Nearly 75 eager eyes watched Charisse Pang (10) and Chloe Ho (9) as they began the first of many English lessons over the course of a week, last July. Pang and Ho traveled almost 7,000 miles across the globe to Xi’an, China to teach English at XianYang Heralds Children’s Home and exchange cultures. 

They covered topics from the alphabet to hobbies to sports; not only did Pang and Ho teach the children, but they were able to live in the orphanage, adopting their lifestyle for a week. 

“They weren’t as privileged as us, but were super eager to learn as much as they could,” Ho said. “They paid so much attention to everything, wanting to take all of it in. That was the moment of enlightenment for Charisse and I because we wanted the kids to have more opportunities to learn not just the English language, but also communication skills that will prove to be useful in their futures.” 

Arriving at the orphanage, Pang and Ho said they found the first few days to be overwhelming due to the sheer amount of kids, but they were able to adjust quickly through the warm, welcoming atmosphere. 

“I  didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I grew a lot more accustomed to everything,” Ho said. “The kids accepted us with open arms, so it was really easy to get to know them and form bonds in such a short amount of time. ”

Inspired by their trip, Pang and Ho founded WordBridge as president and secretary, alongside Mysha Syahrial (10). Pang said WordBridge is a club where high school students teach English to underprivileged youth in China through weekly Zoom lessons. 

Pang said they also teach children from Afghanistan who were brought to Mojave, California due to the war raging in their homeland. 

As vice president, Syahrial said she has many visions and goals for WordBridge, hoping to grow as an individual. 

“We’re hoping to help kids outside of our community,” Syahrial said. “We understand that learning a language is hard and helping those kids get more acclimated with the English language will definitely [benefit] them in the future, as it’s a globally used language.”

Syahrial said that WordBridge is a project that not only benefits the students, but also the teachers. The tutoring sessions teach them to step outside their comfort zone, strengthening communication skills.  

Pang, Ho, and Syahrial said that their passion for learning new languages, such as Korean, Chinese, and Indonesian, was a significant reason as to why they created WordBridge. 

“Since I’m learning new languages too, it’s really hard for me and I found that speaking through conversation and interacting with people who speak that language is a lot easier than trying to understand it by yourself,” Ho said. “I know the struggle and I want [the kids] to be comfortable learning a new language.”

And as the executive members of the club, they are responsible for creating the teaching material each week. They prepare slideshows along with guiding questions that the teachers will utilize during each session. 

“I try to think about it from their perspective depending on their level,” Pang said. “If I was a child who didn’t understand much English, then I would think about what kind of questions would be easy for me to answer and what [topics] I would want to talk about.” 

When teaching, Pang said they focus largely on conversational skills, asking the students to talk about their hobbies and interests. For each lesson, the high-schooler simply makes conversation with a child they’re paired with for 20 minutes, using the teaching material that the executives prepare each week. Ho said that since the youth aren’t fluent in English, some struggles have arised.

“The language barrier is definitely something that we have to be aware of because they don’t speak our language fluently and we don’t speak their language fluently,” Ho said. “It can be really frustrating at times, but I keep an open mindset. Patience is a big factor too because frustration doesn’t help when either party struggles to understand each other. We all try our best to get our point across with the words we know.”

The students were also unfamiliar with how to work with technology such as Zoom, but even then, they showed patience and willingness to learn. 

“There were many technical difficulties,” Pang said. “But the kids are really kind and understanding and mature as we sorted everything out, especially for their age. They’re the most genuine people I’ve ever met.” 

Syahrial, Pang, and Ho led their first official club meeting, March 19; more than 30 people attended. 

“It was really cool to see how many people ended up coming,” Syahrial said. “It would be really nice if we could expand WordBridge to other schools too.”

Although WordBridge was ready to be in session by early March, the students were still in need of electronics to take the classes. Pang said they had to postpone the start of lessons by three weeks due to the wait. 

Finally, after nearly three months of effort, families received tablets and WordBridge began classes. Ho said that the feeling of actively contributing to a greater community is extremely rewarding.

“I just want the kids to learn,” Ho said. “The fact that we can make impacts on other people’s lives and be more selfless is something that’s really nice.”

Through spending just 20 minutes a week to teach the children, Syahrial said she hopes to spread her knowledge of English and communication, and contribute to something bigger than a school club. 

“WordBridge to me is a connection,” Syahrial said. “It’s not just a club but a way for me to reach out to those outside of my community and actually make a difference. WordBridge takes something I enjoy, our language and communication, and uses it to significantly help others.”

Pang also said that WordBridge is her way to help give people a chance to utilize a global language, introducing a new culture and community to the club members. 

“We are so used to living in such a nice area [and] living very privileged,” Syahrial said. “I want to learn to have this appreciation for where I am right now. I hope to be able to grow and improve myself as a person while helping these kids.”