Article: Work in Britain
Improve your English with a working holiday
Voluntary work in an English-speaking organisation is a very good way to improve your English.
If you live and work with people who speak English all the time, you will learn very quickly.
Until Brexit in 2020, citizens of the European Union, the Economic Area and Switzerland could have a "working holiday" in Britain at time, and at any age, with just a national identity card. Citizens of other countries could do this with a passport and a Standard Visitor Visa. The EEA is the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. After the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens will probably need a passport to visit the UK, and they may need a visa.
(1) "Cultural exchanges" for up to 21 days
If you are under 30 there are European projects and agencies to help young people do "cultural exchanges", so they learn about other cultures.
Pre-2014 European mobility projects included Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci, Youth In Action, Comenius and Grundtvig.
From 2014 onwards, seven of these programmes combined as the Erasmus+ programme. The most important part of the programme is international mobility for young people. Yes, this is mainly for university students who want to study in another country, but it is also for non-students who want to do sport, study or cultural activities such as music, dancing ... anything you can think of. Erasmus+ pays for "youth exchanges for people aged 13-30 lasting 5 to 21 days".
Are you an organisation? Erasmus gives money, not only to schools and universities but also to charities, community groups, sports clubs and even informal groups of young people. You can find more about Erasmus+ on YouTube and Google. It's also called Erasmus Plus.
Are you a young person? If you are a student, you can ask your school or university. If you are not a student, ask another organisation. For example in France:
(2) Voluntary work for up to 12 months
If you do voluntary work in the United Kingdom, you will have fun and learn a lot of English. Young people in the UK often have a "gap year" between school and university. They do 6 months of voluntary work and 6 months of travel. Most of them work in Britain and receive food, accommodation and possibly some pocket money. (Some private agencies ask for money - often several thousand euros - to send rich young people to work as volunteers in tropical countries like Belize or Tanzania. VSO calls them "volontourists" and says they are not helping.)
Lots of organisations in Europe are part of the European Union programme called EVS or European Voluntary Service. The EVS programme sends young people aged 18-30 to live in another country and work for a non-profit organisation. The European Union pays for all food and accommodation, 90% of travel costs, health insurance and language training. Some of this is in countries where English is the first language. Go to the European Youth Portal and look at "volunteering opportunities" on this page: http://europa.eu/youth/evs_database
Not all organisations are part of the EVS programme. There are thousands of voluntary work organisations in Britain, both national and local. Most of them have only local volunteers who work one day per week in a shop or office.
However, some have really interesting full-time work for 3 months for international volunteers. If you live where you work, this is "residential volunteering", or "residential voluntary work", or "holiday volunteering".
- Historical, for example the National Trust. You help to protect castles, very old houses, traditional gardens, etc.
- Environmental. You help to protect the natural environment, sometimes in a city but usually at the seaside or in the mountains.
- Social. You work with people who have problems. If they are children the problem is probably mental or physical disability. If they are adult, the problem could be disability, alcohol or poverty. Some social organisations are religious (church organisations).
For historical or environmental work you probably need to to speak English at pre-intermediate level (CEFR A2) or higher.
For social work you need English at intermediate level (CEFR B1).
Some volunteer organisations are major national institutions. They are completely professional, with good food, safe working environments, protective clothing, and training. For example, the National Trust.
Some are small local organisations who probably know about "health & safety at work" but who don't have much money. For example, the Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust.
Some (like WWOOF and au pair work) are individual people or families. They probably don't know much about health & safety at work.
Find an organisation that hosts volunteers:
Some more places where you can find ideas:
- A very big online list of voluntary jobs: www.do-it.org
- And a list of voluntary work for young people: www.vinspired.com
- And a list of voluntary jobs in Scotland: www.volunteerscotland.net
- And one for environment/conservation jobs: www.countryside-jobs.com/Jobs/Vols.htm
A note about au pair work
If you are a girl, you can work in a British family, helping with the children. It is best to apply to an au pair agency. A good agency will help you if you have problems with the family. CAUTION: Au pair agencies in Britain are unregulated. Anybody can start an agency. Agencies are not checked by the police or the UK state. A good agency will probably be a member of the British Au Pair Agencies Association.
(3) Seasonal work
Hotels: Big hotels in Britain usually have five or six young people from other countries who work for 2-6 months. They are seasonal workers who want to make some money and learn more English. They work as waiters or kitchen assistants. Their level of English is usually A2 / pre-intermediate or higher.
Holiday companies: If you are young and you can speak English at B1 / intermediate level you may be able to work in Europe for a British holiday company. Perhaps you will do a winter season for a British ski company in France or Austria. Of course these are not English-speaking countries, but the customers and the other workers will speak English.
(4) Internships
An internship means working in business. If you have a good level of English you can do work experience in Britain which could help with your profession or job (marketing, fashion, law, engineering, retail). The employer may give you pocket money. Perhaps you will only do photocopying in your employer's office; perhaps you will have real responsibility.
Finding an internship is like finding any other job; you look in the journals or magazines for your own profession. It's easy for people from the European Union. It is often possible for young people from non-European countries.
English vocabulary for the activity: In Britain it's "to do work experience". In the USA it's "to do an internship". We use the word "internship" in Britain too but usually for work experience in the media (television, radio), advertising, marketing, the fashion industry, and with big multinational companies.
English vocabulary for the person: In Britain, it's "a person doing work experience" or "a work experience person". In the USA (and sometimes in Britain) it's "an intern".