雅恩·克里克斯、艾美丽为白沙青松乡中心学校学生上英语课。受访者供图
■ 海南日报全媒体记者 刘宁玥
“这段学习经历让我更加自信和勇敢。”日前，在海口市龙华区海垦街道举办的英语公益活动中，海口小学生谢嘉烔鼓足勇气站在台上完成了人生首场英语演讲。
台下的听众除了同龄学生、学生家长外，还有一群习惯用英语交流的国际友人。他们在短短几堂课里，通过游戏、互动问答等方式提升了谢嘉烔等人开口说英语的积极性。
这些国际友人都是海口国际人才志愿服务团（以下简称志愿服务团）成员。该志愿服务团成立于2024年8月，是海口市科学技术和工业信息化局（海口市外国专家局）、海口市龙华区委人才发展局、海口市科学技术协会成立的组织，依托海口国际人才之家（海口龙华人才之家），带动一批在海口工作、学习和生活的外籍人才参加公益教育活动，为海口社区和偏远黎乡的孩子们带来别开生面的英语教育。
点燃英语学习兴趣
“我教几首英语歌”“我带大家做游戏”“我来拼读单词”……近期，海口国际人才之家格外热闹，志愿服务团的英语老师你一言、我一语，为即将在5月启动的第二期社区英语兴趣班志愿服务活动出谋划策。
提议唱英文歌的老者是符积虎，曾担任新加坡国立大学食品科学与技术系客座副教授。他年近古稀，头发灰白，依然精神矍铄。在2024年的几场公益教育活动中，他总是随身携带自己心爱的木吉他，弹唱经典英文歌曲，再用中文讲解关键词汇。温暖的笑容、细致的讲解，让他很快收获了一批小粉丝。
谈及加入志愿服务团的原因，符积虎说，在新加坡工作、生活多年，英语让他有机会与世界各地的人们沟通交流，看到更广阔的世界。返回故乡海南后，他主动请缨执教，希望能引导孩子们更流利地说英语，以后能更好地投入海南自贸港建设中。
日前，志愿服务团首期社区英语兴趣班志愿服务活动在海口市龙华区海垦社区举办。在为期1个多月的5场活动中，每场活动都有3—4名志愿服务团成员参与，吸引了近30名儿童参加。
“活动效果不错，在最后的汇报表演中，孩子们都用英语进行演讲和才艺表演。”符积虎的妻子莫哈吉（Mohajer）在活动中负责讲故事、教英语，她看到了孩子们对英语学习的热情。
家长代表向志愿服务团赠送锦旗表示感谢。“公益课寓教于乐，老师亲和有耐心，孩子边玩边学，从被动输入转变为主动输出，英语说得更流畅了。”谢嘉烔的母亲吴子惠看到孩子的变化十分欣慰。
培养国际化视野
白沙黎族自治县青松乡中心学校学生吴招硕珍藏着一个新书包，一直都舍不得背。送书包的人，是他的第一位外籍老师，也是他见到的第一个外国人——雅恩·克里克斯（Jan Kerekes）。
2024年11月，应青松乡政府邀请，志愿服务团负责人皮进宇和成员符积虎、雅恩·克里克斯、艾美丽到青松乡中心学校开展支教活动。历经3小时车程，他们走进热带雨林深处，为热情纯朴的黎乡学子上英语课。
那是学生们第一次与国际友人面对面接触。“以前只在手机上见过外国人。”当天，吴招硕既好奇又有些害怕。他瞪大眼睛，探着脖子，远远望向校门口。只见身材高大、金发碧眼的雅恩·克里克斯走在队伍最前面，热情地向吴招硕用中文说了句“你好”。一句熟悉的问候，化解了吴招硕内心的忐忑，他也礼貌地挥挥手，向老师们一一打招呼。
在学校操场的大树下，孩子们围坐一圈，符积虎教他们唱英文歌；雅恩·克里克斯教他们学习站、坐、拍手等不同动作对应的英语单词，设计小游戏让他们跟随英语口令做动作；艾美丽为孩子们上了一堂原汁原味的英语课。从一开始的好奇、陌生到最后的喜爱、不舍，黎乡孩子与志愿服务团老师的心逐渐靠近。
此后，雅恩·克里克斯还专门回访青松乡中心学校师生，为孩子们送上自己精心挑选的书包和祝福。“国际友人的到来，让孩子们学英语的热情更高了。”该校校长朱卓耀说。
这份异国情谊还在延续。在2025年海南黎族苗族传统节日“三月三”白沙分会场活动上，皮进宇、雅恩·克里克斯、艾美丽等受邀担任2025年白沙“三月三”黎族苗族文化推荐官。他们穿着美丽的黎族服饰，参与篝火晚会狂欢。他们想在国际平台继续讲述黎族故事，让白沙的孩子们看到更广阔的世界。
Yan Klex and Ai Meili delivered English lessons to students at Baisha Qingsong Township Central School. Photo provided by the interviewees ■ Liu Ningyue, reporter for Hainan Daily All-Media Group: "This learning experience has made me more confident and courageous." Recently, during an English charity event held in Haiken Subdistrict, Longhua District, Haikou City, elementary school student Xie Jiacheng mustered the courage to deliver his first-ever English speech on stage.
The audience included not only peers and parents of the students but also a group of international friends accustomed to communicating in English. Through games and interactive Q&A sessions during the brief classes, they significantly boosted the enthusiasm of students like Xie Jiacheng to speak English.
These international friends are all members of the Haikou International Talent Volunteer Service Team (hereinafter referred to as the Volunteer Service Team). Established in August 2024, the team was jointly founded by the Haikou Municipal Bureau of Science, Technology and Industrial Information Technology (Haikou Foreign Experts Bureau), the Talent Development Bureau of Longhua District Committee, and the Haikou Association for Science and Technology. Operating from the Haikou International Talent Home (Haikou Longhua Talent Home), it mobilizes a group of foreign professionals working, studying, or residing in Haikou to participate in public welfare educational activities, providing innovative English education programs for children in local communities and remote Li ethnic villages.
Fostering Interest in English Learning: "I'll teach a few English songs," "I'll organize some games for everyone," "Let me guide you through word pronunciation"... Recently, the Haikou International Talent Center has been particularly bustling. The English teachers from the volunteer team are actively contributing ideas and plans for the second phase of community English interest class volunteer activities, scheduled to launch in May.
The elderly man who proposed singing English songs was Fu Jihu, former visiting associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the National University of Singapore. Approaching his seventies with gray hair, he remains remarkably energetic. During several public welfare education events in 2024, he always carried his beloved wooden guitar, performing classic English songs while explaining key vocabulary in Chinese. His warm smile and detailed explanations quickly won him a group of devoted fans.
When asked about his reason for joining the volunteer service team, Fu Jihu said that after working and living in Singapore for many years, his English skills enabled him to communicate with people from around the world and gain a broader perspective on the globe. Upon returning to his hometown of Hainan, he volunteered to teach, hoping to help children speak English more fluently so they could contribute more effectively to the development of the Hainan Free Trade Port in the future.
Recently, the first community English interest class volunteer service activity organized by the volunteer team was held in Haiken Community, Longhua District, Haikou City. Over the course of five sessions spanning more than one month, each event saw participation from 3–4 members of the volunteer team and attracted nearly 30 children.
"The event was highly successful. During the final showcase, the children delivered speeches and talent performances in English," said Mohajer, Fu Jihu's wife, who was responsible for storytelling and teaching English at the event. She witnessed the children's enthusiasm for learning English.
The parent representative presented a commemorative banner to the volunteer service team in expression of gratitude. "The public welfare classes combine education with entertainment; the teachers are approachable and patient, allowing children to learn through play while shifting from passive information reception to active language production, resulting in more fluent English speaking," said Wu Zihui, mother of Xie Jiachong, who was deeply gratified by her child's progress.
Cultivating an International Perspective: Wu Zhaoshuo, a student at Qingsong Township Central School in Baisha Li Autonomous County, treasures a new school backpack that he has never dared to carry. The person who gave him the backpack was his first foreign teacher—and also the first foreigner he ever met—Jan Kerekes.
In November 2024, at the invitation of the Qingsong Township Government, Pi Jinyu, head of the volunteer service team, along with members Fu Jihu, Yaen Krikkes, and Ai Meili, conducted a teaching support activity at Qingsong Township Central School. After a three-hour drive, they ventured deep into the tropical rainforest to deliver an English lesson to the enthusiastic and straightforward local students.
This was the students' first face-to-face encounter with international friends. "I had only ever seen foreigners on my phone before," said Wu Zhaoshuo that day, feeling both curious and somewhat apprehensive. With wide eyes and his neck stretched forward, he gazed toward the school gate. There stood Yayan Krikis—a tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes—at the front of the group, warmly greeting Wu Zhaoshuo in Chinese. The familiar greeting eased his anxiety, and he politely waved to each teacher in turn.
Under the large tree on the school playground, the children sat in a circle as Fu Jihu taught them English songs; Ian Cricks instructed them on the English words corresponding to various movements such as standing, sitting, and clapping, and designed small games for them to perform actions following English commands; Amy Meili delivered an authentic English lesson to the children. From initial curiosity and unfamiliarity to eventual affection and reluctance to part, the hearts of the Li Township children and the volunteer teachers gradually grew closer.
Subsequently, Yan Klex specifically visited the teachers and students of Qingsong Township Central School, presenting them with carefully selected schoolbags and heartfelt blessings. "The arrival of international friends has further ignited the children's enthusiasm for learning English," said Zhu Zhuoyao, the principal of the school.
This exotic friendship continues to thrive. At the 2025 Baisha sub-venue event of Hainan's traditional Li and Miao festival "March 3rd," Pi Jinyu, Yaren Klex, and Ai Meili were appointed as cultural ambassadors for the festival. Dressed in vibrant Li ethnic costumes, they joined the bonfire celebration festivities. Their goal is to continue sharing Li ethnic stories on international platforms, enabling children in Baisha to discover a broader world.
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