Language Partners Program aims to integrate cultures
The program aims to connect non-native English speakers with native speakers.
Published Sept. 3, 2010
When Dongmei Yu moved to America from South Korea a month ago for his graduate studies at MU, he said he was immersed in a culture and language he had never experienced.
That's why he’s joining the Language Partners Program, an opportunity for native and non-native English speakers to converse and gain cultural insight from each other.
"I'm not good at English," Yu said. "I need to spend more time speaking English, so this program is good for my situation. That's why I come."
About 55 potential participants showed up to an informational meeting Tuesday, up from about 15 interested participants last year, Women's Center Adviser Suzy Day said. Despite the relatively small turnout at the informational session last year, the overall participation in the program ranges from 300 to 500 participants annually. Day is expecting higher numbers this year.
Junior Raven Maragh joined the program this year to enhance her cultural knowledge.
"I think it's really important to widen my horizons a little bit about people different than me, whether it's speaking a different language or a different culture," Maragh said. "It's easy to go through four years of college and just kind of go with the flow of taking classes, getting your own friends from your own circle. There are people out there different than us and that's really important to learn about."
The program pairs a non-native English speaker with a native English speaker, encouraging them to converse for at least an hour a week. Because one of the program's intentions is to enhance the non-native English speaker's English skills, Day said she encourages the native English speaker to not be fluent in his or her partner's native language. This prevents the conversation from reverting back to the non-native English speaker's natural tongue.
"It's important just to have a conversation," Day said. "Non-native English speakers may have all of these intensive English classes where they learn the rules of English grammar and need a space to practice conversation. This gives them a space to ask if they have any questions about any slang they have heard or anything like that."
Day and other Women's Center staff members pair the couples, which she joked are sometimes paired up a little too well.
"We like to make this announcement every year — this is not a dating show," Day said. "In the past we have had people propose to their partner during the program, and it makes your partner kind of uncomfortable."
Although the program has no intentions of initiating a lifelong romance, it oftentimes results in a lifelong friendship.
"Some partners will keep in touch and travel to each other's countries after they graduate," Day said. "It's pretty cool to see people who are so different in culture meet and become friends. There are some people who don't even sign up anymore because they have each other's contact information, and when they come back to town they just pair up."
Anyone interested in the opportunity can sign up on the Women's Center website. Day said there are usually significantly more non-native English speakers signed up for the program, so any native English speakers will be paired quickly.
"It's just a really cool way to meet people that you may have never been able to meet," Day said. "Anyone can sign up, so if you have people who live in the community and aren't students here it doesn't matter — everyone can sign up."