English for Leaders in Entrepreneurship, Education, and Environment
Our program is designed for young adults in Asia and in the “developing” world more generally. We work to support you to use English naturally to communicate with people in other countries who, like you, are interested in strengthening their own countries and communities in the following areas:
- Entrepreneurship (creative business and organizational ideas and projects)
- Education (making learning effective, fun, and up to date)
- Environment (making sure all people have access to clean water, clean air, and good food, through supporting natural and human-made systems).
Our English program takes place in Thailand, where we work under the auspices of the Suan Nguen Mee Ma Company Ltd, which is fully registered as a legal entity under Thai law. Suan Nguen Mee Ma runs a publishing house, a green café and market, and trainings in holistic education. ELE3 is Suan Nguen Mee Ma’s only English-language training program.
2024 Dates
Our dates for the 2024 ELE3 program are January 14th – April 6th, 2024. We still have some seats available in the course. If you are interested, please download the application form under the Apply page, and send to: registrar@virtuescompass.org
Becoming a Good Learner
We support you to learn quickly by giving you the chance to experience how enjoyable it is to learn with others under the right conditions. You will find yourself growing in your ability to listen and understand, to read and comprehend, to speak naturally and easily, and to write so that your writing communicates clearly and well. Everyone can learn well if they are given a good chance and the right conditions.
Becoming a Good Leader
We believe that every person also has leadership qualities within them. Each person faces the task of cultivating and strengthening those qualities. Some will be leaders of only their family. Others will lead their organization, their workplace, or their community. Still others will lead entire nations.
Each level of leadership requires an ability to study and to learn—from books, from others, and from experience. Leadership also requires you to trust in yourself and in the support of others, and then to take action when the time is right, and the solution is right. Leaders are those who gather the thinking of those they lead to solve problems together. There are many problems to solve in today’s world. We have identified three areas in which learning English can most help you, your community, and your country.
Entrepreneurship, Education, and Environment
Entrepreneurship
If you work in a company, a government office, or another kind of organization, you can lead from any position. How? By thinking of what will help the organization and everyone who works for the organization. What will allow your company or office to do its work more effectively? If you are already in a leadership position, you will have even more opportunities to answer these questions and to solve problems. And using English well will allow you to learn from many sources and communicate with people all across the world, thus expanding what you can already do using your native or your national language.
Education
Leadership in education can come from teachers, parents, curriculum designers, government planners, and the students themselves. Teachers are one group who can make an immediate difference. When teachers change and grow, our educational institutions also change and grow, and this means that students will be able to learn more quickly. Importantly, when students enjoy learning, they will keep learning on their own. Our program supports you to grow not only in English but also in your understanding of how you can keep learning English after our course. In our own methods, we demonstrate what makes learning effective and fun. Teachers need to be aware of all the methods available, so they can choose methods and design each class in such a way that students enjoy and succeed in learning.
Environment
The earth supports the existence of all humans and all living beings. For many centuries, humans and living beings have had easy access to clean and fresh water, pure air, and food from healthy soils. Now this is changing rapidly. There are fewer fish in the oceans and streams, and people all over the world must take in air, water, or food that is not truly clean. So we need people who can think about what will help to protect the earth and its natural systems. The earth is very good at healing itself, if we take good care of it, and if we allow it time to refresh itself. We can all learn simple ways to do this individually. And we can learn how to work with communities and governments to promote renewable energy and recyclable products; ensure clean food, water, and air; and protect natural wildlife areas. These are things that all humans want. Our program provides basic information and encouragement that can help all of us work together to achieve these things.
When learning English along with Entrepreneurship, Education, and Environment, learning English becomes more interesting. Our graduates also can make a practical difference in whichever area they choose to focus on.