taught by Americans fluent in English.

How do I join Building Bridges?

To join Building Bridges fill out the interest form below and an officer will contact you.

Job of a teacher:

1. Teach a class (how often you teach will fluctuate and depend on the availability of other teachers) around two times a month

2. Create lesson material with other teachers

3. Respond to messages and communicate proactively

4. Join team meetings

5. Follow our code of conduct

What do you do in class?

Each class is made up of:

1. Conversation topic

2. Reviewing last week's homework

3. Lesson- Reading a story, role-playing real-life scenarios, learning about American culture, etc.

4. Quiz or discussion

5. Game

6. Homework

When are the classes?

Chinese classes:

Every Friday 9:30-10:30 pm (3x), Saturday 8:30-9:30 pm, and Saturday 9:30-10:30 pm (2x)

Korean classes:

Every Friday 8:00-8:40pm and 9:00-9:40pm

(we may add class times depending on the increase of students)

How does the teaching schedule work?

Before the month starts, Yeryn will send out a message in announcements asking if you are available to teach the following month. React to this message according to your availability for the entire month. Based on these reactions, Yeryn will create the teaching schedule for the entire month. If you have any specific requests on who you do/do not want to teach with, feel free to DM Yeryn, and she will take these into consideration. When Yeryn is done, she will make an announcement, and you will be able to confirm you can teach your classes for the month. If you have time conflicts, no worries! DM Yeryn and you will get switched out to a time that works for you.

How often do I have to teach?

Although we hold eight classes a week, most volunteers will teach around two classes a month.

Do you have to be fluent in Chinese or Korean?

No! If you are not fluent in Chinese or Korean, you will teach with a teacher who is fluent.

What do you gain?

1. Volunteer hours available for every activity (teaching class, class prep, team meetings, etc.)

2. Valuable experience working with younger children

3. Improve time management skills, patience, and other workplace skills

4. Opportunity to help others in need

Will I start teaching right away?

No, you will need to watch a minimum of two classes live before you start teaching. When you feel comfortable enough to start teaching, let Estelle or Stephanie know and we can schedule you for your first class with an experienced teacher!

As a teacher, how do you guys figure out what to teach?

Every Thursday from roughly 8:00 pm-9:30 pm, our teachers that are teaching the upcoming class will call to create our class content. We make all of our lessons (excluding the books we read) and slides ourselves. As for the specific lesson, we can teach anything. The team of upcoming class teachers will decide based on whatever they want to teach.

Do you have recordings of previous classes?

Yes, you can see examples of previous classes at our youtube channel.

What are your social medias?

Instagram: buildingbridgesorg

WeChat: buildingbridgesorg

YouTube: linked in previous question

What platform do you use to teach classes?

Chinese Classes:

We use Voov meetings to reach students in China. You can create an account for free, and please download the app on your computer. Please create an account because Voov will not let you be co-host of meeting without an account.

Our meeting IDs are:

A1 Friday 9:30-10:30pm Regular Class:

61005785150

A2 Friday 9:30-10:30pm Higher Level Class:

764-0773-3633

B1 Saturday 8:30-9:30pm:

938-0077-9352

B2 Saturday 9:30-10:30pm:

523-0696-8557

Password for both: 1122. To download, click here: https://voovmeeting.com/download-center.html

Korean Classes:

All classes are on Zoom!

Beginner Class Friday 8:00-8:40pm

950 0282 7671

Password: 111222

Intermediate Class Friday 9:00-9:40pm

966 2944 8164

Password: 111333

Can my cousins/friends in China/Korea join as students?

Yes, please! There is a flyer pinned in announcements that you can send to people you know back in China/Korea. For Chinese classes, we are looking for more students in our A1, A2 and B2 classes.

How do volunteer hours work?

After you complete activities for Building Bridges, fill out the volunteer hours form. This can be found in the links section of our Discord and in the volunteer hours folder on our google drive. After you fill out the form, the information will be transferred to a spreadsheet. The link to the spreadsheet is found on the google form. This is the spreadsheet we use to track your volunteer hours. We can also sign whatever forms you need verifying the number of volunteer hours you have done.

Also, if you complete 25 Building Bridges service hours by the end of 2022, you can get the Shine a Light from Sino USA and a $50 Amazon gift card. Also, you can apply for the PVSA through Building Bridges, which is an extremely highly esteemed volunteering award. Here are the specific awards you can earn.

I filled out the interest form, what should I do now?

Estelle will contact you shortly. All members must have discord as a way of communication. After you have joined the discord server, please

Read through the Building Bridges Code of Conduct and provide your electronic signature, confirming you agree to our rules.
Request access to our shared google drive
Fill out the About Yourself form
Download Voov for Chinese classes and Zoom for Korean classes
Turn your notifications on Discord for pings
Change your nickname to your actual name so we know who you are (in discord)
Feel free to start chatting or ask questions in #general ! We are happy to have you here!