Making Iowa State University a Better Place for International Students :: Education Learning Foreign Students Essays

Making Iowa State University a Better Place for International Students English is a second language for most people outside of the United States of America. In Hong Kong for example, the Chinese start to learn English in kindergarten. Chinese children learn the spelling and the grammar of the English language but of course one must live in the culture to be fully educated of the language. There are many slang words and new vocabulary that are not taught in the schools however. Winnie Yue, a freshman at Iowa State University, found this out fairly quickly after going to her first class. She has taken all of her courses at Iowa State University before in Hong Kong, but the language barrier is providing her with many difficulties. She mentions how the professors use these unfamiliar words not realizing that non-Americans may not know what they mean. These days you will see Winnie carrying a dictionary to every one of her classes. Miss Yue feels that if she had other Chinese students that could help her with her understanding of these words she would have an easier time with her courses and her homework. She feels Iowa State University should help her with her problem. I propose that Iowa State University should establish a team of workers who will supply international students with names of other international students of the same culture, a set time to socialize, and a set place to gather. This new program will help them with their homesickness as well as helping them with the language barrier and also the culture change. Iowa State already has an organization established that is a voluntary program, which matches international students with Americans. This program is called the Conversational English Program, but it needs to be improved drastically. In this program, American volunteers are supposed to have conversations about the American culture and life in general. It is supposed to help international students with the culture change and their English speaking skills. The program however is not widely used. The problem may be due to the fact that a student must find this organization on their own. Iowa State's new program would eliminate this situation by having the student already set up with the other international student before their first classes start. The Conversational English Program is, in my opinion, a good start to what should be a widely used establishment.