Dillar English is a project begun by sisters Dilziba and Dilnawa in the summer of 2020 to help Uyghurs around the world learn English at no cost. Joined by a host of volunteer teachers, they have been able to help students from Turkey, Uzbekistan, France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, and even Canada! The program originally offered four classes: Alphabet and Phonetics, New Concept English books 1 and 2, as well as a conversational class. This semester they will be adding a supplementary writing class! The classes are aimed at all ages and levels, and you can check out instagram.com/dillarenglish for more information on when sign-ups will be available.
Dilziba and Dilnawa – a university junior in Biomedical Engineering and an 8th grader from Nebraska, USA – began teaching English to a couple of families in Turkey earlier this year. After noticing the progress of their students, they saw the potential to help even more Uyghurs, and so decided to recruit volunteer teachers to reach a broader audience.
The first round of volunteer teachers who made their first semester possible were: Edina (an International Relations student), Parhat (a Software Engineer from Ohio), Tumaris (a Computer Science major in San Diego), Sheknur (a Neuroscience junior), Shaheda (a Biomedical Engineer), Abdurahman (a Software Developer in Boston), Abduwali (a student and ALS provider for emergency medical services), and Vinira (a Piano Performance major). With their help, they are now welcoming a second semester with a new wave of students and volunteer teachers!
For this fall, Barna, Mubarek, Ghalip, Lale, Mirbilal, Eldos, Sogdiana, Mahliya,and Subat will be joining the Dillar English family, broadening the reach to help more Uyghurs around the world, and bringing about positive change!
We love seeing these projects come to fruition and wish the teachers and students all the best for their career and educational goals!