The Swiss Program for Language Instruction and Teacher Training

At the suggestion of a friend who knew of my networking with women worldwide, I traveled to Mongolia in the fall of 1998. The objective of my five-week visit was to make contact with women there, to learn about their situation, about their organizations and about their country. Ten years later a growing educational exchange has changed and enriched lives in both Switzerland and Mongolia.

In 1998, a short decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union with which Mongolia had been allied, systems had collapsed in Mongolia as well. Most factories and socialist communes had closed, driving unemployment to extremes. The new democracy was struggling. The educational system, which had once taught almost 100% of the largely nomadic population to read and write, had no material or funding. Books were rare.

In Switzerland books are abundant, many catching dust on shelves in schools or homes, unused, unneeded. On returning from Mongolia I started to collect books, to sort them and to send them to schools and universities in Ulaanbaatar and other cities. Little did I expect that within 10 years well over 280'000 media would find their way to my garage and from there to libraries throughout Mongolia!

As English took over from Russian as Mongolian's first foreign language, schools to which I had sent books and with which I maintained close contact began asking me to send teachers. Most Mongolian teachers of English or German were not fluent in the spoken language and wanted help from native speakers or from people who knew correct pronunciation and conversational use of those languages. And on the Swiss side young and not-so-young people were attracted by the challenge of teaching in a spectacularly beautiful and fascinating land, even under socially and climatically difficult conditions.

Nearly 100 of "my" Swiss and American volunteers have taught in schools and universities in five different regions for varying lengths of time. With ages ranging from 18 to 65, they have tested their powers of adaptation, improvisation, and communication.  Though it was tough, not one regrets having made the effort; some have returned to Mongolia or stayed longer than planned. Seven of "my people" are teaching in Mongolia right now.

From 2003 to 2006 I invited two Mongolian teachers of German each summer to spend the month of July to attend the SWCH courses for Swiss teachers, to improving their language skills and to experience life here. When the foundation which had provided the necessary funding decided in 2005 not to continue support for the short-term exchange, I was fortunate to find the rector of the new Pedagogical University Thurgau willing to accept two Mongolian students of German for one whole academic year. Due to the quality of the students selected on recommendation by their professors and after personal interviews in Mongolia, the exchange at this professional level has been a complete success. The Swiss students profit from the contacts as well: thanks to the friendships thus formed some Swiss graduates decide to venture to Mongolia to teach. Thanks to the program's continuing success and to the foundation's renewed support, there are now eight young Mongolian women studying in four Pedagogical Universities (in Kreuzlingen, Rorschach, Zug and Zurich) and a ninth at the Cantonal Middle School in Frauenfeld. Each woman will go back to her home country a more mature and independent person with excellent language skills, new ideas about teaching methods and a broadened horizon. Without the interest, support and patience of countless host families who welcome the students into their families for several months free of charge this wonderful opportunity for the young Mongolians would not be possible.

More could be written: about the Mongolian teachers of English doing internships at the International School of Berne, or about the networks built up in Switzerland and in Mongolia, or about the tons of educational material sent to orphanages, mobile libraries, ministries and the Arts Council.  Let it simply be said that a lot has been accomplished in the past 10 years. The work load is heavy (and, of course, unpaid) but the rewards are great!

Those wanting to support the Swiss Program for Language Instruction and Teacher Training can do so by contributing newer books in English of all kinds for all ages, or by donating money to help pay for the shipment of educational material by container to Mongolia and for the costs of the exchange students in Switzerland not covered by the foundation, or by passing on word of my continual search for volunteers willing to take on the challenge of teaching English in Mongolia for at least four months. For all questions and offers please contact: Anita Fahrni in Islikon, Canton Thurgau, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . PC Konto 90-720949-0.  The work and administration of the program is unpaid; Anita Fahrni pays her annual working-visits to Mongolia herself.