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ENGLISH PROGRAM
English Program Brochure

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How It Works

1
Train
Tutors undergo basic training on Paper Airplanes policies, as well as how to work with individuals affected by conflict and practice appropriate safeguarding techniques to ensure students’ safety.
2
Match
Once selected, students and tutors are matched based on their language abilities, age, gender, and interests.
3
Learn
Matched pairs meet on a mutually agreed platform for a 90-minute session once a week for 18 weeks using a custom four-level curriculum.
4
Grow
Tutors and staff help students prepare a résumé/CV, write a personal statement, and attend professional development webinars.
5
Apply
Our students apply their acquired skills in real-world scenarios, such as in the workplace or academic settings.
What We Do
The English program has two sub-programs
One-on-One Sessions
Our One-on-One program provides a personalized and structured learning experience by carefully matching each student with a dedicated tutor. Over the course of 18 weeks, students engage in weekly sessions with native or fluent English-speaking tutors, ensuring individualized support tailored to their specific goals. These sessions go beyond test preparation for IELTS and TOEFL—they help students develop essential communication skills, including professional email writing, everyday conversation, and academic language proficiency.
Speaking Classes
In addition to our One-on-One sessions, we offer interactive Speaking Classes that bring together small groups of three to five students with an experienced instructor. These sessions focus on real-life conversations, helping students build confidence, sharpen their communication skills, and navigate diverse situations with clarity and ease.By moving beyond traditional learning methods, we create a dynamic, immersive environment where students not only prepare for exams but also develop the practical language skills needed to thrive in academic, professional, and everyday settings.
Seamless Learning: It's All Online!
Both the personalized 1:1 tutorials and the speaking classes take place virtually. Students and tutors collaborate to schedule sessions at their preferred time using a platform of their choice. Our dedicated facilitators and program team maintain weekly check-ins to ensure attendance and monitor progress. We believe in accountability; to foster an optimal learning environment, if either party misses three sessions, we facilitate a seamless rematch to keep the momentum going. It’s all about making language learning flexible, effective, and tailored to individual needs.
Empowering Numbers: A Snapshot of Our Impact
In 2025, we were incredibly humbled by the overwhelming response to our English Program; we receive a staggering 4,343 applications. From this, we proudly welcomed 1012 students into our vibrant community.
Chart 1 shows student proficiency levels in the Spring and Fall of 2025. Many new students join the program in Spring, so beginner levels are higher at that time. As these students continue learning, they move up to intermediate and upper-intermediate levels in later semesters. This causes beginner levels to decrease in the Fall, while higher levels grow, showing that students are steadily progressing through the program.
Global Impact, Local Commitment

Our success story in 2025 involved around 1192 tutors from around the world, contributing to both 1:1 sessions and speaking classes. What’s more, a significant number of these dedicated educators are eager to return for the next semester. Their commitment underscores the global collaboration that defines our English Program.
Be a Catalyst for Change: Join Our Global Community!
We’re on the lookout for dedicated and passionate tutors from around the world to partner with us by contributing to our English Program’s success. If you're ready to make a positive impact, volunteer your expertise, and become a part of our dynamic community, take the leap and explore how you can join us. Visit the “Join Us” page now and be a driving force in shaping language education globally. Your commitment matters, and together, we can create meaningful linguistic experiences.
English Program Curriculum
Read on to understand how our English program curriculum was designed to meet the needs of our students.
Designing the English Program Curriculum
The English program curriculum was developed by our curriculum design team, which consisted of an education advisor, a curriculum design advisor, a curriculum design assistant, and several curriculum design interns.
Maxine Noel, an education advisor, joined Paper Airplanes in May 2020. She holds a Level 5 TEFL certificate. Maxine brought four years of English teaching experience, including two years at the American Institute, to the team. She was responsible for adapting our current one-on-one curriculum as needed and guiding program tutors in instructing our one-on-one students as required.
The new one-on-one curriculum was developed by the curriculum design advisor, Kate Efron, who first joined Paper Airplanes in September 2020. Kate holds a BA in English Language and Literature from Southern Connecticut State University and an MS in Education, Literacy, Culture, and Language Education from Indiana University Bloomington. She is also currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Educational and Professional Practice in Humane Studies at Antioch University. She is certified in TEFL/TESOL and ESL/EFL teacher training.
The curriculum design assistant, Stephanie Cannon, oversaw the development of our Speaking Classes curriculum. Stephanie first joined Paper Airplanes in January 2019 as a tutor coordinator before being promoted to Speaking Classes program coordinator in May 2020, and then to the curriculum design assistant position in January 2022. Stephanie was responsible for curriculum design as well as for guiding our Speaking Classes tutors through the implementation of the curriculum.
Assessing Students before Joining the Program
All new one-on-one students accepted to the English program must complete our placement exam before they meet with their tutor for the first time. Our curriculum design team grades these exams and places students into either semester one or two of our current curriculum levels: A1, A2, B1, and B2.
Speaking Classes supplement our one-on-one curriculum and are only open to the current one-on-one students who would like further practice in conversational English.
Sharing the English Program Curriculum?
We do not share the curriculum itself because Paper Airplanes has specifically developed our materials to serve our student audience. Therefore, it may not be suitable for other organizations or individuals who wish to use it for their instructional purposes. We are, however, glad to provide full details on the curriculum structure; please see more information below.
Formal Exams
The current one-on-one curriculum utilizes two formal exams: the midterm exam and the final exam. The Speaking Classes program does not use formal exams since it is meant to provide further practice for skills learned through one-on-one lessons.
Our exams, created by our curriculum design team, are modeled after the IELTS exam, since most of our students report they intend to take the IELTS test shortly after completing the one-on-one program. The midterm and final exams are divided into four sections: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The reading and listening sections consist of multiple-choice and short-answer questions. The writing section includes short essay questions. The speaking section contains prompts which the student must answer with a five-minute recording.
Speaking Classes Curriculum
The current Speaking Classes curriculum consists of 16 lessons made up of conversation guides. These guides lead tutors and students through topics divided into five sections: vocabulary, icebreaker questions, video/article discussion questions, general discussion questions, and scenario practice questions.
Speaking Classes Curriculum Purpose
The new Speaking Classes curriculum is divided into four levels based on the CEFR levels: A1, A2, B1, and B2.
The primary purpose of the A1 and A2 levels is to supplement the new vocabulary being learned in the one-on-one curriculum. Each level consists of nine units with three tutor-led lessons, student worksheets, and an exit ticket. Each exit ticket consists of up to five speaking prompts to test the student’s knowledge and speaking skills related to each unit.
The primary purpose of the B1 and B2 levels is to introduce students to the nuances of speaking etiquette. The topics discussed in these lessons include learning how to order food and deliveries, how to navigate a new city, and how to participate in an interview.
FAQs
How often do peer tutors and students meet?
Tutors and students meet for at least 90 minutes a week.
How are tutors chosen?
English tutors must be 18 or older and have a clear reason for being interested in our work. Prior tutoring experience and experience teaching English are preferred but not required. Given the high volume of applicants, we also look at performance in our training program, which is hosted on Google Classroom.
When do tutors meet their students?
Tutors and students meet virtually at a time convenient to both. Due to the time difference between different countries, pairs often choose mornings, evenings, or weekends.
Veteran Tutors
More than half of our tutors stay for more than a term. Here are some of our tutors who have dedicated over 60 hours of volunteering to Paper Airplanes students! Click on their photos to learn more about their experiences.
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