Volunteering helps us_________with new cultures, speak new languages and meet new friends.

Read the passage and choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

European Union, almost 100 million citizens of all ages invest their time, talents and money to make a positive contribution to their community by volunteering in civil society organisations, youth clubs, hospitals, schools, in sport clubs, etc. For the Commission, volunteering is an active expression of civic participation which strengthens common European values such as solidarity and social cohesion. Volunteering also provides important learning opportunities, because involvement in voluntary activities can provide people with new skills and competences that can even improve their employability. This is especially important at this time of economic crisis. Volunteering plays an important role in sectors as varied and diverse as education, youth, culture, sport, environment, health, social care, consumer protection, humanitarian aid, development policy, research, equal opportunities and external relations.

Objectives of the Year:

1. To create an enabling and facilitating environment for volunteering in the EU;

2. To empower volunteer organisations and improve the quality of volunteering;

3. To reward and recognise volunteering activities; and

4. To raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering.

The Commission expects that the European Year of Volunteering will lead to an Increase In volunteering and to greater awareness of its added value, and that it will highlight the link between voluntary engagement at local level and its significance in the wider European context.

(EU Citizenship Portal)

1. What does the word “their” in paragraph 1 refer to?

Write a short paragraph (120 -150 words) about doing volunteer work.

You can use the following questions as cues:

* Why do people do volunteer work?

* Which volunteer activities do you like?

* What situations need volunteer workers?

*   What benefits can you get from volunteer work?

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We__________to the zoo last Sunday.

There/ be/ lots/ reasons/ people/ want/ volunteer.

→ ________________________________________________________

Listen to the information about Rosa Louise McCauley Parks and (decide whether the statements are True (T) or False (F).                 

Read the passage and decide whether the statements are True (T) or False (F).

Even a decade back, volunteering was synonymous with some sort of charitable work in which mostly older generations got engaged. The charitable causes in which people got involved, weren’t necessarily considered to be a part of their everyday lives, but an extra work they did to utilize their time effectively while adding some values and happiness to someone else’s life.

But in today’s date, ^★millennials are keener on getting engaged in some sort of purposeful volunteering, that will not only give them an opportunity to help others, but help themselves as well. Gen Y is more eager to incorporate the learnings of the volunteering journey In their daily lives, which would probably change their ways to see life, making them more compassionate human beings and boost their career graph as well.

There’s no doubt in the fact that volunteering experiences lead to a rise in the performance level and boasts a growth in skill sets as well. Millennials are utilizing volunteer work as a foundational block for shaping life, both for their career as well as for their personal growth and development.

Volunteering abroad helps us in acquiring international experience, and by working, living, and being immersed in a different culture and language, we are able to gain particular skills and knowledge that can help us manifold in our career.

(^★Millennials refer to people who were born in 1980s-2000s; they are also called Y Generation.)