About Teaching Tolerance through English Camp 2002

Teaching Tolerance through English is a project of the US Embassy in Budapest, now in it’s second year, working with Embassies from Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia and DIA - the Foundation for Democratic Youth in Budapest. Teachers and teenage students from Croatia, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia have come together in Ballatonlelle, Hungary, on lovely Lake Ballaton, for two weeks during August 2007 to learn about multicultural understanding and tolerance, human rights, and conflict resolution while they develop their English language proficiency. Teachers work with English language/ tolerance specialists from the US in the mornings while counselors conduct recreation activities with the teens. In the afternoon, teachers, in pairs from different countries, conduct lessons and activities on the theme for multicultural class groups.

On our blog, we will share photos and messages from campers, teachers, counselors, specialists, the camp director, and perhaps even a few visitors. We hope to hear back from our readers!

August 4

It's arrival day. Some of our teachers and campers had to travel 12 hours to get here. They're tired, but excited to find out what will happen at camp.

Our talented teachers come from all over central Europe and work in cross-cultural teaching teams with groups of students who also include members from many countries. They are adding strategies for teaching tolerance with English, using materials contributed by the US Embassy, the Teaching Tolerance project, and Thomson Heinle Publishers.

August 6

Today there was a very interesting discussion in one class after the teacher read aloud a selection from. You Can't Say You Can't Play, a book by Vivian Paley. Paley told about how it changed her classroom when the students and teacher made a rule that no one could say that someone couldn't play with them. Two students in the TTTE class tnen spoke about their school, where classes are segregated by ethnic groups. Serbian students were in some classes and Croatian students were others, but the two groups were never together. Some of the teachers at their school told their students never to interact with members of the other group. Students also reported that if they tried to play with students from another ethnic group, they were called "traitors" by their friends. They expressed frustration about the situation and wondered what they could do to change things – or if they could do anything at all. The students learned that this very situation is what our camp is created to address, and that we would work to learn many ways to promote tolerance and resolve conflicts, and that they could work on action plans with their teachers while they were here to take back to their schools.

August 6

My name is Peter Revisnyei. I come from Budapest, Hungary. This is my Index Card from the Index Card Introductions activity. It shows my town symbol, my family, my hobbies (watching TV, listening to music, and playing on the computer), and my future plans. I will go to another planet. I will grow up, and I will drive a car. I liked the activity.