English Playground: The Year the Kids Became Storytellers Too
There’s a particular kind of bravery in saying something out loud in a language you’re still learning, and there’s a special kind of life bonus points you receive when you gather that courage and go through with it. The kids in the Future Acceleration Program, get the opportunity to face this challenge, and even if it is with a pause before the sentence or a quick search for the right word, they always rise to the challenge.
This year, in June and July, 85 children gathered online to practice conversational English alongside volunteers from the global UiPath community of employees and our partner organizations in a friendly, low-pressure space.
We give the kids many tools to help them shape their future, and one of the most fun and immersive ones is the English Playground, a space where language learning becomes an adventure of connection, discovery, and courage. Not a classroom, but a place to play with language, take risks, and have fun while at it.
The kids split into groups based on their language level, from beginners all the way up to advanced speakers, they took part in four spirited sessions built around familiar, engaging topics:
🗺️ Around the World
🍜 Food & Drinks
🤖 Gadgets & Inventions
🌟 Motivational Stories
Each session followed a rhythm the children came to love. 14 volunteers joined us across 6 weeks of sessions. We opened the English Playground with them sharing a few slides about their lives, work, hobbies, and traditional dishes from their home countries.
Afterwards, everyone would move into smaller breakout groups to practice together. In these smaller circles, conversations felt easy and natural, or as one of the kids put it, “You were speaking my language”. Every child got the chance to speak, ask questions, and make mistakes without fear, supported by a caring guide who helped their confidence bloom.
What Was New
For the first time, the storytelling went both ways.
In previous editions, it was the UiPathers who shared their personal stories of perseverance and success. This year, we also turned the microphone around. In the A2 to B2 groups, we opened up the floor for the kids to share a small success of their own with the volunteers, something they had learned, or a moment when they had believed in themselves, and it had paid off.
We didn’t ask them to write these stories down or prepare formal presentations, so unfortunately there’s no fun slides to show you. But, because we simply asked them to speak, what came out of it was natural, free-flowing, and genuinely moving or aspirational at times.
Many children spoke about their achievements in competitive sports, the training, the setbacks, the wins. Others talked about moments when they had trusted themselves and succeeded at something they weren’t sure they could do. Told haltingly, bravely, in a language that wasn’t their first, these small stories carried enormous weight. They were proof that the confidence the English Playground works to build was already taking root.
There is something powerful about a child who, only a few sessions into practicing English, is willing to stand up and tell a room of international volunteers about a time they were proud of themselves. That willingness, that courage to speak up, is exactly what this project is for.
Our heartfelt thanks go out to all our volunteers for their time, dedication, and for being such generous conversation partners. By showing up week after week, sharing their own stories, and listening so closely to the children’s, they reminded our young learners that big dreams are built with determination, empathy, and curiosity.
Irina Toma, Dana Ionescu, Ana-Maria Bulhac, Bridget Hanley, Catalina Coca, Holly Tripp, Prathamika Sarkar, Michelle Henriques, Kira Iankovskaia, Swathi Sushilan, Mircea Mocanu, Andreea Ungureanu, Bianca Baicu and Anemari Ionescu.
Our Volunteers
More Than Language Practice
For many of these kids, the English Playground is the only opportunity to practice pronunciation or learn new words, but more importantly, a safe place to share ideas, laugh, connect with people from cultures far from their own, and discover the joy of being heard.
When a volunteer describes a traditional dish from their country and a child in rural Romania describes sarmale or cozonac in return, something bigger than a vocabulary lesson is happening. The worldview widens for everyone in the room. And when a child shares a personal win and hears a volunteer say “I’m proud of you,” a seed of possibility is planted that reaches far beyond grammar and syntax.
This enriching experience is delivered to the kids by British Council Romania, our language course partners for the Future Acceleration Program and Own Your Path program.
If you want to be part of the next English Playground, we’d love to have you join us. The global UiPath community of employees can sign up for any of our volunteering opportunities by contacting our Volunteering Program Manager, Magda Țucăr.