<p>In my free time, I love to help non-native speakers of English with their English, and I also love to learn different languages and practice this website on online language communities and such. </p>
<p>I know this isn't "established", so...
could I put this down as an EC? Does it count as an EC? Do you think it would be a good idea to be a volunteer English tutor to help the immigrant population in my area or start some sort of program? Helping people with languages is one of my passions, and I don't really have any ECs at the moment..</p>
<p>At the moment, what you have is a cultivated interest, but not something that can be filled in as an EC (though I did hear on CC that one kid admitted to Harvard filled one of his EC spots with “Playing chess with family”). I recommend that you join an official tutoring program before launching into any programs of your own. You need to gain a feel for what the experience is like before you dive in. After a year or so tutoring in this capacity, you could start a similar, though smaller program at your school or church or something.</p>
<p>The poster above is absolutely correct. Right now it looks like a hobby, which is great but to make it more useful try to find a way to make it “official tutoring”. I don’t know how you would pull that off but try to find a way to do that.</p>
<p>How much time are you putting into this? You don’t have to do something “established” to make it an EC, but you do need to demonstrate a commitment. I have friends who are artists and writers and they aren’t part of any formal group-but they submit their work for publication/exhibit, so its easy to show how that’s an EC for them. If you become a tutor, learn the language and/or get involved in the immigrant community, it’s easy to show how committed you are.</p>