When Movies Become Classrooms: Volunteering in East Bali

This summer, I had the privilege of volunteering at EBPP in Ban Village to promote reading and strengthen students’ English skills. My initial idea was to create a library of translated books, but when physical copies couldn’t be produced in time, I found a creative alternative: using classic films like Indiana Jones and Back to the Future with Indonesian subtitles.

Since the schools lack internet, I embedded and timed the subtitles so slower readers could follow along. For many students, it was their first experience with subtitles or watching a film in a theater-like setting. The results were inspiring—students were fully engaged, taking notes, asking questions, and demonstrating comprehension levels similar to those of students I’ve taught in Harlem, USA. Their joy and excitement during the screenings is something I’ll never forget.

This success was possible thanks to the resourceful EBPP staff, who prepared classrooms and projectors to enable creative teaching. Beyond improving reading, the films exposed students to English in context, helping them absorb vocabulary, sentence structure, and pronunciation. Most importantly, it boosted their confidence and showed them that language learning can be fun and empowering.

Looking ahead, I hope to partner with publishers to secure book rights so students can access more stories that spark curiosity and broaden their horizons.

By Cory White